The Spark Behind Cold Cycle Coffee
(From left to right) Monika Rao, Samuel Stein and Bruce Boville with the first sellable prototype, 2025.
The Dream Team
Sam met his co-founders, Bruce Boville and Monika Rao, during their MBA at the University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business.
Bruce Boville met Sam on day one of their MBA. He was immediately captivated by Sam's "mad scientist energy" and the fact that his coffee was simply the best he had ever tasted. Bruce, who has a PhD and ran operations for a seed-stage biomanufacturing startup, was continually finding new ways to use the machine as a business case study. In January 2025, he joined Cold Cycle Coffee and began using his background in operations and business development to tackle sales and fundraising.
Monika Rao, saw the potential of Cold Cycle from her very first taste. Back when the project was called Brrrista, she chugged a sample of Sam's concentrate in class and was up all night, but it was the moment she knew the coffee was something different. With a background in paid media and e-commerce, and experience in the food and beverage space from her time at DoorDash and OpenTable, Monika saw the immense market opportunity. She joined the team to lead the rebrand to Cold Cycle Coffee, build its brand identity, and develop its go-to-market strategy, leveraging her expertise to tell its unique story.
Together, Samuel, Bruce, and Monika form a team that bridges deep technical invention with business strategy and brand — everything Cold Cycle needs to bring the future of cold brew to cafés everywhere.
