Podcasts about Blue Bottle Coffee

Why does it feel so awkward and difficult to take action the way we know we need to as leaders in the coffee shop? If you are human, you feel a kind of resistance when it comes to making decisions, having those conversations, and generally taking decisive steps into leadership. What are we worried about? Well, there surely are some things we can fall prey to and need to guard against when using the authority of the role to serve others, but unless we get over the awkward first steps, we cannot truly serve well.  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how you can plan on this awkwardness and how you can overcome it so you can be the effective owner, manager, trainer, and leader your baristas and customers need you to be.  Related episodes:   368 : Walking the Line Between Leadership and Friendship 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee 109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017   INTERESTED IN CONSULTING AND COACHING? If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email  chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now:  https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min    Thank you to out sponsors! Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/   The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

Send us a textIf you need to tackle the chaos in your home (with some accountability), join us for Decluttering with Body Doubling HERE.ADHD Cliff's Notes:We speak with Emily King, Founder and CEO of Faye, a company that matches busy families with advisors to help manage the mental load. Emily created Faye after becoming a mother and realizing how difficult it was to keep up with her family's personal to-do's, and how little support there was for parents. Faye fills a much-needed void: providing affordable help for busy families who do not have the means to hire full-time personal assistants but benefit from fractional help—it also creates part-time gig opportunities for women to monetize a skill set they typically don't get paid for. Emily breaks down the type of work a Faye assistant can do—imagine someone who can "think like you" and act on your behalf as project manager. Here's what's on the table: Staying on top of appointments, scheduling, booking travel, coordinating activities, organizing school emails, finding and coordinating professionals like housecleaners and handymen, saving money by cancelling subscriptions you don't use, shopping around for insurance, activities, providers, etc. While Faye can help with practical solutions, the mental health component is profound: the relief of knowing someone else is carrying the burden with you can be extremely emotional. "We have been set up to fail." Modern motherhood feels like an impossible math equation. We talk about the trap of moms being expected to work full-time and juggle full schedules while also being expected to manage the mental load. We discuss the added struggles of having ADHD in addition to being a parent in this busy, digital era, including decision fatigue and executive functioning challenges. The belief that we should be able to do all of this ourselves, despite the impossible standards, is what keeps so many moms from asking for help. Emily sees a shift that is a reason for hope: more and more women are willing to say that they deserve it, they don't question it, and they are willing to outsource this type of work. Make sure you are using your energy the right way—it matters!About Emily King:Emily King is the CEO and co-founder of Faye, a service designed to help parents get more done with the help of trusted family advisors. These advisors handle everyday tasks—like scheduling appointments and organizing family travel—so moms can breathe.As a working mother herself, Emily knows firsthand how impossible the juggle can feel. Her journey to launching Faye was fueled by her own experience navigating parenthood while excelling in demanding leadership roles—like serving as VP of Growth & Digital at Blue Bottle Coffee and more than a decade across consumer tech brands like Nextdoor, Good Eggs, and LivingSocial. She lives in Ogden, Utah, with her husband, Patten, and their daughter, Vivian.Find Faye HEREMOTHER PLUS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mother_plus_podcast/MOTHER PLUS FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/motherpluspodcastMOTHER PLUS PERMISSION SLIP: https://www.motherplusser.com/Permission-SlipMOTHER PLUS NEWSLETTER: https://www.motherplusser.com/signup-pageMOTHER PLUS BLOG: https://www.motherplusser.com/blog

Chris Sacca is the co-founder of Lowercarbon Capital and manages a portfolio of countless startups in energy, industrial materials, and carbon removal. If it's unf**king the planet, he's probably working on it. Previously, Chris founded Lowercase Capital, one of history's most successful funds ever, primarily known for its very early investments in companies like Twitter, Uber, Instagram, Twilio, Docker, Optimizely, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Stripe. But you might just know him as the guy who wore those ridiculous cowboy shirts for a few seasons of Shark Tank. To purchase Chris's ranch, schedule a viewing at FivePondsRanch.com.P.S. This episode features a special, one-of-a-kind introduction that Chris recorded of yours truly. :) Sponsors:MUDWTR energy-boosting coffee alternative—without the jitters: https://MUDWTR.com/Tim (between 15% and 43% off) Helix Sleep premium mattresses: https://HelixSleep.com/Tim (Between 20% and 27% off all mattress orders and two free pillows)AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://DrinkAG1.com/Tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase.)*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ever wondered why some brands command attention and higher prices, even when their products aren't much different from the competition? It all comes down to brand value—your business's hidden superpower that elevates its worth, loyalty, and market impact. In this episode, we unpack how to measure your brand's value using methods like the Income Approach (think Disney-level licensing power), Market Approach (think iconic acquisitions like Blue Bottle Coffee), and Brand Equity (what customers truly feel about you). We'll also dive into why brand-building is one of the smartest investments you can make, from allowing premium pricing and fostering loyalty to enhancing market share and attracting investors. Whether you're aiming to scale or setting up for a future sale, understanding and building your brand's worth isn't just a nice-to-have—it's your path to long-term success and industry influence. Ready to take your brand to new heights? Let's get started!GET MORE MARKETING & SALES TOOLS:Are you interested in becoming the published author of a powerful book to help you attract more ideal clients and set you apart from the competition? Imagine holding your own book in your hands as quickly as 3-6 weeks without you ever having to write a word. We do all the work, you get all the glory! Find out how we Capture Your Genius at our sister publishing house Lunch Break Books - powerful books for entrepreneurs with big growth goals.Are you subscribed to Marketing Gold? Get more marketing tools, tips and strategies delivered to your inbox most Mondays. Sign up here.Is your business doing $2M+ and you're ready to take it to the next level? We'll show you how. Get your free marketing roadmap by taking the Client Stampede Assessment. It's fast, free (Value $197) and your 20+ page report is emailed to you instantly.Enjoying the podcast? You'll love the audio book. Get The Client Stampede audio book on Amazon.

This is the Women of Influence Podcast series, delivering next level insights and expertise live from GlobeSt.'s Women of Influence Conference.The Women of Influence Podcast Series is an exclusive mini-series of The Crexi Podcast, an insider's look at all things commercial real estate, produced in collaboration with GlobeSt. The Crexi team visited Women of Influence and recorded in Lake Tahoe, California, from the floor of the conference, highlighting movers and shakers in commercial real estate. The Crexi Podcast explores various aspects of the commercial real estate industry in conversation with some of the top professionals in the space. In each episode, we feature different guests to tap into their wealth of CRE expertise and explore the latest trends and updates from the world of commercial real estate. In this episode, guest host Holly Amaya and Crexi's Shanti Ryle sit with Carrie Bobb, SVP at Foundry Commercial, Bettina Hunt, SVP of Leasing at American Healthcare REIT, and Deana Marcello, Executive VP at Colliers, to cover wide-ranging topics, including:Introduction to the Women of Influence SeriesMeet Carrie Bobb: Career Highlights and AccomplishmentsCarrie's Journey into Commercial Real EstateChallenges in the Commercial Real Estate IndustryThe Importance of Faith and Support SystemsNavigating the Pandemic and Business PivotsCurrent Market Trends and InsightsAdvice for Young Women in Real EstateClosing Remarks and Where to Find Carrie OnlineMeet Bettina HuntBettina's Journey into Commercial Real EstateNavigating Challenges in the IndustryInsights into Healthcare Real EstateAdvice for Aspiring Real Estate ProfessionalsConclusion and Contact InformationMeet Deana MarcelloCareer Highlights and Recent ChangesLas Vegas Market InsightsExciting Projects on The StripWomen in Commercial Real EstateMentorship and Networking TipsFuture of Commercial Real EstateConclusion and Contact Information About Carrie Bobb:Carrie is a placemaker for mixed-use developments where she curates a sense of place and drives value vertically for an asset through retail leasing and merchandising. During her 20+ year career in commercial real estate, Carrie has negotiated over $2 billion in transactions.Prior to joining Foundry, Carrie was the founder of Carrie Bobb & Co. and co-founder of hellojenny. Carrie Bobb & Co specialized in mixed-use developments and evoking emotion through retail leasing. Hellojenny develops digital strategies for commercial real estate by aligning the social media strategy of an asset with the leasing strategy.Prior to starting her own companies, Carrie had been with CBRE in San Diego for 15 years where she worked on projects out of the ground such as One Paseo, The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch, Pacific Gate, Flower Hill Promenade (re-development), Encinitas Village (re-development) and several others.Carrie has completed transactions with retailers such as Sephora, Blue Bottle Coffee, lululemon, Cinepolis, SoulCycle, Fox Restaurant Concepts, Salt & Straw, drybar and several others. She has represented landlords including Kilroy Realty, IQHQ, Bosa Development, Asana Partners, Protea Properties, Heitman, Regency Centers, as well as many others.About Bettina Hunt:Bettina Hunt, CCIM, CPM is a senior vice president of Leasing with American Healthcare Reit. Formerly, she was an SVP at Colliers, a member of the Arizona Healthcare Team and a national Colliers Healthcare Fellow, specializing in healthcare real estate including tenant representation, landlord representation, owner user sales and investment sales. Bettina is an accomplished real estate broker with more than 24 years of experience with two decades of specializing in healthcare real estate. She is passionate about her commitment to helping others, which she demonstrates through her thorough, prompt review and recommendations on every transaction with every client.  Arizona BIG Media recognized Bettina in 2019 as one of their Most Influential Women. She has earned a reputation for going out of her way to strategize multifaceted solutions to complex client needs and has been recognized for this talent and achievement. Creative in her approach and professional in her delivery, Bettina is astute in her ability to accurately assess situations and deliver solutions that are mutually advantageous to all parties whether she is representing the tenant or the landlord, the buyer, or the seller. Prior to Colliers, Bettina worked at Healthcare Trust of America (HTA) a publicly traded REIT for a decade and served as the senior director of leasing, director of operations and designated broker for the Arizona offices. During her time at HTA, she managed all leasing responsibilities for 3.7 million square feet of medical office space across a nine-state portfolio. Bettina worked for Healthcare Realty after they acquired HTA as they transitioned the company. Before her time at HTA, Bettina represented the Owner of the Banner Del E. Webb and Boswell Medical Center Campus where she served as director of leasing and operations. About Deana Marcello:Deana is a 3rd-generation Real Estate professional and a recognized leader in the commercial real estate industry. Deana serves as an Executive Vice President at Colliers where she focuses on the stabilization and disposition of assets and implementing strategic planning to maximize value for her clients.Deana proudly followed her father's footsteps and developed a passion for real estate through her work. A Rhode Island native, Deana is a 23-year resident of Las Vegas who brings over 13 years of experience specializing in commercial REO, investment and owner/user sales, as well as representation for national retail tenants and institutional landlords. She began her career at the Las Vegas Development Company where she perfected her brokerage and development services. She later worked as a Senior Associate at The Equity Group where she was responsible for developing several retail projects throughout Las Vegas. Deana served as an Executive Vice President at Logic where she was responsible for securing some of the largest sale and lease transactions for the company.Deana obtained her Bachelors in Finance from University of Nevada Las Vegas, is an active CCIM candidate, and a graduate of NAIOP Southern Nevada's Developing Leader's Institute. Deana is greatly involved in the Las Vegas community and she continues to give back by serving as Chair of the NAIOP Developing Leaders committee, which helps mold and mentor young professionals in the commercial real estate industry.About GlobeSt. Women of Influence: The Women of Influence Conference is an exclusive two-day event that celebrates the women who drive the commercial real estate industry forward. These influential leaders will discuss the critical issues facing CRE now and in the future, what it means to be a woman in business today and how women CRE leaders can uplift and support each other on their journey to the top. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our newsletter and enjoy the next podcast delivered straight to your inbox. For show notes, past guests, and more CRE content, please check out Crexi's blog. Ready to find your next CRE property? Visit Crexi and immediately browse 500,000+ available commercial properties for sale and lease. Follow Crexi:https://www.crexi.com/​ https://www.crexi.com/instagram​ https://www.crexi.com/facebook​ https://www.crexi.com/twitter​ https://www.crexi.com/linkedin​ https://www.youtube.com/crexi

Kate Berlant (@kateberlant, Cinnamon in the Wind) joins the 'boys to talk LA eats, massages, and Italy before a review of Blue Bottle Coffee. Plus, another edition of Jingle All The Whey.Watch this episode at youtube.com/doughboysmediaGet ad-free episodes at patreon.com/doughboysGet Doughboys merch at kinshipgoods.com/doughboysAdvertise on Doughboys via Gumball.fmSources for this week's intro:https://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/95550189/artie-shaw-the-reluctant-jazz-starhttps://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/artie-shawhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Artie-Shawhttps://artieshaw.com/wives-of-artie-shaw/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/blue-bottle-coffee-went-from-single-coffee-cart-to-700-million-brand.htmlhttps://www.tastingtable.com/1209076/blue-bottle-coffee-was-named-after-a-famous-european-coffee-shop/https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/oct/04/ontario-six-nations-nestle-running-waterhttps://techcrunch.com/2017/09/14/nestle-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-blue-bottle-coffee/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you convince investors to bet over $100 million on your innovative beverage company? If you're Matt Roberts, you start by making them a great cup of coffee. Matt is the founder of Cometeer Coffee, which markets innovative frozen coffee capsules crafted using premium coffee beans sourced from leading specialty roasters. The single-serve capsules can be used to make hot or cold coffee, and are produced using a proprietary process in which fresh beans are ground, brewed and flash-frozen to preserve flavors and aromas.  Launched in 2015, Cometeer was developed in partnership with coffee industry legend George Howell, who believes that the brand "will do for coffee what the bottle did for wine." He's not alone in his lofty expectations for the Massachusetts-based company, which has raised venture capital funding from coffee and tech heavyweights, including the founder of Keurig Green Mountain, the former president of Nespresso and lead investors in Blue Bottle Coffee, among others. Cometeer has built a thriving direct-to-consumer business and is gradually expanding distribution to brick-and-mortar retailers. The brand is currently available in over 500 stores nationwide including Sprouts, Central Market, New Season, and Gelson's. In the following interview, I spoke with Matt about how he identified the opportunity to disrupt the instant coffee category by delivering a high quality drinking experience, how Cometeer has crafted an effective consumer education strategy and how his constant desire to learn more has helped him become a better leader. Show notes: 0:35: Matt Roberts, Founder & CEO, Cometeer Coffee – Matt chats about growing up and launching Cometeer in Massachusetts, why the company is based in Gloucester and the city's history as “Freezetown USA.” He also talks about the science and process behind Cometeer and why “brew tech” is the company's stock in trade, what he considers to be the company's “moat” and who its' primary competitors are, and gives a brief, but informative, explanation as to how the company captures and preserves coffee at its peak form. He also discusses how scientific validation of the company's processing methods attracted tech and consumer brand investors, why education and trial remains Cometeer's biggest challenge, and its plans to create a mainstream offering. Matt also talks about Cometeer's relationship with roasting partners and coffee farmers, why he's bullish on climate-resistant coffee crops, how “the extended coffee TED talk” and the success of Nespresso have been effective in attracting new investors and how he talks to them about potential M&A deals, and how podcasts (like this one) have been instrumental in his personal education about business and leadership. Brands in this episode: Cometeer Coffee, Blue Bottle, George Howell, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, James Hoffman, Onyx Coffee, Nespresso

We've talked in previous episodes about outsourcing work at home in ep. 29 (including emotional and even "moral" hangups about doing so) and, specifically, about hiring a house manager in ep. 52 with Kelly Hubbell of Sage House. Today, we're continuing this conversation with another option to help outsource more of the mental load. Emily King is the co-founder and CEO of Faye, an AI-powered platform that makes it affordable to hire a local personal assistant to help with those day-to-day, mentally exhausting tasks. Let's dig into examples of what people outsource to Faye and how it works.  I have no financial affiliation with and gain no benefit from sharing about Faye. I just think it's an interesting platform that might provide you with the relief you're looking for, so wanted to make you aware of it! A bit more about Emily: Prior to entrepreneur life, Emily was the VP of Digital & Product at Blue Bottle Coffee, where she oversaw digital marketing, e-comm, and mobile, as well as physical product development: cafe drinks/culinary, merchandise, and all CPG. Prior to Blue Bottle, she led revenue operations and direct sales at Nextdoor; merchandising at Good Eggs; and e-comm and home services at LivingSocial. Emily started her career as a writer and editor at National Geographic, before discovering the exciting, fast-paced world of consumer tech. She currently lives in Ogden, UT, with her husband Patten and their 6-year-old daughter, Vivian.  Learn more at https://www.findfaye.com/, and follow along on Instagram at @tryfaye.  A full transcript of this episode is available on my website about two weeks after the episode is published. To find it, click here and then select the episode.

