Guest: James Freeman, Founder and Former CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee
In the six or so years since he sold his last shares of Blue Bottle Coffee to Nestlé, James Freeman has had a lot of time to ruminate — about how he succeeded in creating a unique café experience, and also the ways he failed his workers as a manager. But he’s already thinking about how he’ll be better in round 2. “I've changed so much — physically, mentally, emotionally — I feel like I could be a better collaborator,” James says.
In this episode, James and Joubin discuss All About Coffee by William Ukers, Oliver Strand, performance anxiety, MongoMusic, farmers’ markets, “first touch” design, Parisian cafés, self-deception, Facebook ads, “great exits,” The Picture of Dorian Gray, “frictionless” coffee, Zeno’s Paradox, Yoda, iced oat lattes, espresso machines, The Devil Wears Prada, Steve Jobs, Angela Duckworth, and sandpaper.
Chapters:
- (02:25) - Coffee is culture
- (07:10) - James’ music career
- (11:20) - Moving into business
- (15:17) - Starting Blue Bottle
- (17:55) - “Fun until it wasn’t”
- (21:09) - Food vs. tech in San Francisco
- (23:15) - The coffee shop experience
- (29:18) - Dissatisfaction and bad management
- (33:42) - Exhaustion
- (36:22) - Exit
- (37:39) - Anxiety and falling apart
- (40:31) - Paying the bills vs. the high life
- (44:08) - Visiting Blue Bottle today
- (46:53) - The decision to sell
- (51:35) - Could he have stayed?
- (54:01) - The next coffee shop(s)
- (57:35) - Returning to the ring
- (01:01:39) - What if it works out?
- (01:03:30) - What “grit” means to James
Links:
Connect with James
Connect with Joubin