The Cheese Board Collective | Hacker News Reader

The Cheese Board Collective

priceonomics.com

36 pointsbpolania16 comments

The Cheese Board just kills. Lines around the block. I'd like to think that their lazer-focus for their product (one type of pizza a day), is aligned with their great success.

It's a big part of the appeal. It's hard to get fresh out of the oven pizza in thirty seconds anywhere else.

Their actual cheese store is a thing of beauty, too. You are not allowed to buy any cheese without tasting: they shove little bites at you as you ask questions.

Americans don't love cheese enough. There should be one of these on every corner, like Arizmendi, but with more cheese!

The Cheese Board has reproduced... in the form of Arizmendi Bakery:

"Forty years ago, Berkeley's now-famous cooperative, the Cheeseboard, opened its doors. In 1997, inspired by their own success, they helped open another bakery based on cooperative principles. Arizmendi Oakland debuted that year on Lakeshore Avenue, named after the Basque labor organizer. The endeavor was a hit, so what next? They decided to open another bakery, this time in San Francisco. Once again the group, along with members of the Oakland store, graciously imparted their knowledge of cooperative business practices and shared secrets of their recipes.

In October of 2000, Arizmendi Bakery San Francisco was born. The Cheeseboard's gift to us has become our gift to the neighborhood."

http://www.arizmendibakery.com/about

Ah yea, I love Arizmendi but I don't go there as often as I used to Cheeseboard, probably because SF has many more alternatives than Berkeley did.

I love the cheese board, and not just for the pizza. When I was in grad school at Berkeley, I knew I could go there and get really good advice about what kinds of cheeses I should get for whatever dinner I was having or hosting. Everyone there is super-passionate about their work, and they took plenty of time to explain and educate about their cheeses.

I don't know if it is a coincidence that these people were employee-owners of the coop, or if it was a natural outcome of the way the cheese board is structured. I'd believe it was the latter; as the article mentioned, without an owning corporate board there's not a big urge to expand like crazy and extract maximum profits. The goal is for all the employee-owners to make a living wage doing cool stuff.

Granted, it makes me a socialist or whatever, but I'd love to work in a system like that- a small worker-owned cooperative doing software. Of course, the problem with some markets is that you probably need lots of starting capital, and hence the VC system.

I wish more software companies — or, indeed, any software companies — followed the cooperative model. It just seems like such a healthier and fairer way to run a business.

My fiance is a doctor, and I've told him I'm envious of the way his business is run. It's a huge group (over 50 doctors) and the vast, vast majority of doctors that are hired are on partnership track. Being a partner in the business is a huge incentive.

There are a few here and there and they seem to be getting somewhat more popular (to my delight). One of the bigger names is Igalia.

https://wingolog.org/archives/2013/06/05/no-master

Let me ask you a honest and serious question. Would you start a software company and when it becomes successful, hire me on to be an equal partner?

If so, I would join your co-op. There is something to be said about being rewarded for taking a risk, but if you're willing to share that reward, I would think highly of you and gladly partake.

I'd join a cooperative-like startup, definitely

What are you waiting for?

I'm a huge fan of the cooperative model, and I eat at Arizmendi all the time. But I think the main reason for their success is they just do one thing: one pizza per day, and they do it really well. You don't know exactly what you'll get, but you get the gist of it, and you know it will be good.

Compare to Bakesale Betty down the street in Oakland, which is not a cooperative, and just sells really good fried chicken (or tofu) sandwiches. They have a line around the block too. Both of these places have about 10 feet of standing room between the door and the cash register.

I think people are realizing you don't have to be the Cheesecake Factory and cook everything under the sun with a huge dining room in order to make money selling food. It's a resurgence of takeout and small menus and Cheeseboard was way ahead of the curve on that game.

Their pizza really isn't all that great--it's salty, oily, with a bland crust. Love the cooperative model though.

I was earnestly hoping that this comment was satire, and comfortably believed that until I got to the bit about 'bland crust'. The pizza is indeed well seasoned and dressed with olive oil. The crust, however, is pretty fantastic.

So, unfortunately, not satire; just sad, uneducated and possibly treasonous.

Fantastic? Treasonous? I feel sad for you--unless you work there.

EDIT: I guess the truth of California is you can't get good food here, even for a grand. What you do get is a "great experience." People here don't know what they're missing...

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