Guest: Jack Conte, CEO & co-founder of PatreonFor many YouTube video creators, getting millions of views on your videos may seem like the goal. But when Jack Conte and his wife Nataly Dawn became YouTube stars through their band Pomplamoose, they didn't automatically find gold at the end of the rainbow.“You check your ad revenue and you make 48 bucks in ad revenue and you're like, ‘Oh my God, I'm worthless,'” Jack recalls. “And you check that dashboard every day ... and eventually you start to believe that you're worth $48 a month. That's a bad f**king feeling.”That's why in 2013, he co-founded the artist-funding platform Patreon, and discovered that there were a lot more creators like him out there. As of 2022, those creators have earned more than $3.5 billion from Patreon.Chapters:(01:06) - Barriers to entry (03:04) - The creator economy (08:36) - Patreon's mission (11:22) - Its name (13:12) - Talking to artists (17:26) - Detail obsession (24:07) - “Nobody has an answer” (27:17) - Playing empty rooms (31:09) - Success feels like failure (33:37) - “I'll be happy when...” (39:26) - Type one vs type two joy (45:32) - Self-confidence (48:30) - Obsession, humility, and kindness (53:51) - Figuring out your sound (56:18) - “I'm f**king terrified” (01:00:33) - Pedals (01:04:04) - Starting Patreon (01:07:04) - Who Patreon is hiring Mentioned in this episode: Jason Kilar, Spotify, YouTube, Pomplamoose, Google Docs, GoDaddy, LaCroix, James Freeman and Blue Bottle Coffee, Woody Allen, Medium, YCombinator, Apple and the App Store, MySpace, Matthew “The Oatmeal” Inman, AdSense, Home Depot, Skrillex and Fred Again, Matt Bunting, and Sam Yam.Links:Connect with JackLinkedInRead "I'm f**king terrified"Watch the "Pedals" music videoConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Professor Anindya Ghose discusses his upcoming book on AI and wellbeing, explaining the "House of AI" framework that corporate leaders can use to build an AI-driven organization and its applications in marketing. He covers topics like data engineering, marketing mix modeling, and the future of mobile advertising. He also shares insights on maintaining traditional marketing principles while embracing AI technologies, and why human creativity and intuition aren't going anywhere in the age of AI. Anindya Ghose is the Heinz Riehl Chair Professor at NYU Stern, specializing in quantitative marketing and tech economics. Recognized as a Top 40 Under 40, and Thinkers50, he authored the best-selling and award winning book TAP: Unlocking the Mobile Economy and the upcoming release Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI. He has been interviewed and his research has been profiled numerous times in the BBC, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, The Economist, Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. You can pre-order his new book, (with Ravi Bapna), THRIVE: Maximizing Well-Being in The Age of AI: https://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Maximizing-Well-Being-Age-AI/dp/0262049317 Anindya's preferred coffee spot in New York City is Blue Bottle Coffee: https://bluebottlecoffee.com/cafes His favorite book is No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts: https://www.amazon.com/No-Shortcuts-Top-Climbing-Highest/dp/0767924711 Connect with Anindya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jeffrey-funk-a979435 Anindya's personal website: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~aghose/contents/bio.html If you have any questions about brands and marketing, connect with the host of this channel, Itir Eraslan, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itireraslan/

Guest: James Freeman, Founder and Former CEO of Blue Bottle CoffeeIn 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 JamesLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Leadership in the coffee shop can either be the glue that holds it together and nurtures its growth, or it is the force that tears it apart and depletes it of vitality. In order to make sure it is the former we need to make certain that we, and those placed in leadership possess key traits and qualities that create a people-first culture.  Today we are re-airing a vitally important episode highlighting character traits and qualities every cafe leader needs to possess and practice. In order to be a successful shop you need to have a people first disposition. This episode is  We cover: The Importance of Mindfulness in Leadership Practicing Empathy in Leadership Consistency: Building Trust and Clarity Cultivating Confidence in Coffee Shop Leadership The Power of Curiosity in Leading a Coffee Shop Related Episodes:  472: Why Technical Skill as a Leader is Not Enough w/ Jonathan Raymond, Refound, Author: Good Authority 368 : Walking the Line Between Leadership and Friendship 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee 109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it 437 : The New Age of the Barista: Mindsets + Habits for Success 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces Thank you to our amazing sponsors! Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee   The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com  

Danielle Connor shares her story and what she has learned going from employed barista to starting her own cafe and coffee roasting brand.Danielle is the co-founder of Retrograde, a popular local cafe Sebastopol, California and with a separate roasting facility in Petaluma.Retrograde was the first Certified Green coffee roaster and cafe in Sonoma County. Danielle takes a value-based approach in everything she does as a business owner, placing a focus on the people she works with and the quality of her products.Listen in to see how Beauty's Bagel Shop owner helped launch Danielle into her own coffee shop and her friend into Rolling Sloane's bakery; how friends at Blue Bottle Coffee and Andytown Coffee Roasters contributed to her success; how fond childhood visits to the Antique Society in Sebastopol made her want to move there; and why she chooses to work with Sweet Maria's and The Coffee Shrub for her beans.This episode is sponsored by Pareto Labs, an online business education platform.Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or other major streaming platforms.If you have a comment, a question you wish I'd asked, an idea for an episode or want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you! For inquiring guests, please keep in mind that this podcast is for the benefit of listeners and I am not interested in any “puff pieces.” Thank you for understanding!Feel free to send me a message through my website, or through LinkedIn.Follow the show/host on Instagram at Anne McGinty Host.

A stop-motion artist, photographer and creative entrepreneur who weaves magic into advertisements, marketing strategies and everyday life. Her mission is to empower others to unlock their creativity, awaken their imagination and take risks in pursing what they love. She is a stop-motion artist who makes video for brands and teaches creatives how to bring magic into their work. Colette has created memorable work for Starbucks, Panera, Sony, Nickelodeon, 3M, Kraft, Dunkin', Expedia, Barnes & Noble, Red Bull, Fjall Raven, Blue Bottle Coffee, Adidas, Pottery Barn Kids, Native, Shutterfly, REI, Ruggable, DoorDash and Doritos.

Post-pandemic leadership can be challenging. With the current market and increased expectations workers, leaders, and mid-level managers are squeezed, balancing the needs of the business with the demands of their people. This is why I'm excited to talk to a Chief People Officer of a global organization that is doing the work, navigating the journey, and experimenting with ways to better support their people.Today, I talk with Jessica Swank about how her company's leaders are navigating the challenges and still taking care of themselves and their people. We discuss the importance of clarity and support when setting high expectations, and how transparency, communication, and listening are vital with hybrid and remote work experimentation. We discuss specific ways Box integrates values into their decisions and develops and enables their managers to be more successful. Whatever your culture, Jessica offers her best advice on where you can start supporting your leaders.To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at TheEmpathyEdge.comKey Takeaways:In your organization, you cannot be clear enough. Hold high expectations, but also give a clear understanding that you'll be supporting your team and that you're available for that support.Actions speak louder than words and other people notice. You continue to show your empathetic culture every time you talk about caring for each other and empathy in service and follow it up with actions.Setting boundaries is both self-care and empathetic. It gives you space to recharge and be more present in the difficult conversations that need to be had in business.Work-life balance is not real. You need to understand priorities and boundaries to ensure you're healthy with your life in the season you're in.It is a journey to understanding and managing the needs of your team. Be willing to take that journey and gather information from your employees on what is working and what is not."It's not just up to the business to say, ‘Here's what I need from you.' It is incredibly valuable for every person to have that open dialogue with their managers, ask them when they need support, clarification, feedback, not just sitting back and waiting to be told, but also engaging in that dialogue." — Jessica Swank"It's all about juggling, and you're going to drop some balls, just make sure that the balls are going to bounce versus shatter." — Jessica SwankAbout Jessica Swank, Chief People Officer, BoxJessica has a proven track record helping companies define and amplify their people and culture strategy (including diversity, talent development, employee experience, workforce planning, people analytics, and internal communications). She has been with Box since December 2018, and currently leads all People (HR), Belonging, Community (including Box.org), Places (workplace services and real estate), and Internal Communications. Prior to Box she led the People team at Blue Bottle Coffee, a high-growth global coffee company. Previously, Jessica led HR for Aruba, a fast-growing subsidiary of HPE, and spent ten years at HP/HPE in a variety of global HR roles. Her early career included executive search and recruiting for CEO's, CFO's and other key leadership positions.Connect with Jessica Swank:Box: box.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessica-venner-swankJoin the community and discover what empathy can do for you: red-slice.comPRE-SALE SPECIAL! Pre-order 1 to 99 copies of Maria's new book, The Empathy Dilemma for your leaders, exec team, or yourself and GET 30%! bit.ly/TEDSpecialPresale Offer ends August 27, 2024!Connect with Maria:Get the podcast & book: TheEmpathyEdge.comLearn more about Maria & her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaX: @redsliceFacebook: Red SliceThreads: @redslicemaria

Chris and Doran are joined by Carly Green to discuss, "Arabica-like flavour in a heat-tolerant wild coffee species", appearing in Nat. Plants, 2021, 7, 413. The article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00891-4 About Carly: Carly worked for Blue Bottle Coffee as their is a green coffee coordinator and lab manager, and is now in the Netherlands running Cherry Love Coffee. Introduction preamble: Paulie Gualtieri.

Blue Bottle Coffee Japan代表の伊藤諒さんをゲストに迎えて行った公開収録の模様をオンエア。前半のテーマは「コーヒーから見る体験重視のブランドづくり〜まず直感・次にロジック」。＜目次＞00:35　オープニングトーク10:13　２人の出会いのきっかけ13:19　Blue Bottle Coffeeの日本進出18:11　感性や感覚による決断24:31　変化の感覚によるグラデーション29:26　感覚の言語化への抵抗35:00　クリエイティビティをロジックで支える＜ゲストプロフィール＞伊藤 諒（イトウ・リョウ）Blue Bottle Coffee Japan代表。1982年東京都生まれ。東京大学卒業後、三井物産に入社。資源分野での物流/投資業務、経理業務を経験し、米国カリフォルニア大学バークレー校へMBA取得のため留学。留学期間中に米国ブルーボトルコーヒーにて日本事業立ち上げサポートのインターンとして勤務後、2016年5月にブルーボトルコーヒージャパンに入社。事業本部長として製造/物流/店舗開発等を担当し、2018年から韓国/香港の市場開拓及び事業立ち上げも兼任。2020年8月より現職。趣味は登山、クライミングを中心にアウトドア全般。■SPINEAR Contacthttps://sbwl.to/43Dm8pg

James Freeman is the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, a brand he started in 2002 in a modest 186-square foot shed in Oakland, California. From a freelance clarinetist he transformed into a coffee entrepreneur, creating a company with numerous roasteries and over 100 cafes across the United States and Asia.Celebrated as Coffee Professional of the Year by Imbibe Magazine and listed among Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, James's influence extends beyond the coffee industry. He's also an author of The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee, and has been featured in prominent publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS This Morning. Today Freeman serves as Creative Director for Blue Bottle Studio, and enjoys blending his professional pursuits with the joys of fatherhood.Follow To Dine For:Official Website: ToDineForTV.comFacebook: Facebook.com/ToDineForTVInstagram: @ToDineForTVTwitter: @KateSullivanTVEmail: ToDineForTV@gmail.com Thank You to our Sponsors!American National InsuranceFollow Our Guest:Official Site: BlueBottleCoffee.comInstagram: @WJamesFreeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the long tail, scarcity and niche have to do with your creative business? Umm, everything. Oh, and if you are not sure what the long tail, scarcity and niche even mean in this context, that is ok, I will just tell you the story of Blue Bottle Coffee and it will all make sense. Listen in... Original Episode Number: 2 | Original Air Date: 5/26/2020 Links & Resources: Link to Sound File for Visually Impaired: Click Here Host: Sean Low of The Business of Being Creative Link: Join Sean's Collective of Business Creatives Follow Sean on social media: Instagram: @SeanLow1 | Facebook: Facebook.com/Sean.Low.35 | LinkedIn | Twitter: @SeanLow Have an opinion on Sean's tips and advice? Talk Back!! Email Shawn. -- Podcast Network: The Wedding Biz Network Production House: Flint Stone Media Copyright of The Wedding Biz, LLC. 2020.

