Entrepreneurial Journey From Harvard to Cookie Business

The chapter follows the speaker's entrepreneurial journey from leaving a corporate job in Cleveland after proposing urban cookie stores, to their return to Boston to start their own business at a young age. It highlights experiences in law school, successful college business ventures, navigating Harvard Business School, and the challenges faced in leasing a space for the first store in Boston. The chapter also delves into the strategic decisions made in starting and evolving their cookie bakery business, including a partnership with Au Bon Pain and a later merger with a struggling restaurant chain.

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When you think about a "convenience store manager," you probably don't imagine a future billionaire. But that's exactly the path Ron Shaich took from humble beginners selling Tollhouse cookies to a $7.5 billion restaurant empire. In this episode of Big Shot, Harley Finkelstein and David Segal welcome Shaich, the founder of Panera Bread, who shares his incredible journey from a nonprofit convenience store to his pivotal decision to create Panera Bread. Ron is a master at finding the trends others can't see before becoming popular. He shares the challenges and successes that defined his path, highlighting the power of adaptability and innovation. And breaks down the difference between risk-taking and risk-avoidance, and how leaning into one over the other can lead to incredible success.

The episode is filled with incredible takeaways, including:

How Ron has the best-performing restaurant stock of all time (44x return compared to the S&P 500)
Why his first store in college was a spite store
What he learned from his IPO with Au Bon Pain
How he created an entirely new category, “Fast Casual”
And so much more

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In This Episode We Cover:

(02:35) Ron’s early years growing up in New Jersey in a family of left-wing political activists

(07:50) Ron’s gap year working for a congressman

(09:45) How a false accusation of shoplifting prompted Ron to open a convenience store

(14:50) How Ron fell in love with business and his time at Harvard Business School

(19:28) The rewards of entrepreneurship

(20:40) What business has in common with politics

(23:22) How Ron made money selling flea collars in college

(26:00) Why Ron got his inheritance early

(27:35) Ron’s work in DC as President of Targeting Systems

(29:08) How Ron opened The Cookie Jar in Boston