Every Bastard Says No: The 42 Below Story reviews

Great story about a fantasic NZ born company struggling to get to the top.

Great book. A perfect Christmas pressie for anyone you know who works for themselves or has aspirations to be greater than they are.
Loved it.

This book is a present full of exciting little treasures. The way it is written keeps you entertained, every so often there is a ‘drinks break’ with great recipes and the book is full of pictures and colour. So much more than simply a business book! Drinks manual, marketing bible, business advice, how to fufill your dreams through simply hard work and determination even when every bastard is saying NO!

A fascinating and inspiring story of just how hard it is for a NZ business to make it in the global market, and the importance of having a different approach in a saturated market. Very well written and presented and engrossing even for readers who are not particularly interested in business.

This book is by a true kiwi, about a bunch of true kiwis, and written for kiwis who want to celebrate a true kiwi success story, and maybe have a crack at one themselves. It's a no-bull, warts and all, tell-it-like-it-is tale of two kids from Papakura (south Auckland) who poured the heart and soul into a dream, and ended up selling it for millions. It's the story of 42 Below Vodka, the most awarded Vodka in the world. A tipple that began it's life in a tiny garage in Wellington and ended up in the quite literally the very best bars all over the world.

The writing style is irreverent (even crude in places – this is not for the faint of heart) but riveting and even hilarious in places as the various players in this world-spanning drama tell their stories. You will learn how Geoff Ross and his team used a combination of shock tactics, promotional genius, and a real kiwi spirit to take on the multi-billion dollar international liquor industry and win, despite the fact that “every bastard says NO”. Geoff's deter­mination to win by being helpful and building relationships is probably the most important message in the book, and is something that any kiwi entrepreneur can take to heart.

Hats off to Justine Ross/Troy for pulling together this amazing story (complete with cocktail recipes for those who want to play at home). I'd give it six stars if I could. Buy it. You'll love it.

This book cleary shows that developing a new product and taking it to the world is not for the faint hearted. The hurdles to overcome are many and enormous, and few newly developed products will ever be successful. The readers are taken through the exhausting rollercoaster ride of product , brand and market development. However, when you reach the end of each chapter, disillusioned by the constant ‘NO’ the authors faced on a daily basis, there is always a new cocktail to try out and lift your spirits before embarking on the next chapter! For these authors there was a happy ending, and all the pain and perseverance eventually paid off. For many others, dreams will be shattered as their products fail. This book must be read by anyone thinking of entering the product development world. Those already in this world will take heart from the recognisable problems these authors encountered, and may find new solutions and impetus (or at the very least a new cocktail to help drown their sorrows!). This book makes you realise how difficult it will be for NZ to lift its productivity through a strategy of developing new products and taking them to the world. Moreover simply throwing money at our scientific institutions will not work as the bigger challenge is turning all that newly gained scientific knowledge into products that the world will buy, and then convincing the world to buy them.

A well written book detailing the rise of 42Below vodka from its humble beginnings in a kiwi garage but firstly in a kiwis head.
You will find it funny & informative on the story of the company as well as seeing how their unique view on marketing made them stand out. You might even pick up a few business tips yourself.
Interspersed with ‘drinks’ breaks of various cocktails and how to make them pages, makes for a refreshing read.