BONUS #4 🥗 The Storyteller of Salad: Nathaniel Ru, Sweetgreen Co-founder

The Best One Yet

Nick & Jack Studios

Business News, Tech, News, Finance, Business, Pop Culture

4.6 • 9.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We recorded an interview in a restaurant, none other than Sweetgreen. We interviewed Nathaniel Ru, Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of the billion dollar salad chain. Nathaniel tells us about: Launching a $10/bowl restaurant during a recession How he used a boombox to drive business Long-term relationships with local farmers like Firefly Farms (~15 yrs strong) The new robotic restaurant in a suburb of Chicago Best of all— his must-try salad “remix” order‌On a personal note, these salads were a staple of ours when we worked on Wall Street. We’d chow down on spicy broccoli and arugula, while whipping up takeaways in our early newsletter days. So it was pretty cool when we got to toss our pesto chicken parm bowls mid-interview.Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The year is 2009. This is April. Yeah. Oh, that is one month after the S&P 500 hit its trial
0:06.0	And this is when you're starting your business. Yes, so second location. I think unemployment was 10%
0:11.5	S&P 500 I'd fallen 40% it was not a good time for the American economy and you want to launch a
0:17.4	$15 a meal salaching it was closer to 10 back then, but yes, we spent a lot of time we spent a lot more money on it and
0:24.5	We opened our doors April 2009 and we had zero customers zero. Wow, nobody scary
0:33.4	So anti-climactic. Yeah, and I remember looking at John and Nick saying this isn't gonna work
0:39.2	Like this is it. We've had a lot of moments like that by the way, but this is a very important one
0:44.5	Yetis our guest today didn't just build a unicorn
0:47.9	He fed a unicorn our guest today is the co-founder of sweet green the billion dollar salad chain
0:54.1	He cracked the code on scaling a salad and he made bowls more important than playing
0:58.9	He started this business from a college dorm, but then saved the business by DJing a block party on Monday
1:05.3	He meets a farmer to buy a million organic tomatoes and on Friday
1:08.8	He meets a robot to toss his robo restaurant
1:11.5	He can curry a cauliflower with one hand and IPO a salad company with the others
1:16.7	These are guests today is Nathaniel root the co-founder and chief brand officer of sweet green the only thing he hasn't disrupted
1:24.9	Yeah, he's dessert. Oh wait
1:27.7	He did that too yet. He's this is Nick. This is Jack and today's interview pod is the best one yet. That's it that jingle
1:47.2	Even
1:49.2	50% that's a fat tip
1:51.4	Teen boys city on your at list if you know you know cuz we've read to go we can't wait no more so just start to show
2:01.6	Start to show yet he's Jack and I just got out of LAX or in Los Angeles
2:07.1	We headed over to LeBrea the neighborhood in Los Angeles. We are at a wonderful sweet green restaurant president
	...

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