How Matt Jones co-founded Four Pillars Gin
Matt Jones shares the fortuitous meeting that gave rise to one of Australia's best-known local gin companies, Four Pillars. This is his take on how social media, storytelling and crowdfunding got Four Pillars the kind of marketing cut-through that other brands only dream about.
Tell us about your early years. Did you grow up financially secure? What were your formative money experiences?
As a child, I always felt we were financially secure as a family. But, like most kids, I suspect I didn't appreciate just how hard my parents were working to maintain that sense of stability.
That carried through into my university years, when my folks continued to help me out financially, not so much as to spoil me rotten, but enough to allow me to focus on studying, not money.
What was your first job and how much did you earn?
After graduating from university, I was an assistant economist in the UK civil service.
I was placed in the Defence Intelligence staff, which sounds glamorous. But the pay was not glamorous. If I remember correctly, my salary was just over £16,000 a year.
What did you spend that money on?
My parents covered my rent for my first couple of years living in London after university (okay, so maybe I was spoiled by them) so I could spend my take-home pay on clothes, shoes, going out and holidays.
Oh, and CDs, so many CDs. I was obsessed with music and London was full of great record shops. I still have my 10,000-plus CD collection today.
What was your career before Four Pillars?
My career took a pretty unconventional path, from being a government economist to a political speech writer to a brand experience strategist and then, most oddly, to being co-founder of a gin business.
But looking back, the through-lines of my career have been pretty clear.
Tell us how you came to co-found Four Pillars.
The short story is that I moved back from New York to Sydney after a couple of great years over there heading up strategy for a global brand experience agency.
My wife and I had just had a baby and were soon to be expecting another one. I stepped back from big agency life and set up my own boutique creative strategy agency.
One of the first messages I received on LinkedIn was from a guy called Stuart Gregor. He took me for lunch in Surry Hills and we hit it off instantly.
He suggested I meet his best mate Cam [Cameron Mackenzie]. And soon after that the three of us were co-founding Four Pillars Gin.
It's fair to say that meeting Stu changed my life. And I'd like to think the three of us went on to help change the distilling scene in Australia.
What were the main challenges in the beginning? Did your career before Four Pillars help?
The challenge that comes to mind, and one that I don't think founders spend enough time thinking about, was figuring out our theory of growth.
For me, this takes three dimensions.
The first is to define what scale you need to achieve to be material, viable and successful.
The second is to figure out what strategies, tactics and levers will be necessary to achieve that scale of success.
And the third is to figure out how you're going to pay for it. In our case, it was quickly apparent to us that we needed to find 20 'ginvestors' to put some fuel in the tank. It was one of the best early decisions we made.
Did my pre-gin career help? In terms of being an entrepreneur, no. But in terms of thinking clearly through the strategy and in terms of articulating that strategy with persuasive clarity to our investors, absolutely.

How did you break through the noise of other gin brands?
On the one hand, it was all about the gin. Right from the beginning we agreed we weren't going to try to make just another 'London Dry' style of gin, but instead make something more delicious, citrus-forward, aromatic and reflective of modern Australia.
Our first release, Rare Dry Gin, just blew people away when made into a perfect G&T with good tonic and a slice of fresh orange. But on the other hand, the approach we took to sharing our gin story with people was key.
We launched through crowdfunding and prioritised social and email storytelling, focusing on passionate gin lovers and keeping them engaged with regular small-batch and limited-edition releases. This became the flywheel for our success.
The main turning point for the success of the company?
The trajectory was upward and awesome from day one. But there's no question that things went up a gear with the opening of our permanent distillery home in Healesville [Victoria] in 2015.
We were able to open seven days a week. This year we hope to welcome about 200,000 people to visit and experience Four Pillars.
Important lessons you learned scaling up the business?
We started toying with the idea of making gin in 2012. We launched Four Pillars in late 2013.
We sold 50% of the business to Lion in 2019, and the three of us went into the business full-time as co-CEOs. We sold the remaining 50% of our equity to Lion in 2023.
And I continue to consult to Four Pillars on brand, strategy and creative development to this day.
So, a lot has happened and changed in 12 years. I think the founder version of me focused more on the upside opportunities because we had nothing to lose, whereas the co-CEO version of me worried much more about downside risks because, as we navigated those strange COVID-affected years of 2020 to 2022, there were just so many more responsibilities to be mindful of.
The greatest learning for me was in the power of the trio. We supported each other, fought a bit (but never seriously) and made ourselves and each other smarter and sharper in our thinking and execution. Without that leadership model Four Pillars simply wouldn't have worked out the way it did.
Has there been a financial turning point in your life?
There's never been a time when I was really worried about money. And there's never been a time when I haven't put pressure on myself to ensure there's enough money in the future.
So, in one sense, my attitude to money hasn't changed over the past 30 years.
Best money advice you've ever received?
Know what you're good at and find great people to advise you on the things you're not good at.
Investment is not an area of expertise or passion for me, so I'm glad I found [financial adviser] Charlie Viola to help take care of that side of things.
Best investment decision?
To date? Investing in Four Pillars, by far.
Apart from buying our home, it was probably the first big investment decision we'd ever made.
Worst investment decision?
Luckily, the two worst investment decisions I've made have been small scale, so the lessons learned weren't too painful.
In both cases they were decisions to invest in businesses based on a combination of my affection for the founder and my interest in the subject matter, rather than a hard-headed assessment of their right to succeed.
What is your greatest personal achievement?
In all honesty, my greatest personal achievement isn't solely mine. I think what we created over a decade at Four Pillars was truly special.
Money is good for...
Having the financial security to know that it's all going to be okay enables you to take more of those risks.
My parents put that financial safety net under me and, lucky for me, every big risk I've taken since then has paid off. I think it's important to appreciate that not everyone is so fortunate to have that sense of security behind them.
Win a copy of Matt Jones' new book, Lessons From Gin: Business the Four Pillars Way
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