Jordan DeCicco - Drink Super Coffee

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All right, what's going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. Welcome to the Rise of the Young podcast. Today we have Jordan DeCicco here with us. And real quick, before I let him introduce himself, it's funny. So he is one of the three brothers and the founders of Super Coffee and it's. It's such a funny story and I know we'll get more in depth about it and I was just telling him, but this is a product that I genuinely love. I fell in love with it. I'm a coffee lover myself and. And when I was visiting back home in Virginia, I picked up a bottle of their coffee and I just, I saw in the bottle they had Instagram obviously reached out and they responded quite quickly. And I genuinely love the product. So, Jordan, I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

Yeah, man, thanks for having me. This is awesome. Love the story. Glad you like the product and grateful.

To be here for sure, man. So, I mean, real quick because I've done tons and tons of interviews, but this is actually one of the most exciting ones for me because like I said, I genuinely love coffee. Like, I. I was in Costa Rica about a year and a half ago, we went to this coffee plantation and I've, I've just studied the product and I've drink a cup of coffee every day. And one of the things that I kind of want to start with is just obviously why you guys are different. Because I picked up a bottle of your coffee, zero sugars, 80 calories, 10 grams of protein, and just what you guys had in it, it was attractive to me as someone that knows that there's so many sugary drinks and obviously I want to kind of COVID this for before we get into the story because it's really something, like I just said to you, just the product itself that you guys have created. I'm very excited to hear the backstory, but just to give them some relevance, I'd love for you to just sort of go over like what's in the product and how you guys are different than a lot of your competitors.

Absolutely, man, absolutely. And it's funny because it started as a passion project. I was the same way. I was 19 years old. I loved coffee. I didn't do energy drinks, any drink, Red Bull or Monster or anything like that. But, you know, when I looked for a bottled coffee to take with me, I was, you know, I played basketball in college, so I was very active.

Okay.

The only thing I could get was, you know, Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, you know, one of the Monster Java, you know, one. It's not even real coffee. It's mainly like cream, like 40 to 50 grams of sugar. So I would just never drink that. As a coffee lover, health advocate, someone who really cared about what I was putting into my body. So immediately realized something was wrong and ended up doing a case study on it for one of my business classes and just determined like, look, it was great market opportunity where it's, you know, bottled coffee is a three billion dollar category and there's some good products in it.

Yes.

We could make something that, you know, as a 19 year old, tasted good, was good for, for you. It was still, you know, priced affordably, which we really care about, which I'm sure we'll talk about more for sure. You know, we felt we had a real opportunity. So obviously, you know, a little naive as a 19 year old freshman, but, you know, we just followed our passion, made a great product and put our customers first.

Dude, that is so sick, man. And for all the listeners too. So right now, just to kind of give you some on my end. So, like I'm 19 years old now. I actually have two older brothers myself. And you're the youngest of three. So we got some, we got some similarities there. But I'm just really curious because I think a lot of people that listen to this podcast, it's geared towards young people, anyone from 18 years old to 25, and people that are either starting companies, running companies, or just crushing it. Right. But for people that are listening, at 19 years old, an athlete, I played football myself, lacrosse, and I was really active, so I was for sure aware of like, I don't want to be drinking three Gatorades a day that have 20 sugars in them. Right. And I'm sure people listening, they would agree with this. So you being 19 with your three brothers, I'd love for you to just sort of give us some information on like, where you guys are from in the sense in terms of like, where did this all originate from? When it comes to just being active in sports and how it led up to just starting this product. And just to simplify, simplified. The question, what was the first step you guys took to developing a product such as Super Coffee, which is the bottle and the packaging and the manufacturing? Like, there's so many different avenues which we'll get into. But, but what was like the step one once you guys realized, like, hey, we actually can go come into this market of a $3 billion market and create a great product. What was step one?

Yeah, exactly. We always say to our, you know, to our team, now, the best way to move a mountain is by carrying small stones, right?

Yeah.

One at a time. So I think when we first started out, you know, first thing we really wanted to focus on was one, our purpose. Like, why are we doing this? Why does the world need another bottle of coffee or energy drink? And the answer was simple, is that there just wasn't any healthy options. And we looked at our peers and the consumers of these types of products, we thought there was time for a change. So we decided to craft our purpose around positive energy for positive change. Basically, what you put into your body is what you get out of it. You can change your energy, you can change your world. That's what we're about. That's what we stand for. And then from there, then you can create a good product. If you know what you're doing it for, then you can create something really special. And the first year was just a lot of R and D research and development, a lot of iteration. We knew nothing, right? We knew nothing about food and beverage.

