#106 Co-founder & CEO Sweetgreen, Jonathan Neman: The Restaurant Company of the Future

When Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman and his co-founders opened their second-ever store, it was a “complete mess.” Located in Washington D.C.’s Dupont Circle and opening in the middle of the Great Recession, it was clearing less than $1000 per day at first. But Neman & co turned that crisis into opportunity the only way three 23-year-olds knew how: They bought a big speaker, started blasting music in the park, and turned their sleepy storefront into a party. That desperate play underscored one of Sweetgreen’s core values that they still work towards today: Healthy living can be fun.

In this episode, Jonathan and Joubin discuss Sweetgreen’s new office, its new tofu, avocado volatility, frozen yogurt, Persian families, the power of capitalism, the “House of Equilibrium,” the problem with franchising, healthy music festivals, scalable brands, people-driven companies, giving workers equity, “Behind the Greens,” overachievers, building a better McDonalds, and “conscious achievers.”

In this episode, we cover:

• Where the name Sweetgreen came from (05:42)
• Online ordering and the “second line” (08:34)
• Jonathan’s family and post-COVID attitudes about work (11:30)
• Returning to the office (17:20)
• Jonathan’s brief detour to Bain & Company, and the difference between entrepreneurs and consultants (20:58)
• The unusual way Sweetgreen raised its first several rounds, and scaling sustainably (27:00)
• Turning crisis into opportunity, and the Sweetlife Festival (33:10)
• Winning your category vs. becoming a lifestyle brand (37:40)
• Why Sweetgreen calls the general managers of its stores “head coaches,” and gives them equity (44:20)
• The health journeys of Sweetgreen’s staff, and the importance of the fundamentals (47:24)
• Shifting Sweetgreen’s strategic focus to build the restaurant company of the future (53:09)
• COVID-19 and “getting your ass kicked” (55:05)
• Letting go as a founder (59:51)

Links:

• Connect with Jonathan
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: [email protected] 
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm