Know What Matters: Lessons in Building Transformative Companies and Creating a Life You Can Respect

"How did Ron Shaich, the visionary founder of Panera Bread, build a little bakery in St. Louis into 2,400 restaurants with 6 billion dollars in revenue and annual returns of 25 percent, outperforming Starbucks, Chipotle, and all others? By seeing the future and clearing a path to it, leading and innovating from the future back. Now, Shaich shares his story, starting with its humble entrepreneurial beginnings: the college-campus convenience store he opened to compete with one he was ejected from when the clerk wrongly assumed he and his scruffy friends were shoplifting. He takes us through his successful turnaround of Au Bon Pain and how that led to his creation of a new category of restaurant, fast casual, and the mega-success of Panera. He also shares the lows, the defeats, and the uncertainties along the way and how he persevered through them. In each chapter Shaich brings to life a principle for success that has guided his career-and his life. Sometimes practical ("Make smart bets"), and often challenging ("You don't own the business, the business owns you"), Shaich's principles combine to form a blueprint for innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs set on success, and on making a difference. When you know what matters, you can build transformative businesses while leading a life you respect, and leaving a positive impact on the world"--
Ron Shaich, founder and former CEO of Panera Bread, shares the lessons he learned from a lifetime of asking what really matters and then making the transformations necessary to bring what really matters to life.Shaich is a business visionary who has been part of building three iconic restaurant brands: Au Bon Pain, Panera Bread, and now Cava. Along the way, he developed "fast casual," a $100 billion–plus segment of the industry. Now he reveals what he learned about entrepreneurship, running large enterprises, business transformation, and life itself. He illustrates these lessons with his experiences turning a 400-square-foot cookie store into 2,400 restaurants with $5 billion in revenue, delivering annual investor returns of 25 percent over two decades, and outperforming both Starbucks and Chipotle. How did Shaich succeed repeatedly in such a notoriously tough industry? By discovering today what will matter tomorrow and never hesitating to undertake sweeping transformations in order to get the job done.Shaich offers clear-headed lessons for the entire life cycle of an enterprise, from bootstrapping a startup to going public to managing large companies to selling a business. And the relevance of his message doesn't end in the boardroom. He challenges readers to grapple with how the business impacts life, sharing his own struggles and setbacks with as much candor as he describes his successes.Telling yourself the truth, knowing what really matters, and getting it done is the path to creating and sustaining a meaningful life, a market-leading business, and even a healthier society. Shaich's reflections are sometimes practical ("Make smart bets"), sometimes philosophical ("Conduct an annual pre-mortem"), often challenging ("You don't own the business, the business owns you"), and always incisive ("You take the money, I'll take control."). Know What Matters is a powerful guide to building transformative businesses while leading a life you respect and leaving a positive impact on the world.