I Tried To Beat Starbucks (Full Documentary)
Simon Squibb · 2026-10-15
💡 Quick Take
1. Don't buy multinational corporate structures that exploit legal loopholes to avoid paying local taxes.
2. Don't rush into launching a business product if you don't personally like or use the product yourself.
3. Don't settle for bad early product formulations just to save time; prioritize taste and quality.
4. Accumulate strategic partners and mentors early who have actual industry experience in your niche.
5. Don't proceed with unreliable suppliers or manufacturers; fire them early when they fail to deliver.
📊 Detailed Explanation
The documentary follows entrepreneur Simon Squib as he attempts to build a brand new beverage company, Dream Brew, from scratch to challenge coffee giants like Starbucks. Early in the journey, the speaker highlights a major grievance against established multinational coffee chains: while Starbucks generates massive revenues in the UK, legal loopholes and offshore structuring allow them to pay virtually no corporate tax locally, contrasting sharply with everyday workers who pay taxes on modest salaries.
Motivated by this disparity, the speaker decides to establish a coffee brand that operates with a clear social mission: paying local taxes while dedicating a portion of profits directly to funding everyday people's dreams. The initial operational setup begins unconventionally in a disused staircase in southwest London, humorously positioned right behind a Starbucks location and utilizing borrowed electricity, framing the venture as an underdog challenge to industry titans.
Product development proved to be one of the most painful and iterative hurdles in the process. The initial batches of canned iced coffee tasted awful, smelling and tasting like poor formulations, watery consistency, or unpleasant perfume notes. Citing failures like Prime where initial branding carried weak products, the speaker emphasizes that the underlying product must genuinely taste good, forcing multiple rounds of recipe adjustments and re-evaluations.
The venture faced major supply chain instability when the original manufacturing partner abruptly stated they could no longer produce the product. Demonstrating a decisive stance, the speaker fired the manufacturing partner, absorbing the financial and time losses as a necessary lesson to find a reliable supplier, eventually relocating manufacturing to a factory in Poland to finalize a high-quality product recipe.
Securing high-profile backing and influencer investment played a critical role in scaling awareness. By networking at events and pitching the core mission—dedicating 10% of profits to fund dreams—without a formal pitch deck, the speaker successfully secured investments from prominent figures like former football star Rio Ferdinand and local football club owners, leveraging their platforms for organic brand exposure.
Branding and marketing strategies evolved through trial and error, moving away from overly complicated stunts like sailing an inflatable can to New Zealand under the advice of seasoned marketers like Andrew Block. Instead, the team focused on community engagement, grassroots marketing, street interviews asking people about their dreams, and organizing official launch parties where real consumers could finally taste and validate the final product.
Working alongside family and strategic operators became a core pillar of the business structure. The speaker brought in his niece, Amy, relocating from Australia, to run and manage day-to-day operations because her skill set matched the business's needs. The journey concludes with the official launch of 300,000 cans, proving that while building a purpose-driven business from scratch involves immense failure and friction, community backing and resilience can forge a viable path forward.
🎯 Finance Expert Opinion
Simon Squib's endeavor offers a fascinating case study in modern brand-building, blending cause marketing with the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) beverage sector. The core thesis—that consumers increasingly favor brands with transparent tax practices and social missions—taps into genuine consumer sentiment, though challenging entrenched oligopolies like Starbucks requires immense capital and operational resilience that goes far beyond catchy marketing.
From a strategic execution standpoint, the speaker's actual stance on early-stage product development is highly cautionary: do not rush substandard goods to market. The repeated delays, supplier terminations, and recipe overhauls underscore the harsh reality that marketing hype cannot permanently mask a poor-tasting beverage. Investors and founders must recognize that product-market fit in food and beverage is entirely dictated by repeat purchases, which rely strictly on baseline quality.
The reliance on influencer backing (such as Rio Ferdinand) and viral social media content successfully bypassed traditional, expensive customer acquisition channels, providing a masterclass in organic bootstrapping. However, this approach carries execution risks; celebrity endorsement alone does not guarantee long-term unit economics or retail shelf stability once the initial novelty wears off and distribution costs scale up.
Ultimately, while the documentary frames the venture as an inspiring underdog story, prospective entrepreneurs should view food and beverage manufacturing with sobriety. Margins in canned coffee are tight, supply chain vulnerabilities are high, and scaling from grassroots social media to sustained retail profitability requires rigorous financial controls. The speaker's ultimate stance—accumulate resilient partnerships, prioritize product integrity over speed, and embrace early failures as tuition—serves as a pragmatic roadmap for early-stage builders.
⚠️ This content is not investment advice.
Kanal: Simon Squibb