July 2, 2026 • 19 mins
Alvin Zhang – Co-Founder, CFO & CMO of Teapulse CEO's You Should Know
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, This is Steve Dallison and welcome to this
week's edition. As CEOs, you should know, I'm thrilled to
be joined by Alvin Zang, the co founder, CFO and
CMO of T Poles.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Alvin, thanks for being here today.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Hi Steve, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Yeah, we're excited to jump in to learn more about
you and more about T Poles.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So why don't we kick it off.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I know you built your career as a managing director
advising organizations on finance, transformations, operational improvements and more, all
while co founding Tea Poles. What inspired you from making
that move from advising businesses to creating one of your own.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Well, I, first of all, I did not leave one
path for another, right, So I think throughout my consulting career,
I had the opportunity to advise companies on transformation, on growth,
operational improvement. But you know, I was just you know,
always curious about what it's like if I'm on the
(00:54):
other side of the table, right.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So you know, my brother in.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Law yer, you know, we just had this opportunity and
to create something sure, And yeah, that's what's being really
inspire me because you know, I guess I haven't really
created something of my own, even though I advise, you know,
clients a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Of different things.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
I'm always curious and inspired about creating the brand right
and listening directly to customers, analyzing data, which I do
a lot, but in this case my own data.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
So that's uh, that's my inspiration.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And I know that you founded it together with your
brother in law, Yeate, who had a long entrepreneurial track record, right.
What inspired the two of you to come up with
the idea around te poles and how did your different
backgrounds and experiences help balance each other out and shape
what the company is?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
We sometimes we tell everybody it's a family business. You
know that family being a family give us the foundation
of trusts, right, So, but also very important, very important,
you know when it comes to business partnership. But then
you know yet and I really bring very different skill
sets and strengths to the table. For me, like I said,
(02:07):
it's more consulting. I'm a strategist, if you will, advisor,
I think about scalability for Yeah, he's a serial entrepreneur.
He started his first business when he was eighteen, straight
out of you know, not even out of college. In college,
he built operated businesses like liquor stores, bakeries, restaurants, both
(02:33):
quick service and sit down restaurants. He's very hands out
and he has this you know instinct as a serial
entrepreneur started so young when it comes to like location,
or when it comes to some decision, you know, not
necessarily you don't necessarily have all the data or you know,
tested the market. Yeah, he just has that instinct. Right,
(02:56):
So I'm like the other fource that's pulling him back, says,
you know, well, let's take a look at the market trends,
let's maybe analyze the roy let's you know, we got
to have you know, a process, a system in place.
So yeah, very different skill sets, but it's like it
a complement each other.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Really.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I know you mentioned that you've been doing consulting and
advisoring for a while then obviously now in a leadership
role around entrepreneur in running your own business. What are
some of the lessons you learned early on in your
career that you were able.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
To learn for and still implement in your leadership style.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Now early Yeah, so well, a lot of things, A
lot of things but I think the biggest lesson learned
is you know, retention. Retention tallest much more than acquisition.
You know, in my consulting career, build a lot of decks, obviously,
do a lot of analytics, you know, beautiful power point,
(03:52):
you know all that, but customer don't see that. Yeah, right,
if you're talking about a T post, you know, store,
customer see your your product, how friendly your staff are,
you know, how clean your store is.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It's just you know, the lesson learned.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
I guess it's you know, it's it's easier to to
have a strategy on paper, but it's it's hard work
to to really implement. It's really the day to day
that devils are in the details, right, So you know,
we want the customer the first try to come from curiosity,
but then the second try, the third try, you got
(04:32):
to earn that. So yeah, that's that's something I learned
throughout you know, my kind of you know, in the
boasts of the world. And that's definitely that's definitely the
mentality to be if you wanted to create something on
your own.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, very cool.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
When we first mentioned you, obviously you're the co founder,
you're the CMO, you're the CFO. How do you balance
it all? How do you have that creativity as a CMO.
It's obviously balancing the spreadsheets as a CFO on the
data side, Like how do you handle all of that
at once?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Great, great question.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
So sometimes people would think, you know, CFO and the
CMO are kind of like opposing forces, right, Why, it's
more about creativity.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
The other one is a discipline. But it's it's it's.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
In and yeen right it Actually it actually comes together
really well for me. I've been enjoying it so far.
