Coffee is Currency - How to be careful & not get burned!

I've got good news; Coffee (not Bitcoin) is the hottest virtual currency in the world, and has been for many decades.

And you don't need any special technology to buy & sell, trade or build successful ventures with it.

"Coffee" is not just a drink that we enjoy on the way to work, as a social entertainer, or as a reason for a brief respite from the daily grind of work (no pun intentional - ok, perhaps just a little one).

Coffee is also a currency, and the ability to trade in that currency takes many forms. I came up with a list of immediately convertible forms of this liquid currency, though If I've missed any, feel free to add to the list in the comments.

And before you worry that I'm going to be talking about some sort of "foreign-exchange derivative", let me assure you that we are talking about concepts to get your pulse racing (just like a good coffee should), not bore you to sleep.

The startup space is full of comparison descriptions such as "Uber for X", so lets use that to our advantage & have a little fun in the process.

Lets start with "Coffee as a service". 

This is where, instead of making your coffee when you get to work, you stop by the local coffee shop downstairs, and 'subscribe' to your morning daily coffee ritual. They know exactly how you like it, and it comes the same way every time, at the same time, just like software, or your newspaper.

"Twitter for Coffee". When you buy that coffee, all the exchanges, for instance with the person behind the counter, (whom you hardly know, but who recognises your face), can be outlined in 140 characters or less. Like "lovely day for it", or "how about that football match on the weekend?" Just really the 'instant' variety - not much to see here; move along to a better blend.

"eBay for Coffee": talking with peers, colleagues & mentors. It's also a marketplace over which ideas are traded, just like stocks are traded on a exchange. It represents a place where information & ideas (the basis of innovation and venture creation and partnerships) are discussed, bought and sold. A nice feature is the ability to provide feedback afterwards

"Facebook for Coffee" when you catch up with friends over coffee - not to talk shop (mostly) but to catch up on things you "like". It also represents a powerful form of a social networking platform where connections are made, relationship are built and information is 'liked'. A bit light & fluffy for my liking; prefer something with a bit more body.

 "LinkedIn for Coffee" - business meetings, sales calls and business introductions.

This is a platform for the exchange of business information and ideas, and where partnerships are forged, just like you might in a presentation, a pitch, formal meeting or appointment. But here you are on neutral territory, being out of the office environment.

Ideally, its a free-flowing exchange of ideas in an informal setting, without the power play trappings and strategic positioning of an office-based procurement or sales conversation. Lots of connections, but may often lack relevance. Avoid coffee with people you've never met.

"Performance reviews for coffee" - (ok, this one harks back to my old corporate days, but it's still relevant for a great many of you). 

In management, this is a great vehicle to better understand team dynamics. Getting out of the office for chat, getting a clearer "lay of the land" for what's happening within & around your team is powerful tool employed by great managers. Nothing relaxes a team member to open up about role challenges, like a chat over coffee. Warning: criticising colleagues here can lead to your "last coffee on the company."

"HR resourcing for Coffee". 

Many hiring (and firing) decisions are made on the basis of how one engages in an "informal" interview. HR interviewers often use this as a tool to disarm potential candidates who've made it through the first few formal interviews. Get this informal interview wrong, and your job prospects will be sunk without a trace, and you'll probably never know why. Remember to offer to pick up the tab.

"Pitching for Coffee". An an investor, mentor and advisor, as well as a founder, this is one of my favourites, and the one done most poorly (except perhaps the previous one). The invite often comes as "Can I pick your brains over a cup of coffee"?

Coffee is also a futures/ derivative exchange where opportunities are discussed & traded, and future value can be created, investments made, and deals can be done. The 'Pitcher' always pays.

I do love a good cup of coffee, though -  as many of my friends will tell you - I could probably do with drinking just a little less of the stuff. But it's where I "ply my craft". Almost every great conversation, connection, relationship (business & personal) and endeavour that I've had in my entire life can be traced back to a meeting over coffee. And I'll bet that you can too.

But coffee also represents a risk -if a coffee catch-up doesn't have a two-way agenda, it could just become a vehicle (as an alternative to a structured or formal conversation) where not much is achieved, or which leads to no-where.

So make sure you have a clear view of your objective for the coffee meeting, if not the outcome. An exchange of ideas, update on the state of the market, how to change the world (or solve a problem), what to do before you quit your day job (OK, a shameless plug for my upcoming book series), or some other topic that is relevant to both you and your audience.

But please don't use it as an excuse to disarm your customer in buying your product. Why? because:-

• a) they are smarter than that, and
• b) that's what the last 10 other "product flogging nerds" did before you.

I definitely subscribe to the Mark Suster (Entrepreneur turned Venture Capitalist) view of "50 coffees a month".

"50 coffee meetings. It should stick in your head as a metaphor for networking. For getting outside of your comfort zone. For starting relationships today that won’t pay off for a year. It’s the entrepreneur’s equivalent of “10,000 hours.”

So get across the table,- eye-to-eye, belly-to-belly with 50 new people per month, that you've never met (or don't know well), and over a good cup of Joe, have a conversation about "The art of the possible". 

And just like a good cup of the rich, warm brown stuff, remember to leave them with a good taste in their mouth.

If you like this article about "Coffee is Currency", and you got value (or a chuckle) from it,  please 1/ share it, 2/ follow-me for more insight, and 3/ you can check out some of other my other posts. If you've got a burning question, arrange a conversation with me, ideally over coffee.

To your success, Daniel. 

• Why being a great collaborator is good for business, and how to be one
• Isn't it your time to shine, right now?
• Where is the right place to raise money for my startup?
• HELP! Someone just stole my startup idea
• How to raise $5million for your startup (and why you shouldn't)
• How To Go Viral on Linked In, without being an 'INfluencer'

About Daniel

Also traveling under the alias of 'That Startup Guy' , I am a co-founder of StartUp Foundation (The Startup Accelerator for Experienced Professionals) and am intensely, deeply, passionately dedicated to "The intersection between personal mastery & business entrepreneurship".

My goal is to help you through the steps, and past the challenges and pitfalls, to turn that 'Great Idea' into reality, whether it's a business, a product, an app or just finding an answer to a common problem.

At the same time, I'll share with you my own journey, from which you might just draw valuable lessons of your own. I spent 20 years in corporate life before catching the startup bug. (My first venture as an 'intrapreneur' still generates over $10 million in per year). I've since designed, built & launched 14 startups across e-commerce, technology, hospitality, social networking, logistics, financial services and the not-for-profit sectors.

If you've got an experience about startup success (or failure), why not share it?  My other posts can be found here on LinkedIn.