665 Danny Meyer, Founder of Shake Shack — How to Win, The Art of The Graceful “No,” Overcoming Setbacks, The 6 Traits of Exceptional People

This is a OPEN AI summary of the Tim Ferriss Podcast #665- visit www.TinyTim.blog for more AI summaries, or www.Tim.blog for the official Tim Ferriss Podcasts

In this episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss interviews Danny Meyer, founder and chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group. They discuss the backstory of some of USHG's most popular restaurants, Shake Shack, and Danny's New York Times Bestseller, Setting the Table. They also touch on the importance of the Julia Child Award and the James Beard Awards.

The author describes how, as a 20-year-old, he worked as a tour guide in Rome for his father's discount tour company for airline employees. He took the opportunity to learn about food, and found three trattorias that would pay him 1,000 lira per head of every guest he brought in. Over the course of the summer, the restaurant workers started calling him "Maialino," or "little pig."

In this excerpt, Tim Ferriss interviews Danny Meyer, the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group. Meyer discusses his hatred of surprises, citing his need for control as the underlying reason. He also talks about how his wife surprised him with a custom logo for his 50th birthday, which ended up being the inspiration for the name of their new restaurant, Maialino. Ferriss then asks Meyer about a "sliding door moment" in his life, specifically his decision to drop out of law school and go into the restaurant business. Meyer credits his uncle for giving him the push he needed to make the decision.

In this excerpt, Tim Ferriss interviews Danny Meyer about his background and how he became a successful restaurateur. Meyer discusses his upbringing in Missouri and how his interest in politics led him to study political science in college. He then describes a conversation with his uncle that persuaded him to pursue a career in the restaurant business instead of law.

The individual in this story graduated with a degree in political science and, after working as a salesman for a few years, decided to pursue a law degree. The night before taking his LSATs, he was out to dinner with family and in a foul mood. His uncle asked him what was bothering him and, upon hearing that he had to take the LSATs the next day, encouraged him to do his best. This story highlights the importance of family support in times of stress.

The individual in this story recounts a life-changing conversation with a family friend who encouraged him to pursue his passion in the food industry, rather than go to law school. He took the friend's advice and went on to open a successful restaurant. This story highlights the importance of following your passion in life.

In this excerpt, the author describes a pivotal moment in his life when he dropped out of a restaurant management class and was given the opportunity to interview for a job at a bank's one restaurant client. He ultimately got the job and met his future wife, discovering his love for the restaurant business. This experience showed him that many things in life are determined by moments.

In this excerpt, Tim Ferriss interviews Danny Meyer about his career in the restaurant business. Meyer discusses how he got his start in the business and some of the key techniques he has learned for success. He also talks about how important it is to be grateful for the good choices we have in life, even if they come from seemingly random events.

Danny Meyer is a successful businessman and entrepreneur who has found success in a variety of fields. He attributes his success to his ability to understand people and read social cues. He has had to learn to "operationalize" himself in order to expand his businesses, and believes that anyone can learn to do the same.

Danny Meyer shares his tip for success in sales: always be curious and interested in the person you're meeting with. He also advises making your own schedule and taking advantage of opportunities to learn about the person you're selling to.

Danny Meyer decided not to go to law school and instead pursue a career in the culinary arts. He cites the example of well-educated chefs who had found success in the field as inspiration for his decision. His parents were initially resistant to the idea, but Meyer eventually convinced them by showing his dedication to the craft.

At 21 years old, Danny Meyer was able to travel anywhere Pan Am flew for $44 round trip due to his dad's travel business. He took advantage of this opportunity to eat at restaurants and learn about cooking. He eventually decided to become a chef, which his dad was open to but his mom was less so. His dad connected him with two colleagues in Bordeaux, France, and he ended up spending time in Rome, Bologna, Sardinia, and Milan before going to Bordeaux. When he arrived at La Rserve, the restaurant had just lost its second Michelin star and the cooks were dejected. However, after a few days, some of the cooks left, giving Danny the opportunity to take on more responsibilities, including cooking family meal.

Danny Meyer worked for free in order to learn from the best in the food industry. He believes that this is a valuable strategy for young people who want to build a career in a particular field.

The speaker discusses how he was willing to work for no pay, and how this led to him eventually opening his own successful restaurant. He talks about how his dad's bankruptcies made him hesitant to expand his own business, but how he eventually overcame that fear.

In this quote, Danny Meyer talks about how important it is for businesses to understand all of their stakeholders, and how this understanding can help the business succeed. He also talks about how he personally stays involved in his businesses by reading reports and connecting with guests.

Grandma taught me that in order to have a successful business, you need to get to know your suppliers and invest in your community. She also taught me that the key to a great product is using the best ingredients and treating them well.

Tim Ferriss's grandmother taught him a business lesson when he was young - if you want to get rid of the weeds in your garden, water the flowers. This lesson has stuck with him throughout his career, and he has applied it to his management style. By spending more time with the employees who are already doing a great job, he has been able to reduce the amount of time he spends dealing with problem employees.