That's so sick.

Yeah. Developing formulas or anything. So it started in my dorm room blender where we would just take organic clothes, cold brewed coffee. We tried different protein powders and aspects, refused to put heavy cream or anything like that. So we just used protein. Not to give it like 20 or 30 grams like a post workout, but just to give it a creamy, decadent, indulgent flavor without having to settle for something a little bit less healthy. So we started testing with protein and then instead of 20 to 30 grams of sugar, we were using things like stevia. Right on the cake. Monk fruit wasn't that popular back then. But over time, constantly iterating and trying different things, we were able to land on Monk Fruit and really find a product that worked for us. But it took, you know, to get to where we are today. You know, we've probably done about 15 to 20 packaging, you know, iteration, because at first, you know, we're not designers either, but we're doing a lot of the design ourselves. We didn't have any money. Yep, it was bootstrapped and funded out of the dorm room. It was one step at a time. When we finally had them, it took us about nine months to get a somewhat decent product finally on the market. When we finally got that first product on the market, it was just a wave of consumer feedback, most of it negative. But you would get customers that loved it and that was encouraging and we needed that early on. But based on the feedback, once we had a product on market, it was really like our minimum viable product. We could iterate much faster and create a handcrafted experience for our audience. And again, after that first year of producing it ourselves, making our own deliveries, demoing every single day, we would do demos at Whole Foods Market campuses. You learn so much and over time you learn that once you have a good product, a good foundation, you really need a good team to balance out your weaknesses and strengths. Because we weren't great at design, we weren't great at packaging, but we knew how to create a good product. We had a strong purpose, a strong vision. We're very competitive hustlers, hard workers. So if we could have people to fill in the gaps, you can kind of go from dorm room to where we are today pretty quickly.

That is sick, man. And for the people listening. So how long has it been since you guys started in that dorm room? Just to give some context.

Yeah. So 2016 was our first year in business.

Okay.

Three and a half years.

Wow. And cuz I now was reading some like results as from you guys as well, so. And I just saw what you posted on your Instagram story. So you guys have how many people on your team now? It's like 52. I thought it said correct.

Yeah, so we're 52 full time. It was really cool is we have 150 part time as well.

Wow.

200 full and part time right now. Yeah, this year has been.

That's insane.

Yeah, we're just getting started.

So. So I'm curious as like in terms of like people listening, right? It's like maybe there's a college student listening. And so you guys are literally went from like blending like getting a, some coffee, some cold brew, blending coffee to now being in like major retailers in the span of three years. Correct, Correct.

Yeah, absolutely.

So what would you say? Like, because I know obviously I saw the video. You guys were on Shark Tank. That was. What year was that in? Because when I look at that and, and I'm a huge fan of Shark Tank and it's like you see these people that are on the show and it's like, all right, how did that happen? Like, where did they come from? And obviously there's like, they kind of bring everything very quickly on an episode. So I'm glad we have you here today on the podcast that we can kind of hear more of the back end story if people have seen that episode. But like, when did Shark Tank come in the picture? And what was that sort of like point in the business when that happened?

Yeah, absolutely. So we filmed that episode in June of 2017, so we're about a year and a half in.

Wow.

You know, you gotta remember that first year, it was really just us in the dorm room doing a lot of testing and iteration. So we were very young when we filmed the episode. You know, they, one of their producers found us via LinkedIn, you know, saw the story. I think we had like a Wall Street Journal article run that summer and they saw and reached out to us. We had no plans or intentions of applying and going through that process. We saw it as a distraction, but they reached out to us, they asked if we could send in an application.

That's so sick.

Yeah, so we sent in the application. Part of that application is like a 25 page written document and then also a 10 minute video. And we just said, look, we're just going to have a lot of fun with this. So we did a 10 minute video. Three brothers athletes. I dropped out of college at the time, which was cool. And basically, you know, they said they'd love to fly us out to LA and film this thing. So six weeks later, after they reached out, we went out there and filmed it, you know, and the goal was, hey, hate us or love us, we're gonna have a good time. People hopefully fall in love with not only, you know, the brand, but the brothers as well, for sure. So obviously we didn't get a deal on Shark Tank, but it really propelled.

