Cason Crane

AN ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT. Cason Crane’s journey is a remarkable blend of adventure, resilience, and a thirst for knowledge. Growing up in a health-conscious family, Cason was encouraged to push his limits both mentally and physically. Born in New Jersey but raised in Hong Kong before later moving back to Central Jersey, his childhood was filled with physical activities and opportunities to travel extensively. These experiences, spearheaded by his supportive parents, laid the foundation for his adventurous spirit.

At the age of 14, Cason came out as gay. Supported by his family and driven by a desire to achieve, he became the first openly gay person at his high school to captain a sports team. After high school, he took a gap year, living in the Middle East to further his Arabic skills and gain real-world experience. This year included stints in Lebanon and Israel, where he immersed himself in local cultures and worked with nonprofits.

Cason’s thirst for new experiences didn’t stop there. Before attending Princeton University, he embarked on the extraordinary challenge of climbing the Seven Summits to raise money for the Trevor Project. After successfully completing this challenge, he went on to study Middle Eastern history and later worked at Bain & Company in management consulting.

A DECAF REVOLUTION. The idea for Explorer Cold Brew came during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cason, like many others, found himself locked down and looking for a new hobby. “I was fueled by cold brew, but I wasn’t sleeping well because I was having cold brew too late in the day,” he explains. Discovering a lack of decaf cold brew options, Cason saw a market opportunity. “Cold brew is incredibly popular, and 10% of coffee consumed is decaf. Yet, there was no decaf cold brew available.”

This realization led him to leave Bain and commit to developing Explorer Cold Brew full-time. By the end of 2020, the company was selling its product, and it officially launched in early 2021 with four caffeine levels: decaf, half-caf, full-caf, and extra-caf. The decaf option quickly became the most popular, tapping into a growing market of health-conscious consumers.

Cason’s founder journey has been filled with valuable lessons. One key insight was the potential of turning dissatisfied customers into advocates. “If you stay cool, calm, and compassionate, you can turn detractors into passionate supporters,” he says. He also learned the importance of balancing external advice with his own confidence in his product. “You have to take advice with a grain of salt and trust that you know your business best.”

On a practical level, mentorship has played a crucial role in Cason’s journey, with support coming from close friends, old colleagues, and even his mom. “My tech founder friends were invaluable. We had 30-minute calls every Monday night where they supported and held me accountable.” His mom’s advice also proved beneficial, leading to a significant increase in their average order size by suggesting the addition of flavor syrups to their product line.

As an openly gay founder, Cason has found that embracing his identity and the support networks out there has helped him immeasurably in launching Explorer. “Authenticity shines through. Whether it’s a queer business, a black-owned business, or a woman-owned business, it’s about supporting genuine enterprises.”

Cason’s advice to aspiring queer founders is to lean into their communities for support and to develop one-on-one relationships within those networks. “Group events are valuable, but individual relationships are crucial,” he advises. “I think any founder has to be resilient, regardless of who they are or their background. I recognize I wouldn’t be where I am today without the advantages that I’ve had, and I hope to continue to build something great upon that foundation.”