When IT thinking meets coffee culture, what kind of sparks will fly? In 2009, Bai Ya and a group of internet people founded Beta Coffee in Hangzhou, positioning it as a public living room for IT people. In just over two months, it was named "Best E-commerce Gathering Place." In 2011, this trend swept through Beijing's Zhongguancun, and Beta Coffee's Beijing branch officially opened. Subsequently, Garage Coffee, 3W Coffee, and others emerged one after another, thus opening the "Internet Coffee Era." This is not just a place to drink coffee, but a physical platform for IT people to communicate, share, and seek opportunities. This article takes you into the jianghu story of Beta Coffee, to experience the unique atmosphere created by the collision of the internet and coffee.

Beta Cafe: Why Should We Have to Know Each Other Even We Already Met?

When IT thinking meets coffee, what kind of sparks of inspiration can really burst forth? It makes one imagine endlessly.

What kind of spark will come out when the culture of coffee meet IT world?

Text / Photography by Zhang Yue, Staff Reporter

Welcome to the "Internet Coffee Era"!

It is indeed fashionable for IT people to open cafés. Everyone knows perfectly well that this trade is hard to profit from, yet they still charge in one after another.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in 2009, Bai Ya and his "colleagues," after repeated planning, did something practical for the IT circle—they crossed industries to open a café, as a public living room and kitchen for IT people. At first, everyone wanted to name it "Obama Cow Coffee Bar," but due to some well-known reasons it was not approved, so it was finally named Beta Cafe (贝塔咖啡).

Beta Coffee began trial operation in Hangzhou in April 2009 and officially opened its doors in June, becoming the first IT-themed café in China. After only two months of operation, it won the title of "Best E-commerce Gathering Place" at the China C2C Summit Forum. As a senior IT designer and pioneer of UED (User Experience Design) in China, Bai Ya never expected that a flash of inspiration from a few buddies would create the hottest gathering place in Hangzhou's IT circle.

In August 2010, at a drinking gathering in Beijing, "a bunch of guys said they envied the folks in Hangzhou because they had Beta as their nest. So we started plotting to set up another Beta in Beijing." No sooner said than done, by the end of 2010, these "restless elements" found a suitable venue in the original Sanjidi Building in Zhongguancun, which was being rebuilt, and paid the rent. On February 26, 2011, Beta Coffee Beijing officially opened!

The appearance of Beta Coffee in the heart of Zhongguancun made more IT people eager to try. Garage Coffee, 3W Coffee, and other "internet cafés" emerged one after another. The "Internet Coffee Era" officially began.

The Public Living Room for Internet People

In November 2008, Bai Ya left Baidu and headed straight for Alibaba in Hangzhou. At that time, Bai Ya was already quite famous in the circle. Although he held the title of Chief User Experience Planner at Alipay, he only printed "Designer" simply on his business card; at the same time, Bai Ya was also a super connector, because he had an incredible "link conversion rate." "90% of my good friends in real life now are people I met online." This sounds hard to believe. The internet and gatherings intertwined to accumulate Bai Ya's resources. Gradually, companies sought his help, and friends in the circle always asked him to introduce companies. Over time, Bai Ya became a resource platform linking upstream and downstream.

After coming to Hangzhou, Bai Ya met even more friends. Every week, everyone would gather in Bai Ya's living room. As time went on, Bai Ya's living room became the "meeting point" of the IT jianghu.

In 2009, Bai Ya, who had been a "cleaner" for everyone for a year, finally "couldn't hold back." On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, "a bunch of guys plotted to open a café in Hangzhou as everyone's public living room."

When IT thinking meets coffee, what kind of sparks of inspiration can really burst forth? It makes one imagine endlessly.

Perhaps it was the decisiveness and efficiency inherent in IT people that allowed this café, later named "Beta," to go from planning, fundraising, site selection, and renovation to opening to the public in less than 3 months.

Hangzhou Beta Coffee had a total investment of 1 million yuan, 10,000 yuan per share, divided into 100 shares. After Bai Ya and other founders posted the share solicitation notice, responses came quickly from all sides. In the end, there were as many as 20 shareholders, and several shareholders had never met before. "The most valuable thing about IT people is openness and trust," Bai Ya said. "Although we have no idea how to run a café and know we'll definitely lose money, we still did it. Because we really need a public living room that belongs to the internet. All our shareholders are heroes of the internet circle, who knew they'd lose money but still insisted on investing."

