What Matters Most When Opening a Coffee Shop- and Where to

Spend Your Money - Episode #436

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Summary

Thinking about opening a coffee shop? Here’s where your money actually matters—and where

it doesn’t. In this episode, Chris Baca and Jared Truby…aka Dale ;) unpack what actually

matters when you’re opening (or refreshing) a café: create a real feeling of place without

overspending on flashy build-out, “blow the bag” on the essentials (espresso machine, grinders,

and water filtration), and don’t get distracted by optional prestige projects like roasting, direct

trade, or origin travel before the core experience is dialed. They also zoom out on how café

design has evolved since early third-wave homogeneity and land on a grounded definition of

“sustaining excellence”: either innovate with intention or “plus the show” by obsessively

maintaining the details that signal care—because culture is what people learn to accept as

normal.

Chapters

00:00 Monterey and Coffee

07:00 Opening a New Coffee Shop?

13:30 Business reflects the people who started it

21:00 Should I Roast Myself?

29:00 Homogeny in Coffee Shop Design

33:20 What’s Worth It vs. What’s Hype

42:00 Plus the Show

Cat & Cloud:

Instagram www.instagram.com/catcloudcoffee/

Webstore www.catandcloud.com/

We LOVE our Wholesale Partners! Interested in serving our coffee at your business? Learn

more about our Partner Program https://catandcloud.com/pages/wholesale

Links –

Six Over Coffee

https://www.instagram.com/sixovercoffee/?hl=en

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.