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Comment by antr | Hacker News Reader

I'm trying to figure out why a VC, who has a very high cost of equity, invests in this type of business rather than the more "traditional" PE growth fund... or if revenue/cash flow growth is so high... why not go the debt financing route.

Anybody has any insight?

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from TFA:

(For more, here is a blog post on the whole shebang by True Venture’s Tony Conrad — who is, IMHO, the coffee hipster poster boy — in which he notes loftily: “What we saw and why we got involved is that James and his team are part of a handful of people who are founding a movement around coffee … We believe Blue Bottle Coffee is at the forefront of a ‘consumer movement’ or mega-trend in which consumers are moving to higher quality, artisanal micro-roasters of coffee, where quality, attention to detail, beauty and a distinctive experience are being sought over more mainstream alternatives.” Viva la siphon, apparently!)

"We believe Blue Bottle Coffee is at the forefront of a ‘consumer movement’ or mega-trend in which consumers are moving to higher quality, artisanal micro-roasters of coffee, where quality, attention to detail, beauty and a distinctive experience are being sought over more mainstream alternatives.”

Yeah, maybe on Market Street, Tony. The majority of the country (and the world) isn't going to pay $6 for a cup of coffee. That's reality.

Seems like a purely hype driven VC play to invest in BB. They make a great product, yes, but the SF micro-niche coffee clientele will have a very tough time scaling to profit in a country where Dunkin Donuts is considered great coffee - and Starbucks.

Also, not sure why BB would raise this cash from VC vs. debt financing. Whole thing is hilarious.

In my experience, a lot of the indie espresso places do espresso-based drinks at a lower price than at Starbucks, but at a much higher quality.

Starbucks doesn't seem to have a problem finding people to pay Starbucks-level prices...

Because Blue Bottle Coffee is going to try to get acquired by a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks that wants to operate these higher margin stores in affluent areas. They aren't trying to scale up to "the majority of the country". The VCs will make their money back when the acquisition happens.

This is the first thing I've read in this thread that explains the VC involvement in a way that makes sense.

The majority of the country (and the world) isn't going to pay $6 for a cup of coffee. That's reality.

That may be reality, but it's entirely irrelevant as a cup of coffee at Blue Bottle costs less than $3.

Edit: photo: http://cl.ly/image/1l3b0F243S2d

An single espresso costs $3. Most other items play around the $3.50 - $6 range. And don't forget the $28 bag of hipster coffee beans.

It's a good product, but it will get destroyed due to scale, ultimately get acquired by Dunkin or Starbucks and everyone wins (founders, VCs) except for the customer. They always lose.

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