Restauranteur Ron Shaich reveals how he built the fast casual industry, scale a business, and spot the trends before they happen.

Ron Shaich is an entrepreneur and investor. He was the founder and former CEO of Panera Bread and Au Bon Pain, generating 25% annualized returns and helping define the fast casual restaurant segment. Now he's the chairman of CAVA (NYSE: CAVA). He is the author of Know What Matters.

He explains

- The origins of Au Bon Pain and Panera

- What you should focus on and what you should avoid

- What most people get wrong about growing a business

- Why the best always seek out the details

- How to use your obsession to your advantage

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Steve Wozniak is the engineer who built Apple.

Then he did something Silicon Valley still doesn't understand: he gave millions of his own money away to early employees, walked away from power, and refused to play the game everyone else was playing.

While HP rejected his design and competitors built walled gardens, Wozniak's philosophy of open architecture, the very one a young Steve Jobs fought against, is what saved Apple long enough for it to become Apple.

This is the story of the reluctant founder who won by refusing to compromise, and a blueprint for success without selling your soul.

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:31) Part 1: Pranks and Paper Computers

(18:11) Part 2: The First Personal Computer

(30:46) Part 3: Apple Computer Corporation

(41:02) Part 4: Apple's Decline

(46:02) Epilogue

(48:02) Rules To Live By

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Anthony Scilipoti is one of the sharpest minds in investing. He's the President and CEO of Veritas Group of Companies.

He called the collapses of both Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Nortel before they happened, and now he has some thoughts on AI.

We talk about asking better questions, reading the fine print, the role of short selling, and what it means to be wrong. We explore why AI gives you information but not insight, why cheap risk is often the most expensive, and why nothing matters until it does.

It's a conversation about the difference between seeing and understanding and the discipline to notice what everyone else ignores.

This episode is not investment advice.

It’s time to listen and learn.

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About Anthony

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Approximate Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:26) Early Career

(02:53) The Enron Scandal

(05:48) Lessons on Auditing

(16:12) The AI 'Bubble' and the State of the Market

(18:46) Ad Break

(20:50) The AI 'Bubble' and the State of the Market (Cont.)

(28:12) Parallels Between the Fall of Nortel Networks and the Current AI Economy

(35:15) Ad Break

(36:10) Parallels Between the Fall of Nortel Networks and the Current AI Economy (Cont.)

(39:14) Investing Rules for Better Investments

(42:14) Red Flags to Look Out for When Investing?

(45:56) The Rise and Fall of Valeant Pharmaceuticals

(53:04) Is a Complicated Corporate Structure Bad?

(55:54) Companies Don't Start Out Being Crooked

(57:53) Why is EBITDA a Disastrous Measurement?

(1:00:47) How Should Investors See Stock Options / How to Account for Stock Options

(1:06:30) What Incentives to Look for in a Company When Investing?

(1:11:31) The Rise of Index Investing

(1:15:41) Buybacks and Share Count

(1:21:21) What Makes Warren Buffett a Unique Investor?

(1:26:58) The Power of the Retail Investor

(1:32:30) What Is Success for You?

-----

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The incredible story of Jim Clayton and the counterintuitive strategies he used to build Clayton Homes into a juggernaut.

When the bank forced him into bankruptcy at 27, they literally seized everything, including his accountant’s calculator.

He started over and rebuilt following an unconventional playbook. He refused bad loans, vertically integrated everything, and played relentless offense during downturns.

While the home industry collapsed in the 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s, Clayton stayed disciplined. Competitors chased growth with loose credit and failed. He survived every downturn and bought their pieces.

When Warren Buffett read his autobiography, he called days later and paid $1.7 billion in cash.

The lesson: discipline beats hype, vertical integration beats vulnerability, and recessions are buying opportunities.

It’s time to listen and learn.

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Some of the lessons in this episode:

1. If you have to swallow a frog, don’t look at it too long.

2. Choose not to participate in recessions.

3. Don’t fight the flow.

4. The best legal department is happy customers.

5. Turn your adversary into an advisor.

6. Bad loans are a virus.

7. There is profit in precision.

8. Own the ecosystem.

9. When you’re lost, trust your instruments.

10. Plant seeds, don’t chase the toy.

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This episode was made possible by:

Basecamp: https://basecamp.com/knowledgeproject

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Warren Buffett called Tracy Britt Cool his “fireman” due to her reputation at Berkshire Hathaway for turning around struggling businesses. 

Today, Britt Cool is the co-founder of Kanbrick, where she applies her knowledge to the middle market.  

In this episode, you’ll learn how she went from writing a cold letter to Buffett to being sent in to fix struggling Berkshire subsidiaries, how to evaluate real business performance, and how incentives, culture, and structure line up to create lasting success.

