Ep. 220 – Partnering with Big Companies to Accelerate Growth and Innovating in Hard Times with Blake Thomas, founder of Tiny House Coffee Roasters

Blake Thomas, the founder of Tiny House Coffee Roasters, was one of my first contacts in Austin, Texas and I had a lot of fun getting to know him and drinking his coffee every day when I was working at WeWork. Blake’s story is super impressive and he works really hard at his job.

Learn how Blake jumped on board selling coffee during the end of his Peace Corps stint and how he built up a nice little coffee company in Austin.

One of the biggest growth opportunities that Blake was able to get was working with the regional team at WeWork to supply his coffee into their offices. The business relationship was so good, that Blake was able to open a coffee shop at a WeWork location on Barton Springs Road.

We also get Blake’s perspective on how he’s handling on the pandemic and it’s really tough, but Blake is using his time wisely by innovating new drinks so he can adapt in trying times. The good news, is that this isn’t the first time Blake had to innovate on the fly.

Show Notes

How did you start Tinyhouse?: Through the Peace Corps. After my stint, I got going
Peace Corps
Farm Gate
Import Service
Anthem Coffee Imports: They do financing and they are very good partners
Surprisingly, a lot of farms will have social media platforms and will reach out to us directly
WeWork Barton Springs location
Cold Brew Coffee
COO FairTrade America – Bryan Lew Interview
Thirst- Charity Water Book by Scott Harrison
HEB
PPP Loan- work with a local banker and a banker who cares
Virtual Tip Jars (generally a venmo code)
GoFundMe Tipping Program
Do you think coffee will change in the pandemic?: Yes, DTC coffee will work. Austin coffeehouses are already doing
Tea
Any advice for food business?: Really dig into the “why” of your product
Clean Cause
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
You Miss 100% of shots you don’t take
tinyhousecoffeeroasters.com
We deliver!
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