2024.02.26 OA Life in Fukuoka "English" #204 LOVE FM 76.1MHz http://lovefm.co.jp/

The landscape of specialty coffee has been influenced by many people and companies over the last few decades. The foundations of the standards and methods we use now, at one time, were merely ideas waiting for someone to put them into action. In the class of companies operators that have championed that exploration one of the most influential was Intelligentsia Coffee under the leadership of founder Doug Zell. Doug Zell is the founder of Intelligentsia Coffee and the Meteor Cafe. In 1995 he and Emily Mange founded what was just a small roastery and cafe in Chicago. Through a passion for design, coffee, and innovative hospitality Intelligentsia became an iconic brand with retail locations and roasting operations across the country and an influence in coffee that has inspired countless professionals globally. Intelligentsia was an early innovator of Direct Trade, and has boasted progressive design and service concepts that have challenged the status quo of training and hospitality in the industry. Included in their staff of some of the best green buyers, baristas, and managers, including a WBC Champion.  It is virtually impossible to measure the impact and contribution to coffee culture Intelligentsia has had and so much of it comes from the original values and goals that the company was founded on and the ability to develop a team to scale that vision.  In this first part of our 2 part Founder Friday we will be talking with Doug and focusing on the years of 1995-2015 and the establishment and growth of Intelligentsia Coffee all the way up to the acquisition of the company by Pete's Coffee. In part 2 we switch gears with Doug and talk about how he pivoted to start the unique concept of The Meteor Cafe. We discuss: Doug's entry into coffee and the coffee business The original store, concept, and values Growing in Chicago and working to lead with design How Doug grew his leadership and the  Why culture is a critical aspect of building a successful business Having confidence in your ideas and the ability to endure the challenges of a startup Competition's role in company culture and the barista craft Balancing local and national perception  How expansion can creates opportunities for growth and economic success. Links: www.intelligenstia.com www.themeteor.cafe IG : @doug.zell Related episodes: 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee 401 : Founder Friday! w/ Jack Benchakul of Endorffiene in Los Angeles 017 : Founder Friday w/ Jonathan Rubinstein of Joe Coffee: Entrepreneurship | Coffee Business | Hiring | Barista Culture | Growth 375 : Founder Friday! w/ Roland Horne of WatchHouse 219 : Building a Winning Food Program w/ Marilei Denila, Culinary R&D Manager, Go Get em Tiger 444: Founder Friday! w/ Julia Peixoto Peters of Peixoto Coffee, Arizona 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now! https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min Thank you to our amazing sponsors! Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee   The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com  

