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In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

• (1:10) More about Terra Kaffe, a direct-to-consumer luxury coffee machine brand, founded in 2018 on a mission to transform the in-home coffee experience. 
• (2:20) What it was like growing up in Virginia, but also hopping around to China, and how he was an energetic kid, and always on a mission to beat his older brother at things
• (4:20) One of the first businesses he started at just the age of 16, a frisbee club for all of Northern Virginia
• (8:00) Why he wanted to start at Wind Farm when he was younger, due to his love for environmental science but ended up learning more than winning
• (11:15) Why he chose to move to Berlin for a corporate development role to work for a startup
• (26:21) Where the idea for Terra Kaffe came from 
• (36:55) How he demoed the product in the early days, by going door to door to businesses and asking to set up shop
• (41:16) One of the biggest challenges he’s faced in building the brand, in that he almost had to close down in a matter of a week
• (47:00) The reminder that even in the losses, you have to remember to celebrate the wins
• (51:00) His advice for early-stage founders, and what’s next for Terra Kaffe‍

To Find Out More:

https://www.terrakaffe.com/ 

Quotes:

“I aligned with the notion that one should really be competitive with themselves and constantly progress forward.”

“I knew I was gonna wanna do something myself at some point, and I thought what better experience than going to work at a startup.”

“I was always thinking through different ideas that I thought would be clever businesses that were unique opportunities.”

“It really can be a death by a thousand cuts but it's also resilience by a thousand bandaids.”

“I kept looking back at the home experience and realized there's nobody doing anything different here. This is just the same rinse, repeat, same brand, releasing different skews that do the same thing.”

“It's okay to acknowledge those feelings. It's almost more important to actually acknowledge that they exist instead of burying them.”

“There are no promises that anything works out.”

“Even when you're still sprinting, you gotta remember to pause and appreciate the win.”

“​​It can feel like a barrage at times, as you're just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. But doing that in a clear, calm, collected headspace is incredibly valuable. It also speaks volumes to third parties that look at you and how you operate as a business.”

“Build a space for your team to be able to say things they need to say and to be able to take a minute to pause.”