Tim Ferriss - Danny Meyer

1) Danny Meyer reveals to Tim Ferriss that he hates surprises and considers himself a little bit of a control freak, stating he likes to have a false sense that he has some say in the matter. Meyer recalls how his grandfather once taught him the expression, "Man plans, and God laughs", highlighting that although one might think they're planning for success or situations, the world usually has other ideas for them. Tim Ferriss offers the metaphor that writing a novel is like driving a car cross-country with headlights on, where one cannot see where they are going, but enough in front of them to know they are heading in the right direction.

2) Danny Meyer, the founder of Shake Shack, recalls a conversation he had with his uncle, Richard, that changed his life. He was on the eve of taking his LSATs, preparing for a career he didn't have any interest in. His uncle asked him, "Do you have any idea how long you're going to be dead anyway?" and that made Meyer realize that he should be doing something he's passionate about instead of pursuing a career he has no interest in. His uncle suggested opening a restaurant, which Meyer believed wasn't a valid entrepreneurial career choice at that time, but he enrolled in a restaurant management class and got his first job as an assistant lunch manager. Through that job, he realized his love for the business and met his future wife.

3) Danny talks about the pivotal moments that led to his success in the restaurant industry. He shares personal anecdotes of how chance encounters and unlikely circumstances ultimately led him to his career. Meyer also discusses how his experiences growing up in different schools helped him to become an expert in understanding people and their needs, which has been a valuable skill in his line of work. Overall, Meyer attributes his success to a combination of chance, hard work, and his natural ability to connect with and understand others.

4) Danny talks about his journey to becoming a chef, which involved going to Italy and France to learn from the best chefs. He shares his experience working as a stage, which is when a cook works for free to learn from experienced chefs. Meyer says that working for free is a good way to build a career in the food industry and learn from the best. He only had to pay for a cooking teacher in Milan who claimed to be the Julia Child of Italy but was not. Otherwise, he did many stages where he was not paid anything.

5) Danny Meyer explains the benefits of being patient when growing a business and emphasizes the importance of truly learning the business by understanding and motivating all five stakeholders - staff, guests, community, suppliers, and investors. Meyer shares that it took him 10 years to open a second restaurant because of his fear of going bankrupt like his dad, but that this time allowed him to truly learn about his business. He also reveals that he still reads nightly reservation reports and after service reports to understand who his guests are and how to connect the dots to create personalized experiences for them.

6) Danny talks about his approach to treating employees as volunteers, meaning that he treats them like they chose to work there even though they could have gotten other job offers. He believes that happy employees lead to happy customers and happy investors, which creates a virtuous cycle. He also emphasizes the importance of genuine sentiment in communication, citing his love for writing and his father's editing expertise. He believes that it's important to show genuine appreciation for those who reach out and connect with you.

7) Meyer discusses the etiquette of politely declining invitations and the importance of giving a gracious response. Danny shares his method for deciding whether or not to accept an invitation, which involves determining whether it is something he really wants to do and can do, and whether it is a "should" or a "want to." He stresses the importance of responding to invitations with courtesy and care, noting that all the person is guilty of is showing interest in you.

8) Danny discusses the six things he looks for when hiring for his restaurant, which includes kind optimists, curious individuals, those with an excellent work ethic, empathetic people, self-aware individuals, and those with integrity. He emphasizes the importance of having a team that loves to win and strives for excellence. Meyer shares four buckets of motivation for individuals striving to be champions: those motivated by a love of beating someone else, those motivated by not wanting to lose, those motivated to exceed their personal best, and those who are simply not that competitive.

9) Danny discusses how he struggled with firing people who were under performing or toxic to his team. With the realization that his business is not a family, he created a model with a four-quadrant matrix that identifies the employee's technical skills (can/can't) and his emotional willingness (will/won't.) Meyer explains that he has a plan of action and a timeframe for each quadrant. He celebrates employees who can and will, coaches those who can't but will, puts a short candle wick for those who can't and won't, and has a shorter timeframe for the can but won't group. With this framework, he can identify where an employee is on the matrix and take appropriate measures.

10) Danny discusses his experience with failures and the lessons he learned from them. He emphasizes that every day brings micro failures, but the only real failure is the failure to try. Meyer shares his own experience of closing his restaurant, Tabla, after keeping it open for two years longer than he should have. He reflects on the mistake he made when he proudly stated that he had never closed a restaurant in his book, Setting the Table, and explains how he turned the situation around by focusing on how well they closed the restaurant instead of how well they opened it. He and his team made sure to be transparent with their staff, landlord, and community and celebrated the restaurant's legacy by inviting alumni chefs to cook with them and hosting job fairs for their team members.

11) Meyer discusses his experience closing down his restaurant Tabla and how he learned that closing down is not necessarily a shameful act. He had to close down several other restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he believes that the true failure is not trying at all. Instead of longevity, he aims for essentiality in his restaurants, where they become a crucial part of people's lives. He likens it to a song or a piece of art that makes one's life better, and losing it would feel like losing something essential.

12) Danny talks about how he came up with the idea of Hospitality Included, which eliminated the tipping system for his restaurants. Meyer wanted to attract more cooks by narrowing the wage gap between cooks and servers since raising the cook's wage would result in increased menu prices and disparity with the servers' wage. The Hospitality Included idea included everything in the menu prices, even the service charge to make a diner feel like they are paying for how the restaurant made them feel.

13) Meyer discusses the implementation of the Hospitality Included policy. He explains how it was challenging to include everything in the menu price, including increasing the starting manager salary, implementing a retirement plan, and a family leave policy, while also leaving some money for investors. Meyer also gives insight into how this policy resulted in a foregone million dollars in federal tax credits, as well as decreasing profits but allowed for better cooks and doing the right thing. Meyer also explains how COVID-19 impacted the policy, resulting in the resumption of tipping and the company paying a percentage of revenue everynight to cooks who are not eligible for tips, as an effort to support employees.

14) Meyer explains the philosophy behind why they rate their employees on a scale of 100, with 51 points allocated to hospitality performance and 49 to technical performance. He notes that while the food better be good and technical performance has to be on point, what truly helps a restaurant to thrive is when guests feel like you are on their side. Meyer also recommends Seth Godin's book "This Is Marketing" as it perfectly encapsulates the fact that people want to feel like they belong somewhere, and great marketing doesn't just sell services or products but makes people feel like they belong to a tribe. Finally, Meyer shares a personal story of how Seth Godin broke his nose on the door to one of Meyer's restaurants, which exemplifies Godin's values of not just creating but living a certain lifestyle.

15) Meyer suggests that assuming the best in people iscrucial to forming successful relationships. Meyer encourages the idea of a "charitable assumption" when starting a conversation or interacting with people, as it can create an environment of hope and progress, rather than tribalism or division. Additionally, Meyer urges listeners to support their local restaurants and food industry, citing their importance in bringing communities together and providing a place for social and personal connections.