You know, I I wasn't a marketing or PR person
or even communication by trade. I learned a lot of
my you know, on the on the CMO, so I
learned a lot of things on the job. But you know,
I sometimes I tell Grace, I tell yeah, it's like
I'm wrestling with myself, right, Like I come up with
(05:38):
this you know idea, it's a collaboration, or it's a
new product, like gra it's not our thinking, or it's
a campaign.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We think it's going to go viral.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
But then on the on the right hand side, I
really have to then think about the r y, the spendings. Yeah,
the supply chain actually support this, right, can we even
get those products sourced right with the amount of time
we're under to.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Actually do it?
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So a lot of these things, so yeah, it's a dilemma.
It's it's very interesting. But yeah, they actually come together
really well.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
So I highly recommend, especially for founders in the beginning.
Everybody wear multiple hats, right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It's not all the different pieces of the business.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah, CFO and the CMO believe or not. Actually a
good humbo. I highly recommend for other founders out there.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about Tea pos.
I know T pos It reimagines familiar products of tea, coffee, lemonade,
and pastries through a modern lens. Right, So how do
you foster that culture of innovation while ensuring that the
brand still remains authentic.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
To its roots.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
T is a foundation of our brand, you know, it's
also our roots. You know, I'm an immigrant myself. I
came to this country when I was eighteen, so we
always wanted to you know, respect the roots. Wow, giving
it a different twist, a modern New York City energy.
(07:05):
You know what that means is you know, that's innovation, right,
But what that means is we, you know, for example,
blend the tea into lemonae, so we create lemon tea, right.
We also you know, create baked pastries as well, paschedel
dinata or ectart Portuguese style act heart you know. So
it's really to give it a different lens.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Typically you think about tea houses, you think about you know,
tea houses tucked away in Chinatown. We wanted to create
more accessibility, convenience, and also make it fund So so yeah, innovation,
but also sticking to our roots. I think authenticity is
extremely important.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
And I know that the brand itself is more than
a tea brand, right, It's a lifestyle brand. It's centered
around as you just mentioned obviously, culture, creativity and connection.
What does that vision look like moving forward? What's the
vision for the next year, five years ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Next five years? Yeah, we we have a lot in
our mind, you know.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We we wanted to make tea posts not just a
beverage or tea brand. We wanted to be more of
a feeling and an experience, right, So it connects a
lifestyle brand exactly like you said. But you know I
mean that by the way that sounds very marketing ish
in reality. In practice, we we wanted to expand. We
(08:28):
wanted to expand geographically, you know, we wanted to collaborate
with artists, also local communities. We wanted to continue to
introduce innovative products. You know, so again t is a foundation,
but how to make it give it a modern twist?
(08:48):
You know one day if we expand beyond New York City,
we also wanted to really stick.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
To the city.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
I think New York is part of our identity, right,
We wanted to to the identity and where we everything started.
So you know that's so that's kind of our vision
for the next five But you know there's a lot
of again that all.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
But yeah, expansion, collaboration, innovation.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, well let's stick to New York because we just
talked about it, right, Yeah, So I know that we
just mentioned before we even jumped on that there's a
location really close by. And I know one thing that
you did is you kind of transformed what people think
of as a tea house to now this more innovative
destination that they could visit. What's saying authentic to New
York is what was the strategy behind that and what
(09:35):
should somebody expect if they decided.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
To visit a location.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, we wanted to be part of the city. The
city's a vibrant you know, New York City. If there's
one place to do what I just said, it's got
to be in New York City, right, So we we
intentionally picked our locations throughout the city. You know, this
is Central Park, we have location Kital Madison Square Park, Chinatown.
More coming by the way. But we wanted to be
(10:01):
part of New Yorker's daily rithm. You know, if you
think about you know, tea coffee pastry, that's that's really
a tea coffee pastry. Reimagine. That's kind of our techline.
But we wanted to create a energy system. You know,
the tea is the focused energy or the calm energy.
Coffee is more the focused energy, and then pastry is
(10:24):
like the warmth, little you know, moments of joy energy.