The brand forward 100%. And it's. I just, I saw that as like, that's just such a monumental, just something that's just. I'm sure it was cool for you guys, but what would you say in terms of going from blending in the, in the dorm room to not being in retailers. Like what was the first. I would call it like success. You guys had meaning, like what store picked it up? Because I want to try to tell my story real quick too of before I. We started the episode. So I live in. I came from a town in Richmond, Virginia. We have all these gas stations known as Wawa. And I always go there and I've. I used to be picking up like the Starbucks glass bottle drinks but then I, over the last two years it's. I kind of cut all that out because I just. There's so much sugar. And then one day I saw your bottles and I was like, great, like great logo, great packaging. Looked at the back, oh wow, no sugars. Like it was really attractive to me. And obviously in my eyes I look at Wawa as a major retailer, a major gas station. There's dozens of them all over my town. Like they're massive company. And so obviously that's like my perception of the brand is like, oh, they're, they're in every retailer. Like what was the first retailer? Or like gas station or just win you guys had. That was monumental in the business.

Yeah, absolutely. So I think really early on the first win was, was one Whole Foods Market in Georgetown. It was our first store. And our strategy, this has been a proven strategy that great brands and food and beverage have taken.

We.

So we definitely surrounded ourselves with great advisors too to kind of learn stuff, which is always smart to do. But we learned that there's a strategy called inch wide, mile deep. And that means don't expand too quickly until you're ready. But while you're getting going, you can go as deep as possible in a small area. So beyond the college campus, be in Whole Foods, be in the gas station, up the corner, touch points and small area as you can. Georgetown Whole Foods was that first store that took us in and the goal was to become the best selling bottled coffee. So we demoed it every single day. We went up to the Whole Foods right up the street, not too far from that one. Same thing. Let's become the best seller bottled coffee in this one. So we went store by store with Whole Foods in the mid Atlantic, really in Georgetown to start. And while we were doing that, we were also on Georgetown University's campus and students started really loving it and following it. So we started to create some hype around the brand. And then the first big win I think because we were still doing our own deliveries at that point in time, which just Isn't scalable distribution is such a key to scaling food and beverage. The first big win we had was an upstate New York retailer, which is now down to Atlantic Wegmans, you know, one of the most premium, high quality chains in the country. It's like 100 stores took a chance on us and you know, we became, our goal was to become the best selling bottle of coffee in Wegmans. And we did that pretty quickly. That's so sick of their coffee sales right now.

Wow.

And once you do that and can really prove concept at a retailer like Wegmans and Whole Foods, you know, other retailers take notice of that and turn it really quickly. So we created that opportunity, we maximized it and we haven't let go since.

Got it. No, that's, that's phenomenal, man. And that's been three years, like a short period of time to just dominate it. And I'm curious too, and I'm sure that people are as well. Like we keep bringing up bottled coffee. Right. And I know I, I, I brought up one time, it was like the Starbucks glass bottle. Like when you say bottle, what would you say in referring to that is like, why did you go bottle route? Because obviously I see all the time there's like the cans and this and that. Like for you guys, why was bottle attractive to you and why did you pick that as like the vehicle in which the coffee's in? I'm just very curious. I'm sure they are as well.

I think early on, like definitely going after a more active consumer. You know, we wanted the resealable cap.

Yep, yep.

Waiting the gym, that is key.

I don't even notice that until you say that.

Like plastic. Also a little bit more friendly. Like you can't take rice into some gyms.

Yeah.

A little complicated. So we knew we wanted to start with that and capture, capture a more focused audience and then you can kind of come out with other products as you grow. So we did just launch our first can. It's a six ounce super espresso. Yep, the espresso.

Here we go.

And we also even veered off into creamers too.

Yep, I saw that.

So starting with the bottle though, it was about convenience and delivering something that didn't exist in a very large market. You know, and obviously we don't own our own manufacturing facilities. So you're also, that's part of it. You also kind of have to be flexible and nimble to work with good partners.

But yep.

