Caffe Habitu Coffee Tasting Class Experience
The crew at Caffee Habitu graciously invited me for a cofee tasting class this week to learn more about how formal coffee tasting works, and to try some of the most expensive coffee in the world.
I'm active with building a startup community here in Hong Kong. My current focus is BootHK, the first community spaces here for startups, makers, and entrepreneurs.
The crew at Caffee Habitu graciously invited me for a cofee tasting class this week to learn more about how formal coffee tasting works, and to try some of the most expensive coffee in the world.
Three years ago I started building a task management system with a friend of mine, we called it Sampi Plan and I later renamed it to Tasksee. In the course of looking for funding, there was one meeting where I pitched it and later talked about StartupsHK and BootHK. The guy I was pitching said, "Now that is what I'm talking about, that's the fire!" In hindsight, I should have thought more about what that really meant.
Do what you are passionate about.
Looking back, I was never really passionate about that project. I was highly dedicated and determined, but not passionate. So, why did I spend the better part of two years of my life on something I was not that into? Good Question.
What happens when something costs the same to produce everywhere and at any volume? I think that is just what we are starting to see the beginnings of.
Today I looked at the http://seeedstudio.com site, a local China company that sells a lot of open hardware/software devices. The first thing that I noticed is that everything is approaching the price that using these building blocks to create something for yourself, a friend, or even to sell in low volume is a consideration.
I lived in L.A. for a couple of years and got spoiled by hanging out with my Vietnamese friends. So, when I moved to HK, I missed that balance of flavor and lightness. Tonight, we were in North Point picking up cat food, and just happened to spot this place.
It was extremely yummy, just the right amount of flavor, not greasy like the typical HK Vietnamese places. I had combo pho and fish fresh spring roll. It was a Sunday evening, so I'm imagining it does get considerably busier, but it was nice and quiet there.
They have several locations (see the photos), I'm curious of everyone's experiences.
I had the opportunity to come to Switzerland for an internal meeting for Cyberclean. They were nice enough to invite me to be part of a day trip to a nearby mountain trip with the group, here are some of the photos and videos:
Be sure to watch the videos in HD.
Recently when I was registering BootHK I realized that my normal GoDaddy practice wouldn't cut it, but the difficult thing is that when you search for how to register a .hk or .com.hk or.org.hk you only get non-direct registrars listed instead of http://www.hkirc.hk which is the registrar. (See here for what pops up on a Google search: http://www.google.com.hk/search?q=.hk+domain+registration)
So, my experience was bad at best. I came across one of several domain registration companies handling these domains, and without knowing what the base cost is, I thought that the USD $89/year was just the cost of the local domains. I applied for boot.hk, and then I waited. For a week I had no confirmation and no response and then I got an unusual response, that they were unable to process the registration due to too many people applying for the domain at the same time. They advised (fortunately) that I would have to apply to the registrar directly to re-open the application.
Now, this advice will only work for you if you either have a local HK company or have a HKID.
To register one of these domains, go to http://www.hkirc.hk It will cost on the order of HKD $250/year or less. The staff there are great and handled everything smoothly. Now, the thing that is a little odd about the whole process if you are used to a .com registration is that 1) it takes a few days to process, not minutes and 2) it is linked to an HKID, business registration, or organization which they will check.
On Monday, we went out location hunting again looking for a suitable space for co-working, social meetups, and lightweight making/hacking.
Again, we were looking in the Sheung Wan area, but ended up also looking at locations both there and Central. All locations are approximately 1000 sq ft, which translates into approximately 800 usable.
We went to see a few locations, all but one are a current pass for various reasons. It seems like probably taking on a bare shell location at this point is a bit overzealous, as it would be better to have something that we can use sooner and then expand into more custom locations when we understand our needs. One of the locations was across from a new construction site, so is not really desirable for a co-working location once they start ripping into the meat of the work.
Here is a gallery of the locations that I think we will pass on:
Here is a gallery of the location that is currently the top choice:
Good things about this location:
I was able to make it over to Barista Jam in Sheung Wan today for the
first time. I've never had a better prepared shot of espresso. One of
the owners, William was there behind the well maintained machines, and
was a pleasure to talk with. They really take their coffee seriously.
We even talked about how we might modify the machine or make a custom
one together. And the beans, wow, great selection, roasted in HK and
all single origin, although they use blends for all espresso drinks
unless you request otherwise. Cost of $21 for a double is in line with
the competition, and is a great value for a nicely crafted brew.
Your Users Are Doing Something Surprising
This post is for all of you lucky enough to have a product with real users. Way back before you had users, or even a product, you probably went through a process to figure out what you should build. During that process you may have written user stories and work flows that described, in various levels of detail, how your users would perform each expected task. But you know who didn’t read your user stories? That’s right: your users.
Some tips on how to learn better from your users.
The last few weeks since my last post about HK investment culture have been quite busy. I've been meeting up with many more local investors and startup founders, I'm finding that there is a lot of good potential here that could be fostered to be quite a unique ecosystem.
Here is a good post that has a summary of the current state of Entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. The comments in this thread have a good dialog as well, with both advocates and dissenters of the potential of the local market. What I've been encouraged by is that I've been meeting many very enthusiastic people recently that want to cooperate. I believe that it only takes a small number of enthusiasts to create a movement.
