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Innovation in winemaking

and financial services

to evaporation. One model is square and can be stacked
two-high and bolted together and to the floor. (This is
important when you live in earthquake country.) There is a
10-year warranty against structural cracking and leaking.
It comes in 240-gallon and 800-gallon models.

And taste should not be an issue. One way to achieve oak
overtones is to insert a porous stainless sleeve filled with
oak chips. For stronger flavor, a rack containing longer oak
staves can sit inside the tank. Taste should not be an issue.
Concrete barrels can also help prevent oxygenation, which
is the enemy of wine. Tanks are filled to the top and come
with sensors that display fluid level and temperature.
An alarm system automatically alerts winemakers if
conditions change. And, unlike oak barrels, the seal is not
broken, even for tasting, due to a secure access port built
into the unit. One unit costs about the same initially as oak
By Brandes Elitch barrels, but since it lasts about five times as long, or longer,
CrossCheck Inc. the savings are powerful.

ecently, somebody told me that three correct Innovation in payments
guesses make you an expert. This might be true What about innovation in the payments industry? But
in some cases, but for the most part, being an first, a reality check. Innovation happens in established
R expert takes years, probably decades, of study, companies, but it usually comes from disruptors, which
experience and good judgment. But you don't have to be are typically startups. And four out of five startups fail
an expert to be an innovator. In fact, a lot of important in the first five years. Not surprisingly, the biggest reason
inventions came from people, often outsiders, who saw for failure is the lack of a need in the market for the new
things quite differently than recognized experts in their product.
fields. It takes luck, skill and vision to be innovative.
Other reasons include insufficient financing or cash flow,
Here is an example from the winemaking community a poor business model coupled with poor execution,
in Sonoma County, where CrossCheck is located. Oak legal challenges, the wrong team of people, inadequate
barrels have been the standard for aging, storing and marketing, pricing mistakes, and just plain being burned
transporting wine since the Romans discovered them out. The point is that the odds are against any innovator
during their conquest of Gaul. Oak barrels are expensive succeeding, regardless of the product or service. That is a
and have to be replaced after only about six seasons. But pretty sobering thought.
they are important for creating good wine, right?
Urgency among acquirers
Making wine is tricky. Your favorite wine might be served
in a restaurant in Minnesota in January or in Palm Springs For ISOs in the acquiring industry, there is some urgency to
in August. It might be stored in a window with full sunlight all of this. If you haven't noticed, the traditional ISO model
or exposed to harsh store lighting. Some consumers love is under attack. The old model of leasing a terminal and
oak overtones; some detest them. printer to the merchant and then selling the lease paper is
gone. Merchants can buy their own terminals. Increasingly,
Success in a barrel terminals are not stand-alone: they are running multiple
systems in addition to credit card capture, authorization,
A local company called NuBarrel manufactures a concrete and settlement.
barrel, which holds the same amount of wine as four oak
barrels and lasts for decades. It can be used for fermenting, Merchants are committed to integrated software platforms
storage or small experimental batches. It holds a third that run their entire businesses, and the payment portion
more wine per gallon than an oak barrel and loses less

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