You know, based on their capabilities, they said, hey, we can produce 12 ounce bottles. We said that's great, that's what we're looking for. But if they said we can only produce 11 ounce cans, we would have said that works too.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. For sure, for sure. And that's super cool, man. So, like, I would say just me sort of analyzing what you guys have done in terms of like digital. I come from a space a lot of social media and digital marketing. Are you guys spending lot of time and effort on like paid advertising? Paid ads on social, obviously. When I see beverage markets, I look at everything on social. That's where I buy my clothes, that's where I bought my shoes. But I don't buy coffee online. So I discovered you guys in a retailer. Right. So I see that and then I look up you on social and I'm like, all right. And they're crushing it on social. Love it. And then I reached out, you guys responded and you guys are on top of it. And I'm aware of that and I'm so glad to see that. But what would you say? Did you guys take social media as like a dominant angle from the start or how has that contributed to the brand overall?

Yeah, yeah, we knew. Look, I still think there's a long way to go for us. We haven't invested a lot because we put a lot of time and money into retail right now. Yeah, there's so much volume there. But we knew that, you know, as you know, three young entrepreneurs, that it could be a great story and you know, our peers would love to follow it on social media. Right? Yeah, yeah, understand. But we didn't really start investing in it until the Shark Tank episode came out.

Got it.

Got a lot of organic PR from that. And then we kind of invested more and more. So right now E Commerce makes up about 20% of our sales.

Got it.

It's our fastest growing channel. And we're also just getting ready to build out our marketing team a lot more. So we have 52 on our team. About 40 of them are field sales. They're out of the world, they're in Whole Foods, they're webman building those relationships in stores, which is so important.

For sure.

Look at our marketing department and our social media department. We're very weak or very understaffed, I should say. So that's going to be a big focus for us the next 12 months. So you'll see a lot higher quality and also just a lot more content coming from the store.

Got it. Now that's super cool. And so I'm curious, so, like, if Someone's listening and they're. Because I know obviously, like, the beverage market is huge. Like, I. I've been seeing it in studying it, and I saw like. Like, you see by getting acquired and Core Water and like, Juicy J made, that's like, his biggest investment. You see Kobe investing into, what is it? Body armor or whatever it is, and, like, these massive exits. And, like, I see a lot of younger entrepreneurs, too, that I'm aware of, like, starting different beverages businesses and they're getting off the ground. But you guys are very established. So I would say if someone's listening and, like, they're looking to get into the beverage market or they're looking to. They have a product or they're just overall looking to get into the space, what would you say based off your experience, like, would be like the number one thing that you would want someone to know before getting into that space? Because obviously you've had the experience to go through the chains, I'm sure, pitch the product, do all the groundwork, and now you guys are in major retailers and crushing it. But what would you say to that young entrepreneur that's potentially looking to start in the beverage business? Because you have a lot of experience that I'm sure they would be valuable to them. Yeah. Yeah.

It's funny now because beverage is getting a lot more sexy and attractive for sure the past few years since we started. But, you know, it's still really, really hard, like any business, I think. So I'm just saying if you're gonna do something, make sure you know when you're. You're really passionate about it and you have a good purpose, you're actually solving a problem. I think the brands that we've seen fail fast, fastest, or have at the slower growth.

Yeah.

Aren't really addressing a clear problem, and it's not clear how passionate they are about the brand.

Got it.

You know, we didn't say we set out to start a coffee company per se. We said we wanted to solve a problem. We had a clear purpose first and foremost, and we were super passionate. And then once you have those two things, you know, purpose and passion, you're going to just need a lot of hard work. You're going to need to surround yourself with a lot of talented people.

Yep.

And you're going to need resilience. I mean, we've been knocked down time and time again on our journey, but it feels like we keep getting back up and taking the punch as well. And that's what it takes.

Honestly.

Not giving it up is going to be key, but surrounding yourself with great people, understand why you're doing it, being super passionate about it, and then just moving quickly and having fun.

Yeah, no, I love that. So I wanted to bring up something, too, that you talked about. Talked about earlier. When it comes to college, a lot of people listening, and I got. I get these questions all the time. Right. So I personally didn't go to college. I graduated high school about a year and couple months ago, grew up in Virginia, moved right to Arizona to just pursue everything I'm doing digitally and everything that I'm doing. But I always get questions of people, whether they're in college or they're about to graduate high school, and they're asking themselves, like, hey, should I drop out if I'm pursuing this, or should I go to college? And, like, hearing your story, you said you dropped out, correct? Yes. Just. I'd want to know from your perspective, like, what was that decision? Because I think I've seen this from personal experience of some of my peers. They. They either jump the gun too soon, they regret it, or, like, they have no distinctive plan to drop out. So they're just showing up, trying to, like, just go for it. Right. But, like, I'm sure you guys had, like, a reason, right? You guys were building a product. What was your experience with that? Meaning you're in college, you went there for a purpose, but then you sort of start this business. You. You become super passionate, and then now you have to make a decision. Like, what was that decision like for you in your life?

