Coffee quality assessment can be a tricky thing. On one end you have your opinions and tastebuds—if a mediocre coffee is disguised by flowery processing methods or roasted to a crisp and you like it, that’s fine, you’re allowed to like whatever you want. But without injecting some sort of objectivity into something that’s highly subjective (taste), we can’t have productive discussions about quality. Successful, Popular, Cool Objectively any new car is faster, safer, and more capable than its 1960’s equivalent. But does that make it better? If your metrics are the previously listed qualities ..read more

If we treat feedback like a big scary monster, it will be a big scary monster. If we treat feedback as simply another aspect of our job, it blends into our workday. Greeting guests, dialing in espresso, sweeping the floor, giving and receiving feedback. Dialing in espresso can be intimidating but when we teach it we don’t lead with “This is super difficult and scary, and you only need to pull espresso when you feel completely comfortable with it.” We lean into the fun that’s involved in the process and focus on Why making delicious espresso matters. (How does this connect to our mis ..read more

When Baristas are fresh out of training and on bar for the first time, things don’t go perfectly. The cozyness of the lab is no substitute for the dynamic nature of the cafe. Drinks stack up, last-minute order changes are made, and the pressure of the line weighs heavy.  Eventually, every barista makes a drink that they’re not sure they should serve. In that moment, the best way forward is to immediately decide: Am I serving this or not? Yes or no? Then push forward.  Immediately serving a subpar drink, although not ideal, is better than stopping the whole train and staring at ..read more

Much of my day-to-day at Cat & Cloud revolves around marketing. I work with a two-person team that catches everything a traditional marketing department does. This includes organizing and running the web store, writing copy and taking product photos for coffee launches, designing and ordering merch, fielding design requests from other departments, and running social media and related communication channels.  A  few tidbits: Brand Guidelines and Design Guidelines are not the same thing Your brand guidelines are your mission and values—your DNA as an organization. Design guidelin ..read more

HOW is:  The fun part of your job The adventure Messy Full of surprises  All the interesting problems you get to solve All the paths you’ll take that you didn’t know existed  Where you hone your skills Where you find your confidence and build your character Where you grow Every week at our leadership meeting we review our quarterly goals. We know WHY we’re pursuing them, we can envision WHAT success looks and feels like, but we don’t know HOW we’re going to make them happen. Without fail, at the end of every project cycle, we’ve accomplished all the things we ..read more

My friend who has a small company is in the process of clarifying and sharing his vision with his team. Sharing your dreams for the future is an exposing process. Not only does it reveal something very personal, it puts you on the hook. I’ve spoken with many business owners who hesitate to share their vision for fear that it might not be well received or that they might not be able to deliver on their promise.  My friend is starting from a great place though because, like most small bootstrapped businesses, the main reason that his team has chosen to work with him is that they believe in ..read more

In small organizations, we often don’t have the bankroll to afford top-dollar talent. Most of us are playing Moneyball: we take passionate, culturally aligned people who love the work, allow them to lean into their strengths, and coach up (or ignore) the weaker parts of their game.  Sure, we need a certain level of competence—but the idea that we will find the “perfect” person for any given job is unrealistic. This goes for us owners as well. I’m passionate and thoughtful, but I’m no Bob Iger.  At Cat & Cloud, we’ve gone through different phases of hiring frameworks. In the ear ..read more

I once had an employee who was enthusiastic and talented. In some ways, he was overqualified for his role, and in others, he was very green. He had a good amount of freedom, contributed to interesting projects, and worked closely with the ownership team. He had a lot but wanted more.  I’m an advocate of asking for what you want. Think you’re worth three times your salary? State your case and cite examples to back it up*. But the reality of running a bootstrapped independent business is that even when that case is compelling (it usually isn’t), there’s often no way we can meet the demands ..read more

People who create extraordinary things are obsessed. The most renowned chefs don’t have a casual relationship with food. They don’t pigeonhole their work into a 9 to 5 schedule. They constantly ruminate on the details, lose sleep in pursuit of new ideas, and are consumed by their craft.  This pursuit of excellence has a trade-off. Something has to give. It might be health, personal relationships, or family. If they weren’t willing to let any of these suffer, they wouldn’t be in the spot they are—someone willing to make the sacrifice would be.  The important thing is not to get caug ..read more

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Blue Bottle Studio experience. It’s a multi-course coffee tasting menu with all details attended to. It’s probably the closest thing to a 3 Michelin Star experience in coffee.  As I’ve shared the experience with people I’ve fielded multiple questions in the vain of “Was it worth it?” “Was it the best coffee ever?” and “Do you think it’s actually a sustainable business model?”  All of these questions, while honest, miss the spirit of experiences like these. I see this experience less in terms of strict coffee quality or a new business mod ..read more