Thank you! I'm not self-roasting (not by choice), but working with a roaster to help with roasting and logistics. I got the idea from actually wanting to self-roast when I heard of a friend using a shared roasting space in San Diego to source green beans and do his own roasting without the upfront cost of buying equipment. Unfortunately nothing like that exists in my area of Tennessee but having a private relationship with a family owned roaster is the next best thing.
I went through a few iterations of trying roasters and let me tell you, some were downright bad. I'm happy to have found a partner that I actually enjoy the product of, even if it means slimmer margins.
Man I miss Simple. I'm honestly shocked and saddened that nothing took its place, though they were a major pain about getting my wife an account so we could join finances and then they closed a few months after I switched away.
The mention of the IR port brought me back. As a kid I'd get hand-me-down palm pilots and find programmable remote apps to control the TV and other things with.
Not much "show" yet but at least some more detail.
> Alternatively, I think there is absolutely value is selling coffee with novelty bags, but the price-point needs to reflect that and there is no need for (possibly very expensive) claims.
Can you explain the "possible very expensive claims"? I'm somewhat toeing the line of novelty bags but also at the same time delivering actually good coffee (I understand I need to figure out how to explain that better). The price point is because the cost of the coffee (and shipping) is high, I'm not making a super margin on this. That's not exactly something you just advertise out, so I need to learn ways to instill confidence in the quality/price.
All great points, I've taken that and gotten a rough start (definitely not final, going to do some competitor research) at an About Us page. https://hackerbrews.com/pages/about-us
Also, love the name. I'll add it to the ideas list and keep your attribution noted if it ends up on a coffee.
Great point, I overlook(ed) an about section because I am in the same boat in thinking it's mostly just SEO, but it's a good data point that people actually do look at it, especially when choosing to buy.
Those are totally valid concerns, and I appreciate the feedback!
> have some actual shots of the bags/coffee rather than a dynamic image. It might not add actual authenticity to the coffee, but it makes it feel less fake.
I completely agree. The images right now are a stop-gap to get running and I plan to take actual photos within the coming week. In part, I wanted to keep a low barrier to entry for starting this and grow it as I get customers, so I started with the cheapest option.
> Add more information about where the coffee is coming from. I see that some descriptions have the farm of origin, but honestly, you could write whatever. How do you know it's sourced ethically? How do you know it comes from those farms? Again, you can't sell guarantees, probably, but how you present yourself makes a big difference.
Great input. I'm planning a site re-design soon that will allow me to have a few tab options within the product to detail more information in a clean way, and I'll plan to have more of that in too. For the purpose of this comment here and now, green beans are hand-selected directly from each farm after traveling there to sample and source.
> Ultimately, for all I know, you are just reselling 5$ coffee for 20$ with a new "hacker" label. If you want to incentivize me to buy, your job is to somehow show me this is not the case.
Aside from the mentions you've made, do you have other suggestions on gaining trust? When I think of other major roasters, most of the time I've heard from them through word of mouth and I don't particularly think twice about fact-checking, but I'm also a sample size of one. Hearing the process of how others choose their coffee to buy would help.
Hey HN, I'm publicly launching a side project I've been working on for a bit and would love your feedback and support. Hacker Brews offers coffee beans that are high quality, ethically sourced, and shipped right to your door with free US shipping. We've got fun tech-related names such as "Untitled Project", "Artificial Attentiveness", and "Beanchain Technology".
Get 5% off your order with code "HN5" today only, including your first subscription.
I've started this with the intent to launch a MVP and improve from here, so feedback and constructive criticism is welcome. Also, if you have creative naming ideas I'm open to consideration for future coffee offerings. If I use your name I'll ship you a bag of that coffee for free once offered.
I went through a few iterations of trying roasters and let me tell you, some were downright bad. I'm happy to have found a partner that I actually enjoy the product of, even if it means slimmer margins.