* Learn more and get my 31 highlights from this conversation at: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/tracy-britt-cool/

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Approximate Chapters

00:00 Intro, recent reading, and family life

03:04 Alan Mulally's Turnaround at Ford

04:22 If you're not having fun 4 days out of 5, it's time to move on

05:03 The Pampered Chef Turnaround

07:06 Value Creation is Changing from Investing to Operating

08:38 Why Companies Fail to Adapt

09:23 Upbringing, education, and early career outreach

10:09 Lessons from the Farm

15:48 Writing Letters to CEOs

16:57 Lessons from Warren Buffett

18:25 Ad Break

20:57 Buying Companies at Kanbrick

22:38 The 3 Components of Long-Term Thinking

25:11 Avoiding the Complexity Trap

26:23 Turning Around a Declining Business

28:03 Attracting Talent to a Declining Business

30:29 Matching Structure to Time Horizon

32:00 Growing Margins

33:25 The Process: What to Focus on When Operating a Business

35:10 The Three Buckets of Putting People First

37:00 How to Evaluate Talent

40:16 Avoid These People At All Costs

42:23 Sourcing Deals

43:56 The Five Lenses to Evaluate a Business like Warren Buffett

45:14 How to Evaluate a Moat

49:29 How Quantitative Analysis Misleads

50:25 A Detailed Look at Return on Invested Capital

53:18 What Makes an Attractive Market

54:33 Finding High-Potential Businesses

57:00 The Post Close Playbook

1:02:03 Repeatable Business Systems

1:04:06 Why Copying What Works is Hard

1:06:01 Mistakes in the Past 5 Years

1:10:13 Debt and Leverage

1:12:20 3 Ways to Think about AI

1:15:13 What Most People Get Wrong When Hiring

1:21:12 Businesses to Avoid

1:22:35 What Not to Do

1:24:31 Public vs. Private Company Boards

1:27:04 How Warren Buffett Taught Katharine Graham Business

1:29:28 Each Hire is a Million Dollar Decision

1:31:02 Evaluating Integrity

1:32:36 The One Word That Changes Everything & Keeps People Honest

1:35:52 Principles & Lessons from Business History

1:36:59 Inflation

1:38:46 Quarterly Reporting

1:40:22 Public Company Heroes

1:41:41 Companies & Political Opinions

1:42:46 What is Success for you?

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About Tracy

Tracy Britt Cool is the co-founder of Kanbrick and former CEO of Pampered Chef. At Berkshire Hathaway, she worked directly with Warren Buffett as his financial assistant.

-----

This Episode Made Possible By:

Shopify: https://shopify.com/knowledgeproject

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Hetty Green was the richest woman you've never heard of.

In the late 1800s, she built a fortune worth billions today in a world designed to stop her. Women couldn't vote, couldn't own property in most states, and were banned from the New York Stock Exchange floor entirely.

She was a force that couldn't be stopped. She bought entire towns, crushed railroad barons, and became the lender of last resort during financial panics. Her strategies still work today.

This is the story of how an unwanted daughter became "The Witch of Wall Street," and a playbook for building lasting wealth and independence.

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Some of the lessons in this episode:

Learn more at https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-hetty-green/

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Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This episode is for informational purposes only.

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My guest this week is Barry Diller, one of America's most successful businessmen. At 83, he chose to publish a deeply personal book and open up about his successes and failures.

With surprising candor he details the rules he's lived by: trust first, confront directly, and make the call when the clock starts. In our conversation, he shares why success teaches you nothing, why failure is essential, and why instinct still beats algorithms in a data-obsessed world.

This episode is filled with Hollywood lore and business acumen.

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About Barry: He is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC, and is best known for founding the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and leading Paramount Pictures. Over his career, he has reshaped television, film, and online media.

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Approximate Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:48) Vulnerability and Writing 'Who Knew'

(05:20) Lack Of Confidence & Fake It Until You Make It

(17:58) Changes In The Entertainment Industry

(22:35) Instinct Vs Data

(27:17) AI's Impact on the Entertainment and Travel Industry

(42:35) One Dumb Step At A Time

(52:39) Accountability During Conflict

(55:06) Public Broadcasting Regulation And Fair Reporting

(58:04) What Is Success For You

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MINT MOBILE: If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to say yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no: no contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, no B.S. Go to mintmobile.com/knowledgeproject

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Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Ed Stack built Dick’s Sporting Goods from a struggling family store into an empire of more than 800 stores and billions in sales.

Along the way he nearly lost everything. Multiple times. This episode is the story of what he did, how he did it, and the lessons you can learn.

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Some of the things you'll learn in this episode:

Learn more at: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-ed-stack/

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Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This episode is for informational purposes only.

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Lulu Cheng Meservey is one of the sharpest minds in communications and strategy. She has helped some of the best leaders through their hardest moments.

Approximate Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(08:34) The Importance Of The Hook

(14:35) Why Do Governments And Large Corporations Communicate So Poorly?

(21:50) How To Build A Cult

(27:56) How Trust And Likeability Affect Your Messages

(39:19) How To Respond To A Public Relations Attack

(42:57) One Death Is A Tragedy, A Thousand Are A Statistic

(47:34) The Importance Of Being First

(55:22) Overcoming Being The Underdog

(1:00:03) How To Play Offence In PR

(1:05:36) 3 Things To Make A Difference In Your Comms / Storytelling

(1:21:07) The Halo Effect

(1:25:52) Practical Comms Advice For Everyday Work Interactions

(1:46:17) What Is Success For You?

-----

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Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Fred Smith founded FedEx on an idea everyone told him would fail and built it into an $88 billion empire that changed how the world moves.

In this episode, we dive into how he built FedEx and the lessons he learned along the way.

This story proves that impossible is just another word for opportunity.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:36) Part 1: The Boy Who Wouldn't Stay Down

(15:52) Part 2: The Impossible Company

(29:36) Part 3: The Empire Builder

(38:12) Epilogue: From Crisis to Legacy (1993–2025)

(40:55) Important Things That Didn’t Make It Into the Episode

(43:55) Lessons from Fred Smith

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Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This episode is for informational purposes only.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices