Black Rifle Coffee Company CEO Evan Hafer joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the company going public via a SPAC merger on the New York Stock Exchange, building and expanding the coffee company across the nation, public perception, and the outlook for subscription-based businesses.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Veteran-owned coffee maker Black Rifle Coffee Company is getting a big jolt on its first day of trading. The company going public via a SPAC merger on the New York Stock Exchange and ringing the opening bell. And you see the stock there up more than 20%. Black Rifle Coffee is an all-American brand devoted to causes helping veterans and first responders around the country. The company is also pledging to hire 10,000 veterans throughout its business.

Let's bring in the CEO and founder of Black Rifle, Evan Hafer. Evan, great to have you on today. Congratulations on the listing. I'm curious, first, to get the timing of all of this. I realized you're dSPAC-ing today. You've come to market through a SPAC merger, but this is kind of a choppy time for a lot of companies to consider coming to the public markets. What drove this decision and why now?

EVAN HAFER: Well, you know, I've been at this for about eight years. I started this company in my garage eight years ago, been able to build this as a mission and purpose-first business for the last eight years. This is a promise that I owe to the customers, which is continue to evolve the company and continue to push forward to hire 10,000 veterans and serve, I think, the finest cup of coffee in America for the people that continue to serve and love this country every day. So, you know, this is a promise that I made several years ago. This just is a commitment to fulfill that promise.

You know, we know the market's choppy. We don't pay attention to the conditions right now because we're looking at this company 10 years, 15, 20 years down the road. It's never going to be a great time. There's never going to be the perfect time. Today's the perfect day for this. I'm super excited. I couldn't be happier with the New York Stock Exchange.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, tapping the public-- it's Brian here, by the way. Tapping the public markets is a good way to do some fundraising. You have your partner, Silver Box, Engage Merger Group, and I think Engage Capital LLC as well. What do you hope to use the proceeds for? Is the idea to kind of increase your brick and mortar? I know you want to take on Starbucks. What are you planning on deploying the capital for?

EVAN HAFER: Well, you know, I don't really look at the competition out there. We're not going head to head necessarily with anyone. What we're doing is we're going out, trying to really service our customers in unique areas of the United States. We look at building and expanding our outposts, which is our coffee shops across the United States. We're really trying to find those communities that are actively connected with the veteran, military, and first responder communities in America. I think we're building a unique experience for all of our customers.

So as you know, we've built this on a subscription-based business. But now it's about bringing the brand to life in all of the communities across the United States. So that's where we've earmarked the funds. That's really what it's about, is getting closer to our customer, getting more connected, and continue to serve them, I think, the finest cup of coffee in America.

AKIKO FUJITA: There's obviously the coffee side of the business, which is your core, but like it or not, you've kind of been placed in these culture war discussions if you wanted to call it that. "Starbucks of the right," that's kind of what your company has been dubbed as. Do you embrace that? Is that what you want people to think of when they see Black Rifle? Or are you looking to kind of expand this beyond a specific segment now that you're a public company?

EVAN HAFER: I don't really pay attention to how others define my company. The company defines itself. You know, if a section of the society defines us as left or right-based on the fact that we openly love our country and we celebrate America every day-- we celebrate service members. And those people love their communities around the United States.

I hoist flags in front of my coffee shops every day. I've never turned away or been shy about my passion and commitment to this country. It took an oath to the Constitution when I joined the Army to become a Green Beret over 20 years ago. I'll never stop loving my country. I'll never stop loving my communities. And if people want to put me to the left or the right because of that, that's up to them. It's not me.

BRIAN CHEUNG: And I think as a public company, I mean, you know, you might be getting a little bit of scrutiny either way for some of these news headlines. But when you think about your business as an underlying coffee business, I mean, what is the importance of a cultural factor there? Because I think even all coffee shops would agree, it's a gathering place. It's a community. I mean, so how important is that? Because people might just be looking at your business model and saying, well, it just has to do with the margins on your coffee, but it's got to be more than that, right?

EVAN HAFER: It's all about the customer. It's all about culture. You know, I've built something where people can celebrate service and gratitude to the country and to their communities. So when you walk into a Black Rifle Coffee, you know, you're going to see police, fire, military, people that go to work, get up, and, you know, hardworking blue collar folks around the United States, feel really comfortable, because that's where I come from. And, you know, we've really built that atmosphere of the culture around being able to celebrate and love our country and share those things together.

You know, it's a very special place. It galvanizes our customers across the United States not only through our subscription through our ready-to-drink products, and then now through coffee shops, you know, we've really created a special and unique environment. And that's always been my dream from the beginning from roasting coffee in my garage until now. I still love pouring shots for my customers in the coffee shops across Texas.

So I was just in Temple, Texas last week, pulling shots for customers and talking to people at work, the baristas, the people that are working in the coffee shops. Like, I love it. I love getting in there, rolling up my sleeves, and connecting with customers across the United States. So this is just a continuation of my passion for my customer.

BRIAN CHEUNG: And then lastly here, you have made an announcement. Your company has made an announcement that you're going to double down on Joe Rogan with a kind of partnership and putting some of your ad bucks over there. You know, a lot of companies might say, you know, I don't really want to touch that issue right now, given some of the news headlines around how they're dealing-- how Spotify is dealing with his podcast. Why did you decide to make that move here? And again, especially as being a publicly traded company, that's going to get a lot of attention.

EVAN HAFER: Sure, Joe's a friend of mine. You know, he and I have been friends for several years, even before we developed an ad partnership. He's not just an ad partner. He's a really close and personal friend of mine. You know, the controversy around his podcast, we don't necessarily pay attention to it because a lot of it is white noise. I understand, you know, there's different aspects from the conversation.

But, you know, as a fan of his show and as a guy that's been listening to Joe, he's created exponential value throughout my community for veterans because he's been able to explain very complex topics and give people a platform to discuss very complex issues. So I don't shy away from that. You know, I don't leave my friends over what I think are ultimately speed bumps in a very long road. So there's really no deterrent for me from that.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Evan Hafer, Black Rifle Coffee Company CEO, thanks again, and congratulations on the offering.

EVAN HAFER: Thank you very much.