When Todd Carmichael and J.P. Iberti met at a grunge concert in Seattle in the 1980s, they were an unlikely pair. But they shared a love for great coffee, and the two friends began to dream about opening a cafe and premium roastery that would produce coffee at a higher quality than anything in the U.S. at the time. A few years later, Todd and J.P. co-founded La Colombe in Philadelphia, and went on to play a leading role in the third wave of specialty coffee in the U.S. Today, their coffee drinks are sold in stores across the country, and in 2023, La Colombe was acquired by Chobani for $900M.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:11:22 - Learning barista basics: like being a DJ
0:25:25 - Todd squats at JP’s place, they set out to sell coffee
0:29:48 - How La Colombe gets its name
0:32:40 - Launching the business in a city they've never visited
0:35:49 - The first roastery: no ventilation, visits from the fire department
0:40:29 - Pitching the coffee–uninvited–at a top French restaurant
0:46:48 - The trick to making a perfect espresso
0:53:30 - Todd takes a sabbatical: “I was suffering from my brain.”
0:57:40 - Expanding to more cafes and a shift from roasting to hosting
1:01:17 - An impasse with investors, and a bailout from Chobani’s founder
1:09:38 - Small Business Spotlight

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This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Sarah Sarasohn. Our audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.

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