How was it? Did you guys like it? Boba . Boba . So why don't we get started.Each of you guys kind of took a leap of faith to start your business and your career, and we kind of want to talk about that journey.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. Boba Guys' inked umbrella group.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. And Boba Guys is sold in some of the tech offices that have friends that were executives at the tech offices.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. But boba -- Sunday Boba -- or Sunday at the-- Sunday Group.
And that's the only reason why I named it that it's a nod to my mom and my grandmother. You talk about boba .
and champagne. And they were also using the Google Books ingram viewers to find out the cultural relevancy and significance of the boba tea emoji globally. And as you can see, the increased a number of boba tea, according to their research, the boba tea is estimated to reach $1 billion in 2016 and $3 billion in 2023.
Andrew is the co-founder of Boba Guys. Andrew founded Boba Guys in 2011 with his friend, Ben, which we met, when they were working at Timbuk2. And then we have Rosa in the center here.
But ultimately, they just wanted me to not work as hard, and me to focus maybe using my brain instead of my lack of brawn. And so when Boba Guys started, they were actually really upset. And then my mom, who's Taiwanese, got mad because if you know-- who's Taiwanese in the room?
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. And then we have Boba Guys, the retail, which is what most people know.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. So people know at Boba Guys, I'm really involved in politics, so I do a lot of stuff with Access to Capital, Representation Immigration.
And it's just all the guys at Java's Palace think Boba Fett's so cool, and they're like "Stay. Hang out with us." Boba says, "I guess it can't hurt." Because-- this is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen "Return of the Jedi," Boba Fett, he stays at the palace and then he dies.
I actually just saw this quick little video. But I actually just had some boba and a banana shake. So that was what I ate today.
And it's really because of these three amazing data scientists' effort. Because at the time the boba emoji was rejected when I submitted in 2015 along the other four food emojis, the reason why is there was not enough data to prove that the boba tea is significant enough to be included an emoji keyboard.
Because at the time the boba emoji was rejected when I submitted in 2015 along the other four food emojis, the reason why is there was not enough data to prove that the boba tea is significant enough to be included an emoji keyboard. So these three data scientists reached out and together, they put up a new proposal with me, and they also came up with all these researchers.
Thanks, Eric. We have Andrew Chau here. Andrew is the co-founder of Boba Guys. Andrew founded Boba Guys in 2011 with his friend, Ben, which we met, when they were working at Timbuk2.
We can go the other way. And why don't we make boba less about-- people think Asian people are like, stealthy, and shady, and don't pay well, and not clean. I was like, let's blow that all up.
I was like, let's blow that all up. And that was the beginning of Boba Guys. Now we're 15 stores later, at the end of the year it'll be 20 stores, homegrown.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. The company LLC is Sunday Boba .
And in 2020, finally last year in November, we had the boba tea emoji approved. And it took five years to get the boba tea emoji approved because we actually submitted around the same time. And it's really because of these three amazing data scientists' effort.
You had a career here in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. And I know you kind of developed the concept for Boba Guys when you were at Timbuk2. So how did you make that transition from being in tech, like all of us to in the audience, and then creating your own business with Boba Guys?
And we saw Blue Bottle and Phil's doing really well. This is 2011, when Boba Guys came out. And we're like, why don't we just make-- you know, we hear that we're hipster boba , we get that we're bougie boba .
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. So we actually have a manufacturing company called US Boba Company, where we make the boba in the United States.
And that's the only reason why I named it that it's a nod to my mom and my grandmother. I love that matcha, watermelon boba one and then also the bacon and the crispy fried eggs.
And as you can see, the increased a number of boba tea, according to their research, the boba tea is estimated to reach $1 billion in 2016 and $3 billion in 2023. So finally, we were able to have the boba tea emoji because of not only the art itself, but also we combined the technology, which is, in this case, the research data to back it up.
We're in the same kind of founder network. And I would just say, a lot of Boba Guys' story, and a lot of it's already been out there, so I don't want to rehash kind of the lore of it, is that we started as a pop-up.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. And under that group, we open a Boba Guys, everybody knows this by now, we have 15 stores with four more coming.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. We, we have a LLC with Sunday Boba .
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. So a lot of people are like, what Boba Guys and Panda Express?
