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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Jonathan Neman | How Sweetgreen Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Salad Chain

Yesterday Podcast