So it really matches New Yorker throughout the day. Right
in the morning, you grab a coffee and then you
probably come in for another drink in this case could
very well be a lemon tea ye after lunch, right,
and then then you know throughout the day, hey, you
know you grab a snack. New Yorkers are always on
(10:47):
the go, so hey a pastel, d nata or you know,
even other product we're introducing the future that's yours. So
we wanted to be part of New Yorker's life, right,
that's that's that's our revision, and that's how we want
everybody to perceive Tea Posts beyond just a bob a
tea brand.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I know we talked to this culture is one of
the pillars of the organization, right. I know, when you
look at the menu, there's everything from Eastern and Western influences,
from the lemonades to some of the pastries that are
on the menu. How important was that cultural storytelling incorporating
the menu as part of Tea Poles is strategy.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
It's it's extremely important. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
For Yea and I, we both came to this country
as an immigrant. We always wanted to be the bridge
between cultures. So when it comes to our product, you know,
the two great example you just mentioned Steve, For example,
the personal dena of Portuguese actar. You know, obviously it's
a Portuguese pastry, right, but then it has it's I
(11:54):
believe or not everybody in Asia love stuff because of
Macau's influence.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Right.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
I just remember when I was Yeah, when I was
still in my hometown, we always have pastel dina or
act tarts, so so that that's you know, that's kind
of a bridge between East and West and the lemon
tea as well. You know, the foundation is lemonade. You know,
that's probably the most approachable beverage like here, right, Like
(12:19):
think about everybody sold lemonade when you know, at school.
But then we add tea to it. We're at tea
to it, which gives it the complexity and depth, so
you know, it's another East and the West kind of Yeah.
So so every product, including future innovation too. We always
wanted to be intentionally wanted to be the bridge between
(12:41):
East and the West because that's our life experience. So
it's also our identity.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
And perfect for New York cultural notes and.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
There's any place to do it. It's New York City.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, speaking of New York, I know that New York
obviously for the food and beverage industry could be very competitive.
Lots of coffee shops and probably competition. What has been
one of the most challenging aspects of launching teopoles in
New York and how have you been able to overcome that?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, New York is extremely competitive. The rant is going
through the yeah, just a little bit. Yeah, but you know,
I think the biggest challenge is actually not opening the store.
You know, there's a lot of things opening store, but
you know, we open a lot of store in the past,
even prior to t post.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
It's a lot of hustle.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
But the real challenge is to run the stores because
you know, it's just every store has its own pattern,
the traffic, the demographic, you know, the neighborhood, the vibe.
It's very different, the rent is different. But then when
customers coming into your store, they're expecting consistent quality of
(13:48):
the same product.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Right.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So yeah, so running it is the real challenge, and
it comes down to you know, people, process technology, right,
but number one is always people. So yeah, so that's
we spend a lot of time. It's all about the talents. Yeah,
so running the story is the biggest challenge. Devils are
(14:09):
in the details. Yeah, yeah, seriously, I could only imagine. Yeah,
so let's let's treach here is a little bit back
to you. So obviously currently invested in Tepole's co founder
of it. Your background is you've you've helped consult and
advise other founders. What is one of the biggest mistakes
you noticed entrepreneurs and founders making and how can they
(14:31):
improve on that? Yeah, I guess throughout my consulting career
or my own career as an entrepreneur as well, one
of the I guess common mistakes I saw was to
grow or scale too early before your operation model is ready, right, like,
(14:52):
meaning in t pos's case, if we you know, jump out,
you know, the franchising raw or scaling too quickly without
a training syst term, without SOPs, you know, without you know,
a good system around us to build the stores, the architect,
the contractor, you know, all of that resources, it's not
(15:12):
gonna go well. And I've seen that over and over again.
You know this country. You know, one thing about this
country is if you scale too quickly, not careful, you know,
like you know, one lawsuit, your entire five years of effort,
it's just gone right. So so yeah, so that's the
most common miss Another maybe another one and share you know,
(15:34):
is just you know, I think some founders or people
myself included, sometimes confuse the initial success or initial market
reaction with long term success, right, because you know, like
I said, the first try, you can earn that through
social media, you can earn that through collaborations or just
(15:57):
plain curiosity about this new store around the corner. But
then the consistency the second try, the third try, that's
what tells the founder you were truly accepted by the
market or not. Right, So sometimes you are confused by
the first try. Oh my god, this is definitely but
you know it's it's I've seen that over and over
again as well, so I would say those are two.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Speaking of advice, if you for any entrepreneurs that are
tuning in or people that are thinking about starting their
own business, what advice would you wish you could give
yourself years ago when you were first getting into the industry.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Star wars Your passion, that's the most important thing in
the beginning, But then you know, passion that's not equal
to operating model. Right from there, you really have to
think through your operating model, your business, how does it work,
(16:54):
your margin, your operating costs, your labor, you know, your
product matrix, all of that. But then you know, I
guess my suggestion is you always have to find a
balance you can't have like me myself included, I've advised
you know, large company as large as public companies, but
(17:14):
as a startup, you cannot let you know, that become
a you know, to restrain or constrain your creativity. So
there's always don't let excel or spreashalet eliminate your creativity,
right So so so hold that balance, especially as a startup.
But then lastly comes down to execution again, you know,
(17:36):
so it's always about execution. The same exact strategy can
be carried out very differently when different people carry them out.
So yeah, but start with your passion. That's the most
important thing if you wanted to start your own business.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's the love what you do, especially the business that
you're creating.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It gives you that unlimited motivation.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah. So absolutely we covered a lot.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
If there was one thing that you want our listeners
to know about the mission of Teopoles, what would that be.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
We are a lifestyle brand. We wanted to so tea
coffee pastry, that's our product, but reimagined. We wanted to
be the cultural bridge between East and the West. And
then we wanted to be an authentic brand that eventually
will expand, but stick to our roots.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Love that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
If someone is tuning in and they want to learn
more about peoples, what should they do.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Give us a shot.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
We have currently have nine locations. It's three in Queens,
six right here in the city in Manhattan, so you know,
if you see one, give us a shot. I mean,
our signature product is lemon Tea, which is perfect for
this weather. You know, give us a shot, and then
you know, interact with us on social media, give us
(18:54):
a shout out if there's any suggestion.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Also, let me know of the co.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Founders were freely hands out, so that, believe it or not,
is probably gonna be me replying to your college. So
so yeah, that's how that's why, you know, Call to
Action amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, I'm looking forward to checking it out and trying
to fit firsthand. But Alvin, thank you so much for
being here today. I really appreciate you taking us to
your journey and of course learning more about t POS.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Thank you, Steve, what's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Absolutely, and thank you all for tuning in. Tone in
next week for next week's edition of CEOs.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
You should know
Hi everyone, This is Steve Dallison and welcome to this
week's edition. As CEOs, you should know, I'm thrilled to
be joined by Alvin Zang, the co founder, CFO and
CMO of T Poles.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Alvin, thanks for being here today.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Hi Steve, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Yeah, we're excited to jump in to learn more about
you and more about T Poles.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So why don't we kick it off.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I know you built your career as a managing director
advising organizations on finance, transformations, operational improvements and more, all
while co founding Tea Poles. What inspired you from making
that move from advising businesses to creating one of your own.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Well, I, first of all, I did not leave one
path for another, right, So I think throughout my consulting career,
I had the opportunity to advise companies on transformation, on growth,
operational improvement. But you know, I was just you know,
always curious about what it's like if I'm on the
(00:54):
other side of the table, right.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So you know, my brother in.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Law yer, you know, we just had this opportunity and
to create something sure, And yeah, that's what's being really
inspire me because you know, I guess I haven't really
created something of my own, even though I advise, you know,
clients a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Of different things.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
I'm always curious and inspired about creating the brand right
and listening directly to customers, analyzing data, which I do
a lot, but in this case my own data.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
So that's uh, that's my inspiration.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And I know that you founded it together with your
brother in law, Yeate, who had a long entrepreneurial track record, right.
What inspired the two of you to come up with
the idea around te poles and how did your different
backgrounds and experiences help balance each other out and shape
what the company is?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
We sometimes we tell everybody it's a family business. You
know that family being a family give us the foundation
of trusts, right, So, but also very important, very important,
you know when it comes to business partnership. But then
you know yet and I really bring very different skill
sets and strengths to the table. For me, like I said,
(02:07):
it's more consulting. I'm a strategist, if you will, advisor,
I think about scalability for Yeah, he's a serial entrepreneur.
