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Michael Horn
Founder
CraftCoffee.com and WhatIsFresh.com
December 13, 2010
What do you call a Wall Street lawyer turned internet food entrepreneur?  Mike Horn.  It's an unlikely story, but that's the way we like them.  After spending 3 years up in Ithaca, NY at Cornell Law School, he wound up on Wall Street for another 3 years.  Unfulfilled by his day job, he spent his nights learning code to create his first website WhatIsFresh.com, and his most recent: CraftCoffee.com.  (Now we know what fueled him through grueling nights of coding.)  His sites are innovative internet-based solutions to common food queries, and his story is one we can all learn from.

What attracted you to a good food job?

I build websites for foodies.  So I'm always thinking about how to combine the online and offline worlds of food to create value for people.  When I set out to build my first website, I wanted to create something that would keep me interested and would solve a real problem.  After searching online for where I could buy some local mushrooms in New York City without much luck, I knew I had found a problem I could solve.  A few months later, WhatIsFresh.com was born.

My newest site is called CraftCoffee.com.  It's an online marketplace where you can buy coffees from artisan roasters around the country.  Ever since getting educated about amazing coffee by the folks at Gimme Coffee in Ithaca, New York, I've been passionate about great coffee.  As a lawyer on Wall Street, I literally brought an espresso machine into my office for late night lattes!  But with so many great artisan roasters popping up all over the country and so many coffees to choose from, it's really hard for most people to know where to start.  I built CraftCoffee to solve this problem.

How did you get your current good food job?

I'm probably a bit of an exception because I'm self-employed.  About a year ago, I taught myself how to code websites.  So technology has allowed me to springboard into the food industry by empowering me to build whatever websites I could dream up.  For anybody interested in launching a website, I strongly recommend trying to learn at least a little bit of the technical side of things.  If you can build even the most basic site, you'll have a big advantage.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

My corporate background prepared me to work really hard and to understand how to persevere in the face of difficult tasks.  Building your own business (in food or in any area) can be tough, but it's really rewarding too.  Sometimes you read about the awesome success stories online or in magazines and it's easy to think that some businesses magically become big successes.  That almost never happens.  There's always hard work and late nights before the big success.

What advice do you have for others in search of a good food job?

Pursue things that you really want to be doing. And network, network, network.  Don't be shy.  Lots of people won't respond, but email them anyway.  Build relationships by going to events and by talking to as many people as you can, and build experience by interning and/or volunteering.  If you remember to think about how you can help other people succeed by making introductions or offering feedback or support, you'll end up building a great network of people who will support you too.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

I could see myself working for Laduree macarons in an alternate universe.  Or anything with fleur de sel caramel.  Or maybe ice cream?

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