How Paint Nite Is Saving the American Bar

Most startup creation myths involve seeing a solution to some horrifying problem no one else noticed. Not so for Dan Hermann and Sean McGrail, who were at a female friend’s birthday party four years ago, drinking wine and painting landscapes, and said, “More of this.”

“We thought, This is catering to all women. How bad can it be?” Hermann says. He’s drinking a Harpoon IPA out of a Mason jar at 5 p.m. at his office in Somerville, Mass., along with the rest of the 80, mostly female, Paint Nite employees. Most of the company’s employment ads read: “It’s one of few jobs where you can drink on the job.” McGrail downs his pint, and the two founders head out—they’re off to drink at dinner before drinking again at a Paint Nite class—walking by conference rooms named things like Gin Fizz and Midori Sour.