Episode 46: Blue Bottle Coffee

Today our heroes cover a deal that might have more impact on life in Silicon Valley than AI, wearables and AR/VR combined… Nestle’s acquisition of Blue Bottle Coffee. Will hipster entrepreneurs and the VCs who love/need them continue to line up around the block for their minimalist coffee experience of choice, now that it’s owned by the Nesquik Bunny? Is this the beginning of Blue Bottle pod machines filling the empty counter space left by Juicero’s demise in VC offices throughout South Park? We investigate.

Sponsors:

• Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra
• Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
• Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
• Vanta: http://vanta.com/acquired

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Topics Covered Include:

• The rise of “Third Wave” coffee
• Blue Bottle founder James Freeman’s “classical” (music) influences
• Venture capital and the coffee business
• Achieving liquidity when companies and founders’ don’t want to go public, and don’t want to sell their stakes
• Nestle’s position in single-serve coffee market and potential brand impact of Blue Bottle

The Carve Out:

• Ben: There Never Was a Real Tulip Fever
• David: iPhone SE