Batch brew #21

Hey, the Summer Capitalist is here! ☀️

The holiday period gave us the inspiration to write about “responsiveness”in our tiny though dept., we also cover Bouncy Castle boring biz idea, guess where we got that idea from 🏰. Further down we have an interesting mix of our friend Georg running a roof tile factory in Africa, some agency biz tips & update on the age averages in Academia. Make yourself a pour over and enjoy the read!

5 minutes and 33 seconds this time.

Welcome to 8 new subscribers from the last Batch! 🙏🏻

Dept. of Tiny Thoughts

In this week's 'tiny thought', let's filter our focus to something we often overlook: Responsiveness. Think of it as that fresh brew waiting for your first sip. Delay too long, and you lose the essence of that perfect coffee moment.

Ever waited endlessly for a colleague's email reply? Or felt the pang of impatience when a potential partner drags their feet? Much like a cold, abandoned coffee, unresponsiveness leaves a bitter taste. But here's a thought - what if we designed systems that inherently prioritize responsiveness?

Imagine an organizational setup where timely responses are not just encouraged but seamlessly integrated. Whether it's auto-acknowledgment systems for emails, scheduled check-ins, or simply setting realistic communication expectations. Just as we use coffee machines to guarantee that perfect cup every morning, building systems with responsiveness at their core ensures that we maintain a steady, warm flow of communication.

So, as you sip your next coffee, ponder on this: How can you craft systems within your realm that naturally champion responsiveness? Because, like a consistent coffee brew, responsiveness can transform our workdays from lukewarm to piping hot with efficiency.

Dept. of Insights - Bouncy Castle Business

Let us take you back to a recent road trip with a buddy who, just a few years ago, worked for a company that rented out bouncy castles. You might think, "Bouncy castle rentals, really?" Yep, it's one of those super boring businesses that can be surprisingly lucrative. We decided to dissect it a bit more, thanks to some juicy insights straight from the source – our friend.

First of all, you don't need to be the sharpest pencil in the box to rent out inflatable castles. It's pretty straightforward.

Let's break it down with our boring biz filters:

• Is it simple? You bet. There's no rocket science behind renting bouncy castles.

• Is it regional / no winner-takes-all market? Absolutely. You can compete in a market flooded with competitors and still make your mark.

• Does it have longstanding cashflow? Well, it depends. It's a seasonal business, for sure. But once you've built strong customer relationships, you can predict your cash flow quite well for the season.

• Is it stuck? Depends on where you are. A quick Google search for inflatable castle rentals in our region reveals websites that look like relics from 2005, with no digital experience, convoluted pricing, and no online booking. So, it's a check for us.

Want to capitalize on this opportunity?

Start by assessing your market – search for local and regional competitors, review their websites, pricing, following, and so on.

Draft a business plan – we don't have time to go through it here, but we've got you covered with an inflatable castles business plan template. Just invite a friend to subscribe to our newsletter, reply to this newsletter with "Give me a business plan! I sacrifice (friend's email)", and you'll get it.

Crunched the numbers for your region and it looks promising? Hold off on buying those castles!

Focus on building a great digital experience first. Set up a user-friendly website with an easy booking system and drive some traffic using PPC. If someone tries to rent a castle before you have one, just email them that it was a mistake and the castle is booked for that date.

Identify potential customers for your castles:

• Hotels

• Companies for their events

• Villages and towns for their fairs and festivals

• Sport events

• Families and their birthday parties

And make some calls to gauge the reactions.

Tested? Now it's time to buy those castles. You can find some for as low as €700, but it's worth doing your research. The main point is, they're pretty affordable and ROI can be in days (if you nail the marketing part).

Time to do business. Expand your offerings with trampolines and other services, and hustle hard.

The funny thing is that you can store everything in a warehouse open to the public. Not only do you have a space to create videos, content, and help customers pick the right castle, but you can also charge admission for kids who want to bounce.

We were really intrigued by this, so if anyone from Slovakia is interested in running this kind of business, hit us up.

Dept. of Twitter Thread Research (we can’t get our head around the generic “X”):

1/ Agency wisdom. Many of our subscribers are agency owners, I’m sure you will love this one & it is worth giving Hunter a follow:

2/ POV: Doing Business in Cameroon. Our VC friend Georg Weber decided to pack his bag, leave Austria and head to Cameroon to run a brick tile production company. Yup, you heard that right. He is Xing about his adventure on his X account (damn that sounds bad), give him a follow!

Dept. of Visual Research:

Favorite comment: “So is it the boomers that hang on for too long, or everyone else is too lazy to take the reins?

News from our portfolios & where to shake hands:

• See you all on the Startup Party organised by The Spot in Bratislava on the 13th of September.

• Next week Kiuub is doing an Online Webinar on the No Code philosophy & whether apps can be built for $10k. Event is mainly focused on our US audience but feel free to join us at 11AM EST on 23rd of August, free event link here ☀️

Do you enjoy this type of content? Just this week blew through 1500 subscribers, but we want to grow further and the best way you can help us is to share The Caffeine Capitalist in your community using the button below:

Enjoy your coffee fresh, allocate capital, repeat! See you in 2 weeks 👋

The Caffeine Capitalist is a bimonthly newsletter written by Slavo Tuleya, Andrej Petrus & Martin Nemecek. It is written in partnership & in support from ZAKA.VC and Chop Chop Ventures.

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own researc