This post originally appeared on Tech In Chicago. Visit Tech In Chicago to listen to more interviews with Chicago’s top startup founders and venture capitalists.
Philip Tadros is a true serial entrepreneur and restauranteur. He is the founder of Doejo, a digital agency, Dollop Coffee, a cafe and bakery, Bow Truss Coffee, a coffee roastery and cafe, The Budlong, a hot chicken restaurant chain, SPACE, a co-working space, and Aquanaut Brewing, a craft brewery. He opened his first coffee shop at 19 after dropping out of college and now runs the largest network of independently owned coffee shops in Chicago.
Crain's recently ran a special report questioning some of Phil's business practices titled "One of Chicago's most connected entrepreneurs has made more than a few enemies". We dive into what really happened in the second half of this episode and what he's learned from the experience.
In This Episode You Will Learn:
- How Phil got his start as an entrepreneur after dropping out of college
- The differences between the beer and coffee community
- How he differentiates himself in the competitive food industry
- Phil's side of the story on the Crain's special report
- What he’s learned from the experience
- How he and his team handled the bad press
Selected Links From The Episode:
Favorite Books:
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
