When Matt Bachmann decided to get his MBA three years ago, he didn’t
imagine it would lead to a startup fueled by his favorite beverage. “I
was committed to using the time as a break from the corporate world, and
I knew I wanted to explore entrepreneurship,” says Bachmann. “But I had
no idea what the final outcome would be.”
Having such an open mind turned out
to be a big win for Bachmann, who credits his time at Columbia Business
School with not only inspiring his startup idea – New York City-based
cold brew coffee company Wandering Bear – but also playing an integral role in its success.
Not many people think of business
school as a precursor to entering the food and beverage industry, but
what Bachmann and his cofounder Ben Gordon experienced at Columbia
illustrates an increasingly common scenario – MBAs learning about entrepreneurship and following their passions to find startup success.
In fact, according to Bachmann, the business “never would’ve happened” without Columbia – and here’s why:
Happy accidents.
“What strikes me about our startup
journey is the serendipity of it all,” says Bachmann, who met Gordon in
class at Columbia, where they bonded over a mutual passion for cold brew
coffee. The serendipity part? The two actually attended the same
college eight years prior and had many of the same friends. If it hadn’t
been for business school, they might never have met – and Wandering
Bear would never have happened.
Their shared interest was also
serendipitous. Cold brew, a style of iced coffee made without heat,
could only be found in a handful of cafes at the time. In order to enjoy
cold brew at home, you had to make it yourself – a fact that Bachmann
and Gordon spent a lot of time discussing. “It ultimately led to our
problem statement – how do you make a high quality café style iced
coffee product readily available to consumers at home and at work?”
Where the business begins.
After countless conversations about
favorite formulations and the relatively few cold brew offerings on the
market (at the time), the duo realized they might have a business on
their hands. “We realized there was a huge underserved consumer base out
there,” says Bachmann. “Keurig and its competitors had been meeting the
demand for greater convenience in hot coffee, but the same thing wasn’t
happening on the cold brew side.”
According to Bachmann, the supportive
environment of business school was exactly what they needed to take
Wandering Bear to the next level. At Columbia, the team was able to take
advantage of critical research and entrepreneurial expertise. Concepts
from class became relevant in the startup they were simultaneously
building. “Our MBA experience from end-to-end was launching this
business,” Bachmann recalls. “It’s hard to say where one thing ended and
the other began.”
The student loan question.
Like most MBAs, Bachmann took on
student loans to help pay for school – a fact that would deter some
people from taking a risk on a startup. “It’s tough to tell someone
who’s considering an MBA that it’s okay to take two years out of the
workforce and incur six figures worth of debt – especially if their goal
is to start or join a startup.” Bachmann stresses that it’s a question
that needs to be assessed on an individual basis, but notes that in his
situation, “There were too many intangible opportunities to list – I
wouldn’t be doing this had I not taken the time to pursue an MBA.”
One of those opportunities materialized when Bachmann refinanced his student loans with SoFi this year and joined the SoFi Entrepreneur Program,
which allowed him to put his loans on hold for six months as well as
benefit from a deep network of entrepreneurial support. “The fact that
SoFi spends its days minimizing risk by evaluating borrowers’ earning
potential makes refinancing with them feel like a vote of confidence,”
he says, adding that, as a successful startup itself, SoFi is a brand
that he and Wandering Bear are happy to be associated with.
And the feeling is mutual. This
month, SoFi is pleased to offer Wandering Bear cold brew coffee as a
welcome gift for new student loan refinance members. Given the recent
surge in popularity, it’s a safe bet that some have already become cold
brew converts. For the rest of the world, Wandering Bear is on a mission
to spread the word – and the convenience – of its signature drink.