Yeah. Obviously, very tough. I was also on full scholarship, too.

Oh, wow.

It was really a tough decision. But, you know, the cool thing is that, you know, we did take a full year. My whole freshman year, you know, was basically R and D and, you know, trial and error and creating a product that was ready for market.

Yeah.

So it took a full year of being in school and trying to balance everything. Then that whole summer of getting it out of the market and really getting a feel for it.

Right.

Jumping in that summer. And then come August, you know, when you're getting ready to go back to school, you know, I had basketball right around the corner. You know, we made a decision. I said to my brothers, I said, look, if I go back to school right now, we're all working 15, 20 hours a week. Jake was going back to his senior year at Georgetown at the time, so he wasn't gonna give that up.

Yeah. Yeah.

Going back to school right now, when we're working this much, the business is just going to Dissolve. Right. It's not going to be possible. So it was clear that we had something there because we spent the past 10, 11 months working on it. Yeah, there was a business there. There was a proven demand. We had a clear path to scale it, at least, you know, to get to the next level. Not one. But it was also clear that you were going to need to put in 20 hours of a day, 15 to 20 hours per day. And it just didn't make sense to us. And, yeah, again, the purpose was there and the passion was there. So ultimately, it was something that if I went back to school, I don't think I would have been able to live with myself. It wouldn't. So that.

That.

All of that factored in.

Got it. That makes sense. So overall, this is kind of my. I would say, takeaway from that was like, you guys didn't just. You didn't drop out just to start. You guys had momentum. You guys had a product being developed. You guys had traction. You know, there's always that thing where it's like, you heard these quotes of like, oh, Mark Zuckerberg dropped out. Yeah. Because he already had that. Hundreds and thousands of active users on his platform, on Facebook. Right. But it's like, you guys didn't just drop out to go explore. It was. You guys had a true plan of action, which, therefore, like, you had to look at the scale and pick a side. And therefore, you did. Right. Because I think. And I'm sure you would say, too, it's like you. You knew what the next step was. Right. It wasn't just, like, jumping out and hoping to find the parachute that you guys had the. The plan and process in place already. Yeah.

And then just that burning desire and passion to make it work. Right. We believe in ourselves more than anything. And again, like, you know, people push back and say you're giving up a full scholarship, it's like, look, that's. That's well and good. Like, it's good for me to have a diploma and a degree, but for me, I'm more passionate about helping other people. I think I can have a bigger impact, you know, with Super Coffee on our consumers if we do this the right way. So that ultimately impacted the decision.

Got it. Got it. And I'm sorry, I'm curious as well, because I've had the chance to try all of the different flavors you guys have. So as the founder, I'm just really curious what's, like, your favorite flavor that you'd say you guys have just for the listeners, if they pick it up and give it a try.

Yeah. I would say our mocha. Our mocha flavor, it's like a nice, rich, dark chocolate.

Okay.

Sweetened with monk fruit. So 00 sugar, monk, 10 grams of protein, MCT oil. But it's just really, really smooth.

For sure.

38% of our sales.

Oh, wow. Good to know. No, I love that one for sure. And I like that I have the vanilla here with me now. Fire. I love it. Okay. Okay. So I want to ask you too, because I think in terms of just, like, the process and the journey, in terms of like, you being the youngest brother and your brothers being a part of it, what would you say that experience has been like? As I have two brothers myself, but they're not really incorporated into more. So what I'm doing, and that's one of my goals, is to start incorporating my brothers and people in my life that I believe can bring value to what I do. So what would you say has been the experience of, like, building and growing a company with two of your brothers? I just see that, and that's super dope. It's super cool. So just what. What has that experience been like?

Yeah, it's been awesome. Right. There's obviously ups and downs, but, you know, we have a great relationship. We're very close in age again. 23, 25, 26.

Got it.

