I’ll admit it, I’m not a coffee guy.  The taste has just never grown on me.   So when I mention ‘let’s grab coffee’ it’s simply a descriptor for the act of getting together and chatting rather than a statement of beverage/consumption preference.

There’s a great clip in the movie Good Will Hunting (my favorite movie) where Skylar mentions to Will that maybe they can go out for coffee sometime.  Will says, “Sure.  Or maybe we could just get together and eat a bunch of caramels….when you think about it, it’s as arbitrary as drinking coffee.”   Couldn’t have said it better myself, which is why I’m randomly a hot chocolate guy.

Skip ahead to about the 4:50 mark in the embedded clip below to watch the scene.

In the startup world though coffee is that special drink that makes everyone at the table feel comfortable.  It’s the social beer for entrepreneurs.  So when I tell you that while you are sipping on those beans, I’m actually enjoying a tasty little hot chocolate you’ll probably start to squirm a bit.  Same cup, yes…fooled you.  But hey I fooled you for a reason, because it makes YOU feel more comfortable .

I’d be willing to bet that there are plenty of other investors, entrepreneurs, and general businessmen that would secretly rather have a cup of something other than coffee.  Heck, maybe they’d even rather get together and ‘eat a bunch of caramels’.  I’d also be willing to bet that very few will actually admit it.  Oh well.

So what do you say, maybe we can grab a hot cholocate sometime? ‘Because when you think about it, it’s as arbitrary as drinking coffee.’