Ron Shaich

Food was about so much more than what you put in your stomach and how cheap it was.

Food industry is the second oldest profession.

And it's about hospitality at its core.

You know, the idea that we could create environments that people actually wanted to sit in and invite them to come in and enjoy it and to find it as a place where you really did want to

have an interview, gather the soccer moms, have a Bible study group, write the great American novel.

I mean, all of these were experiences that played out in environments that we created.

And to me, that was a beautiful contribution to people's lives.

I think that the most powerful skill that I have as a business person and what I would challenge entrepreneurs to acquire is

is the skill of empathy.

Empathy is about the ability to climb into somebody else's brain, to feel what they're feeling, and to see what they're feeling, and not sell them, but understand and appreciate them.

And I think that

And historically, we've had those kinds of skills.

I mean, you know, when you talk about my career, you talk about often the financial results.

You have Kava, which has been the most successful food service IPO of the last five years, arguably.

Now, a company worth $7 billion was worth as much as $15 billion, but it's up three, fourfold from its IPO a year and a half ago.

You talk about Panera.

Panera was the best performing restaurant stock over two decades.

Its last two decades produced 25% IRR.

In fact, somebody told me we actually beat Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.

You know, people talk about the financial performance, but that's not the part that gets me excited.