06/26/2026
What a fantastic event last night and thank you to master "artrepreneur" Richard Stillwagon for sharing his epic tale at Silicon Marsh | Founder's Journey with Rick Stillwagon.
A few highlights to share, but truly it's the tip of the iceberg of an inspiring, nerdy, connective night over some cozy rum, N/A cocktails, and awesome catered platters from Highwater Cafe!
🌱🌿🌳...all of life's experiences are useful in entrepreneurship, because it's a world of constantly solving problems. Rick's natural curiosity and admitted obsession with learning how things work led to a rich life of happenstance making, tinkering, fixing, solving, and doing that led him to the path of opening a business. He uses all of these experiences and tools to make decisions now, and where he lacks, he looks for partners, peers, and continues to ask questions...
⭐️...core values as sources of inspiration and willpower: Rick started his journey guided by an awareness of the emerging global drinking water crisis over 30 years ago; waste reduction and process improvements that reduce resource consumption also remain critical functions of how he operates and are at the core of his new ventures in materials science. Alignment with values is critical to maintaining integrity, focus, and motivation to see each day through with the energy and drive it takes to walk the often lonely path of the entrepreneur...
💰...a clear market opportunity and hunting for profit doesn't guarantee success or sustainability. Rick was able to identify a gap in diverse and higher-end products in the rum sector, establish his main distillery and open 2 tasting rooms, with a presence on 50 shelves across the state DESPITE the macroeconomic forces being truly against him. Particularly since COVID and with demographic shifts, alcohol consumption has steeply declined, and stalwarts in the industry are, for the first time, reducing consumption and closing doors!
We felt a key source of his success is his authenticity, passion, values, and paying a LOT of attention to his consumer's behaviors ("they HAVE to taste the product to spend twice what they were planning to on what they think is the same product...until they taste it!). He found microretail sites in ideal settings for personal interaction and conducts tastings in specific ways that engage, educate, and develop the kind of discerning consumer he needs. The focus on experiences before and above transactions forms a connection to his brand/approach: people ENJOY becoming a discerning consumer because it enriches their lives and they feel connected to their own spending when they know the care taken to offer it. It is a purchase that feels more like a partnership. This is how you can buck the macro trends, and have staying power.
In Rick's own words. "I have no inhibitions. We only have one life. I do things because I want to, not necessarily because I will be able to make a profit off it." This concept is among those at the crux of innovation and invention: creating something that fundamentally changes how we do or experience something, not solely for change's sake, but to create a meaningful improvement on the status quo that opens up new realms of possibility and connection to our lives.
Stillwagon Distillery sits at one end of the innovation spectrum, where artisanship, niche products, and methodically scaled adoption curves align to maintain a focus on quality by bringing the consumer along in the product's development. It's also a consumer product that requires 5 years of aging before sale--high-stakes market forecasting indeed!
It's part of the Silicon Marshes food & beverage production cluster and symbolizes so much of what draws and keeps entrepreneurs here: a place on the rugged frontier, the wild coast of ideas, driven by dynamic, freethinking minds committed to growing a brighter, more sustainable future for the entire South Coast. We are singular among Oregon's already innovative landscape, and this event was just a glimpse at where we are going!
