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Blue Bottle does seem to be a great company. I have (and have had) may friends who have worked there over the years. It isn't quite clear to me how they're goin

• arfrank 13y ago
  My gut reaction is that if you could get in early enough on the next Starbucks it could return a large enough payoff to be worth the risk.
  • bnejad 13y ago
    With a bunch of big investors they certainly have enough hype to give it a shot.
    • arfrank 13y ago
      Also what % return are mutual fund and mutual fund-like investors looking for over the next decade? If 5-year average is (5-25)% loosely then you're either looking at an investment that blows that return out of the water, or doesn't really impact your overall fund at all.
    • deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
• rubiquity 13y ago
  They already have real revenue. It could be a lot worse.
• SDGT 13y ago
  I don't see how they would even be able to break out of SF in general. I'm on the other side of the country, and our small town has 3 independent coffee shops, multiple local roasters, and a Starbucks. This is your average college town, and there isn't an icebergs chance in hell you'd be able to get market penetration here.
  • IceyEC 13y ago
    The article says they have locations in New York as well.
    • alxndr 13y ago
      They have five locations in NY, opened a couple years ago IIRC.
      • apaprocki 13y ago
        I live down the street from one in BK and it is always packed. There is also another 3 other "local" brands within a few blocks that also have very good coffee. I'm not quite sure that BB will harm the local market unless they somehow magically sprout a gazillion stores like Starbucks. Even though they are all relatively close to one another, you usually go to the one that is on your frequent walking path, and walking 5 extra blocks in 10F wind chill might dissuade you from going out of your way :) edit: typo
    • angersock 13y ago
      Oh, well, if it's in SV and NYC, then it's clearly ready for the rest of us!
• chevas 13y ago
  I can see the company growing slowly into something large. Starbucks has left behind the craft and replaced it with automation and burnt coffee that can be tasted through 20 ounces of milk. Yet, the people still want craft coffee. This gave rise to lots of independents, but you never know what you're getting from one independent to the next. Just because you're an independent does not automatically make your coffee any good. Blue Bottle has worked really hard to develop a reputation of really really caring about coffee, from farm to cup (and good ingredients in all food products). There are very few large independents who have a similar reputation (Stumptown comes to mind and Intelligentsia come to mind). The last time I saw explosive growth in Coffee, which was cut way too short by a buyout from Starbucks for millions, was the Coffee Equipment company who manufactured the Clover machine. The Clover essentially elevated drip coffee to espresso status. The machine made drip coffee that tasted good, one cup at a time, and within 60 seconds. Blue Bottle isn't manufacturing anything, so my opinion is that it's going to be a long road to get to big growth.
  • k-mcgrady 13y ago
    >> "Blue Bottle has worked really hard to develop a reputation of really really caring about coffee, from farm to cup" That's great but how many people (apart from people trying to seem hip) really care? To the vast majority of people (those who get coffee at home/Starbucks/local cafés) it's a cup of coffee. Nothing more. They couldn't tell the difference between a $1.50 cup and a $6 cup and even if they could they'd still go with the $1.50 cup.