Coffee Entrepreneur: We Turned $74k Into A $25m Business... And We're Still Growing!

Send us Fan MailLEVEL FOUR: SCALE BUILDERWhat does it actually take to build a business when capital is tight, competition is high, and every mistake gets amplified as you grow?In today's episode of The Business Game, we're chatting with Justin Giuffrida, co-founder and CEO of Citizens, a rapidly growing Australian café brand redefining coffee culture in the United States.In this conversation, we’re talking with Justin about what happens when you push past the early wins and start dealing with real complexity. From opening a café in New York with just $74,000, to scaling across multiple cities, to now preparing for major expansion, Justin tells us all about the shift from scrappy startup to structured growth.From learning how to hire properly, to building systems that remove the founder as the bottleneck, to managing culture and consistency across locations, Justin breaks down what it actually takes to scale without breaking the business.If you’re building a business, managing a growing team, or navigating the challenges of scaling operations, this episode is for you.Let’s dive in with Justin Giuffrida:• why most founders get hiring wrong• why Citizens runs 123 interviews (!) to find the right hire• how to build systems that scale beyond the founder• why founders become the bottleneck and how to fix it• how to maintain culture while scaling across locations• what it really takes to raise capital and expand• the leadership shift from operator to CEO• how to use mentors to shortcut years of mistakes• the biggest risks when scaling too quickly• what changes when complexity starts to compoundChapters00:00 – Building a Café with $74K 03:30 – Spotting the Opportunity in the US 06:10 – Opening with No Money 12:50 – From Launch to Line Out the Door 17:30 – Knowing the Model Would Scale 22:30 – Systems Behind Multi-Location Growth 29:20 – Why Hiring is So Hard 36:30 – Raising Capital and Scaling Fast 49:00 – The Founder to CEO Shift 01:02:00 – Mentors, Growth, and Long-Term VisionSupport the showThank you for listening to The Business Game, where real founders break down the real levels of business.Whether you're building at Level 1 ($0–$1M) or scaling through Level 6 and beyond, this show is designed to help you understand exactly where you are, and what it takes to level up.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, follow and leave a review. It helps more founders find the roadmap.For full episodes, level breakdowns and behind-the-scenes content, follow us on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.Want to identify your level or learn more about The Business Game framework?Visit www.thebusinessgamegroup.comIt's time to Level Up!We’ll see you at the next level.