Founderology

In the restaurant industry, it’s easy to see brands you’ve known your whole life and never know how they actually started. That’s why I love working with Founders. The Founder story is the catalyst, the fuel that takes an idea and makes it a reality. Twenty, 30, 40 years later, everyone takes the brand for granted in the landscape of the industry. What sometimes gets lost are the early Founder day...

It started with the worst ice cream truck experience a parent could imagine: broken down, smoke billowing, and Tony's three-year-old daughter still running toward it. Where everyone else saw a truck to avoid, Tony saw an American icon waiting to be rebuilt. How does a Founder turn a moment most parents would rather forget into the largest food truck business in America? Inside this episode, h...

Steele shared with me more than once that his answer would be controversial, and he was true to his word. He is direct, generous with what he has learned, and unwilling to pretend any of it was easy. His own start proves it. A noncompete locked him out of fitness after incredible success. The first expert he called said restaurants take a different kind of person. He ignored the expert and opened...

Lauren Coulter is co-Founder and chief biscuit eater of Biscuit Belly, the Louisville, Kentucky, brunch brand she built with her husband and co-Founder, Chad Coulter. They are two pharmacists who, by her own description, had no business opening restaurants. Today the brand runs 16 restaurants across seven states, generating more than $23 million in systemwide revenue, and has been franchising sinc...

Urban Bird Hot Chicken founders Brandon and Chantel Gawthorp are sharing the lessons behind the Texas-based brand's growth on a new podcast episode, discussing the decisions that helped transform a struggling lease into a fast-growing hot chicken concept. The episode explores how the couple launched Urban Bird after negotiating a costly lease obligation into an opportunity to open a new resta...

Brianna Keefe opened the first Toastique location at age 24 with no outside investors and a 36-day build-out. Eight years later, the concept has grown to more than 90 franchise partners, over 220 locations under contract and 63 restaurants open. Keefe, who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, said 62% of her franchise partners have signed agreements for a second location, a topic she discusse...

He is a 13-time world pizza champion and a 5-time Guinness World Record Holder. Tony Gemignani spent 17 years making pizza in his brother's shop before he opened a place of his own. Now he has more than 30 Slice House locations, over 115 in development, and his pizza in NFL and MLB stadiums across the country. Tony Gemignani, Founder of Tony's Pizza Napoletana, and Slice House is the mos...

Jae Kim emptied his $30,000 in savings and maxed out his credit cards to launch a Korean food truck in Austin in 2010. Now he is leading 13 Chi'Lantro restaurants across Texas and building toward the next cycle of growth. He even won a deal on Shark Tank, then walked away from it to grow on his own terms. Jae has lived every stage of growth and made the hard calls even when he felt stuck. Lis...

Two childhood friends bought a pizzeria at 21 with no plan. Now they leading nine restaurants and getting ready to scale Best Pizza & Brew towards its next destination 35 locations. Best Pizza & Brew Founder, Mitchell Millar made a decision while out golfing with Co-Founder Joey Freis to stop answering his phone. By the end of the round, Joey had five calls from their general managers, eac...

If you're a multi-unit restaurant founder stuck, knowing you have outgrown the early days but can't figure out the next move, this episode is for you. I sat down with Jeff Fenster, who built five eight- to nine-figure companies, exited three, and grew Everbowl to more than 100 open locations with almost 400 units sold across the country. His construction company, WeBuild, builds Everbowl...

I sat down with Scott Taylor, Founder and CEO of R&R Brands, a visionary and an industry icon whose fingerprints are on some of the most important brand-building work of the last two decades. He is also a great friend, past-colleague and dedicated educator too! R&R is trail blazing a new path in the multi-concept space: six brands and growing, anchored by Party Fowl, Bravo Brio, Cody'...

Every Founder hits a moment where the business is too big to be small but too small to be big. I call it the Stuck Zone. And what you do next determines everything. On this episode of the Founderology — Built to Breakthrough podcast, I talk with Ryan Thorman, Founder and CEO of Bango and a contributor to the Founderology Growth Summit. Ryan and his friends started with a 300-square-foot açaí shop...

