What it Means to Be a Startup

Happy Monday friends!

This week I'm going to talk about an experience I had that radically improved my perception of the world of business startups, and what it means for Smooth Coffee Co. Let's get into it.

Startup Challenge

If you're reading this on the Monterey Peninsula you may or may not be familiar with the Institute for Innovation and Economic Development, or IIED for short, and its yearly "Startup Challenge". It is an organization built into CSU Monterey Bay and its mission is to work "collaboratively with other regional organizations to create and support businesses and entrepreneurs, promote inclusivity, and ecology and create prosperity in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties."

I, along with my family, participated in the Startup Challenge this year in support of another project we are all starting separate from Smooth Coffee Co. I won't go into the details of that project here, but please reach out if you'd like to know more about the other ventures I'm getting into. Instead, I want to talk a little about how the experience deepened my understanding of the startup process.

The Startup Challenge, a competition centered around building a pitch for your business concept, is a multi-stage deep dive into the "why" and "how" of businesses. The first round ended in a recorded 5 minute pitch that determined who would go to the finals. The final round was a 10 minute pitch given in person to a panel of judges as well as a 3 hour long showcase where each of the finalists would present more detailed information on their businesses and mingle with other competitors, potential investors, and other community members interested in the upcoming entrepreneurs in the tri-county area.

Over the course of the competition our concept changed dramatically from a bootstrap startup to seeking funding for a major buildout. And these changes didn't come from input from the advisors who lead the various workshops between pitch presentations, but rather it came from our own self reflection on our goals for the business. All of that time spent asking ourselves "why" really affected the depth of understanding of our personal goals as business owners and community members, and for me personally made me realize how important a clear mission and vision for any business really is.

I've always thought having a Mission, Vision and Values for a business was a necessity, but this experience really made me understand just how thoroughly those words have to drive the decision making of a business. Not only in an effort to make the business financially successful, but also to ensure it has the impact on the world around me that I want it to have.

"Making modern coffee accessible to anyone" is the Smooth Coffee Co. mission, and I have a lot of personal values that will be directly instilled in the business by my own decision making. But I'm realizing my vision for what exactly that mission and those values will lead to is unclear, and I will be investing significantly more time into laying that vision out for myself and for you all here on the blog.

I'm stoked to say that we won Runner Up in our category and made a lot of personal connections to other entrepreneurs and startup support groups in the area. My hope is that these connections will lead to finding the right people to help get Smooth Coffee Co. started on its mission, and help shape it to be the meaningful community business that I want it to be.

Coffee Samples Round 2

Because prepping for that competition took up all of my free time last week I haven't had the chance to taste through all of the 2nd round samples I roasted up. I have brewed some of the Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador coffees to taste casually, and while none of the first roasts hit the nail on the head I definitely know where I want to take each of them to see what exactly they have to offer.

Tomorrow morning I'll be tasting through the Bolivia, Mexico, and Colombia offerings as well as revisiting the Costa, Hondo, and El Sal in a more formal setting. I'll also be employing the Rattleware brewers for the first time, which I'm extremely stoked on!

Business News

Nothing to report on the business front unfortunately. I reached back out to the bank about more details on the loan rejection but have yet to hear back. At this point my mind is focused mostly on figuring out how to raise some money to make myself more eligible for future loan applications. Whether it's crowdfunding or finding an investor remains to be seen, but I'll keep you posted as something develops, hopefully soon.

TTFN

That's all for today friends. Next week, full review of this round of samples, plus the first publicly available tasting session will be revealed! See you next week.

Cheers,

Noah