Ira's Memoir (Page 5)

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Working Together

Getting the team right enables you to do the right things. A coach of mine used to share a "user manual" with his direct reports explaining how he liked to work and what working with him might feel like. Every team should have a sense of each other’

Hautewheels

Cash is the best wedding gift, but I've always found red envelopes to be impersonal and often unremarkable (unless yours is the fattest). Hautewheels is an online crypto gift card, designed for weddings. Instead of giving cash to the couple, the gift-giver specifies some amount of money they

Photobook of a Brand

Polycentral helps coffee drinkers find their preferred coffee profile. I think about this problem often and I've experimented with a few "DTC" approaches, including: * Seasonal coffee samplers / limited coffee "Drops" * Educational coffee variety tasting boxes * Various pop ups My current thinking is an app

Personality Tests

While working at high volume cafes, I noticed that whenever a new barista joined the crew, even for a single shift, horoscopes would inevitably come up in conversation. Over time, I learned that personality tests make it easy for individuals to identify qualities they personally resonate with, without crossing the

Ira's Latte Art Bookmarks

Many of my friends own espresso machines or have access to espresso machines at work, but may not have the time to train as a professional barista. Like any sport or artistic endeavor, producing good latte art is about learning good form, and then putting it into practice, but how

Empty wallets, full hearts

It’s the late nights returning to Penn Station from dinners at Cranes and L'Ardente by Amtrak (a Happy Meal bundle of things you cannot afford) and haggling with a taxi driver because you know he’s trying to rip you off, but you’re committed to sending

Jan 2022 - Music

Favorites Listened to

Sports Book Arbitrage

As a service worker, several hundred bucks can mean a few nights of tips or even a month of rent (a partial month if you're in New York). Sitting at the intersection of tech and coffee, I wanted to let my fellow baristas in on an opportunity to

Maslow's Hierarchy, Hunger, and Creating Value

Unpublished, 2022 * A lot of entrepreneurship has felt like rummaging in the dark * I don't know what to sell and I certainly don't know how to add value * It's been challenging to stay focused on one thing * Advice from entrepreneurs like Brian Armstrong are

Cafes that shaped Polycentral