On this episode of the Founderology — Built to Breakthrough podcast, I talk with Brandon Knudsen, Co-Founder and CEO of Ziggi's Coffee and a member of the inaugural class of Visionary Restaurant Founders recognized at the Founderology Growth Summit. Brandon and his wife Camrin have bootstrapped Ziggi's from a single coffee shop to more than 100 locations across 22 states, with 200 more i...

Every Founder hits a moment where the business is too big to be small but too small to be big. I call it the stuck zone. And what you do next determines everything. On this episode of the Founderology — Built to Breakthrough podcast, I talk with Jeff Perera, co-Founder of Jeff's Bagel Run and a member of the inaugural class of Visionary Restaurant Founders recognized at the Founderology Growt...

Community is not support. It is a strategic imperative. Founders make stronger decisions when they stay connected to people, resources, and real-world insight. That belief carries real weight when it comes from a leader who represents more than 1.5 million restaurant employees and an industry that fuels over $137 billion in economic impact. As CEO and president of the Texas Restaurant Association,...

Almost a year ago, I stood on a plot of land in Austin with Ellis Winstanley. He pointed to an empty space and said, "Here's my vision. I'm going to have an event center there." I remember thinking: yes, of course, you are and I was so confident it would happen we recorded our first podcast together announcing that the 2026 Founderology Growth Summit would be hosted at the new...

As we close out 2025, I keep coming back to one undeniable truth: this year moved fast. Faster than many even realized. Technology accelerated. Consumer expectations evolved. Leadership required more courage, clarity and community than ever before. And through all of it, Founders continued to do what Founders do best — rise. In our final Founderology podcast episode of the year, Fast Casual Publis...

Danielle Mahon, the Founder of seafood steam pot brand Topsail Steamer, joined host Kathleen Wood on a recent episode of the "Founderology" podcast to discuss the evolution of her company from a local storefront to a national franchise. During the interview, Mahon detailed the philosophy behind her brand, which offers pre-prepared seafood steam pots designed for customers to cook and sha...

Zane Tarence enters this conversation like a force of nature — fast, sharp and fully dialed in. His pace alone tells you he has lived this work. His experience comes through every sentence with the confidence of someone who has built companies, sold companies and guided leaders through outcomes most people only imagine. His energy lifts the entire episode into a higher gear. This is not slow insig...

Every Founder has a story — a spark that becomes the heartbeat of a brand. Some stories begin with a dream, others with a dish, and every now and then one begins with a taco that turns into a brand that is built to breakthrough. In this episode of the Founderology Podcast , I talk with Roberto Espinosa — the visionary Founder of Tacodeli. What started as one small taco shop in Austin has grown int...

It's the answer every business owner wants to know and very rarely gets a direct answer about it — UNTIL NOW — at the Founderology Growth Summit , that answer becomes reality. Founders want to grow, scale, and create lasting value. The challenge is knowing where the value of your business stands today — and what will elevate it to investment-grade strength. I am so proud and honored to announ...

Every Founder knows the spark that starts an idea and then the journey begins. In this episode of Founderology: Built to Breakthrough , we talk with Donna and Daniel Golik , Mother and Son Founders of Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream – craveable, flash freezing made to order ice cream. Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream is the brainchild of ice-cream loving Daniel. So much loving that he spent 6 months in his g...

Built for Founders. Powered by Founders. The Founderology Growth Summit is a breakthrough experience designed for Founders who are looking to scale. Every moment, from the first conversation to the final celebration, is crafted with one purpose: to accelerate the growth of visionary Founders and their businesses. Cherryh Cansler, publisher of FastCasual.com and partner of the Founderology Growth S...

I have been inspired by Derrick Hayes and Big Dave's Cheesesteaks starting as an Instagram follower and then as a customer. I actually drove from Tampa to Orlando to try his Classic Dave's Chicken — wow — was it worth the drive and the many more drives I will continue to make to Big Dave's. Hopefully, Tampa is on the list for new locations! Derrick's vision, his grit, and his h...

How do you take a Maine lobster roll—yes, the classic, buttery, delicious kind—and build a brand that stretches from the East Coast to the heart of Milan, Italy? That's the kind of breakthrough story we love to feature at Founderology: Built to Breakthrough. And it's exactly what unfolds in this powerful episode with Dan Beck, Founder of Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls. Dan's stor...