He started his first business when he was eighteen, straight
out of you know, not even out of college. In college,
he built operated businesses like liquor stores, bakeries, restaurants, both
(02:33):
quick service and sit down restaurants. He's very hands out
and he has this you know instinct as a serial
entrepreneur started so young when it comes to like location,
or when it comes to some decision, you know, not
necessarily you don't necessarily have all the data or you know,
tested the market. Yeah, he just has that instinct. Right,
(02:56):
So I'm like the other fource that's pulling him back, says,
you know, well, let's take a look at the market trends,
let's maybe analyze the roy let's you know, we got
to have you know, a process, a system in place.
So yeah, very different skill sets, but it's like it
a complement each other.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Really.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I know you mentioned that you've been doing consulting and
advisoring for a while then obviously now in a leadership
role around entrepreneur in running your own business. What are
some of the lessons you learned early on in your
career that you were able.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
To learn for and still implement in your leadership style.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Now early Yeah, so well, a lot of things, A
lot of things but I think the biggest lesson learned
is you know, retention. Retention tallest much more than acquisition.
You know, in my consulting career, build a lot of decks, obviously,
do a lot of analytics, you know, beautiful power point,
(03:52):
you know all that, but customer don't see that. Yeah, right,
if you're talking about a T post, you know, store,
customer see your your product, how friendly your staff are,
you know, how clean your store is.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It's just you know, the lesson learned.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
I guess it's you know, it's it's easier to to
have a strategy on paper, but it's it's hard work
to to really implement. It's really the day to day
that devils are in the details, right, So you know,
we want the customer the first try to come from curiosity,
but then the second try, the third try, you got
(04:32):
to earn that. So yeah, that's that's something I learned
throughout you know, my kind of you know, in the
boasts of the world. And that's definitely that's definitely the
mentality to be if you wanted to create something on
your own.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, very cool.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
When we first mentioned you, obviously you're the co founder,
you're the CMO, you're the CFO. How do you balance
it all? How do you have that creativity as a CMO.
It's obviously balancing the spreadsheets as a CFO on the
data side, Like how do you handle all of that
at once?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Great, great question.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
So sometimes people would think, you know, CFO and the
CMO are kind of like opposing forces, right, Why, it's
more about creativity.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
The other one is a discipline. But it's it's it's.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
In and yeen right it Actually it actually comes together
really well for me. I've been enjoying it so far.
You know, I I wasn't a marketing or PR person
or even communication by trade. I learned a lot of
my you know, on the on the CMO, so I
learned a lot of things on the job. But you know,
I sometimes I tell Grace, I tell yeah, it's like
I'm wrestling with myself, right, Like I come up with
(05:38):
this you know idea, it's a collaboration, or it's a
new product, like gra it's not our thinking, or it's
a campaign.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We think it's going to go viral.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
But then on the on the right hand side, I
really have to then think about the r y, the spendings. Yeah,
the supply chain actually support this, right, can we even
get those products sourced right with the amount of time
we're under to.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Actually do it?
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So a lot of these things, so yeah, it's a dilemma.
It's it's very interesting. But yeah, they actually come together
really well.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
So I highly recommend, especially for founders in the beginning.
Everybody wear multiple hats, right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It's not all the different pieces of the business.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah, CFO and the CMO believe or not. Actually a
good humbo. I highly recommend for other founders out there.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about Tea pos.
I know T pos It reimagines familiar products of tea, coffee, lemonade,
and pastries through a modern lens. Right, So how do
you foster that culture of innovation while ensuring that the
brand still remains authentic.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
To its roots.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
T is a foundation of our brand, you know, it's
also our roots. You know, I'm an immigrant myself. I
came to this country when I was eighteen, so we
always wanted to you know, respect the roots. Wow, giving
it a different twist, a modern New York City energy.
(07:05):
You know what that means is you know, that's innovation, right,
But what that means is we, you know, for example,
blend the tea into lemonae, so we create lemon tea, right.
We also you know, create baked pastries as well, paschedel
dinata or ectart Portuguese style act heart you know. So
it's really to give it a different lens.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Typically you think about tea houses, you think about you know,
tea houses tucked away in Chinatown. We wanted to create
more accessibility, convenience, and also make it fund So so yeah, innovation,
but also sticking to our roots. I think authenticity is
extremely important.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
And I know that the brand itself is more than
a tea brand, right, It's a lifestyle brand. It's centered
around as you just mentioned obviously, culture, creativity and connection.