Brought to you by Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega fish oil, GiveWell.org charity research and effective giving, and Wealthfront high-yield savings account. Steve Jang (@stevejang) is the founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco. He is also a longtime friend and one of the founder-now-investor generation of VCs that arose out of the last technology cycle. Steve is one of the top 100 venture capital investors in the world, according to Forbes Midas List of top venture capital investors, and was ranked #45 in 2023. He is also a Korean-American, a gyopo, who is deeply invested and involved in both the technological and cultural worlds in the US and Asia. Previously, Steve was an early advisor to, and angel investor in, Uber, and then an early-stage investor in Coinbase, Postmates, Poshmark, Tonal, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Humane, the AI device platform. He helped Uber, Coinbase, and Blue Bottle Coffee, among others, to expand into Korea and Japan. As an entrepreneur, Steve co-founded companies in the consumer internet, mobile, and crypto space.In the film and music world, he is an executive producer, and his most recent film is Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV, which tells the story of the greatest Korean artist, and father of digital video art, and which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023. His next film is a documentary about Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum.Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is an app that helps you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 5% APY—that's the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account. That's more than ten times more interest than if you left your money in a savings account at the average bank, according to FDIC.gov. It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you'll immediately start earning 5% interest on your savings. And when you open an account today, you'll get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started.*This episode is also brought to you by Nordic Naturals, the #1-selling fish-oil brand in the US! More than 80% of Americans don't get enough omega-3 fats from their diet. That is a problem because the body can't produce omega-3s, an important nutrient for cell structure and function. Nordic Naturals solves that problem with their doctor-recommended Ultimate Omega fish-oil formula for heart health, brain function, immune support, and more. Ultimate Omega is made exclusively from 100% wild-caught sardines and anchovies. It's incredibly pure and fresh with no fishy aftertaste. All Nordic Naturals' fish-oil products are offered in the triglyceride molecular form—the form naturally found in fish, and the form your body most easily absorbs.Go to Nordic.com and discover why Nordic Naturals is the #1-selling omega-3 brand in the U.S. Use promo code TIM for 20% off your order.*This episode is also brought to you by GiveWell.org! For over ten years, GiveWell.org has helped donors find the charities and projects that save and improve lives most per dollar. GiveWell spends over 30,000 hours each year researching charitable organizations and only recommends a few of the highest-impact, evidence-backed charities they've found. In total, more than 100,000 people have used GiveWell to donate as effectively as possible.This year, support the charities that save and improve lives most, with GiveWell. Any of my listeners who become new GiveWell donors will have their first donation matched up to $100 when you go to GiveWell.org and select “PODCAST” and “Tim Ferriss” at checkout.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Catch us at Modular's ModCon next week with Chris Lattner, and join our community!Due to Bryan's very wide ranging experience in data science and AI across Blue Bottle (!), StitchFix, Weights & Biases, and now Hex Magic, this episode can be considered a two-parter.Notebooks = Chat++We've talked a lot about AI UX (in our meetups, writeups, and guest posts), and today we're excited to dive into a new old player in AI interfaces: notebooks! Depending on your background, you either Don't Like or you Like notebooks — they are the most popular example of Knuth's Literate Programming concept, basically a collection of cells; each cell can execute code, display it, and share its state with all the other cells in a notebook. They can also simply be Markdown cells to add commentary to the analysis. Notebooks have a long history but most recently became popular from iPython evolving into Project Jupyter, and a wave of notebook based startups from Observable to DeepNote and Databricks sprung up for the modern data stack.The first wave of AI applications has been very chat focused (ChatGPT, Character.ai, Perplexity, etc). Chat as a user interface has a few shortcomings, the major one being the inability to edit previous messages. We enjoyed Bryan's takes on why notebooks feel like “Chat++” and how they are building Hex Magic:* Atomic actions vs Stream of consciousness: in a chat interface, you make corrections by adding more messages to a conversation (i.e. “Can you try again by doing X instead?” or “I actually meant XYZ”). The context can easily get messy and confusing for models (and humans!) to follow. Notebooks' cell structure on the other hand allows users to go back to any previous cells and make edits without having to add new ones at the bottom. * “Airlocks” for repeatability: one of the ideas they came up with at Hex is “airlocks”, a collection of cells that depend on each other and keep each other in sync. If you have a task like “Create a summary of my customers' recent purchases”, there are many sub-tasks to be done (look up the data, sum the amounts, write the text, etc). Each sub-task will be in its own cell, and the airlock will keep them all in sync together.* Technical + Non-Technical users: previously you had to use Python / R / Julia to write notebooks code, but with models like GPT-4, natural language is usually enough. Hex is also working on lowering the barrier of entry for non-technical users into notebooks, similar to how Code Interpreter is doing the same in ChatGPT. Obviously notebooks aren't new for developers (OpenAI Cookbooks are a good example), but haven't had much adoption in less technical spheres. Some of the shortcomings of chat UIs + LLMs lowering the barrier of entry to creating code cells might make them a much more popular UX going forward.RAG = RecSys!We also talked about the LLMOps landscape and why it's an “iron mine” rather than a “gold rush”: I'll shamelessly steal [this] from a friend, Adam Azzam from Prefect. He says that [LLMOps] is more of like an iron mine than a gold mine in the sense of there is a lot of work to extract this precious, precious resource. Don't expect to just go down to the stream and do a little panning. There's a lot of work to be done. And frankly, the steps to go from this resource to something valuable is significant.Some of my favorite takeaways:* RAG as RecSys for LLMs: at its core, the goal of a RAG pipeline is finding the most relevant documents based on a task. This isn't very different from traditional recommendation system products that surface things for users. How can we apply old lessons to this new problem? Bryan cites fellow AIE Summit speaker and Latent Space Paper Club host Eugene Yan in decomposing the retrieval problem into retrieval, filtering, and scoring/ranking/ordering:As AI Engineers increasingly find that long context has tradeoffs, they will also have to relearn age old lessons that vector search is NOT all you need and a good systems not models approach is essential to scalable/debuggable RAG. Good thing Bryan has just written the first O'Reilly book about modern RecSys, eh?* Narrowing down evaluation: while “hallucination” is a easy term to throw around, the reality is more nuanced. A lot of times, model errors can be automatically fixed: is this JSON valid? If not, why? Is it just missing a closing brace? These smaller issues can be checked and fixed before returning the response to the user, which is easier than fixing the model.* Fine-tuning isn't all you need: when they first started building Magic, one of the discussions was around fine-tuning a model. In our episode with Jeremy Howard we talked about how fine-tuning leads to loss of capabilities as well. In notebooks, you are often dealing with domain-specific data (i.e. purchases, orders, wardrobe composition, household items, etc); the fact that the model understands that “items” are probably part of an “order” is really helpful. They have found that GPT-4 + 3.5-turbo were everything they needed to ship a great product rather than having to fine-tune on notebooks specifically.Definitely recommend listening to this one if you are interested in getting a better understanding of how to think about AI, data, and how we can use traditional machine learning lessons in large language models. The AI PivotFor more Bryan, don't miss his fireside chat at the AI Engineer Summit:Show Notes* Hex Magic* Bryan's new book: Building Recommendation Systems in Python and JAX* Bryan's whitepaper about MLOps* “Kitbashing in ML”, slides from his talk on building on top of foundation models* “Bayesian Statistics The Fun Way” by Will Kurt* Bryan's Twitter* “Berkeley man determined to walk every street in his city”* People:* Adam Azzam* Graham Neubig* Eugene Yan* Even OldridgeTimestamps* [00:00:00] Bryan's background* [00:02:34] Overview of Hex and the Magic product* [00:05:57] How Magic handles the complex notebook format to integrate cleanly with Hex* [00:08:37] Discussion of whether to build vs buy models - why Hex uses GPT-4 vs fine-tuning* [00:13:06] UX design for Magic with Hex's notebook format (aka “Chat++”)* [00:18:37] Expanding notebooks to less technical users* [00:23:46] The "Memex" as an exciting underexplored area - personal knowledge graph and memory augmentation* [00:27:02] What makes for good LLMops vs MLOps* [00:34:53] Building rigorous evaluators for Magic and best practices* [00:36:52] Different types of metrics for LLM evaluation beyond just end task accuracy* [00:39:19] Evaluation strategy when you don't own the core model that's being evaluated* [00:41:49] All the places you can make improvements outside of retraining the core LLM* [00:45:00] Lightning RoundTranscriptAlessio: Hey everyone, welcome to the Latent Space Podcast. This is Alessio, Partner and CTO-in-Residence of Decibel Partners, and today I'm joining by Bryan Bischof. [00:00:15]Bryan: Hey, nice to meet you. [00:00:17]Alessio: So Bryan has one of the most thorough and impressive backgrounds we had on the show so far. Lead software engineer at Blue Bottle Coffee, which if you live in San Francisco, you know a lot about. And maybe you'll tell us 30 seconds on what that actually means. You worked as a data scientist at Stitch Fix, which used to be one of the premier data science teams out there. [00:00:38]Bryan: It used to be. Ouch. [00:00:39]Alessio: Well, no, no. Well, you left, you know, so how good can it still be? Then head of data science at Weights and Biases. You're also a professor at Rutgers and you're just wrapping up a new O'Reilly book as well. So a lot, a lot going on. Yeah. [00:00:52]Bryan: And currently head of AI at Hex. [00:00:54]Alessio: Let's do the Blue Bottle thing because I definitely want to hear what's the, what's that like? [00:00:58]Bryan: So I was leading data at Blue Bottle. I was the first data hire. I came in to kind of get the data warehouse in order and then see what we could build on top of it. But ultimately I mostly focused on demand forecasting, a little bit of recsys, a little bit of sort of like website optimization and analytics. But ultimately anything that you could imagine sort of like a retail company needing to do with their data, we had to do. I sort of like led that team, hired a few people, expanded it out. One interesting thing was I was part of the Nestle acquisition. So there was a period of time where we were sort of preparing for that and didn't know, which was a really interesting dynamic. Being acquired is a very not necessarily fun experience for the data team. [00:01:37]Alessio: I build a lot of internal tools for sourcing at the firm and we have a small VCs and data community of like other people doing it. And I feel like if you had a data feed into like the Blue Bottle in South Park, the Blue Bottle at the Hanahaus in Palo Alto, you can get a lot of secondhand information on the state of VC funding. [00:01:54]Bryan: Oh yeah. I feel like the real source of alpha is just bugging a Blue Bottle. [00:01:58]Alessio: Exactly. And what's your latest book about? [00:02:02]Bryan: I just wrapped up a book with a coauthor Hector Yee called Building Production Recommendation Systems. I'll give you the rest of the title because it's fun. It's in Python and JAX. And so for those of you that are like eagerly awaiting the first O'Reilly book that focuses on JAX, here you go. [00:02:17]Alessio: Awesome. And we'll chat about that later on. But let's maybe talk about Hex and Magic before. I've known Hex for a while, I've used it as a notebook provider and you've been working on a lot of amazing AI enabled experiences. So maybe run us through that. [00:02:34]Bryan: So I too, before I sort of like joined Hex, saw it as this like really incredible notebook platform, sort of a great place to do data science workflows, quite complicated, quite ad hoc interactive ones. And before I joined, I thought it was the best place to do data science workflows. And so when I heard about the possibility of building AI tools on top of that platform, that seemed like a huge opportunity. In particular, I lead the product called Magic. Magic is really like a suite of sort of capabilities as opposed to its own independent product. What I mean by that is they are sort of AI enhancements to the existing product. And that's a really important difference from sort of building something totally new that just uses AI. It's really important to us to enhance the already incredible platform with AI capabilities. So these are things like the sort of obvious like co-pilot-esque vibes, but also more interesting and dynamic ways of integrating AI into the product. And ultimately the goal is just to make people even more effective with the platform. [00:03:38]Alessio: How do you think about the evolution of the product and the AI component? You know, even if you think about 10 months ago, some of these models were not really good on very math based tasks. Now they're getting a lot better. I'm guessing a lot of your workloads and use cases is data analysis and whatnot. [00:03:53]Bryan: When I joined, it was pre 4 and it was pre the sort of like new chat API and all that. But when I joined, it was already clear that GPT was pretty good at writing code. And so when I joined, they had already executed on the vision of what if we allowed the user to ask a natural language prompt to an AI and have the AI assist them with writing code. So what that looked like when I first joined was it had some capability of writing SQL and it had some capability of writing Python and it had the ability to explain and describe code that was already written. Those very, what feel like now primitive capabilities, believe it or not, were already quite cool. It's easy to look back and think, oh, it's like kind of like Stone Age in these timelines. But to be clear, when you're building on such an incredible platform, adding a little bit of these capabilities feels really effective. And so almost immediately I started noticing how it affected my own workflow because ultimately as sort of like an engineering lead and a lot of my responsibility is to be doing analytics to make data driven decisions about what products we build. And so I'm actually using Hex quite a bit in the process of like iterating on our product. When I'm using Hex to do that, I'm using Magic all the time. And even in those early days, the amount that it sped me up, that it enabled me to very quickly like execute was really impressive. And so even though the models weren't that good at certain things back then, that capability was not to be underestimated. But to your point, the models have evolved between 3.5 Turbo and 4. We've actually seen quite a big enhancement in the kinds of tasks that we can ask Magic and even more so with things like function calling and understanding a little bit more of the landscape of agent workflows, we've been able to really accelerate. [00:05:57]Alessio: You know, I tried using some of the early models in notebooks and it actually didn't like the IPyNB formatting, kind of like a JSON plus XML plus all these weird things. How have you kind of tackled that? Do you have some magic behind the scenes to make it easier for models? Like, are you still using completely off the shelf models? Do you have some proprietary ones? [00:06:19]Bryan: We are using at the moment in production 3.5 Turbo and GPT-4. I would say for a large number of our applications, GPT-4 is pretty much required. To your question about, does it understand the structure of the notebook? And does it understand all of this somewhat complicated wrappers around the content that you want to show? We do our very best to abstract that away from the model and make sure that the model doesn't have to think about what the cell wrapper code looks like. Or for our Magic charts, it doesn't have to speak the language of Vega. These are things that we put a lot of work in on the engineering side, to the AI engineer profile. This is the AI engineering work to get all of that out of the way so that the model can speak in the languages that it's best at. The model is quite good at SQL. So let's ensure that it's speaking the language of SQL and that we are doing the engineering work to get the output of that model, the generations, into our notebook format. So too for other cell types that we support, including charts, and just in general, understanding the flow of different cells, understanding what a notebook is, all of that is hard work that we've done to ensure that the model doesn't have to learn anything like that. I remember early on, people asked the question, are you going to fine tune a model to understand Hex cells? And almost immediately, my answer was no. No we're not. Using fine-tuned models in 2022, I was already aware that there are some limitations of that approach and frankly, even using GPT-3 and GPT-2 back in the day in Stitch Fix, I had already seen a lot of instances where putting more effort into pre- and post-processing can avoid some of these larger lifts. [00:08:14]Alessio: You mentioned Stitch Fix and GPT-2. How has the balance between build versus buy, so to speak, evolved? So GPT-2 was a model that was not super advanced, so for a lot of use cases it was worth building your own thing. Is with GPT-4 and the likes, is there a reason to still build your own models for a lot of this stuff? Or should most people be fine-tuning? How do you think about that? [00:08:37]Bryan: Sometimes people ask, why are you using GPT-4 and why aren't you going down the avenue of fine-tuning today? I can get into fine-tuning specifically, but I do want to talk a little bit about the good old days of GPT-2. Shout out to Reza. Reza introduced me to GPT-2. I still remember him explaining the difference between general transformers and GPT. I remember one of the tasks that we wanted to solve with transformer-based generative models at Stitch Fix were writing descriptions of clothing. You might think, ooh, that's a multi-modal problem. The answer is, not necessarily. We actually have a lot of features about the clothes that are almost already enough to generate some reasonable text. I remember at that time, that was one of the first applications that we had considered. There was a really great team of NLP scientists at Stitch Fix who worked on a lot of applications like this. I still remember being exposed to the GPT endpoint back in the days of 2. If I'm not mistaken, and feel free to fact check this, I'm pretty sure Stitch Fix was the first OpenAI customer, unlike their true enterprise application. Long story short, I ultimately think that depending on your task, using the most cutting-edge general model has some advantages. If those are advantages that you can reap, then go for it. So at Hex, why GPT-4? Why do we need such a general model for writing code, writing SQL, doing data analysis? Shouldn't a fine-tuned model just on Kaggle notebooks be good enough? I'd argue no. And ultimately, because we don't have one specific sphere of data that we need to write great data analysis workbooks for, we actually want to provide a platform for anyone to do data analysis about their business. To do that, you actually need to entertain an extremely general universe of concepts. So as an example, if you work at Hex and you want to do data analysis, our projects are called Hexes. That's relatively straightforward to teach it. There's a concept of a notebook. These are data science notebooks, and you want to ask analytics questions about notebooks. Maybe if you trained on notebooks, you could answer those questions, but let's come back to Blue Bottle. If I'm at Blue Bottle and I have data science work to do, I have to ask it questions about coffee. I have to ask it questions about pastries, doing demand forecasting. And so very quickly, you can see that just by serving just those two customers, a model purely fine-tuned on like Kaggle competitions may not actually fit the bill. And so the more and more that you want to build a platform that is sufficiently general for your customer base, the more I think that these large general models really pack a lot of additional opportunity in. [00:11:21]Alessio: With a lot of our companies, we talked about stuff that you used to have to extract features for, now you have out of the box. So say you're a travel company, you want to do a query, like show me all the hotels and places that are warm during spring break. It would be just literally like impossible to do before these models, you know? But now the model knows, okay, spring break is like usually these dates and like these locations are usually warm. So you get so much out of it for free. And in terms of Magic integrating into Hex, I think AI UX is one of our favorite topics and how do you actually make that seamless. In traditional code editors, the line of code is like kind of the atomic unit and HEX, you have the code, but then you have the cell also. [00:12:04]Bryan: I think the first time I saw Copilot and really like fell in love with Copilot, I thought finally, fancy auto-complete. And that felt so good. It felt so elegant. It felt so right sized for the task. But as a data scientist, a lot of the work that you do previous to the ML engineering part of the house, you're working in these cells and these cells are atomic. They're expressing one idea. And so ultimately, if you want to make the transition from something like this code, where you've got like a large amount of code and there's a large amount of files and they kind of need to have awareness of one another, and that's a long story and we can talk about that. But in this atomic, somewhat linear flow through the notebook, what you ultimately want to do is you want to reason with the agent at the level of these individual thoughts, these atomic ideas. Usually it's good practice in say Jupyter notebook to not let your cells get too big. If your cell doesn't fit on one page, that's like kind of a code smell, like why is it so damn big? What are you doing in this cell? That also lends some hints as to what the UI should feel like. I want to ask questions about this one atomic thing. So you ask the agent, take this data frame and strip out this prefix from all the strings in this column. That's an atomic task. It's probably about two lines of pandas. I can write it, but it's actually very natural to ask magic to do that for me. And what I promise you is that it is faster to ask magic to do that for me. At this point, that kind of code, I never write. And so then you ask the next question, which is what should the UI be to do chains, to do multiple cells that work together? Because ultimately a notebook is a chain of cells and actually it's a first class citizen for Hex. So we have a DAG and the DAG is the execution DAG for the individual cells. This is one of the reasons that Hex is reactive and kind of dynamic in that way. And so the very next question is, what is the sort of like AI UI for these collections of cells? And back in June and July, we thought really hard about what does it feel like to ask magic a question and get a short chain of cells back that execute on that task. And so we've thought a lot about sort of like how that breaks down into individual atomic units and how those are tied together. We introduced something which is kind of an internal name, but it's called the airlock. And the airlock is exactly a sequence of cells that refer to one another, understand one another, use things that are happening in other cells. And it gives you a chance to sort of preview what magic has generated for you. Then you can accept or reject as an entire group. And that's one of the reasons we call it an airlock, because at any time you can sort of eject the airlock and see it in the space. But to come back to your question about how the AI UX fits into this notebook, ultimately a notebook is very conversational in its structure. I've got a series of thoughts that I'm going to express as a series of cells. And sometimes if I'm a kind data scientist, I'll put some text in between them too, explaining what on earth I'm doing. And that feels, in my opinion, and I think this is quite shared amongst exons, that feels like a really nice refinement of the chat UI. I've been saying for several months now, like, please stop building chat UIs. There is some irony because I think what the notebook allows is like chat plus plus. [00:15:36]Alessio: Yeah, I think the first wave of everything was like chat with X. So it was like chat with your data, chat with your documents and all of this. But people want to code, you know, at the end of the day. And I think that goes into the end user. I think most people that use notebooks are software engineer, data scientists. I think the cool things about these models is like people that are not traditionally technical can do a lot of very advanced things. And that's why people like code interpreter and chat GBT. How do you think about the evolution of that persona? Do you see a lot of non-technical people also now coming to Hex to like collaborate with like their technical folks? [00:16:13]Bryan: Yeah, I would say there might even be more enthusiasm than we're prepared for. We're obviously like very excited to bring what we call the like low floor user into this world and give more people the opportunity to self-serve on their data. We wanted to start by focusing on users who are already familiar with Hex and really make magic fantastic for them. One of the sort of like internal, I would say almost North Stars is our team's charter is to make Hex feel more magical. That is true for all of our users, but that's easiest to do on users that are already able to use Hex in a great way. What we're hearing from some customers in particular is sort of like, I'm excited for some of my less technical stakeholders to get in there and start asking questions. And so that raises a lot of really deep questions. If you immediately enable self-service for data, which is almost like a joke over the last like maybe like eight years, if you immediately enabled self-service, what challenges does that bring with it? What risks does that bring with it? And so it has given us the opportunity to think about things like governance and to think about things like alignment with the data team and making sure that the data team has clear visibility into what the self-service looks like. Having been leading a data team, trying to provide answers for stakeholders and hearing that they really want to self-serve, a question that we often found ourselves asking is, what is the easiest way that we can keep them on the rails? What is the easiest way that we can set up the data warehouse and set up our tools such that they can ask and answer their own questions without coming away with like false answers? Because that is such a priority for data teams, it becomes an important focus of my team, which is, okay, magic may be an enabler. And if it is, what do we also have to respect? We recently introduced the data manager and the data manager is an auxiliary sort of like tool on the Hex platform to allow people to write more like relevant metadata about their data warehouse to make sure that magic has access to the best information. And there are some things coming to kind of even further that story around governance and understanding. [00:18:37]Alessio: You know, you mentioned self-serve data. And when I was like a joke, you know, the whole rush to the modern data stack was something to behold. Do you think AI is like in a similar space where it's like a bit of a gold rush? [00:18:51]Bryan: I have like sort of two comments here. One I'll shamelessly steal from a friend, Adam Azzam from Prefect. He says that this is more of like an iron mine than a gold mine in the sense of there is a lot of work to extract this precious, precious resource. And that's the first one is I think, don't expect to just go down to the stream and do a little panning. There's a lot of work to be done. And frankly, the steps to go from this like gold to, or this resource to something valuable is significant. I think people have gotten a little carried away with the old maxim of like, don't go pan for gold, sell pickaxes and shovels. It's a much stronger business model. At this point, I feel like I look around and I see more pickaxe salesmen and shovel salesmen than I do prospectors. And that scares me a little bit. Metagame where people are starting to think about how they can build tools for people building tools for AI. And that starts to give me a little bit of like pause in terms of like, how confident are we that we can even extract this resource into something valuable? I got a text message from a VC earlier today, and I won't name the VC or the fund, but the question was, what are some medium or large size companies that have integrated AI into their platform in a way that you're really impressed by? And I looked at the text message for a few minutes and I was finding myself thinking and thinking, and I responded, maybe only co-pilot. It's been a couple hours now, and I don't think I've thought of another one. And I think that's where I reflect again on this, like iron versus gold. If it was really gold, I feel like I'd be more blown away by other AI integrations. And I'm not yet. [00:20:40]Alessio: I feel like all the people finding gold are the ones building things that traditionally we didn't focus on. So like mid-journey. I've talked to a company yesterday, which I'm not going to name, but they do agents for some use case, let's call it. They are 11 months old. They're making like 8 million a month in revenue, but in a