Million-dollar startups: These firms scored big sales their first year

Not many people can say that they started a liquor company with the blessing of Warren Buffett but Tequila Avión founder Ken Austin can.

The two businessmen were at a poker tournament several years ago when they got into a conversation about the tequila industry. After discussing that no companies really challenged industry leader Patrón, Buffett encouraged Austin to start his own. And so he did.

Given the size of his firm compared to his competitors, Austin didn't expect the business to take off so quickly. "Most smaller tequila companies don't even do 10,000 cases a year," he says. "But our first order was 10,000 [cases]."

Within a year of launching, Avión was already generating more than $1 million in annual revenue. A year later, they were named the Best Tasting Tequila in the World at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

At first, Tequila Avión was available only in California and New York, but it's now sold all over the world, including Australia, France and Turkey.

And Austin is still dreaming big. "We want to be the most desired ultra premium tequila in the world," he says.