What does that vision look like moving forward? What's the
vision for the next year, five years ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Next five years? Yeah, we we have a lot in
our mind, you know.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We we wanted to make tea posts not just a
beverage or tea brand. We wanted to be more of
a feeling and an experience, right, So it connects a
lifestyle brand exactly like you said. But you know I
mean that by the way that sounds very marketing ish
in reality. In practice, we we wanted to expand. We
(08:28):
wanted to expand geographically, you know, we wanted to collaborate
with artists, also local communities. We wanted to continue to
introduce innovative products. You know, so again t is a foundation,
but how to make it give it a modern twist?
(08:48):
You know one day if we expand beyond New York City,
we also wanted to really stick.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
To the city.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
I think New York is part of our identity, right,
We wanted to to the identity and where we everything started.
So you know that's so that's kind of our vision
for the next five But you know there's a lot
of again that all.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
But yeah, expansion, collaboration, innovation.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, well let's stick to New York because we just
talked about it, right, Yeah, So I know that we
just mentioned before we even jumped on that there's a
location really close by. And I know one thing that
you did is you kind of transformed what people think
of as a tea house to now this more innovative
destination that they could visit. What's saying authentic to New
York is what was the strategy behind that and what
(09:35):
should somebody expect if they decided.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
To visit a location.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, we wanted to be part of the city. The
city's a vibrant you know, New York City. If there's
one place to do what I just said, it's got
to be in New York City, right, So we we
intentionally picked our locations throughout the city. You know, this
is Central Park, we have location Kital Madison Square Park, Chinatown.
More coming by the way. But we wanted to be
(10:01):
part of New Yorker's daily rithm. You know, if you
think about you know, tea coffee pastry, that's that's really
a tea coffee pastry. Reimagine. That's kind of our techline.
But we wanted to create a energy system. You know,
the tea is the focused energy or the calm energy.
Coffee is more the focused energy, and then pastry is
(10:24):
like the warmth, little you know, moments of joy energy.
So it really matches New Yorker throughout the day. Right
in the morning, you grab a coffee and then you
probably come in for another drink in this case could
very well be a lemon tea ye after lunch, right,
and then then you know throughout the day, hey, you
know you grab a snack. New Yorkers are always on
(10:47):
the go, so hey a pastel, d nata or you know,
even other product we're introducing the future that's yours. So
we wanted to be part of New Yorker's life, right,
that's that's that's our revision, and that's how we want
everybody to perceive Tea Posts beyond just a bob a
tea brand.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I know we talked to this culture is one of
the pillars of the organization, right. I know, when you
look at the menu, there's everything from Eastern and Western influences,
from the lemonades to some of the pastries that are
on the menu. How important was that cultural storytelling incorporating
the menu as part of Tea Poles is strategy.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
It's it's extremely important. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
For Yea and I, we both came to this country
as an immigrant. We always wanted to be the bridge
between cultures. So when it comes to our product, you know,
the two great example you just mentioned Steve, For example,
the personal dena of Portuguese actar. You know, obviously it's
a Portuguese pastry, right, but then it has it's I
(11:54):
believe or not everybody in Asia love stuff because of
Macau's influence.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Right.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
I just remember when I was Yeah, when I was
still in my hometown, we always have pastel dina or
act tarts, so so that that's you know, that's kind
of a bridge between East and West and the lemon
tea as well. You know, the foundation is lemonade. You know,
that's probably the most approachable beverage like here, right, Like
(12:19):
think about everybody sold lemonade when you know, at school.
But then we add tea to it. We're at tea
to it, which gives it the complexity and depth, so
you know, it's another East and the West kind of Yeah.
So so every product, including future innovation too. We always
wanted to be intentionally wanted to be the bridge between
(12:41):
East and the West because that's our life experience. So
it's also our identity.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
And perfect for New York cultural notes and.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
There's any place to do it. It's New York City.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, speaking of New York, I know that New York
obviously for the food and beverage industry could be very competitive.
Lots of coffee shops and probably competition. What has been
one of the most challenging aspects of launching teopoles in
New York and how have you been able to overcome that?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, New York is extremely competitive. The rant is going
through the yeah, just a little bit. Yeah, but you know,
I think the biggest challenge is actually not opening the store.
You know, there's a lot of things opening store, but
you know, we open a lot of store in the past,
even prior to t post.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
It's a lot of hustle.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
But the real challenge is to run the stores because
you know, it's just every store has its own pattern,
the traffic, the demographic, you know, the neighborhood, the vibe.
