Blending up fun freshly frozen beverages from shakes and smoothies to bowls and cocktails has never been easier than the Forreal by Rich's back of house blender.

Simply grab a For Real by Rich's frozen-based cup, place it in a blender, and press start for hands-free, mess-free blending in under a minute.

Customize or serve it as is? It's that easy. Learn more about Forreel by Riches at RichesUSA.com slash

for real dash food service. Hey there, welcome to take away with Sam Okas, a podcast from Nation's

Restaurant News. I am Sam Okas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you

an all-access pass to the restaurant industry's most influential

decision-makers. This week, I'm talking with Andrew Smith, the managing partner of Savory Fund,

a Utah-based private equity firm that counts 10 emerging restaurant brands in its portfolio.

I've talked with several of Andrew's brand leaders here on the podcast. There's a good chance that

you've heard me talk with Andrew either on stage at Create or during one of our Emerging

Restaurant Tour live learning series webinars. But this is the first time he has joined an episode

of Takeaway. As such, we could have talked for hours and hours on a range of topics,

but I specifically wanted for Andrew to join the podcast so we could discuss the state of

restaurant investing and our upcoming investment summit in Nashville, for which Savory Fund

is a valued partner. Andrew is a phenomenal resource for emerging restaurant leaders,

and we discussed whether now is a good time to raise money and what founders must do as they

prep their brands for a raise. In this interview, you will learn more about why it's better to be

a speedboat in tumultuous waters than a cruise ship, while you have to date

around when you're raising money, and why your foundation must be strong before a raise.

Of course, if you like what you hear in this interview, you can access much, much more at

the Investment Summit this October 8th through 9th in Nashville.

This event helps us kick off, create the event for emerging restaurateurs, which is October

...