Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Ping Pong Q&A with Cat & Cloud Owners, Chris Baca and Jared Truby - Ep# 455

Jared, Casey, and Chris try (and mostly fail) to follow the rules of a structured Ping Pong Q&A — but the detours are the good stuff. After a bird interrupts the studio, they dig into how basketball and skateboarding have shaped how they lead and work, touching on confidence, enrollment, team culture, and knowing your role. The conversation builds into a meaty debate about scarcity mindset in specialty coffee and business broadly — whether the industry is thriving or quietly contracting, and what separates brands that endure from ones that just survive. Jared makes a case for why they keep R&D-ing new food items even when the breakfast burrito dominates. It closes with a fun rapid-fire on the best coffee scenes in film history.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Bird in the House & Rules of the Game

05:30 – How Has Your Sport Shaped Your Professional Life? 

13:00 – Pickup Ball Culture & Team Dynamics 

20:00 – Is There a Scarcity Mindset Problem in Specialty Coffee? 

28:00 – The Market for Specialty Coffee Is Bigger Than You Think

35:00 – A Race to the Bottom? 

42:00 – What’s the Big Deal…with Food?

48:00 –  In-N-Out vs. Cheesecake Factory: The Menu Philosophy Debate

55:00 –  Why We Keep Evolving the Food Menu and Culture

58:30 – Favorite Coffee Scene in a Movie 

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Cat & Cloud Coffee was founded in 2016 by three friends who believe experiences and connections shape our lives. Former barista champions and lifelong coffee professionals, they envisioned a better way to do business and set out to create a values-driven organization that put culture first.

Our mission is to inspire connection by creating memorable experiences. Whether it's with guests in our 4 retail locations in Santa Cruz, our team members, or our wholesale partners across the country, we strive to leave everyone better than we found them. 

The Cat & Cloud Podcast is a space for us to share our experiences and adventures in coffee and business in hopes of inspiring more people to create culture and values-driven organizations. 

Hosted by Chris Baca and Jared Truby

Produced by Casey Ryan

June 2026