Navigating the Boba Business Landscape

Early last year I spoke with Boba Guys co-founders Andrew Chau and Bin Chen. At the time Andrew had just gotten back from visiting Taiwan and other parts of Asia, so it was interesting to hear his observations. Andrew and Bin shared so many great nuggets. We talked about how they got started with a pop-up shop while working fulltime and how they continued to so even after they opened their first few stores.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-boba-guys-andrew-chau-and-bin-chen-bubble-tea-entrepreneurs-bridging-cultures-for-11-years/

Other topics covered include how Boba Guys weathered the pandemic, Andrew and Bin’s book called The Boba Book, and how they see boba as a way to bridge cultures. What has Boba Guys been up to since we spoke? Lots of interesting collabs with other brands, and the release of a loyalty program called “Passport” which gamifies the experience through loot boxes instead of linearly earning points to redeem for a drink. 

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      How Andrew and Bin first met when they both worked at Timbuktu

·      How they decided to start a bubble tea business

·      Andrew’s recent trip to Taiwan and the other Taiwanese Americans he met up with while there

·      Andrew’s thoughts on Taiwan’s bubble tea scene

·      How they started with a pop-up shop

·      How they have not taken any VC (venture capital) money

·      The social costs and risks of being an entrepreneur

·      How other Taiwanese American entrepreneurs like Steve Chen and Kevin Lin mentored them

·      How Andrew does advising for the small business council and testified in Washington D.C. on behalf of small businesses

·      How they were working on Boba Guys Japan when the pandemic hit

·      How Boba Guys dealt with the pandemic

·      The biggest challenges they’ve experienced

·      The third wave of boba

·      The meaning of the word boba and how Andrew’s mom reacted to the name Boba Guys

·      How Boba Guys name their drinks

·      Their book, The Boba Book and how they choose their co-author Richard Parks

·      What happened when they went to Taiwan and tried to determine which tea shop invented bubble tea

·      The Boba Guys’ merchandise and aardvark mascot

·      The Boba Home Kit and how they created a boba kit that was on Williams Sonoma

·      How they teach people how to make boba online

·      How they have mentored other entrepreneurs

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-boba-guys-andrew-chau-and-bin-chen-bubble-tea-entrepreneurs-bridging-cultures-for-11-years/