| Tell us about your company: |
| RIP Cold Brew is cold brew for those who are not dead. For those who “Reap Infinite Potential” everyday, who are always active, always on the go, always on to the next adventure. We’re flipping one of the world’s most recognizable acronyms upside down into a life-affirming rallying cry to “Never Rest” because “You are not dead” and that’s already resonating with our young, active consumer base in San Francisco and Denver. And our cold brew products are designed to hit the mark for those who are taking their can as far away from the cafe as they can possibly go. – RIP Original Black (Available now!): Incredibly smooth coffee (ours is a blend of coffees from Guatemala and East Africa). No sugar. No dairy. All kick. No crap. – RIP Original Black “Half Send” (Coming soon): While others don’t even put caffeine content on their can, we lean into caffeine, offering multiple caffeine options to help consumers segment their caffeine intake throughout the day. – RIP Latte Light (Coming soon): Finally, a low calorie, low sugar latte that’s more “coffee with a splash of milk” than “milk with a splash of coffee”. Our light latte keeps the calories and sugar low to not weigh you down when you’re out there getting the most out of your day. – RIP Black Flavors (Coming soon): Creative flavor extensions with no filler and no added sugar. We’re mixing it up from the same old caramels and vanillas. Think tropical, coconut, or citrusy extensions that excite the palette and disrupt the category even more than our brand. R.I.P. boring coffee brands. Let’s RIP. |
| What inspired you to start your business? |
| I used to work in the coffee industry, and always felt there was opportunity to develop a better RTD product than what was already on shelves. I just saw that the cans being produced were more a copy-paste of what these big coffeehouse brands were doing in their cafes, instead of designed for what people are doing with a canned cold brew, which tends to be much more on the go and active. And none were very inspiring. Then one fateful evening, my co-founders and I, who are also cold brew enthusiasts, realized we all felt the same way about cold brew and the opportunity to disrupt a sleeping giant of a category that had grown a bit stale. Many cold brew samples later, we launched RIP Original Black in San Francisco, where we all met, in August 2025 and have been off to the races ever since. |
| What are your proudest achievements so far? |
| Getting featured in Forbes is cool: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwatman/2025/08/11/rip-cold-brew-set-to-compete-with-energy-drinks-marketing-to-the-fourth-wave-coffee-category/ Getting on shelves at over 60+ stores in SF Bay Area and Denver/Boulder markets feels even better. But every order we get, every can we sell, feels so inspiring and encouraging. To know that other people are purchasing and resonating with this creation of yours couldn’t feel more validating. And doing it brick by brick (or can by can I suppose) feels so fulfilling. |
| What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs: |
| One of the best pieces of advice I received was to “make errors of commission, not errors of omission” which is to say, don’t fail because you didn’t try something or because you deem some idea too crazy or too imperfect to work. Put it out there. Do it. If you try something and it fails, you’ll still likely find pockets of success you didn’t expect and learnings aplenty that’ll help in the next endeavor. Other than that, I’d probably say the same thing we put on every can of RIP Cold Brew: Never Rest…Reap Infinite Potential. |
| Please share a memory or thought about your alma mater: |
| Northwestern: Some of my best friends are those I met while at Northwestern. Greek life, Rugby, Big Ten athletics, not to mention one of the world’s best cities in Chicago just a few L stops away. I feel truly lucky to have been able to spend my college years in such a special place. UC Berkeley: I completed my MBA while still working full time as part of the Evening/Weekend program. Definitely not for the faint of heart, although in a lot of ways, it was a great training ground for being an entrepreneur. When I look back at Haas though, I’m always so impressed with the faculty and fellow students. Probably the best professors I ever had along with some of the brightest, most engaged students, all in the same classroom made for such a rich academic experience. |
Alumni Emporium 