We're all very competitive athletes. I play basketball, they both played football. But also have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to business and how our minds work. So, yeah, I think early on there's a lot of clashing, you know, really trying to figure out who is going to do what. Right. Who's going to be responsible for specific goals driving the business forward. So I think once we figured out what we were each uniquely good at and should focus on, you know, it became a really strong. And that's like any great team, right?

Yeah.

Brothers, maybe. Maybe it mattered that we were able to deal with each other a little bit.

Yeah. Yeah.

Better. Like, we can kind of come back from hard fights or something like that a little bit easier. So that's where I think it benefited us. But, you know, again, if we didn't find out what we were, you know, good at and we're bad. Yeah, I don't think it would have worked out. So it's been awesome, though. I mean, like, again, we talk about meaningful work, meaningful relationships, and doing what you love with people you love, and we're extremely blessed and grateful to be doing it together, and we've been able to build this team, all 52 of us feel like we're. So it definitely stems from the three of us, but again, sometimes I don't see them for a couple weeks at a time because we're all working on.

Different parts of the world. Business. Okay.

So, you know, it is great, but, you know, we still have a long.

Way to go for sure. For. No, that's super cool. So I'm curious, too, in terms of just like, 52 people on the team now, when was, like, when you guys first started hiring? Because you said you guys have an office in New York, correct? Correct. Yes. And then you have 52 people. Like, that's. That's a lot of people. Right. So it's like, in terms of just managing and understanding that, keeping everyone on track. Right. So what would you say was, like, the first step to hiring? When did you guys know it was time? And therefore, looking into from 1 to 10 to 20 to 52 now, like, what were some of the growing pains that you'd recommend to people that are currently building teams?

Yeah, I think early on, you know, we were obviously doing just about everything, and we were working so hard. So we basically said, you know, we'll put together a budget and a plan that shows, you know, once we have enough capital in, enough revenue to support it. Right. To justify it. We identified a few key positions that would allow, you know, those two key positions would basically focus on the areas where we were weak.

Yeah.

We identified our weaknesses. That way we could spend more time on things we were strong at, you know, product development, sales, and marketing. But we needed some more people to help on the admin side of things, on the design side of things, on the back end. So those were the initial hires is, hey, let's really get people who complement our strengths and weaknesses.

Yep.

And then from there, as the business grows, you know, you want to try to have a plan. Obviously, you can only see so far ahead when you're that small. Things change quickly.

Yeah.

So it really became about finding really good culture fits who are really going to be able to adapt and evolve. And obviously, we had to let some people go. And no hires. He's a perfect hire.

Yeah. Yeah.

But you want people who are gonna work really, really hard. They're gonna be open to change. They're gonna be open to learning new things. We honestly didn't hire people with experience until we were at about 10 to 12 people. So our first seven or eight hires might not have had food and beverage experience, but they filled the voids that we needed, and they're still with us today.

Got it.

And they set the culture.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Some of those guys played college basketball with me or college football with Chaker Jim, and they're still here helping us lead. So I think it's very important to find those. Those first 10 people are really going to be the ones who step set the stage for the next 40 and 50.

Got it. That's. That's super good to know. So it's like just developing and you guys went from. What was it? When did you guys get the current office you're in? Like, was it more so something that as the team progress, you had to look at different locations because obviously being in New York, it's like, that's not. That's not the cheapest area in America. Right. It's not the most expensive. So it's like, understand, understanding where you guys are allocating capital and whether it's all right, are we doing it in house people here or like you said, you have a lot of people running and on the ground and going into stores. Like, what was the determining factor with like putting everyone in one spot with just the access that's in the room.

One of our, one of our engines. I think it's important to know that most of our team is still remote. Right.

Got it.

All over the country, in different regions, working on different things. But we do have a vehicle, about 15 here, so about 35 out.

Got it.

But I think we were fortunate early on. WeWork actually is one of our investors.

Wow.

A lot of co working space. So we were stationed in WeWorks for the first couple of years.

That's sick.

Yeah. And it wasn't until, you know, we raised our series A round last December where we raised, you know, substantial amount of money compared to what we've had, you know, before that, where we said, okay, you know, we're going to be hiring. And I think you saw my Instagram post in December when we raised that round with 17 people. Today, six months, seven months later, we have 52 people.

Wow.

When you make that type of jump.

