Cafe brews up recipe for startup success

Beijing boasts affordable and cozy workplace fo rassroots starters

3W Coffee does not serve any better-flavored beverages than most other coffee shops in China. But every day, a few hundred young people gather in groups at this three-story shop in northwestern Beijing for hours - sometimes the entire day - to discuss ideas that they believe will make them the next Steve Jobs.

At noon on an early spring day, the temperature in Beijing was still less than 10 C and gusty winds swept the doorway of 3W Coffee. The cold spell and the Beijing smog were keeping people off the streets, but the rustle in the air was unable to overwhelm the bustle inside the shop. Most of the tables will be taken by lunchtime, and no one seemed in a hurry to leave after finishing their drink.