Know What Matters - by Ron Shaich (Hardcover)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

A Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller

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.

Review Quotes

Named one of the best business and management books for 2023 by the Globe & Mail

"...this mix of history, memoir, and business guidance delivers insight on running successful chain restaurants by focusing on customers. Shaich's account of creating fast-casual dining is the most intriguing." - Library Journal

Advance Praise for Know What Matters:

"While there are many accounts of enterprises successfully disrupted by their founders, what distinguishes Ron Shaich's book is his willingness to share how his relentless questioning of his companies, even on the heels of their greatest successes, took them to even greater heights. For those of us who have experienced his companies as consumers, competitors, and observers, this book finally describes how his extraordinary track record seems to repeat itself over and over again." -- Brad Bloom, cofounder, Berkshire Partners

"Ron Shaich is a true pioneer of conscious capitalism--a purpose-driven leader with a relentless focus on the long term and a deep love for the transformative power of business. I've long valued his wisdom in the boardroom and beyond, and I have no doubt that Know What Matters will be instrumental in shaping the next generation of conscious leaders." -- John Mackey, cofounder, Whole Foods Market; author. Conscious Capitalism

"Know What Matters is packed with practical advice and real-world examples to help readers create businesses of value and lives with meaning." -- Steve Case, Chairman and CEO, Revolution; cofounder, AOL

"Ron Shaich's Know What Matters is a must-read for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone who wants to be more effective in life. Ron was obsessed with delighting his customers and coworkers at Panera long before it was fashionable to do so, and in the process produced a truly amazing 70x return from his IPO in 1991 until he sold Panera in 2017." -- Will Danoff, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Contrafund

"Ron Shaich shares his compelling journey from budding entrepreneur to seasoned CEO, navigating the professional and personal twists and turns he's experienced while seeing a compelling idea early on, building it to scale, and then persuading a lot of other people to come along for the ride. The stories in this book are chock-full of enormously valuable lessons for business builders at any stage of their careers." -- Danny Meyer, author, Setting the Table

"In a decade covering Ron Shaich's career at Panera Bread, I have found him to be thinking ten years in advance of everyone else and usually proven right. He has done this while staying humble, true to himself, and bringing entire teams along for the ride of a lifetime. Read this book if you want to know what true leadership is all about." -- Brian Sozzi, Executive Editor, Yahoo! Finance

About the Author

Ron Shaich is the founder and former Chairman and CEO of Panera Bread and of Au Bon Pain and is the current Chairman and lead investor in Cava, Tatte, Life Alive, and Level99. Shaich makes his investments through Act III Holdings, a $1 billion-plus evergreen investment vehicle. In Shaich's last two decades as CEO, Panera generated annualized shareholder returns of 25 percent and was the best performing stock in the restaurant industry. Shaich is often credited with defining the $80 billion fast casual segment and is known for continually disrupting industry paradigms to find new ways to build companies of value and with values. Shaich has twice been recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, was selected as the 2018 Restaurant Leader of the Year, and was presented the prestigious Nation's Restaurant News Pioneer Award as one of the most significant contributors in the history of the restaurant industry, joining the ranks of Colonel Harland Sanders, Ray Kroc, Norman Brinker, and J. Willard Marriott.

Connect with Ron Shaich at ronshaich.com.