It's very different, the rent is different. But then when
customers coming into your store, they're expecting consistent quality of
(13:48):
the same product.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Right.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So yeah, so running it is the real challenge, and
it comes down to you know, people, process technology, right,
but number one is always people. So yeah, so that's
we spend a lot of time. It's all about the talents. Yeah,
so running the story is the biggest challenge. Devils are
(14:09):
in the details. Yeah, yeah, seriously, I could only imagine. Yeah,
so let's let's treach here is a little bit back
to you. So obviously currently invested in Tepole's co founder
of it. Your background is you've you've helped consult and
advise other founders. What is one of the biggest mistakes
you noticed entrepreneurs and founders making and how can they
(14:31):
improve on that? Yeah, I guess throughout my consulting career
or my own career as an entrepreneur as well, one
of the I guess common mistakes I saw was to
grow or scale too early before your operation model is ready, right, like,
(14:52):
meaning in t pos's case, if we you know, jump out,
you know, the franchising raw or scaling too quickly without
a training syst term, without SOPs, you know, without you know,
a good system around us to build the stores, the architect,
the contractor, you know, all of that resources, it's not
(15:12):
gonna go well. And I've seen that over and over again.
You know this country. You know, one thing about this
country is if you scale too quickly, not careful, you know,
like you know, one lawsuit, your entire five years of effort,
it's just gone right. So so yeah, so that's the
most common miss Another maybe another one and share you know,
(15:34):
is just you know, I think some founders or people
myself included, sometimes confuse the initial success or initial market
reaction with long term success, right, because you know, like
I said, the first try, you can earn that through
social media, you can earn that through collaborations or just
(15:57):
plain curiosity about this new store around the corner. But
then the consistency the second try, the third try, that's
what tells the founder you were truly accepted by the
market or not. Right, So sometimes you are confused by
the first try. Oh my god, this is definitely but
you know it's it's I've seen that over and over
again as well, so I would say those are two.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Speaking of advice, if you for any entrepreneurs that are
tuning in or people that are thinking about starting their
own business, what advice would you wish you could give
yourself years ago when you were first getting into the industry.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Star wars Your passion, that's the most important thing in
the beginning, But then you know, passion that's not equal
to operating model. Right from there, you really have to
think through your operating model, your business, how does it work,
(16:54):
your margin, your operating costs, your labor, you know, your
product matrix, all of that. But then you know, I
guess my suggestion is you always have to find a
balance you can't have like me myself included, I've advised
you know, large company as large as public companies, but
(17:14):
as a startup, you cannot let you know, that become
a you know, to restrain or constrain your creativity. So
there's always don't let excel or spreashalet eliminate your creativity,
right So so so hold that balance, especially as a startup.
But then lastly comes down to execution again, you know,
(17:36):
so it's always about execution. The same exact strategy can
be carried out very differently when different people carry them out.
So yeah, but start with your passion. That's the most
important thing if you wanted to start your own business.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's the love what you do, especially the business that
you're creating.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It gives you that unlimited motivation.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah. So absolutely we covered a lot.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
If there was one thing that you want our listeners
to know about the mission of Teopoles, what would that be.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
We are a lifestyle brand. We wanted to so tea
coffee pastry, that's our product, but reimagined. We wanted to
be the cultural bridge between East and the West. And
then we wanted to be an authentic brand that eventually
will expand, but stick to our roots.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Love that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
If someone is tuning in and they want to learn
more about peoples, what should they do.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Give us a shot.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
We have currently have nine locations. It's three in Queens,
six right here in the city in Manhattan, so you know,
if you see one, give us a shot. I mean,
our signature product is lemon Tea, which is perfect for
this weather. You know, give us a shot, and then
you know, interact with us on social media, give us
(18:54):
a shout out if there's any suggestion.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Also, let me know of the co.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Founders were freely hands out, so that, believe it or not,
is probably gonna be me replying to your college. So
so yeah, that's how that's why, you know, Call to
Action amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, I'm looking forward to checking it out and trying
to fit firsthand. But Alvin, thank you so much for
being here today. I really appreciate you taking us to
your journey and of course learning more about t POS.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Thank you, Steve, what's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Absolutely, and thank you all for tuning in. Tone in
next week for next week's edition of CEOs.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
You should know
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