Yeah, yeah.

You need more space and you finally have the money to do it. So we didn't, we didn't get this space until we had the money to do it and we had the people.

Yeah. That's so cool. That's sick. So and so also because I was curious, so I'm like, I said from the east coast, are you guys all over the country, like, even in the west coast or like, I'm in Arizona, like, is there places that you guys Aren't currently in because I've personally only had experience buying the products while I was in my hometown in Virginia. So like, what's. Where should like people look or if they want to get the product in store?

Just expanding, you know, really across the country now because again, our focus was still inch wide, mile deep. So we're the hot selling coffee in the Northeast. That's D.C. up through Maine. So we sell outsell Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and those areas.

That's so sick.

You know, we're. We're starting to go down to the southeast so getting covered Northeast, like Florida.

Yep.

Places like that. Harris Teeter, Texas. We're in heb. We're the number one song called the H and B down there.

Got it.

Still a lot of other stores to be in Whole Foods as well down there in the Midwest. We're in, you know, a few chains like Jewel Osco really starting to get saturation in the Midwest around Chicago and then in your area. We just launched with sprouts nationally.

Okay.

You know, I've been to Phoenix a few times the past few months for sprouts.

Oh, dope.

The next big market. The next two big markets that were currently staffing and loading right now are Denver and Los Angeles. So within the next, you know, Southern California as a whole, within the next three months, you should be able to get super coffee just about anywhere you go.

Hey, that's. Dude, that's so sick, man. Congrats on all that. So you. But just like. So you guys are in Arizona just to like. Because I think a lot.

The sprouts.

Got it. Yeah. All right, cool, cool.

Definitely Arizona is gonna be a focus of ours as we get into Q4, like the fall.

Okay.

2020. So by 2020, you know, we'll close the rest of the voids.

Like, that's cool.

Nevada, Northern California, the pack Northwest.

Yep, yep.

We want to have full coverage and saturation by this time next year.

Dude, that's so sick, man. That's so sick. So I have like two more questions for you, man. So like, just overall looking at just the journey so far, I do. I've interviewed a lot of people and I always want to sort of get some of their biggest takeaways just throughout the business journey. In terms of like, like I said at the beginning of this, a lot of young people are listening to this. A lot of people maybe are starting their journey. Like, have you had any sort of like mentors or people in your life that have helped, like, help you jump through the ropes and handle these problems or like what, what would you say that experience has been like in terms of just like seeking guidance?

Yeah, man, absolutely. I think that's been the biggest, the biggest, you know, pain point for us is we knew nothing about the space. So at first we really just wanted to surround ourselves with great industry advisors. So.

Yep.

You know Seth Goldman from Honest Change, right, in Bethesda, Maryland, he was our first advisor and mentor and he still is. And you know, they sold Coca Cola. You know, that's a billion dollar brand. You did it the right way.

Yeah.

So him and his network really helps. And then as you kind of go and get more traction, there's people willing to help. So you really gotta learn all these great coaches, great people who you can learn from. And then again, just to gain more knowledge on business and leadership and management, things that you might need an MBA for or not. We're just always hungry for knowledge. So we started going outside of our network and outside of the CPG industry. You know, I was a Peter Thiel fellow, so I got a lot of connections with, you know, people in, in the Valley and learned a lot from those guys. But also just reading a lot of books too, right?

Yeah.

I mean, figuring out what, what it is that you're weak at and trying to fix those weaknesses. So boom. Yeah, zero to one, there it is.

Let's go.

That's one of the books that we read early on. So books on entrepreneurship, but also on management and leadership. So there's great books by Peter, you know, some of the best management professors in the world, Harvard Business Review as great books. I think that's the difference of dropping out for me was when I was in school and I was being taught these things, you know, I wasn't really passionate or bought in and I was never a great student. But as soon as I dropped out, I realized, wow, if I don't get really good at these things, we're just not going to win.

Right.

We're just not going to lose. And I'm really passionate about my company and what we do.

Yeah. Yeah.

I better start to learn.

Yeah. Yeah.

I really started diving into management, leadership, logical thinking. You know, I'm more of a creative thinker. That founder mentality.

Yeah.

I wanted to identify my weaknesses and fix those as quickly as I could. And I think for any entrepreneur, any person in general, you know, you hear great leaders, managers talk about it all the time, but yep, nobody's perfect. There's always room to learn. You just need to be willing to be open minded. Ego free.

