How Data Reveals the Real Problem in Your Coffee Business (Oscar Montoya) | EP1698 Part 3 of 5 | Map It Forward
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Episode Description
This is part 3 of a new 5-part series on The Daily Coffee Pro Podcast by Map It Forward, hosted by Lee Safar.
Our guest on the podcast for this series is Oscar Montoya, a data scientist, software developer, coffee producer in Colombia, founder of Cafe Chicao in Canada, and the developer (from Dark Mode) who helped Map It Forward build CoffeeListings.com.
In this episode, Lee and Oscar explore how data can help coffee businesses understand the true depth of a problem rather than simply reacting to what appears on the surface.
The conversation begins with a debate around robusta and climate resilience, using conflicting scientific claims to explore how the same subject can produce different conclusions depending on who funded the research, how the data was gathered, what conditions were controlled, and what assumptions were made.
Oscar explains why context matters, why correlation does not equal causation, and why people often unconsciously look for evidence that supports what they already believe.
Lee and Oscar also discuss the limitations of relying too heavily on simple metrics. A single number such as an average can hide important information about what is actually happening underneath the surface, which is why businesses need a broader measurement framework rather than reducing complex problems to one metric.
The conversation then turns to one of the most important realities of problem solving: the problem you begin investigating is often not the real problem.
Oscar explains why complex problems need to be broken into smaller pieces, why some parts may be solvable while others may not be, and how tackling those pieces systematically helps businesses build understanding, confidence, and momentum.
Using coffee pricing and the C Market as an example, Lee and Oscar explore how deeper analysis can reveal that the structure of a problem is very different from what people initially assumed.
Connect with Oscar Montoya here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscar-montoyah/