The founder of Saigon Brew, Dylan, joins us to talk about his Aussie-owned Vietnamese coffee brand. A journey some might find familiar of trying to find something more fulfilling than the 9-5 corporate life, we talk about his passion for his Vietnamese roots which led him to craft a beverage which resonates with his cultural heritage.

Items mentioned:

Top 100 coffee shops: https://bit.ly/3RDC4m9

Saigon Brew socials:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saigonbrew/

Website: https://saigonbrew.com.au/

Our listeners get 15% off with the code 'RICENMICS15'

Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:20 The inception of Saigon Brew, Covid times

6:09 Finding a warehouse, inspiration

8:20 Why coffee? Japan moment with cans

10:46 Introducing Viet coffee

11:47 Do cafes make more money in summer vs winter?

12:59 New trend for coffee in Vietnam

14:34 Australia has the best coffee in the world?

15:49 Top 10 coffee shops in the world

16:52 I am a fruit enjoyer

20:23 How do you intro new coffee to people, pairing with durries

22:25 The three flavours of Saigon Brew

25:18 Where are people buying from? Northern Territory?!

28:20 Challenges of starting the business, finding partners

32:52 Tips if you wanna start a F&B business

35:03 Alcohol and durries being taxed high

38:23 The corporate life journey

42:50 Call centre environments suck, empathy fatigue

44:37 Defined benefits, the worst working environment

50:39 Process analyst

52:44 Process improvement at Virgin Money

55:05 The last corporate role

57:05 Investing more into Saigon Brew but staying in corporate

59:02 The first grocery store

59:54 G7/Trung Nguyen coffee goss

1:03:07 Contacting grocers, aggressive ads

1:11:36 Woolies metro type stores would do well?

1:15:53 Costco's rule for buying products

1:20:23 Balancing 2 jobs

1:24:23 Achievements/Milestones

1:25:13 How long did it take from idea to product?

1:26:34 New flavours? The rise of Asian flavours

1:31:04 How important is community?

1:33:56 Inspiration? Role models?

1:38:33 Future plans? How do you get nutritional info?

1:41:00 The development lifecycle

1:43:38 Social plugs

When I think of working in sales, two movies come to mind: The Wolf of Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross. Ruthless sales tactics where people will stop at nothing as long as it lines their pockets with money. My old friend Lawrence takes me along his journey in the sales space from retail to B2B, and busts some myths of salesmen.

Guest: Lawrence Ly

Items mentioned:

Backdoor Banter Podcast:https://www.instagram.com/backdoorbants/

Grant Cardone training video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1AESpPgNQ

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

⁠⁠Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast

⁠⁠⁠⁠Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow

Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:05 How we know each other

2:41 Why is Lawrence here, how he landed his first sales job

6:59 How Lawrence and I applied for work as 16 year olds

8:43 The WORST WORK EXPERIENCE EVER

12:48 The most satisfying quitting story

16:16 Never stay with the counter offer when you quit

18:39 What was the commission there like?

19:48 Extended warranties suck, my fridge warranty issue

22:38 The motivation to get into sales - wolf of wall street?

23:59 Was uni a scam?

25:53 Experience working at Bing Lee

27:55 That mate who hooks you up with the discounted goods

29:41 Leaving for ANZ, dead people getting credit cards?

32:57 Why not pivot into high positions within banking?

35:00 After ANZ - JD Sports, crazy customers, physical threats

43:20 How was the call centre environment?

45:16 The uni capstone unit, an interesting group

48:54 EHP Labs, $100 a day?!

51:41 Whoring yourself out for any role after graduating

54:20 The work at EHP Labs

57:28 How to tailor the script for influencers

1:01:19 The dream job wasn't the dream

1:05:16 Moving to Gartner after getting fired

1:11:29 Dealing with rejection

1:12:49 Advice for someone starting in sales calls

1:21:58 Why not advance within Gartner?

1:24:02 How many states are there in Australia?

1:26:11 How do you find prospects? A buffet during covid.

1:30:00 What is Lastpass? Other password managers

1:32:27 What other sales tactics are used in B2B?

1:35:22 How is salary broken down?

1:42:39 Why stick around LastPass?

1:43:41 More hours = more money?

1:46:25 How AI has helped in the world of sales

1:47:55 How to maintain business relations

1:49:32 Funny story - Lawrence's biggest Bing Lee sale

1:56:37 Most creative way to close a sale - PRETENDING TO CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY?!

2:01:01 Advice for someone starting sales generally

2:03:18 Reading body language, finding common ground

2:06:33 Backdoor Banter Podcast

I get 4 guests on and Nathan and I chat about their lives. Don't forget to use the timestamps! Apologies for the audio quality, we'll be back to the 'professional studio' space soon. :)

Thank you Trang for letting us film in your cafe! Venue Instagram: ⁠@Mondays2166

Sister restaurant: Nourishmint Cafe

Note: I was meant to upload this last week but that thunderstorm took out my internet LOL...

Guests: Maxwell, Renee, Alan and Trang

Supporting: Nathan

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow Chapters 0:00 Intro
0:28 Maxwell - Intro
1:29 Maxwell - How was the HSC?
2:25 Maxwell - Beating Matt in ATAR
4:12 Maxwell - Emotions leading up to the exams
5:10 Maxwell - What's he doing when not locked in? What's Dial up?!
6:27 Maxwell - New skibidi slang
7:08 Maxwell - Post HSC plans, career goals
9:15 Maxwell - What's an issue in Cabra he would fix?
11:15 Maxwell - Travel plans
11:45 Maxwell - He doesn't even know his own bro is married
12:20 Maxwell - How was Matt as a brother?
14:20 Maxwell - HSC performance feels
15:00 Maxwell - Topic for English?
16:36 Maxwell - Maths performance
17:33 Maxwell - 4 months off, what now? Tattoos?
19:35 - Renee - Intro
20:10 - Renee - Experience being a primary school teacher
20:31 - Renee - Side hustles
LINK RENAISANCE NAILS
21:11 - Renee - Kids' attention spans
22:06 - Renee - What do kids talk about these days?
23:50 - Renee - Canteen food
24:50 - Renee - Do teachers do much after school?
26:30 - Renee - Do you recommend being a primary school teacher?
28:04 - Renee - Biggest lesson a student has taught you
28:50 - Renee - Travelling during school holidays
29:50 - Renee - Hobbies outside of work
31:38 - Renee - Expanding the nail biz
33:19 - Renee - Are your students watching this?
34:20 - Alan - Intro
34:51 - Alan - SMASH volunteer
35:39 - Alan - We love bargains (robot vacs)
37:17 - Alan - RM Williams
38:00 - Alan - Why is Alan here? Comparing muffins
39:38 - Alan - Maccas app deals
40:11 - Alan - Experience driving an EV
45:15 - Alan - Novated leasing, bike theft
47:17 - Alan - More EV stuff
51:01 - Alan - What's so good about SMASH?
53:07 - Alan - Why should I attend SMASH?
55:58 - Alan - How are they getting cars into buildings?
58:55 - Trang - Intro
59:38 - Trang - What's it like being a business owner in Cabra?
1:01:30 - Trang - Seeing the high school kids grow up to adults to drink
1:02:14 - Trang - This cafe is actually so hidden
1:03:40 - Trang - Everyone in Sydney is so busy compared to Melb
1:04:09 - Trang - Supporting a lot of locals
1:05:10 - Trang - Ube liqueur
1:05:40 - Trang - Working in Hospitality
1:08:33 - Trang - Advice for potential business owners
1:09:24 - Trang - Monday's sister Cafe