Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

You're targetting espresso over drip. This is good in my books, but I don't know how the US oddity about drip vs espresso will affect your market. Europe and Australia/NZ will likely pose different marketing requirements.

For EU/AU, it seems to me like you want to be competing with the Nespresso market and leveraging the fact that you can produce a similar 'pod' quality (or better) without the machine - basically a convenience approach, perhaps with some price influence. You'll struggle to compete with superior flavour since we understand decent espresso. There's a reason Starbucks has nearly completely collapsed in Australia and it's largely thanks to Italian migrants in the 60s, and enough of Europe knows about Italy that they have a clue about coffee. The secondary advantage is that in AU at least (maybe also EU? my experience of travel there isn't broad enough), a good cafe-made espresso is quite expensive (AUD$5) so you have profit margins on your side too.

For the US, you can't really compete on price and people are more happy to drink rubbish coffee like badly made drip and Starbucks. To this end, in my mind you will need to convince them that the superior flavour is worth it when it is not prohibited by superior expense or effort (ie: going out to a specialist cafe). The evidence is in this thread where people balk at the idea of a $3 'instant' coffee. This is a distinctly different marketing ploy to the above, but I think a one-size-fits-all won't work for you.

I don't really have a lot to add, but that's my gut feel on how you need to go about pitching this. Simply saying 'we can do instant coffee that doesn't suck!' to me doesn't quite capture the subtlties of the problem you're actually solving for consumers, as it doesn't place it in the broader context of how/where/why they consume coffee.

Good luck!

I set the limit at 0.50 per Keurig pod and my wife has decreed that we will brew pots of coffee in our new digs.

+1 for RussianCow's comment.

Our target customer is the average person who goes to Philz, Blue Bottle, Stumptown as well as Starbucks. These people aren't really buying instant coffee - they spend $2-10 on coffee per day. Some of them buy 2 x $5 latte drinks at a cafe. 100% of these people drink their coffee for the taste (although they have different taste preferences). The average person who goes to Blue Bottle daily actually doesn't know much about the beans, where it's sourced, etc. This is a big misconception that we uncovered last May. These people are Blue Bottle loyalists who love the brand, but they really just want a good cup of coffee that makes them feel good. They don't care what country it came from and they don't really know what light roast vs dark roast is.

This is actually a HUGE market of people. The middle is much larger than the fringes.

Btw, I've said this in other places on the thread - we completely love people who are super into coffee and I still think we make a good product for those really into it, but I just want to highlight the large number of people in the middle who we often forget to talk about.

As a regular instant drinker-- I wish you luck.

My go to instant is Cafe Bustelo, cheap, woody, strong and 17¢ a cup when it's on sale.

At your price, Sudden occupies an interesting niche, but I think it will do fine given how massive the coffee market is!

Nothing beats instant for convenience, it's a lot easier to find a hot water than a coffee machine. And slips in your pocket like grinders and a bag o' beans doesn't.

So first off, taste is a subjective thing, but generally things that we classify as tasting good internally: - smooth/ juicy taste - naturally sweet without sugar - has a good fragrance

Things that taste bad in coffee might be: - dries out your mouth - watery/ tasteless - really bitter - tastes like wood - smokey/ burnt

FYI, it's hard to pick up on these taste characteristics if you drink coffee with cream and sugar, so if you want to do a taste test, try it black and at a warm (not hot) temperature.