Pop-Up Series: Brisketlab
What: Underground BBQ recipe development series
Where: New York City
When: Summer of 2012
Overview
Brisketlab wasn’t just a pop-up—it was an experiment in product development, community-building, and creating buzz through transparency and inclusion. It began with a simple problem: I had just hauled a massive offset smoker from Austin to New York, but didn’t have the resources—or reason—to fire it up for a single brisket. I needed a way to learn how to cook barbecue at scale, without wasting money or meat.
The solution became Brisketlab: a summer-long series of underground brisket events powered by the support of a growing, curious, and hungry community. Guests pre-purchased brisket by the pound—sight unseen—then joined us across New York as we served, learned, and iterated in real time.
It was smoky, scrappy, and fully alive. And it laid the foundation for everything that came next.
Strategy
We designed Brisketlab as a structured experiment, not just a party. The premise: We’re learning to make world-class brisket. Come along with us.
To drive engagement (and mitigate risk), we gamified the pre-order process:
A sleek, cryptic LaunchRock teaser page built intrigue and collected over 7,000 emails
A custom-built “Cueculator” helped guests decide how many pounds of brisket to buy
Each purchase reduced the visible countdown of available meat, driving urgency and FOMO
We rolled out access in timed waves—adding exclusivity and heat
All in, we sold more than $100,000 worth of brisket in just over 24 hours.
Execution
The events themselves were true lab work. We smoked the brisket outdoors in my family’s New Jersey backyard, sleeping in shifts and trimming meat in my childhood kitchen. My co-creators Angela and Hunter helped produce the events and manage logistics.
Events were staged in spontaneous venues around NYC, featuring donated beer from Sixpoint, sides from Whole Foods, and rotating live music—bluegrass, trad jazz, and more. Guests arrived, checked in, received wooden nickels to redeem their brisket, and shared meals at communal tables. It was messy, joyful, and full of feedback. We called our community the Brisketeers.
Reflections
Brisketlab taught me some of the most important lessons of my career:
Build community before you need it. Our pre-launch efforts created a fanbase that stayed with us—not just for the summer, but into BrisketTown and beyond.
Launch fast, then iterate. We didn’t wait for perfect. We shipped an idea, tested it in the wild, and got better with every brisket. Execution beat perfection.
Make it fun. We didn’t posture for cool. We focused on inclusion, curiosity, and joy. That ethos carried into every project that followed.
Brisketlab wasn’t just how I learned to cook brisket—it was how I learned to build excitement, design systems, and create belonging around a brand. It was proof that when you bring people in early, they don’t just show up—they root for you.