Episode #17 of Yesterday:Jonathan Neman is the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE: SG), the mission-driven restaurant brand redefining fast food through fresh, seasonal, and sustainable meals.
Born in Los Angeles and a graduate of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (’07), Neman co-founded Sweetgreen with classmates Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru shortly after graduation, opening the first location in Georgetown, D.C. in 2007. Under his leadership, Sweetgreen has grown from a single salad shop into a nationwide company with hundreds of locations, a leading digital platform, and a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:41 Parents Fled a Revolution for the American Dream
04:00 The One Rule Dad Had
08:33 Selling Ads in High School
14:49 The 25,000-Person Music Festival
17:03 Escaping the “LA Bubble”
21:41 The Australian Cafe That Inspired Sweetgreen
24:23 The Hated Consulting Job
26:45 The Partner Who Told Me to Quit
29:23 The Complaint That Sparked Sweetgreen
36:24 Raising $300k from $5,000 Checks
37:23 The Co-Founder Who Quit
45:15 The Power of Doing One Thing Perfectly
47:50 The #1 Rule for Running a Business
50:52 From Dishwasher to Head Coach
55:25 Building a Restaurant App
58:32 Revolutionizing Takeout
1:11:18 The Reality of a Founder’s Life
1:13:42 Happiest vs. Unhappiest Moments
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