space that you wouldn't even think about selling to. If you were like a shovel builder, you wouldn't even go sell to those people. And Swix talks about this a bunch, about like actually trying to go application first for some things. Let's actually see what people want to use and what works. What do you think are the most maybe underexplored areas in AI? Is there anything that you wish people were actually trying to shovel? [00:21:23]Bryan: I've been saying for a couple of months now, if I had unlimited resources and I was just sort of like truly like, you know, on my own building whatever I wanted, I think the thing that I'd be most excited about is building sort of like the personal Memex. The Memex is something that I've wanted since I was a kid. And are you familiar with the Memex? It's the memory extender. And it's this idea that sort of like human memory is quite weak. And so if we can extend that, then that's a big opportunity. So I think one of the things that I've always found to be one of the limiting cases here is access. How do you access that data? Even if you did build that data like out, how would you quickly access it? And one of the things I think there's a constellation of technologies that have come together in the last couple of years that now make this quite feasible. Like information retrieval has really improved and we have a lot more simple systems for getting started with information retrieval to natural language is ultimately the interface that you'd really like these systems to work on, both in terms of sort of like structuring the data and preparing the data, but also on the retrieval side. So what keys off the query for retrieval, probably ultimately natural language. And third, if you really want to go into like the purely futuristic aspect of this, it is latent voice to text. And that is also something that has quite recently become possible. I did talk to a company recently called gather, which seems to have some cool ideas in this direction, but I haven't seen yet what I, what I really want, which is I want something that is sort of like every time I listen to a podcast or I watch a movie or I read a book, it sort of like has a great vector index built on top of all that information that's contained within. And then when I'm having my next conversation and I can't quite remember the name of this person who did this amazing thing, for example, if we're talking about the Memex, it'd be really nice to have Vannevar Bush like pop up on my, you know, on my Memex display, because I always forget Vannevar Bush's name. This is one time that I didn't, but I often do. This is something that I think is only recently enabled and maybe we're still five years out before it can be good, but I think it's one of the most exciting projects that has become possible in the last three years that I think generally wasn't possible before. [00:23:46]Alessio: Would you wear one of those AI pendants that record everything? [00:23:50]Bryan: I think I'm just going to do it because I just like support the idea. I'm also admittedly someone who, when Google Glass first came out, thought that seems awesome. I know that there's like a lot of like challenges about the privacy aspect of it, but it is something that I did feel was like a disappointment to lose some of that technology. Fun fact, one of the early Google Glass developers was this MIT computer scientist who basically built the first wearable computer while he was at MIT. And he like took notes about all of his conversations in real time on his wearable and then he would have real time access to them. Ended up being kind of a scandal because he wanted to use a computer during his defense and they like tried to prevent him from doing it. So pretty interesting story. [00:24:35]Alessio: I don't know but the future is going to be weird. I can tell you that much. Talking about pickaxes, what do you think about the pickaxes that people built before? Like all the whole MLOps space, which has its own like startup graveyard in there. How are those products evolving? You know, you were at Wits and Biases before, which is now doing a big AI push as well. [00:24:57]Bryan: If you really want to like sort of like rub my face in it, you can go look at my white paper on MLOps from 2022. It's interesting. I don't think there's many things in that that I would these days think are like wrong or even sort of like naive. But what I would say is there are both a lot of analogies between MLOps and LLMops, but there are also a lot of like key differences. So like leading an engineering team at the moment, I think a lot more about good engineering practices than I do about good ML practices. That being said, it's been very convenient to be able to see around corners in a few of the like ML places. One of the first things I did at Hex was work on evals. This was in February. I hadn't yet been overwhelmed by people talking about evals until about May. And the reason that I was able to be a couple of months early on that is because I've been building evals for ML systems for years. I don't know how else to build an ML system other than start with the evals. I teach my students at Rutgers like objective framing is one of the most important steps in starting a new data science project. If you can't clearly state what your objective function is and you can't clearly state how that relates to the problem framing, you've got no hope. And I think that is a very shared reality with LLM applications. Coming back to one thing you mentioned from earlier about sort of like the applications of these LLMs. To that end, I think what pickaxes I think are still very valuable is understanding systems that are inherently less predictable, that are inherently sort of experimental. On my engineering team, we have an experimentalist. So one of the AI engineers, his focus is experiments. That's something that you wouldn't normally expect to see on an engineering team. But it's important on an AI engineering team to have one person whose entire focus is just experimenting, trying, okay, this is a hypothesis that we have about how the model will behave. Or this is a hypothesis we have about how we can improve the model's performance on this. And then going in, running experiments, augmenting our evals to test it, et cetera. What I really respect are pickaxes that recognize the hybrid nature of the sort of engineering tasks. They are ultimately engineering tasks with a flavor of ML. And so when systems respect that, I tend to have a very high opinion. One thing that I was very, very aligned with Weights and Biases on is sort of composability. These systems like ML systems need to be extremely composable to make them much more iterative. If you don't build these systems in composable ways, then your integration hell is just magnified. When you're trying to iterate as fast as people need to be iterating these days, I think integration hell is a tax not worth paying. [00:27:51]Alessio: Let's talk about some of the LLM native pickaxes, so to speak. So RAG is one. One thing is doing RAG on text data. One thing is doing RAG on tabular data. We're releasing tomorrow our episode with Kube, the semantic layer company. Curious to hear your thoughts on it. How are you doing RAG, pros, cons? [00:28:11]Bryan: It became pretty obvious to me almost immediately that RAG was going to be important. Because ultimately, you never expect your model to have access to all of the things necessary to respond to a user's request. So as an example, Magic users would like to write SQL that's relevant to their business. And it's important then to have the right data objects that they need to query. We can't expect any LLM to understand our user's data warehouse topology. So what we can expect is that we can build a RAG system that is data warehouse aware, data topology aware, and use that to provide really great information to the model. If you ask the model, how are my customers trending over time? And you ask it to write SQL to do that. What is it going to do? Well, ultimately, it's going to hallucinate the structure of that data warehouse that it needs to write a general query. Most likely what it's going to do is it's going to look in its sort of memory of Stack Overflow responses to customer queries, and it's going to say, oh, it's probably a customer stable and we're in the age of DBT, so it might be even called, you know, dim customers or something like that. And what's interesting is, and I encourage you to try, chatGBT will do an okay job of like hallucinating up some tables. It might even hallucinate up some columns. But what it won't do is it won't understand the joins in that data warehouse that it needs, and it won't understand the data caveats or the sort of where clauses that need to be there. And so how do you get it to understand those things? Well, this is textbook RAG. This is the exact kind of thing that you expect RAG to be good at augmenting. But I think where people who have done a lot of thinking about RAG for the document case, they think of it as chunking and sort of like the MapReduce and the sort of like these approaches. But I think people haven't followed this train of thought quite far enough yet. Jerry Liu was on the show and he talked a little bit about thinking of this as like information retrieval. And I would push that even further. And I would say that ultimately RAG is just RecSys for LLM. As I kind of already mentioned, I'm a little bit recommendation systems heavy. And so from the beginning, RAG has always felt like RecSys to me. It has always felt like you're building a recommendation system. And what are you trying to recommend? The best possible resources for the LLM to execute on a task. And so most of my approach to RAG and the way that we've improved magic via retrieval is by building a recommendation system. [00:30:49]Alessio: It's funny, as you mentioned that you spent three years writing the book, the O'Reilly book. Things must have changed as you wrote the book. I don't want to bring out any nightmares from there, but what are the tips for people who want to stay on top of this stuff? Do you have any other favorite newsletters, like Twitter accounts that you follow, communities you spend time in? [00:31:10]Bryan: I am sort of an aggressive reader of technical books. I think I'm almost never disappointed by time that I've invested in reading technical manuscripts. I find that most people write O'Reilly or similar books because they've sort of got this itch that they need to scratch, which is that I have some ideas, I have some understanding that we're hard won, I need to tell other people. And there's something that, from my experience, correlates between that itch and sort of like useful information. As an example, one of the people on my team, his name is Will Kurt, he wrote a book sort of Bayesian statistics the fun way. I knew some Bayesian statistics, but I read his book anyway. And the reason was because I was like, if someone feels motivated to write a book called Bayesian statistics the fun way, they've got something to say about Bayesian statistics. I learned so much from that book. That book is like technically like targeted at someone with less knowledge and experience than me. And boy, did it humble me about my understanding of Bayesian statistics. And so I think this is a very boring answer, but ultimately like I read a lot of books and I think that they're a really valuable way to learn these things. I also regrettably still read a lot of Twitter. There is plenty of noise in that signal, but ultimately it is still usually like one of the first directions to get sort of an instinct for what's valuable. The other comment that I want to make is we are in this age of sort of like archive is becoming more of like an ad platform. I think that's a little challenging right now to kind of use it the way that I used to use it, which is for like higher signal. I've chatted a lot with a CMU professor, Graham Neubig, and he's been doing LLM evaluation and LLM enhancements for about five years and know that I didn't misspeak. And I think talking to him has provided me a lot of like directionality for more believable sources. Trying to cut through the hype. I know that there's a lot of other things that I could mention in terms of like just channels, but ultimately right now I think there's almost an abundance of channels and I'm a little bit more keen on high signal. [00:33:18]Alessio: The other side of it is like, I see so many people say, Oh, I just wrote a paper on X and it's like an article. And I'm like, an article is not a paper, but it's just funny how I know we were kind of chatting before about terms being reinvented and like people that are not from this space kind of getting into AI engineering now. [00:33:36]Bryan: I also don't want to be gatekeepy. Actually I used to say a lot to people, don't be shy about putting your ideas down on paper. I think it's okay to just like kind of go for it. And I, I myself have something on archive that is like comically naive. It's intentionally naive. Right now I'm less concerned by more naive approaches to things than I am by the purely like advertising approach to sort of writing these short notes and articles. I think blogging still has a good place. And I remember getting feedback during my PhD thesis that like my thesis sounded more like a long blog post. And I now feel like that curmudgeonly professor who's also like, yeah, maybe just keep this to the blogs. That's funny.Alessio: Uh, yeah, I think one of the things that Swyx said when he was opening the AI engineer summit a couple of weeks ago was like, look, most people here don't know much about the space because it's so new and like being open and welcoming. I think it's one of the goals. And that's why we try and keep every episode at a level that it's like, you know, the experts can understand and learn something, but also the novices can kind of like follow along. You mentioned evals before. I think that's one of the hottest topics obviously out there right now. What are evals? How do we know if they work? Yeah. What are some of the fun learnings from building them into X? [00:34:53]Bryan: I said something at the AI engineer summit that I think a few people have already called out, which is like, if you can't get your evals to be sort of like objective, then you're not trying hard enough. I stand by that statement. I'm not going to, I'm not going to walk it back. I know that that doesn't feel super good because people, people want to think that like their unique snowflake of a problem is too nuanced. But I think this is actually one area where, you know, in this dichotomy of like, who can do AI engineering? And the answer is kind of everybody. Software engineering can become AI engineering and ML engineering can become AI engineering. One thing that I think the more data science minded folk have an advantage here is we've gotten more practice in taking very vague notions and trying to put a like objective function around that. And so ultimately I would just encourage everybody who wants to build evals, just work incredibly hard on codifying what is good and bad in terms of these objective metrics. As far as like how you go about turning those into evals, I think it's kind of like sweat equity. Unfortunately, I told the CEO of gantry several months ago, I think it's been like six months now that I was sort of like looking at every single internal Hex request to magic by hand with my eyes and sort of like thinking, how can I turn this into an eval? Is there a way that I can take this real request during this dog foodie, not very developed stage? How can I make that into an evaluation? That was a lot of sweat equity that I put in a lot of like boring evenings, but I do think ultimately it gave me a lot of understanding for the way that the model was misbehaving. Another thing is how can you start to understand these misbehaviors as like auxiliary evaluation metrics? So there's not just one evaluation that you want to do for every request. It's easy to say like, did this work? Did this not work? Did the response satisfy the task? But there's a lot of other metrics that you can pull off these questions. And so like, let me give you an example. If it writes SQL that doesn't reference a table in the database that it's supposed to be querying against, we would think of that as a hallucination. You could separately consider, is it a hallucination as a valuable metric? You could separately consider, does it get the right answer? The right answer is this sort of like all in one shot, like evaluation that I think people jump to. But these intermediary steps are really important. I remember hearing that GitHub had thousands of lines of post-processing code around Copilot to make sure that their responses were sort of correct or in the right place. And that kind of sort of defensive programming against bad responses is the kind of thing that you can build by looking at many different types of evaluation metrics. Because you can say like, oh, you know, the Copilot completion here is mostly right, but it doesn't close the brace. Well, that's the thing you can check for. Or, oh, this completion is quite good, but it defines a variable that was like already defined in the file. Like that's going to have a problem. That's an evaluation that you could check separately. And so this is where I think it's easy to convince yourself that all that matters is does it get the right answer? But the more that you think about production use cases of these things, the more you find a lot of this kind of stuff. One simple example is like sometimes the model names the output of a cell, a variable that's already in scope. Okay. Like we can just detect that and like we can just fix that. And this is the kind of thing that like evaluations over time and as you build these evaluations over time, you really can expand the robustness in which you trust these models. And for a company like Hex, who we need to put this stuff in GA, we can't just sort of like get to demo stage or even like private beta stage. We really hunting GA on all of these capabilities. Did it get the right answer on some cases is not good enough. [00:38:57]Alessio: I think the follow up question to that is in your past roles, you own the model that you're evaluating against. Here you don't actually have control into how the model evolves. How do you think about the model will just need to improve or we'll use another model versus like we can build kind of like engineering post-processing on top of it. How do you make the choice? [00:39:19]Bryan: So I want to say two things here. One like Jerry Liu talked a little bit about in his episode, he talked a little bit about sort of like you don't always want to retrain the weights to serve certain use cases. Rag is another tool that you can use to kind of like soft tune. I think that's right. And I want to go back to my favorite analogy here, which is like recommendation systems. When you build a recommendation system, you build the objective function. You think about like what kind of recs you want to provide, what kind of features you're allowed to use, et cetera, et cetera. But there's always another step. There's this really wonderful collection of blog posts from Eugene Yon and then ultimately like even Oldridge kind of like iterated on that for the Merlin project where there's this multi-stage recommender. And the multi-stage recommender says the first step is to do great retrieval. Once you've done great retrieval, you then need to do great ranking. Once you've done great ranking, you need to then do a good job serving. And so what's the analogy here? Rag is retrieval. You can build different embedding models to encode different features in your latent space to ensure that your ranking model has the best opportunity. Now you might say, oh, well, my ranking model is something that I've got a lot of capability to adjust. I've got full access to my ranking model. I'm going to retrain it. And that's great. And you should. And over time you will. But there's one more step and that's downstream and that's the serving. Serving often sounds like I just show the s**t to the user, but ultimately serving is things like, did I provide diverse recommendations? Going back to Stitch Fix days, I can't just recommend them five shirts of the same silhouette and cut. I need to serve them a diversity of recommendations. Have I respected their requirements? They clicked on something that got them to this place. Is the recommendations relevant to that query? Are there any hard rules? Do we maybe not have this in stock? These are all things that you put downstream. And so much like the recommendations use case, there's a lot of knobs to pull outside of retraining the model. And even in recommendation systems, when do you retrain your model for ranking? Not nearly as much as you do other s**t. And even this like embedding model, you might fiddle with more often than the true ranking model. And so I think the only piece of the puzzle that you don't have access to in the LLM case is that sort of like middle step. That's okay. We've got plenty of other work to do. So right now I feel pretty enabled. [00:41:56]Alessio: That's great. You obviously wrote a book on RecSys. What are some of the key concepts that maybe people that don't have a data science background, ML background should keep in mind as they work in this area? [00:42:07]Bryan: It's easy to first think these models are stochastic. They're unpredictable. Oh, well, what are we going to do? I think of this almost like gaseous type question of like, if you've got this entropy, where can you put the entropy? Where can you let it be entropic and where can you constrain it? And so what I want to say here is think about the cases where you need it to be really tightly constrained. So why are people so excited about function calling? Because function calling feels like a way to constrict it. Where can you let it be more gaseous? Well, maybe in the way that it talks about what it wants to do. Maybe for planning, if you're building agents and you want to do sort of something chain of thoughty. Well, that's a place where the entropy can happily live. When you're building applications of these models, I think it's really important as part of the problem framing to be super clear upfront. These are the things that can be entropic. These are the things that cannot be. These are the things that need to be super rigid and really, really aligned to a particular schema. We've had a lot of success in making specific the parts that need to be precise and tightly schemified, and that has really paid dividends. And so other analogies from data science that I think are very valuable is there's the sort of like human in the loop analogy, which has been around for quite a while. And I have gone on record a couple of times saying that like, I don't really love human in the loop. One of the things that I think we can learn from human in the loop is that the user is the best judge of what is good. And the user is pretty motivated to sort of like interact and give you kind of like additional nudges in the direction that you want. I think what I'd like to flip though, is instead of human in the loop, I'd like it to be AI in the loop. I'd rather center the user. I'd rather keep the user as the like core item at the center of this universe. And the AI is a tool. By switching that analogy a little bit, what it allows you to do is think about where are the places in which the user can reach for this as a tool, execute some task with this tool, and then go back to doing their workflow. It still gets this back and forth between things that computers are good at and things that humans are good at, which has been valuable in the human loop paradigm. But it allows us to be a little bit more, I would say, like the designers talk about like user-centered. And I think that's really powerful for AI applications. And it's one of the things that I've been trying really hard with Magic to make that feel like the workflow as the AI is right there. It's right where you're doing your work. It's ready for you anytime you need it. But ultimately you're in charge at all times and your workflow is what we care the most about. [00:44:56]Alessio: Awesome. Let's jump into lightning round. What's something that is not on your LinkedIn that you're passionate about or, you know, what's something you would give a TED talk on that is not work related? [00:45:05]Bryan: So I walk a lot. [00:45:07]Bryan: I have walked every road in Berkeley. And I mean like every part of every road even, not just like the binary question of, have you been on this road? I have this little app that I use called Wanderer, which just lets me like kind of keep track of everywhere I've been. And so I'm like a little bit obsessed. My wife would say a lot a bit obsessed with like what I call new roads. I'm actually more motivated by trails even than roads, but like I'm a maximalist. So kind of like everything and anything. Yeah. Believe it or not, I was even like in the like local Berkeley paper just talking about walking every road. So yeah, that's something that I'm like surprisingly passionate about. [00:45:45]Alessio: Is there a most underrated road in Berkeley? [00:45:49]Bryan: What I would say is like underrated is Kensington. So Kensington is like a little town just a teeny bit north of Berkeley, but still in the Berkeley hills. And Kensington is so quirky and beautiful. And it's a really like, you know, don't sleep on Kensington. That being said, one of my original motivations for doing all this walking was people always tell me like, Berkeley's so quirky. And I was like, how quirky is Berkeley? Turn it out. It's quite, quite quirky. It's also hard to say quirky and Berkeley in the same sentence I've learned as of now. [00:46:20]Alessio: That's a, that's a good podcast warmup for our next guests. All right. The actual lightning ground. So we usually have three questions, acceleration, exploration, then a takeaway acceleration. What's, what's something that's already here today that you thought would take much longer to arrive in AI and machine learning? [00:46:39]Bryan: So I invited the CEO of Hugging Face to my seminar when I worked at Stitch Fix and his talk at the time, honestly, like really annoyed me. The talk was titled like something to the effect of like LLMs are going to be the like technology advancement of the next decade. It's on YouTube. You can find it. I don't remember exactly the title, but regardless, it was something like LLMs for the next decade. And I was like, okay, they're like one modality of model, like whatever. His talk was fine. Like, I don't think it was like particularly amazing or particularly poor, but what I will say is damn, he was right. Like I, I don't think I quite was on board during that talk where I was like, ah, maybe, you know, like there's a lot of other modalities that are like moving pretty quick. I thought things like RL were going to be the like real like breakout success. And there's a little pun with Atari and breakout there, but yeah, like I, man, I was sleeping on LLMs and I feel a little embarrassed. I, yeah. [00:47:44]Alessio: Yeah. No, I mean, that's a good point. It's like sometimes the, we just had Jeremy Howard on the podcast and he was saying when he was talking about fine tuning, everybody thought it was dumb, you know, and then later people realize, and there's something to be said about messaging, especially like in technical audiences where there's kind of like the metagame, you know, which is like, oh, these are like the cool ideas people are exploring. I don't know where I want to align myself yet, you know, or whatnot. So it's cool exploration. So it's kind of like the opposite of that. You mentioned RL, right? That's something that was kind of like up and up and up. And then now it's people are like, oh, I don't know. Are there any other areas if you weren't working on, on magic that you want to go work on? [00:48:25]Bryan: Well, I did mention that, like, I think this like Memex product is just like incredibly exciting to me. And I think it's really opportunistic. I think it's very, very feasible, but I would maybe even extend that a little bit, which is I don't see enough people getting really enthusiastic about hardware with advanced AI built in. You're hearing whispering of it here and there, put on the whisper, but like you're starting to see people putting whisper into pieces of hardware and making that really powerful. I joked with, I can't think of her name. Oh, Sasha, who I know is a friend of the pod. Like I joked with Sasha that I wanted to make the big mouth Billy Bass as a babble fish, because at this point it's pretty easy to connect that up to whisper and talk to it in one language and have it talk in the other language. And I was like, this is the kind of s**t I want people building is like silly integrations between hardware and these new capabilities. And as much as I'm starting to hear whisperings here and there, it's not enough. I think I want to see more people going down this track because I think ultimately like these things need to be in our like physical space. And even though the margins are good on software, I want to see more like integration into my daily life. Awesome. [00:49:47]Alessio: And then, yeah, a takeaway, what's one message idea you want everyone to remember and think about? [00:49:54]Bryan: Even though earlier I was talking about sort of like, maybe like not reinventing things and being respectful of the sort of like ML and data science, like ideas. I do want to say that I think everybody should be experimenting with these tools as much as they possibly can. I've heard a lot of professors, frankly, express concern about their students using GPT to do their homework. And I took a completely opposite approach, which is in the first 15 minutes of the first class of my semester this year, I brought up GPT on screen and we talked about what GPT was good at. And we talked about like how the students can sort of like use it. I showed them an example of it doing data analysis work quite well. And then I showed them an example of it doing quite poorly. I think however much you're integrating with these tools or interacting with these tools, and this audience is probably going to be pretty high on that distribution. I would really encourage you to sort of like push this into the other people in your life. My wife is very technical. She's a product manager and she's using chat GPT almost every day for communication or for understanding concepts that are like outside of her sphere of excellence. And recently my mom and my sister have been sort of like onboarded onto the chat GPT train. And so ultimately I just, I think that like it is our duty to help other people see like how much of a paradigm shift this is. We should really be preparing people for what life is going to be like when these are everywhere. [00:51:25]Alessio: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on, Bryan. This was fun. [00:51:29]Bryan: Yeah. Thanks for having me. And use Hex magic. [00:51:31] Get full access to Latent Space at www.latent.space/subscribe

It can be difficult to tell the difference between and employee who is not the right fit for your business, vs a barista who is is simply not the right fit for the role they are in. Many great employees have been unduly let go, passed over, or simply remain in ill-fitted positions because their boss is not able to tell the difference or may to even be paying enough attention to notice and take the right next action.  On todays Shift Break we will be talking about how to discern between employees who need opportunity and shifting to flourish and those whose performance is not just a problem of execution but a sign of a deeper cultural and values clash. Knowing the difference could not only save their job but also your business.  Related Episodes: 121 : Working from Your Strengths w/ Strengths Finder Guru, Lisa Cummings 278 : Making great Hiring Decisions 314 : The 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee 437 : The New Age of the Barista: Mindsets + Habits for Success   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com   Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co.  

Welcome to another exciting episode of "The Founder Hour," the podcast where we dive deep into the stories and experiences of some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs and visionaries of our time. Today, we are thrilled to bring you a conversation with a true pioneer in the world of specialty coffee – the one and only James Freeman, the brilliant mind behind Blue Bottle Coffee.James's journey from a freelance clarinetist to founding one of the most beloved and influential coffee companies in the world is nothing short of remarkable. In this episode, we'll explore the rich blend of passion, precision, and entrepreneurial spirit that led him to revolutionize the way we think about and savor our daily cup of coffee.Tune in as James shares his insights on building a brand that values quality above all else, the challenges he's faced, the pivotal moments in his career, and the philosophy that has made Blue Bottle Coffee a household name. Whether you're a coffee connoisseur or simply fascinated by the art of entrepreneurship, this is an episode you won't want to miss. So grab your favorite brew, sit back, and join us for a captivating conversation with James Freeman.*The Founder Hour is brought to you by Outer. Outer makes the world's most beautiful, comfortable, innovative, and high-quality outdoor furniture - ALL from sustainable materials - and is the ONLY outdoor furniture with a patented built-in cover to make protecting it effortless. From teak chairs to fire pit tables, everything Outer makes has the look and feel of what you'd expect at a 5-star resort, for less than you'd pay at a big box store for something that won't last.For a limited time, get 10% off and FREE shipping at www.liveouter.com/thefounderhour. Terms and conditions apply.*The biggest fortunes aren't made on Wall Street. They're made way before startups hit the stock market. Consider Mike Walsh, a name just like any of ours who invested $5,000 into Uber. And that investment money? It grew to a staggering $24,827,400!Such opportunities were once behind closed doors. Reserved for those with connections or vast fortunes. But that's no more.StartEngine is tearing down those exclusivity walls and making startup investments accessible to you and me...With Howard Marks, co-founder of the gaming giant Activision at the helm, StartEngine and its 1.7 million users have fueled startups with over $1.1 billion. This is no longer just an investment platform, but an investing revolution.And it gets better. They're inviting you to be a part of their journey. With just $500, you can join their live fundraising round and own shares of this revolutionary company.Visit https://www.startengine.com/offering/startengine5 and jump on board before their investment round wraps up.Disclosures:17b disclosureThis Reg A+ offering is made available through StarEngine Crowdfunding Inc. No broker-dealer or intermediary involved in offering. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. For more information, please see the most recent Supplements, Offering Circular, and Risks Related to this Offering. The information provided in this marketing material is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. Past performance, including the success of certain individuals, is not indicative of future results. Investing in any market, including startups, involves risks, and there is no guarantee that similar opportunities will yield comparable returns. Number of Users is determined by counting user profiles with unique email addresses which are active and have been confirmed. Includes funds raised via Reg CF and Reg A+ combines through StartEngine's funding portal and broker-dealer, as well as StartEngine's OWN raise.

Steve Jang is the Founder and Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. An early-stage VC firm raised $312 million across two new funds in 2022. Over the past 14 years, Steve has backed over 100 companies across different theme areas, including Uber, Coinbase, Postmates, Tonal, Color Health, Humane, DYDX, Zora, and Blue Bottle Coffee. Since 2009 and up until IPO, Steve has also served as an Advisor to Uber since the founding of the company, up through initial product launch, global expansion, and then IPO. Steve currently serves as a Board Member of Humane, Tonal, Color, and Zora, to name a few. In 2023, Forbes' Midas List named Steve as #45 among the world's 100 top venture capital investors.  You can learn more about:  How to invest in the next generation of Uber and Coinbase?   How to build an amazing track record as an angel investor?  How do you transition from a successful angel investor to a Managing Partner at a VC fund?  ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG =====================   Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, superstar founders, as well as well-known tech executives in silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company.

Blue Bottle Coffee: https://bluebottlecoffee.com/us/engIPA Texas Construction Report: https://www.institutionalpropertyadvisors.com/research/special-report/2023/08/ipa-texas-construction-special-reportWelcome to Make It Rain: Multifamily Real Estate Investing for Millennials!  We're Daisy and Luc, two millennials who love multifamily investing.  With every episode, whether we're discussing a special topic or have on an amazing guest, the goal is to provide education and resources for anyone interested in investing in multifamily real estate, especially if you're a millennial.  We're excited to chat with you about the what's, the why's, the how's, the who's.  The best way to show support is to share it with anyone who might benefit from it and leave us an awesome review. Check out our website at makeitraincapital.com for more goodies.  Take action on your financial future TODAY! For more info, check us out at makeitraincapital.com.

Brian Balfour is the Founder and CEO of Reforge. Previously, he was the VP of Growth @ HubSpot. Prior to HubSpot, he was an EIR @ Trinity Ventures and founder of Boundless Learning and Viximo. He advises companies including Blue Bottle Coffee, Gametime, Lumoid, GrabCAD, and Help Scout on growth and customer acquisition. In Today's Episode with Brian Balfour We Discuss: 1. Entry into Growth and Lessons from Hubspot: How did Brian make his entry into the world of growth? What does Brian know now about growth that he wishes he had known when he started in growth? What are 1-2 of his single biggest takeaways from his time at Hubspot that impacted his mindset? 2. The Foundations: What is growth? What is it not? What does Brian mean when he says "all growth can be boiled down to 4 things"? When is the right time to bring in your first growth person? Should the first growth person be senior or junior? Should the growth team be standalone or sit within an existing function? 3. The Importance of Product Channel Fit: What is product channel fit? How should founders approach it? How do you know when you have it? What are the single biggest mistakes founders make with regards to PCF? 4. Next Comes Channel Model Fit: What is channel model fit? How should founders approach it? What are clear indicators that you have or do not have channel model fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make with CMF? 5. Finally, Model Market Fit: What is model market fit? How should founders approach it? What are clear indicators that you have or do not have model market fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make with MMF? 6. Brian Balfour: AMA: Why is product market fit not enough? What does Brian mean when he says "revenue does not create usage"? What are the biggest dangers of mixing customers and users? What do Hubspot do better than anyone else to know when an existing product/strategy is dying? Is it always better to diversify marketing channels?

Having an engaged staff that are motivated and inspired to not just get through the shift, but to truly invest into the cafe and help improve things is a dream shared by many owners. This culture where each individual team member takes ownership and finds creative ways to refine the operations, quality, and hospitality does not have to be just a dream!  Today we are going to be discussing what it takes to foster a culture of continuous improvement. What the looks like, doesn't look like, and some behaviors to both reward and watch out for along the way.  We discuss:  Leading by example Praise and recognition Clear communication When is improvement not needed What is the goal? Values and actions  Related episodes: 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 414: Secret Ingredients for a Successful Coffee Shop 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee   Key Holder Coaching Group is launching in September!

Lauryn Isford is the Head of Product Growth at Notion, managing Notion's product-led growth engine and self-serve business. Before Notion, she led growth at Airtable, and previously worked on growth teams including Meta, Dropbox, and Blue Bottle Coffee. Lauryn is an active angel investor and advisor supporting companies building product-led go-to-market motions.  In Today's Episode with Lauryn Isford: 1. From Blue Bottle to Airtable and Notion: How did Lauryn first make her way into the world of product and growth? What are 1-2 of her biggest takeaways from Dropbox, Facebook and Blue Bottle? What does Lauryn know now that she wishes she had known when she started? 2. What is Growth: 101: How does Lauryn define growth? What is it not? When is the right time to make your first growth hire? What profile should your first hire in growth be? What are the single biggest mistakes founders make when hiring growth teams? 3. Mastering the Onboarding Experience: What are the core elements of a successful onboarding experience? How important is time to value in onboarding today? What are the biggest mistakes product teams make in company onboarding? What is the most effective onboarding technique and workflow in PLG today? Why are 90% of current onboarding's done badly? 4. Making Growth work with the Rest of the Org: What are the single biggest barriers to growth and product working together well? What can leaders do to make their growth teams work well with product teams? How can growth teams experiment and test with product without messing up codebases?

As the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, James Freeman has seen the rise of specialty coffee from a very unique vantage point. Freeman joins us in the studio to talk about his company's influence, as well as where coffee is heading today. We find out about his dream café project in Japan and what excites him most about making coffee at home. We also talk about James's excellent book, The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee. This is a seriously interesting talk with one of the great characters in the world of food and drink.MORE FROM JAMES FREEMAN:Blue Bottle Studio Opens in Kyoto [Sprudge]This Is TASTE 144: Jimmy Butler and Ashley Rodriguez [TASTE]This Is TASTE 186: James Hoffmann [TASTE]FOLLOW, FOLLOW, FOLLOW:instagram.com/wjamesfreemaninstagram.com/mattrodbardinstagram.com/taste

Chris Sacca is one of the most accomplished venture investors of the last half century. He founded Lowercase Capital in 2010 and made seed stage investments in Twitter, Uber, Instagram, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Stripe. Lowercase's first fund famously became one of the highest returning venture funds in history and landed Chris at #2 on the Midas List in 2017. After retiring together with his wife Crystal that year, they came back to the business to found Lowercarbon Capital to fund “kickass companies that make money slashing carbon emissions.” Lowercarbon manages in excess of $2 billion of outside capital, excluding its largest investor – Chris and Crystal. Our conversation covers Chris's humble upbringing, early entrepreneurial endeavors, and ups and downs in his early professional years. We cover his transition to Google, foundations of his investing philosophy at Lowercase, and work today at Lowercarbon. Along the way, Chris shares his sourcing of deals, evaluation of founders, and work with portfolio companies. He is a gifted storyteller and a walking case-study on grit. Show Notes 03:51    Early entrepreneurial endeavors 07:17    Ups and downs of early years 17:28    Early days at Google 21:38    Investing philosophy at Lowercase 28:33    Sourcing founders 30:06    Adding value to startups 35:16    Evaluating entrepreneurs 40:28    Retiring from Lowercase 41:58    Founding Lowercarbon 54:10    Investment process 57:23    Future opportunities 1:01:59 Closing questions Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Tony Conrad is a Partner at True Ventures who gets to work with amazingly talented founders and operating teams from companies like Automattic (WordPress), Hodinkee, Blue Bottle Coffee, MakerBot, and Holey Grail Donuts, to name but a few. Tony also co-founded About.Me & Sphere, both of which were acquired by AOL.He has personal invested in Slack, Automattic, Lowercase Capital, International Smoke, Saltwater Oyster Depot, Elk Fence, flour+water pizzeria, flour+water, Trick Dog, Salumeria, Central Kitchen, Samovar and August.He is also a board member of the Tony Hawk Foundation and formerly a T40 National Co-Chair of Technology for President Obama. Tony also genuinely has great parking karma, communicates well with animals, is a Cubs fan, a former bowler, a wannabe surfer, and a lover of languages, art, and architecture.He grew up in a small farming community in Indiana and has since lived in cities such as New York, New Delhi, Jakarta, Chicago, Paris, and San Francisco. He has worked various jobs not listed on his resume, including being a baseball umpire, basketball camp counselor, pharmacy stock person, high school sports reporter, book bindery glue machine operator, janitor, college newspaper ad salesman, and yogurt merchandiser. It has been an exciting journey for him so far.___Get your copy of Personal Socrates: Better Questions, Better Life  Connect with Marc >>>  Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter Drop a review and let me know what resonates with you about the show!Thanks as always for listening and have the best day yet!*Behind the Human is proudly recorded in a Canadian made Loop Phone Booth*Special props

In order to train people in coffee and barista skills you have to not only be a student of your subject, but also a student of your students and their unique context. In recent years we have seen an incredible explosion of coffee eduction in producing countries where the landscape of learning is among the most unique given their deep relationship with coffee. Today we will be talking with an educator whose commitment to learning and bringing understanding to this context is making great impact. I am excited to be chatting with Fabiola Solano of sOY barista in Costa Rica! As a certified with the Coffee Diploma and Authorized SCA Trainer (AST) in 2018, Fabiola began her preparation as a barista in 2013. She also has a bachelor's degree in business administration, a degree in marketing, and a specialization in hotel operations management. She is currently studying for the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Coffee Excellence at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. She has dedicated herself to content creation since 2015 for her blog Soy Barista, always focusing on updated and relevant data for the Spanish-speaking community We cover:  Fabiola's entry into coffee  The unique landscape of Costa Rican coffee culture Training and educating on foundational information The importance of certifications and career tracks Best practices for training baristas Exploring all levels of quality Practical results of education on the local industry over time  Links: https://www.soybarista.com/en/home @soybaristacr   Listen to these episodes next: 294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto! 348: Founder Friday! w/ Benito Burmudez of Cafe Unido, Panama City, Panama! 335: A Better Business Model for Coffee Farmers w/ Thaleon Tremain of Pachamama Coffee 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee   Visit our awesome Sponsors! GROUND BREAKING BREWING MADE SIMPLE! www.groundcontrol.coffee   THE BEST PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET! www.Pacificfoodservice.com   30 years of resourcing you with the best products and education! www.coffeefest.com Use Code: "KEYS" for 50% General Admission  

Blue Bottle Coffee: https://bluebottlecoffee.com/us/engJLL Texas Resiliency Infographic: https://view.genial.ly/63e0c88b8201d800197e72b8/interactive-content-general-tx-texas-resiliencyFor more info, check us out at makeitraincapital.com.Welcome to Make It Rain: Multifamily Real Estate Investing for Millennials!  We're Daisy and Luc, two millennials who love multifamily investing.  With every episode, whether we're discussing a special topic or have on an amazing guest, the goal is to provide education and resources for anyone interested in investing in multifamily real estate, especially if you're a millennial.  We're excited to chat with you about the what's, the why's, the how's, the who's.  The best way to show support is to share it with anyone who might benefit from it and leave us an awesome review. Check out our website at makeitraincapital.com for more goodies.  Take action on your financial future TODAY!

