DXP-022: Aaron Shinn

Design Exchange with Thomas Grové

Designing and Marketing Delicious Tea

Aaron Shinn is a former #IDEO design lead and the cofounder of August Uncommon Tea who has been a dear friend for many years. We caught up on the streets of Osaka to discuss #futurism, Japan, and the nuts and bolts of designing and selling #tea.

Links:

https://www.aaronshinn.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ashinn/
https://august.la/
https://www.instagram.com/augustuncommon/
https://www.facebook.com/AugustUncommon/

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Start
00:50 - Intro to Aaron Shinn
01:40 - Dontonbori is the Fisherman's Wharf of Osaka
01:52 - Japan Neon, the 80's Future, and a Newer Future in Other Places
03:47 - Aaron Shinn is one of Thomas Grové's Design Mentors
04:40 - KPT Bryce and 90's Art Tools
06:21 - Realtime Rendering, VJing, Cloaking, Crazy Monkey
08:21 - August Uncommon Tea
09:15 - Availability in Japan
10:16 - The Economics of Running and Scaling A Tea Business
16:01 - Acquiring Customers through Advertising: Retargeting vs Prospecting
19:46 - Why Did Aaron and Gina Get into the Tea Business? And Where August Fits Amongst the Different Types of Tea Markets.
28:36 - The Process of Developing a Tea Flavor and the Link between Taste and Smell
34:06 - How Are People Preparing and Drinking August Tea?
39:35 - Random People Join the Fun pt 1
41:38 - Aaron Shinn's Role at August
46:27 - This is a Record of This Conversation
47:20 - Neil Stephenson - Cryptonomicon - Tea and Why Oversteaping Tea Makes It Bitter
53:20 - Can You Cold Brew Flavored Teas?
55:27 - The Development Process - What Percentage of New Blends are Failures?
1:00:26 - Customer Service and Dealing with Negative Feedback
1:10:05 - Random People Interaction Pt 3
1:10:54 - Tools for Ecommerce Pt 2
1:12:05 - Aaron Shinn Says Japan is a Different World. And Hiking the Kumonokodo Pilgrimage Trail.
1:14:03 - Outro

This episode is also available to watch as a video: https://youtu.be/6XuDLZQvO9Y