Blank Street is venture capital's bet on coffee: $127M from Tiger Global and General Catalyst, ~90 locations in five years, and talks to raise more at a $1B-plus valuation. Its baristas wrote the other half of the story — NYC workers unionized and ratified a first contract covering 100-plus employees at about 20 locations, and seven Boston shops followed, citing understaffing, cut hours, and safety complaints. The founders still run it, but the company answers to the growth its investors priced in — and now, at the counter, to a union.