But there it is. I also, I didn't get Boba Fett into the book as much as I wanted, and so this is one of my Boba Fett jokes that maybe needed to be developed a little more.
that maybe needed to be developed a little more. And it's just all the guys at Java's Palace think Boba Fett's so cool, and they're like "Stay. Hang out with us." Boba says, "I guess it can't hurt." Because-- this is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen "Return of the Jedi," Boba Fett,
When you visit the theme parks, is that something that has also inspired you over the years to participate in cookbooks of the food experience It explores some of the most ruthless and skilled bounty hunters in the galaxy, from Boba Fett to the Mandalorian, so that should be a lot of fun, too.
of the boba tea emoji globally. And as you can see, the increased a number of boba tea, according to their research, the boba tea is estimated to reach $1 billion in 2016 and $3 billion in 2023. So finally, we were able to have the boba tea emoji because of not only the art itself, but also we combined the technology,
And we're like, why don't we just make-- you know, we hear that we're hipster boba , we get that we're bougie boba . But we were just like, why don't we just do boba , but for everyone? And that was really the premise of it.
So there you go. So what my mom said, you know you call yourself boba guy. Do you know what that means, Andrew?
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. I was a director at a corporate job, into a full-time Boba Guys.
So my relationship with emoji is I created these six emojis that's on your phone or computer keyboard. So it is the dumpling, the chopstick, the fortune cookie, the takeout box, the peacock, and also the boba tea emoji. And I would like to share the story of how I created them.
And what's really interesting is for original design was submitted in 2015 and then in 2017, we also got the peacock emoji approved. And in 2020, finally last year in November, we had the boba tea emoji approved. And it took five years to get the boba tea emoji approved because we actually submitted around the same time.
So these three data scientists reached out and together, they put up a new proposal with me, and they also came up with all these researchers. And thanks to Google here, and they were using Google Search to actually find the importance of the boba tea emoji in comparison with two of the existing popular beverage, sake and champagne. And they were also using the Google Books ingram viewers to find out the cultural relevancy and significance
In the UK, still, nobody gives a shit, but in the US this year-- what? You had "Minari," and then you had "Bling Empire." Last year, you had "Parasite." Everybody loved it, and then boba is a big thing. And I feel from looking at it from a distant perspective, it's like Asian-Americans, you guys
And I know you kind of developed the concept for Boba Guys when you were at Timbuk2. So how did you make that transition from being in tech, like all of us to in the audience, and then creating your own business with Boba Guys? Yeah, It's crazy. I think it's probably a blend of Rosa and Deuki's.
is that we started as a pop-up. So I just want to say it, right off the bat, it doesn't mean that Boba Guys was not, like, a sure thing. People are always like, oh, you started the next, like, the Asian Starbucks.
But how it even began was, I was just kind of frustrated. And, actually, this month is always a reminder of why we started Boba Guys. I went to another school-- and, go Bears.
And then I did more, like, apparel clothing, and then so maybe I was going to go toward consumer product goods. So long story short, we were drinking, we don't drink alcohol really, so we were, like, drinking boba every single time. Like, I wonder what the idea should be-- Should we do like-- like, you know, which our friend started Dsptch.
What he was doing. But long story short, we're like, why don't we do boba ? And we saw Blue Bottle and Phil's doing really well.
This is 2011, when Boba Guys came out. And we're like, why don't we just make-- you know, we hear that we're hipster boba , we get that we're bougie boba . But we were just like, why don't we just do boba , but for everyone?
So she goes, oh Andrew, you're so stupid or whatever. And then I actually asked Ben, my co-founder, I said, hey, my mom says that in Taiwanese slang boba means boobs. And then he goes, yeah, I know.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. And then through them, they kind of for me-- I just openly tell people a lot of Boba Guys' eats, those came out of Eddie, Eddie Huang.
As we see after "Crazy Rich Asians," and a bunch of us saw "Always Be My Maybe" last night. We're vertically integrated. If you guys don't know, the boba you're having is made in Hayward.
world and with the nerd geek culture I feel like it's very embracing of of everybody and I like that but I didn't know I had no idea that that was the world I was about to enter into um but like I like Seth would wear like a Boba Fett mask and like walk around Comic Con otherwise he couldn't get through the floor like he he would be stopped every
very traditional recipe. This is my chicken soup. I mean, I really know how to make a chicken soup and she said, this person, that it's not authentic enough because she said, "Janna says use as many vegetables as you like; leeks and celery and pumpkin." And she said, "And pumpkin? My Boba is turning in her grave. You do not put pumpkin into chicken soup." And, well, I was sort of a little bit irate in the beginning, but then I decided to check other Israeli recipes for chicken soup and surprisingly enough, almost all of