Rapid Response: Ten months of pain and hope, w/restaurateur Danny Meyer
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2021
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
It's been an epic journey for iconic New York City restaurateur and Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer. Forced by the pandemic into closures and layoffs last spring, as he poignantly shared in two previous episodes, Danny stayed optimistic and was rewarded through the summer and fall, as new menu innovations and new dining protocols brought back customers.
But then a fresh wave of infections inflicted fresh pain, with harder choices than ever and renewed layoffs and closings – one of them permanent. The restaurant industry overall is teetering on the edge, he says, desperate for federal help and active intervention to be able to return to the communities they once served. Danny still believes that restaurants will come back; that, in fact, the coming months will provide a unique opportunity for new restaurant launches. Yet his own spirit is being tested, as unrelenting challenges face off against defiant hope.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey listeners, this is Jordan McLeod, executive producer of Masters of Scale. |
| 0:04.6 | If you've ever wished you could hear insights from Reed in real time, well then listen up. |
| 0:09.2 | We're hosting a live virtual strategy session in alliance with Capital One Business on January 26th, |
| 0:15.2 | and you're invited. During this event, you'll hear Reed and other business leaders explore |
| 0:19.4 | some of the most timely questions entrepreneurs are facing right now. |
| 0:23.7 | When you register, you'll also have a chance to submit your own question to Reed, |
| 0:27.4 | and he just might answer it live. So go to MastersofScale.com slash strategy session to register for free. |
| 0:35.5 | Again, that's MastersofScale.com slash strategy session. Now onto the show. |
| 0:44.7 | I saw what was happening across the country. I saw what was happening around the world. |
| 0:48.8 | I saw what was happening in our own company, and it was deja vu. |
| 0:52.2 | People in our company were getting sick, and it didn't feel safe coming to work. |
| 0:58.8 | We're losing money while we're being unsafe while we're not making people happy. |
| 1:04.8 | That's kind of a triple loss. This industry employs more people in the aggregate than both the auto |
| 1:12.8 | industry and the airline industry combined. The problem is that because there are 670,000 |
| 1:20.8 | independent restaurants in cities and towns all across America, it's a much harder thing for |
| 1:27.1 | the public and for lawmakers to get their arms around. If we want to see our economy back, |
| 1:33.6 | I promise you the restaurants are going to have to be a leading edge of that. |
| 1:37.8 | This is going to be a really good time for first time rest rotors, but it's going to be a really |
| 1:42.7 | painful time for the restaurants that built out these very expensive stage sets to have to walk |
| 1:49.2 | away from all that investment and to walk away from the restaurant communities that they've created. |
| 1:55.2 | I'm confident that when we do come back we're going to be a different company, we're going to be a |
| 1:59.3 | better company, we're going to be a far more diverse company, a far more inclusive company, |
... |
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