Opening a Speakeasy Cafe

James Freeman, Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee’s James Freeman describes how the opening of an unconventional cafe boosted his confidence. Despite its odd location, limited menu and longer wait times, Freeman says the cafe was a successful effort to work within constraints. “Fortunately, I didn’t even know what market research was,” Freeman says. “We just did what we thought was the most delicious thing we could possibly do.”