Yeah, yeah.

And never stop trying to improve.

Dude, that's so sick, man. And so, last thing to just really wrap it up, man. I. I really relate to you in terms of just like, sports and the competitive advantage. And I. I've. I played. I played hockey from like 3 to 13, then lacrosse and football. And then how I sort of got into this whole space was I had a neck injury that almost got me paralyzed when I was like 16, and I was in a neck brace for like six months. But I. I've learned to sort of carry that sports, competitive mentality into what I do. So I wanted to ask you, like, do you think coming from the sports, and obviously you are way more advanced than me. College, full scholarship, like, you had the entire sports lane, like, laid out, winning. Right. But would you say being competitive and like, heavy into sports has contributed to your leadership or your competitive advantage that you believe you carry into business nowadays?

Yeah, 100%. 100%. We talk about this a lot with our team, but again, just in terms of work ethic, discipline, you know, being a, you know, a fearless competitor, going out every day and working hard and trying to beat your competitor is such a crucial asset, I think, in general. But I think where it really helps to. Is teamwork. Right. Learning how to work well with others. And we were all fortunate. Where I was captain, both my brothers were captains as well. And I think we were just fortunate to be put in that position and try to understand what it was like to be a leader early on in your life and throughout your playing career. So obviously, individual statistics and individual performance are always, always important. Right. You want to contribute as much as you can, but there comes a certain time where, you know, the team comes first, other players come first.

Yep.

And I think that's where sports taught us that, you know, you can be a great point guard or you can be a great quarterback, but if you're not helping other people on your team, if you're not setting somebody up for, you know, for an open shot or a dunk, you know, you're probably not going to be the best team that you can be. So. Yeah, same way in business right now.

That's dope.

You know, we're really hard. We're going to try to perform to our best, but if our team isn't prepared and if our team doesn't have the resources they need, if they're not getting the support, we're not putting them for ourselves. Yeah, probably not gonna be as good as we can.

I love it, man. So just really wrap it up. Jordan. I just want to say I really, I really appreciate you coming on. And for everyone that's listening, alright, this is something where I've interviewed a lot of people that they can check them out on social. But I want people to literally like if you're listening, I'm gonna make sure I put all the links down below, like go buy some super coffee, go test and try the product. Because like genuinely I reached out as someone like usually it's flip side for me just, just to kind of tell you where it's like I follow people on social and I want to hear their story. But then for me listening and I just want to make the people listening aware. Like I just genuinely loved the product and I bought it. It was my second time buying it, so I was like, all right, I. This is something. Oh actually, let me actually say this real quick. It's hilarious. So we were at the Wawa, right? And my mom, she was like getting an iced coffee, like the Wawa iced coffee and whatever. Like one of their things was like out of service. And I was like, I don't even like want this, like Wawa iced coffee. And I, I thought of super coffee but I was like, I wonder if they have it at this Wawa too. You know, it's just a product that I've only saw one time before and I went up, got it, got two of them. I was like, alright, this is dope. And then I obviously reached out. So I mean I just wanted to say thank you for just taking the time doing this. I want everyone listening to really check you guys out. So last thing, where should they go if they want to get it via E commerce or where can they learn more about the story and just about the product overall?

Yeah, absolutely. Best place is just drinksupercoffee.com youm can buy all of our products there. You'll get a discount too for signing up. So you can check that out.

Perfect.

Youngest brother or Jordan at checkout for an additional up there. Definitely check that out and then on Instagram too. We're pretty active on Instagram. Definitely more to come. But just drink super coffee on Instagram. Give us a follow. Follow the story again. More promotions. A lot of really exciting new products coming out in the second half of the year. So if you want to see everything we got coming out, follow us on Instagram.

Perfect. So that being said, everyone, thank you so much for listening. Thank you again. Jordan, make sure. I'll make sure to put all the links in descriptions down below. So you guys can go check them out. And it was Jordan for a discount, Correct? Just if you use Jordan. I'll make sure to put that down below. Use that. And again, thank you so much for listening to the Rise Young podcast. I'll talk to you guys soon.

Thanks, brother. Legacy of Monsters An Apple original series the world is on fire. I decided to do something about it. On November 17th. This place. It's not ours. Believe me, the most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise.

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