MIssy Elliot becomes the first female rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jamie Foxx releases a public statement after his hospitalization three weeks ago, and The Weeknd has partnered with Blue Bottle Coffee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Belle chats with the founder of Opolis Optics, James Merrill. Opolis is an eyewear brand that originated in Maine, and is now based in Venice Beach, CA. Their mission focuses on reducing ocean and landfill-based plastic, and turning it into high-quality products, which, in-turn, supports the communities most impacted by plastic pollution. In this episode, you'll learn about the impact of plastic pollution, the ins and outs of manufacturing with rPET, or recycled plastic, the challenges of raising capital and finding investors for your business, how covid impacted smaller brands, and so much more! Opolis Optics Website https://opolisoptics.com/ Discount Code for Listeners: Don't forget to use code, "FOF20" for 20% off your order! FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM Opolis ⁠@opolis_optics James @jamesmrrll Belle ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@bellebarreiroseiden⁠⁠ Flavor of Fashion ⁠⁠⁠@flavoroffashionpodcast ⁠⁠ FOLLOW ON TIKTOK, TWITTER & FACEBOOK TikTok @opolis.optics Twitter @Opolis4 Facebook @Opolisoptics (view the World Recycling Day Surfrider Clean-Up Recap on Facebook) MENTIONED IN EPISODE Girlfriend Collective Washing Machine Attachment (Microfiber Filter) https://girlfriend.com/products/water-filter STOKEDPLASTIC™️ https://opolisoptics.com/pages/stoked-plastic StokedPlastic® Ski/Snowboard Goggles https://opolisoptics.com/pages/pre-order Let My People Go Surfing book by Yvon Chouinard https://www.patagonia.com/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-revised-paperback-book/889833674516.html? Trade Shows - Surf Expo & Outdoor Retailer https://surfexpo.com/ https://outdoorretailer.com/ Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award Article https://thedaily.outdoorretailer.com/news/brands-and-retailers/opolis-optics-turns-plastic-bottles-into-goggles/ Maine Outdoor Brands Association https://maineoutdoorbrands.com/ Hansen's Surfboards in Encinitas https://www.hansensurf.com/ L.L. Bean https://www.llbean.com/ Sea Bags https://seabags.com/ Faro x Opolis Surfboard Bags https://faroboardbags.com/ SurfRider https://www.surfrider.org/ Cake https://ridecake.com/en-US JAMES'S RECOMMENDATIONS LA SPOTS (Venice) The Butcher's Daughter | @thebutchersdaughter_official Blue Bottle Coffee | @bluebottle Great White | @greatwhite MAINE SPOTS (Kennybunkport) The Clam Shack @theclamshack The Wharf | (general area, lots of restaurants) Federal Jacks | @federaljacks --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flavor-of-fashion-podcast/support

We're giving our takes on what a new version of Total Divas should look like and we're breaking down our most recent Face Off tournament for best WWE Women's Champion. For our drinks we tried Blue Bottle Coffee.

Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Fumbles, Agent Dribbles, Agent Chris, and Producer of the show Director SP discuss the Marvel Studios news of the week. The Team debriefs you on everything Kevin Feige has to say to Entertainment Weekly on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Marvels, Blade, Deadpool 3, the Thunderbolts, the future of Previously On's on Disney+, The Fantastic Four, where you can see Rogers: The Musical, the MCU fallout from Across The Spider-Verse, and the 20th Century Studios comic book imprint from Marvel. Stay tuned after the credits for a few minutes of Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. bonus audio. THIS TIME ON LEGENDS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.:   ·          Weekly Marvel Studio News o    Kevin Feige opens up about Phase 5, Kang, and the future of the MCU o    Marvel launches 20th Century Studios comic book imprint o    Rogers: The Musical is coming to Disney California Adventure o    REPORT: Spider-Man: No Way Home Fallout Factors Into Across the Spider-Verse o    Marvel launches 20th Century Studios comic book imprint   WEEKLY MARVEL STUDIO NEWS [1:15]   TOP MARVEL STUDIOS NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK   Kevin Feige opens up about Phase 5, Kang, and the future of the MCU https://ew.com/movies/kevin-feige-marvel-phase-5-exclusive-interview/ Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed that fans will see Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Feige brought up Moon Knight's MCU future during a conversation with Entertainment Weekly about the initial wave of Marvel-produced Disney+ series, which included the six-episode Moon Knight series. "The fun thing about streaming is they are there forever, and people can keep re-exploring them," Feige said. "Moon Knight, same thing. I think there's a future for that character as we move forward."   Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has provided an update on Spider-Man 4. During a chat with Entertainment Weekly, Feige was asked if there were any updates on Spider-Man 4, following the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. While his response was short, he did indicate the story is already settled for Peter Parker's next adventure. Feige said, "All I will say is that we have the story. We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now."   Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige "reveals" which character from The Marvels steals the upcoming film. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Feige discussed what the major takeaways were for Marvel Studios during Phase 4, which introduced several new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a variety of films and television shows. "I hope we learn something on every project," he said. "I was very pleased with everything that we did. Kamala Khan, for instance, is a great new character in the pantheon. I'm very proud of the Ms. Marvel show. I also know — and this is a spoiler — she essentially steals The Marvels, which is coming out [July 28]. It makes me excited that people will, I hope, see that movie and then go back and revisit those shows on Disney+."   The Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of Blade, starring Mahershala Ali as the famous vampire hunter, will shoot in about two and a half months, according to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. Feige was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly about the MCU's Phase Five, which begins with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and ends with an all new Blade in late 2024. When asked if he had any updates on Blade, Feige didn't disclose many details but confirmed that the film is moving along smoothly. "It's going well," Feige said. "Our director Yann [Demange] is down in Atlanta right now. Cameras roll in, like, the next 10 weeks or so." Insider reports previously claimed that Blade wouldn't begin shooting until July, but Feige's projected start date of 10 weeks means the movie will begin shooting this spring.   Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige addressed the ever-expanding scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, pointing out that it was necessary to release a wide variety of films and television shows while noting that not everything would necessarily appeal to everyone. "If there's a Marvel Studios method -- like there was a Marvel method in publishing -- it's trying to do both," Feige told Entertainment Weekly when asked about balancing ongoing MCU story threads with capturing new audiences. "I've talked about this for years: If you want to dip in and out and just go to the movies on a Friday night or watch a streaming series, you can do that. And if you want to follow along, there's certainly much more to be discovered. But we don't ever want it to seem exclusive or that you need to have done your homework before watching something. Now, I've also realized that a lot of people like to do the homework. A lot of people find the fun in the homework and the continuity and the connectivity. But it is a balance of always trying to do both."   Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently confirmed that Harrison Ford's Thunderbolt Ross is the Marvel Cinematic Universe's new U.S. President. Feige confirmed that Ross will move into the Oval Office in Captain America: New World Order in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "[Ross is] the President of the United States in the film," he said. "And with Harrison, you think about Air Force One, and you think about some of his confrontations with the president in Clear and Present Danger. There's a dynamic between President Ross and Sam Wilson. They have a history together, but in this film, we'll be seeing the dynamic between Captain America and the President of the United States in a way that is just incredible." Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes will play an essential role in the highly-anticipated Thunderbolts movie. Speaking with EW, Feige teased that Bucky Barnes will become the de facto leader of this group of complicated individuals who don't even consider themselves heroes. "What's fun about that [Thunderbolts film], and I sort of said this at D23, is that they are barely heroes," Feige said. "None of them would consider themselves heroes. When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that's sort of all you need to know. That's the trickle down."   According to Kevin Feige, the 'Previously On' recap could be less important for upcoming Marvel TV shows as they might experiment with more traditional episodic structures. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Feige stated that "[w]e want to do shows that can only be shows. I want to continue to make them even more episodic, which may seem counterintuitive. But I do think there is something fun about leaning back and watching an episode that can be relatively self-contained." He pointed to watching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to illustrate the pleasures of less overarching TV storytelling: "I still find it soothing to watch an episode of Next Gen with a beginning and an end. So, I think we're going to keep experimenting with that going forward."   When it comes to upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has one, in particular, he's most looking forward to. "...We talked a little bit about Secret Wars. We talked about Kang Dynasty as related to Quantumania," Feige told Entertainment Weekly, referencing the MCU's current storylines and reflecting on future projects. "The only other one in terms of me personally and my 23-year history is the Fantastic Four. We sort of talked about mutants and that whole aspect to the Marvel world, but Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics. There's certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that's something that is really exciting for us."   MCU – MARVEL STUDIOS   Brie Larson says The Marvels costar Iman Vellani is 'the future' https://ew.com/movies/brie-larson-the-marvels-iman-vellani-is-the-future/ The Marvels' Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel dynamic brings things full circle for Brie Larson, who joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks in part to Kamala Khan's 2014 comic debut. "A huge part of why I wanted to play Captain Marvel was because of Ms. Marvel and what that meant," Larson told Entertainment Weekly in regards to her MCU origins and co-star Iman Vellani's Marvel future. Praising Vellani's performance as the young hero Kamala, she continued, "To see that character realized by such a brilliant human with so much potential is just a really exciting thing." Larson described Vellani -- who made her acting debut in last year's Ms. Marvel Disney+ show -- as "the perfect Ms. Marvel and the most incredible person and castmate. I'm so excited for her success and I'm so excited to see what she will do with her life because she can do anything she wants. She's one of my favorite people on this earth."   Deadpool 3, Blade Get Basic Synopses and the Same Filming Start Date https://www.cbr.com/deadpool-3-blade-synopsis-film-date/ Marvel Studios' upcoming films Deadpool 3 and Blade are both currently scheduled to begin production on the same day, according to a new report.   Per Production List, the two Marvel Cinematic Universe titles will both commence principal photography on May 1, with Deadpool 3 shooting in Vancouver, Canada, and Blade set to film in both Atlanta and New Orleans. Brief synopses were also released for the upcoming superhero installments, with Deadpool 3's simply teasing "Another chapter in the raunchy, violent, and of course, hilarious Deadpool series." However, the synopsis for Blade is a bit meatier and reads as follows: "He is known to be a vampire hunter— half-mortal, half-immortal— who tries to rid the world of vampires as a way of avenging his mother, who was killed by a vampire as she gave birth to him." While light on plot details, the synopsis does confirm that the MCU version of the character will retain his comic book origin.   Steve Yeun joining Thunderbolts https://deadline.com/2023/02/thunderbolts-steven-yeun-marvel-studios-1235268760/ He joins an ensemble that was announced during Disney's D23 event last year that includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. Ayo Edebiri also joined the ensemble in an undisclosed role.   ‘Quantumania' Still Worst Drop For MCU Title, ‘Cocaine Bear' Real High With $23M & ‘Jesus Revolution' Raising $15M+ – Sunday Box Office https://deadline.com/2023/02/box-office-cocaine-bear-jesus-revolution-ant-man-and-the-wasp-1235269877/ Insiders at Marvel Studios aren't worried about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, despite the film's record drop at the domestic box office.   "Marvel takes something away from movies including Black Panther, including Avengers," an insider close to the film told Deadline about Quantumania, which dropped nearly 70% at the domestic box office in its second weekend in theaters. "I can say we're incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It's the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is. But it's not going to stop people from going back to the theaters."   After ‘Ant-Man 3's' Second Weekend Box Office Collapse, Should Marvel Get Concerned? https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/ant-man-quantumania-box-office-drop-concern-marvel-1235536265/ Marvel's latest MCU release, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, had a big box office drop over its second weekend, but Hollywood analysts suggest it's not time for Marvel to panic.   The third installment in the Ant-Man franchise amassed $105 million in its opening weekend and followed up the next weekend with only $32 million in profit. Despite having the first $100 million debut of 2023, Variety reports that the 69% drop is Marvel's biggest second-week crash to date. Despite this, Marvel insiders have stated they are unconcerned with the significant box office loss, and Hollywood analysts seem to agree. Nielsen Streaming Top 10: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Becomes Third Most-Streamed Movie in One Measurement Week https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/black-panther-wakanda-forever-third-most-streamed-movie-measurement-week-nielsen-1235541540/ It's official – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has become Marvel's most-watched movie on Disney+.   According to Variety, the sequel swiftly earned a spot on Nielsen's list of the most streamed movies within a week, with 2.269 billion viewing minute within its first five days on the service. Across all streamers it ranks third, just behind Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2.886 billion) and Hocus Pocus 2 (2.725 billion).   Rhianna to perform “Lift Me Up” at the 95th Academy Awards https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1628817105280983040 Oscars are Sunday, March 12 at 8e/5p   Kang Dynasty Writer Thinks He Won't Use X-Men, Fantastic Four https://www.superherohype.com/movies/527838-kang-dynasty-writer-thinks-he-wont-use-x-men-fantastic-four It is only a matter of time before the Fantastic Four and X-Men are two of the leading forces in the MCU. Fantastic Four is coming in Phase 6, while the X-Men remain undated outside of Deadpool 3. With Kang and his infinite number of variants set to wreak havoc on the MCU, Marvel will need all of its heroes to defeat the powerful villain. Will that include members of the Fantastic Four and X-Men? Jeff Loveness, the writer for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, revealed (via Phase Zero podcast) if he believes the Fantastic Four and X-Men will be in the film.   “No, I think all that stuff is pretty far away,” Loveness said. “I know they're making Fantastic Four, but that's its own thing. I mean, look, I'm the biggest X-Men guy in the world. No, I think that's being saved for a bit. But, these Avengers are in trouble. They got a lot going on with Kang. They got more than enough to handle.”   Rogers: the Musical is coming to Disney California Adventure https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpA5ON6JzRx A timeless story of a timeless hero!