After the funds were raised, Bai Ya began soliciting café decorations on his blog. Unexpectedly, many people sent things for free. Someone brought wine, someone sent a sofa, someone sent a coffee machine and coffee cups, someone sent a SONY LCD TV, and someone else sent laptops, game consoles—even power strips and napkins were prepared by someone, all of which could have logos printed and websites attached. There are also chargers for all phones, and Apple computers with VPN already set up for free use, claiming to have the fastest internet speed in China. In addition, websites like Sina and Sohu sent dolls, and even limited-edition World of Warcraft toys could be seen at Beta Coffee. Even the naming rights of the two meeting rooms upstairs were sold.

This "public living room for IT people" in Hangzhou truly made IT people elsewhere envious! So, on February 26, 2011, Bai Ya and others successfully replicated Hangzhou Beta Coffee in Beijing, and by then the number of shareholders had increased to over thirty. Bai Ya said: "Beijing Beta has a professional team operating it. The taste and service are by no means amateur. We will build this place into the warmest nest for Beijing's internet people, a public living room belonging to internet people."

"IT Jianghu"

All are "IT people" at the ends of the earth—why must we have met before to feel a connection?

On February 26, 2011, at the Beijing Beta Coffee shop, half of Alibaba's empire and representatives from most of the well-known IT companies in the IT jianghu gathered here. The powerful aura almost flipped the entire venue. Besides various "O"-level executives, there were photographers, technical maintenance engineers, and businessmen who came to share their experiences.

Two years of operation made Beta Coffee truly live up to its name as a physical entity for "IT people" to gather information and interact, and it gradually became an excellent place for marketing and brand promotion. Online, Beta Coffee has its own website, Flickr album, and Twitter ID; offline, Beta Coffee has organized countless formal and informal meetings. The recruitment wall has job ads from major companies, and even the restroom has become an ocean of information.

Many people have formed a habit of coming to Beta. On Weibo, Beta Coffee has become one of the places with the most check-ins by netizens. People often post about seeing some business big shot at Beta Coffee, inviting others to come and watch. In the words of Zhao Ke'en, manager of Beta Coffee's Beijing branch, the founders of Beta Coffee are "very jianghu," and Beta Coffee has accordingly become "very jianghu."

Since it claims to be "jianghu," of course it must set "jianghu" rules. With the suggestions of many netizens, Beta Coffee launched three tiers of discount cards: the Iron Card, the Beauty Card, and the VIP Card. Interestingly, the validity period noted on the cards is 103 years.

The Beauty Card and VIP Card both offer a 15% discount, but the Iron Card is special—it is made of pure metal and can only be obtained by true iron buddies. But the Iron Card's discount is variable: when business is good, the coffee shop gives free food and drinks and a discount (30% off), but when business is bad, it charges more—if you're a true iron buddy, you have to take a stab for your friend!

In addition, Beta Coffee stipulates that internet professionals can enjoy a 10% discount just by showing their business card. In Bai Ya's ideal, 80% of the café's customers should be from the internet and related fields. As long as you buy a cup of coffee, you can sit for a whole day. Thus Beta Coffee became a gathering place for IT youth in Zhongguancun, where small teams of two or three often camp out waiting for "angels."

The reporter heard that such a story also happened at Beta Coffee. Not long after the Beijing Beta Coffee branch opened, a young man ran there before the café had even opened, holding a sign that said "Angel" and sitting at the entrance. Although he did not meet an investor, his persistence moved the "Beta people." In the end, the "Beta people" introduced this young man to a senior entrepreneur who often came to the café.

What the final outcome was, the reporter does not know. Trying to get a high-profile answer from such a low-profile Beta Coffee really tests the reporter's ability. "Beta" does not want to be a hero. Even the list of Beta Coffee's more than 30 shareholders has never been published publicly, and it is impossible to know how many entrepreneurs have set sail from here.

Three years have passed, and Beta Coffee has consistently upheld its belief—the wonder of coffee lies not in its rich aroma and delicious taste, but in sharing it with others; the wonder of friends lies not in lively conversation, but in taking a stab for each other; the wonder of the internet lies not in having the fastest speed, but in connecting infinite possibilities. Although Beta Coffee has yet to make any money, it still welcomes new friends and old friends to come here to chat, talk about recent happenings, discuss the internet, and talk about entrepreneurship. Most importantly, to be with friends!

  (Editor in charge: Leo)

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.