We finish off our 10 Essentials list! Garrett went to the Asbury Revival, so we spend time talking about what a revival looks like. Why the word revival may get a negative view. We discuss the good that came from Garrett visiting Asbury and the negative comments Cody has crusaded against! Blue Bottle Coffee and Black Rifle Coffee fill our cups!!!    And do NOT forget to join the fight to stop human trafficking with our friends at Let My People Go! Click below!  LET MY PEOPLE GO

The journey of a barista often will lead to management. That particular role of leadership in the cafe comes with a host of changes that call on people to not only care for the quality and operations of the cafe, but the people themselves. Today we are going to be talking with Justin Duenne of Quills Coffee, a manager whose journey into the role is marked by a focus on team and the constant goal of providing a great experience for both barista and guest alike.  Justin began working in coffee in 2018 with Quills Coffee in Indianapolis. With a passion for coffee and community growing, Justin stepped into a manager role for the Indianapolis shop.  Throughout this time he's helped Quills Indianapolis step into a new chapter of the company and location. Justin is also an accomplished musician and songwriter. In this conversation we will be talking about Justin's jouney into coffee and then into management and the lessons he has learned regarding leadership, and the importance of a great team We cover: Becoming a barista  Taking on and learning leadership Lessons in teamwork and relying on others Hiring and creating the vibe Delivering a great coffee experience The connection between music performance and management Thankfulness and the importance of perspective   Links: www.quillscoffee.com Justin on Instaram @justinduennemusic Justin's music on Spotify   Related Episodes:  054 : Founder Friday w/ Nathan Quillo, Quills Coffee 216 : Helping your Customers Brew at Home w/ Brian Beyke , I Brew my own Coffee Podcast 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee 366: A Conversation w/ Chris Baca of Cat and Cloud Coffee   Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com  

It happens all the time. We create and conduct training sessions, programs, and systems that contain a lot, but do not produce a lot.  We end up with staff that are ill equipped for handling the day-to-day work and challenges that await them and as a result the customer receives an inconsistent experience.  On today's Shift Break we will be talking about the number one way we create ineffective training programs and what we should be investing into in order to properly train and prepare ours staff and business for long term success Please listen to these related episodes: 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence 296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles 235 : 4 Tips for Training your Staff 130 : Anne Nylander | Training Principles for Specialty Coffee Professionals 119 : Barista Training Masterclass w/ 2009 WBC Champion, Gwilym Davies   Like the episode? Subscribe, share, and rate the show!   Visit these amazing sponsors! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com   Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co  

Twenty Minute VC Podcast Notes Key Takeaways Check Out the 20VC Episode Page & Show NotesRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.org Chris Sacca is the Founder and Chairman @ Lowercase Capital, one of the best performing funds in the history of venture capital with a portfolio including Uber, Stripe, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker and many more. From interviewing some of the world's richest married couples, how did gaining wealth change their relationship and marriage? What does Chris do to actively ensure his children remain hungry and know the value of money? Chamath Palihapitiya is Founder & CEO @ Social Capital. Social's portfolio includes the likes of Slack, Yammer, Front, Intercom and Carta to name a few. What does Chamath mean when he says we need to think through the mindset of "infinite games" not finite games? How does this change how you think about money? How does Chamath think about his relationship to risk today as a result? Brad Gerstner is the Founder and CEO of Altimeter. Brad's notable deals that he has helped lead include Snowflake, Mongo, Bytedance, Gusto, Unity, Okta, dbt, Modern Treasury, EPIC Games, Hotel Tonight and Zillow. What is the most important thing parents can do to ensure that despite wealth, their children remain grounded and ambitious? Why does Brad, despite being a billionaire, still live in a modest house and not spend on the excesses of life? How does Brad embrace essentialism with wealth? Cyan Banister is one of the most successful and renowned early-stage investors in the last decade. Her portfolio includes the likes of SpaceX, Uber, Affirm, Opendoor Postmates, Niantic and Thumbtack to name a few. Why did Cyan used to hate money? Why was she "anti-capitalist"? How does Cyan approach risk management today? Why does she invest every dollar she makes back into the ecosystem? George Zachary is a General Partner @ CRV, one of the nation's oldest and most successful early-stage venture capital firms with a portfolio including the likes of Airtable, DoorDash, Dropbox, Niantic and many more. What did George learn about how the way people view you changes with your increasing wealth? Why does George believe rich people like to hang out with rich people? Biz Stone is best known as the Co-Founder of Twitter and Medium. Biz is also an investor in the likes of Slack, Square, Intercom, Beyond Meat and Blue Bottle Coffee. What does Biz mean when he says, "wealth only serves to amplify the person you are?"

Chris Sacca is the Founder and Chairman @ Lowercase Capital, one of the best performing funds in the history of venture capital with a portfolio including Uber, Stripe, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker and many more. From interviewing some of the world's richest married couples, how did gaining wealth change their relationship and marriage? What does Chris do to actively ensure his children remain hungry and know the value of money? Chamath Palihapitiya is Founder & CEO @ Social Capital. Social's portfolio includes the likes of Slack, Yammer, Front, Intercom and Carta to name a few. What does Chamath mean when he says we need to think through the mindset of "infinite games" not finite games? How does this change how you think about money? How does Chamath think about his relationship to risk today as a result? Brad Gerstner is the Founder and CEO of Altimeter. Brad's notable deals that he has helped lead include Snowflake, Mongo, Bytedance, Gusto, Unity, Okta, dbt, Modern Treasury, EPIC Games, Hotel Tonight and Zillow. What is the most important thing parents can do to ensure that despite wealth, their children remain grounded and ambitious? Why does Brad, despite being a billionaire, still live in a modest house and not spend on the excesses of life? How does Brad embrace essentialism with wealth? Cyan Banister is one of the most successful and renowned early-stage investors in the last decade. Her portfolio includes the likes of SpaceX, Uber, Affirm, Opendoor Postmates, Niantic and Thumbtack to name a few. Why did Cyan used to hate money? Why was she "anti-capitalist"? How does Cyan approach risk management today? Why does she invest every dollar she makes back into the ecosystem? George Zachary is a General Partner @ CRV, one of the nation's oldest and most successful early-stage venture capital firms with a portfolio including the likes of Airtable, DoorDash, Dropbox, Niantic and many more. What did George learn about how the way people view you changes with your increasing wealth? Why does George believe rich people like to hang out with rich people? Biz Stone is best known as the Co-Founder of Twitter and Medium. Biz is also an investor in the likes of Slack, Square, Intercom, Beyond Meat and Blue Bottle Coffee. What does Biz mean when he says, "wealth only serves to amplify the person you are?"

Listeners, we're back this week with Luisa Alberto.Luisa Alberto is the CEO of People First Finance, a Virtual CFO agency that provides high touch accounting and financial advisory services to women business owners.  She has 18 years of Finance and Operations experience working alongside visionary leaders of successful Bay Area startups, such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Good Eggs.  Her mission is to ease the financial burden and overwhelm that holds too many extraordinary self employed women back from reaching their fullest potential, and making a wildly successful living as the brilliant creators they were born to be. During this episode we talked about:06:26 - Growing up as an only child08:03 - Leaving New York and choosing her major09:49 - Understanding Social Justice22:30 - There's not a right and wrong way24:34 - ‘What are you?' & identity33:30 - Getting into finance35:30 - Getting her financial world thriving37:54 - Filing for bankruptcy39:49 - People First Finance & talking numbers This episode is brought to you by Cox.com , Chispa App, and Gold Peak Follow Luisa on all things social:InstagramFacebookLinkedInWebsite Follow Cafe con Pam on all things socialInstagramFacebookhttp://cafeconpam.com/Join the FREE Cafe con Pam ChallengeJoin our Discord  space and let's keep the conversation going!If you are a business owner, join us for Aligned Collective MastermindLearn about PowerSisters Subscribe, rate, review, and share this episode with someone you love!And don't ever forget to Stay Shining! 

I'm excited to bring my good friend Om Malik back for a third round of Panic. Om is a partner at True Ventures, a $2B venture capital firm in San Francisco. They have made over 300 investments including WordPress, Peloton, Fitbit, and Blue Bottle Coffee. He's a super smart guy to talk to. He worries about the future, invests in the future, and talks about the future. It's important to talk about the future especially when the current situation is bleak – with a tech crash and valuations coming down. I don't think there's a panic, we're just witnessing the end of an era. We could whine about it, or we could look past it and figure out where technology is going next; which is what I'm doing. I don't think what's worked for me over the last 12 years will work going forward. Om is here to help me sort it out.  Guest - Om Malik, Partner Emeritus at True Ventures  howardlindzon.com, trueventures.com, om.co Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @trueventures, @om, @knutjensen  linkedin.com/in/ommalik #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance  Show Notes: Introduction (00:42) Welcome Om (02:52) The world aligning to new technologies (04:01) Valuation and tech decoupled (04:51) The core thesis hasn't changed (6:06) Today tech is bigger, bolder, more impactful (07:26) 5 trillion dollar companies created in the last 12 years (07:37) The unknowns make the future of tech exciting (08:43) Moving towards a 3D interface with data (09:38) Apple M1 chip changes everything (10:02) Identity and Authentication are key (14:14) Understanding the future of tech (16:07) Fixating on ‘labels' instead of the tech (17:55) The digital wallet is the future (18:33) The ‘MetaMask' of the future may come from Apple (19:28) The future doesn't have to be Instagram and Twitter (20:31) Trust and Big Tech (21:54) Apple is one Tim Cook away from things falling apart (22:01) The disappearance of the App store (22:44) The wallet is tightly connected to your Smartphone (23:16) Policy always lags tech (24:15) The ‘Wild West' analogy for Web3 (25:57) Software is important, authentication will be key (26:32) Distinguishing between the artificial and real ‘us' (27:52) Metaverse is a euphemism for next gen tech (29:12) How will China define the future (30:11) Globalization versus Deglobalization (30:44) End of one-size-fits-all tech (31:32) The current reality of centralization (32:44) Twitter is social media marketing (33:17) Small subsets of decentralized social networks (33:49) Opportunity comes after a crisis (36:47) Silicon Valley is a state of mind (37:24) Closing thoughts (39:08) Wrapping up (41:55) 

In the cutthroat world of tech, Neil Day is a battle-tested veteran. With 40+ years of experience in the industry, he's led technology teams at Walmart.com, Shutterfly, Blue Bottle Coffee, and more. Now he's fighting a new battle as CTO of R-Zero, the first company built from the ground up to tackle the transmission of pathogens in the COVID-19 era. In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Neil discuss:   ·      Differences managing at a startup vs. a large tech company ·      Balancing learning quickly and getting to market ·      How tech must support sales so they have max credibility in go to market strategy ·      Leadership who “fly to close to the sun” and mix ego with the brand launch  "One mistakes startups make is overinvesting in platform too early. You just don't know what your final product is going to look like." – Neil Day  Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast. Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.   Connect with Neil Day https://rzero.com/ https://twitter.com/RZeroSystems https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-day-121444/ https://www.facebook.com/rzerosystems  #sales #startups #managers #leaders #salescredibility Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts ·         Website: ManageSmarter.com  ·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                            ·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith    Connect with SalesFuel ·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/  ·         Twitter: @SalesFuel  ·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Operations management is a distinct from cafe management. At a certain point in your coffee business' growth it become necessary to have someone whose job it is to manage managers and oversee the operations of the retail shops. This is a critical role that is as much about leadership as it is about decisiveness and and systems. Today we will be learning all about what goes into being a successful operations manager with Ryan Fisher of Erewhon Market, L.A. Long-time coffee professional with experience and knowledge throughout the entire coffee supply chain. Creative and passionate with an extensive network built through a decade of competing, serving, and judging competitions globally including the Cup of Excellence, US Barista Competition, and Cherry Roast.  He has been at the helm of several shops as a manager as well as the Operations Manager for the famed goodboybob Coffee Roasters. Currently he is the Coffee Program Director for Erewhon markets in L.A. In our conversation today we go through Ryan's evolution as a leader in the cafe and then as an operations manager and all that he has learned along the way. I guarantee you will walk away from this conversation with some awesome insights for your own management journey! We cover: Biggest lessons from the early years The difference between manager and operations manager Leading through crisis and change What makes a great operations manager Dealing with tension in the cafe Learning and applying lessons to your management practice What to expect when you first begin this role Practicing good communication and self awareness   Links: www.workinglunch.coffee www.erewhonmarket.com Related episodes: Creative Avoidance : Thoughts on Long-game Management 158 : A Management Masterclass w/ Jon Felix Lund, VP of Operations for Coava Coffee Roasters / Portland, OR 105 : Leadership & Management Masterclass w/ Maria Cleaveland 028 : Why it's Ok to be the Boss w/ Bruce Tulgan : A guide to defining and fighting the under management epidemic in your cafe so you can be the manager your staff need 013 : Leadership & Management Master Class w/ Eva Attia : Leadership | management | hiring | career 012 : Lauren Airola of Onyx Coffee Lab : A Journey Into Management & Back 336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee 141 : The 27 Challenges Managers Face w/ Bruce Tulgan   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com    

Listeners, we're back this week with a candid conversation with my NFT Besties Luisa Alberto, Michelle Morton and Marianna Di Regolo.Luisa Alberto is the CEO of People First Finance, a Virtual CFO agency that provides high touch accounting and financial advisory services to women business owners.  She has 18 years of Finance and Operations experience working alongside visionary leaders of successful Bay Area startups, such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Good Eggs.  Her mission is to ease the financial burden and overwhelm that holds too many extraordinary self employed women back from reaching their fullest potential, and making a wildly successful living as the brilliant creators they were born to be.Marianna is the Founder of The Fringe, an online resource and community for women and non-binary entrepreneurs. She is on a mission to support business owners from underrepresented communities, helping them grow online through creative and innovative marketing experiences. When she's not working, you can find Marianna with her wife and baby making green smoothies, pulling weeds from their garden, or going on walks with their pups.For Michelle Morton, the concepts of generational wealth and leaving a legacy for generations to come were instilled in her from an early age. As the owner of Luxury + Legacy and DMV Luxury Homes, her mission is to guide her clients and team, as they secure their own legacies through real estate and entrepreneurship.Michelle spent her lifetime making things beautiful, crafting poignant messages and powerful presentations. Not until her early twenties did she realize she could REALLY make this a career!Over the past 20 years, Michelle leveraged her passion for growing brands, revenue and teams, remotely, domestic and international, including but not limited to Motorola, Kodak International, Royal Caribbean, Lamaze International, and the Department of Defense.Michelle's background as a PMP certified Digital Marketing Strategist and Project Manager, coupled with her ability to cultivate lasting relationships have helped her grow a thriving real estate business that serves the DC, Maryland, and Virginia metro area.She is a product of Howard University, where she made the lifelong commitment to the illustrious ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.Michelle is the wife, and business partner, to Dwight Morton, and the mother of three beautiful girls, Trinity, Eden, and Grace. As a Christian family, blessed + driven by faith and stewardship, Michelle believes it is our duty to create opportunities for our children, our community, our legacy. During this episode we talked about:10:10 - How we got into NFTs19:41 - Doing it in community20:03 - What are NFTs29:25 - Accessibility33:43 - There's opportunity to be an early adopter38:26 - What is the fund48:36 - The current landscape52:09 - Listening and taking action53:23 - Our upcoming event This  episode is brought to you by MagicMind is the world's first productivity drink.

It's not very often you come across someone who has spent decades as a true example of what it is to be an exemplary manager, leader, and professional. When you do find them you better be prepared to absorb their wisdom and let it help guide your own career.  Well, today we are privileged to sit down with some one who has done exactly that. We are talking all about leadership, management, and training, with Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee! Selina Viguera is well-known in specialty coffee mostly for being an amazing and dedicated barista. She leads the Barista Guild Café at Specialty Coffee Expo and U.S. CoffeeChamps; she's been a lead barista at TED in Vancouver, as well as TEDxWomen and TEDxMed; her latte art is featured on the Pacific Barista Series Oat and Rice packages. And she's been “the face” of Blue Bottle, especially in her adopted home in Los Angeles, for years.   Selina Viguera is a coffee professional who has worked in the industry for over 20+ years. Selina has managed some of the busiest Blue Bottle cafes in the North American market such as San Francisco's Ferry Building location and LA's Abbot Kinney location, where she is currently the cafe leader for over 7 years.    In our conversation we explore here long career and the experiences that have shied who she is as a leader today.    We cover: Discovering the work of the cafe and then specialty coffee Connecting with customers and becoming a leader Leading the change to specialty in her first cafe Learning to train and teach Doors opening for management and leadership Leading "Team First" and the metric of staff happiness Training and onboarding effectively Empowering feedback and conflict resolution  Balance of structure and culture Embracing difficult conversations and being courageous What she is most proud of accomplishing Advice to fellow managers Links:  Instagram: @sellybean_13  Email: Selina.viguera@gmail.com   Recommended Episodes: 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee 306 : A Conversation w/ 2004 U.S. Barista Champion, Bronwen Serna! 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA In Praise of Long Term Imperfect Employment   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com