Danny Meyer discusses the importance of prioritizing stakeholders in business. He argues that employees, guests, community, suppliers, and investors should be given equal consideration. He also talks about how he learned the importance of having a higher purpose in motivating employees from his work with John Anderson's presidential campaign.

In this excerpt, Tim Ferriss is speaking with author and businessperson Seth Godin about the importance of employees' happiness. Godin argues that employees should be the first stakeholder in a business, as their happiness leads to customers' happiness, which in turn leads to investors' happiness.

In the letter, Danny Meyer declines an opportunity to do something at USHG, but expresses gratitude for the offer and states that he knows the book will be a success. He explains that he has learned to write polite declines in a way that does not upset the person extending the invitation.

In this excerpt, Tim Ferriss and Danny Meyer discuss the difficulties of declining invitations politely. Meyer says that it is often hard to tell if an invitation is something you really want to do, and if it is something you should do. He has gotten into trouble in the past by accepting invitations out of a sense of obligation. Ferriss asks if Meyer's approach to declining invitations has changed over time, and Meyer says that he is always trying to improve.

In this clip, Tim Ferriss talks about the importance of language and communication in achieving success. He cites a study which found that the number one quality Danny Meyer looks for when hiring is "kind eyes." Ferriss goes on to say that empathy is also an important quality to have in order to be successful.

Danny Meyer, a successful restaurateur, looks for six qualities in potential employees: self-awareness, integrity, trust, kindness, optimism, and work ethic. He believes that these qualities are essential for a successful business.

In this interview, Danny Meyer discusses what he looks for in employees. He says that he wants people who are competitive and love to win. He also talks about the different motivations that people have for wanting to compete and win.

In this clip, Danny Meyer and Tim Ferriss discuss how to assess someone's work ethic. Meyer defines it as "doing the job as well as it can be done." He goes on to say that you can see it in people--whether they take shortcuts or not.

Danny Meyer talks about how hospitality is a team sport, and how everyone needs to rely on each other to make the team better. He talks about how this is similar to sports, where everyone needs to work together to achieve a common goal. He tells a story about Theo Epstein, the youngest general manager in Major League Baseball history, who was able to turn around two teams that had not been doing well - the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.

Theo Epstein is a baseball statistician who has helped the Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time in many years. He is asked by many people what his secret is, and he explains that baseball is a game of statistics. He measures everything from a player's batting percentage to their fielding percentage, and he believes that half the game is played while a player is sitting on the bench. He also believes that it is important to measure a player's impact on the rest of the team when they are in the dugout. Epstein was asked who he was rooting for in the World Series, and he explained that he was rooting for the Dodgers because they were the team that the Cubs lost to in the Championship Series.

Danny Meyer, a successful restaurateur, talks about the importance of always improving and moving forward, even when you think you're already on top. He shares a story about how he once asked a baseball coach why he was rooting for the opposing team, and the coach replied that it was because he wanted his own team to have to face a strong opponent next year. This story resonated with Meyer because it's a great example of how complacency can lead to falling behind.

In this excerpt, Danny Meyer discusses how to tell if someone is bringing the conversation down, and how to make the decision to fire someone. He reflects on his own experience firing people, and how he has gotten better at it over the years.

The speaker discusses how he used to run his business like a family, but has since learned that it is more effective to treat it like a business. He has created a four-quadrant model to help assess employees' technical abilities and emotional willingness, and has put mirrors in the locker rooms of his restaurants to remind employees that they are not part of a family.

Danny Meyer discusses the importance of identifying which employees "can and will" succeed at their jobs, and investing in those employees accordingly. He also stresses the importance of quickly removing employees who "cant or wont" succeed from the team, in order to avoid negatively impacting morale among the other employees.

In this excerpt from an interview with Tim Ferriss, Danny Meyer discusses the importance of culture in an organization, and how to create and maintain the culture you want. He talks about how rewarding the behaviors you want is not always the best way to fuel the culture you want, and that the culture of an organization is the sum of all the wanted behaviors that are celebrated, minus all the unwanted behaviors that are tolerated. He suggests that if you want to let someone go, or have a difficult conversation with them, it shouldn't be the first time you've had that conversation.

In this conversation, Tim Ferriss and Danny Meyer discuss the importance of having tough conversations with employees who are not meeting performance standards. Meyer explains that it is better to be up front with people about their performance and exit them from the company if necessary, rather than try to jigger them into the puzzle.

In this interview, Danny Meyer discusses his approach to failure. He believes that it is important to learn from failures, and that every day offers opportunities to do so. He also shares his thoughts on why it is important to be honest with oneself and others when things are not working out.

The lesson here is that the only real failure is the failure to try, and that success is measured by how we cope with disappointment. This is something that Tim Ferriss and Danny Meyer both agree on.

The author discusses the process of closing their restaurant, Tabla, in a dignified and respectful manner. They share that they gave their staff, landlord, and community ample warning and hosted multiple fundraisers. The author reflects on the experience and shares that there is no shame in closing a business.

Joe Baum was a successful restaurateur who believed that the key to a successful restaurant was longevity. He believed that a restaurant should outlive its original lease. However, Tim Ferriss has a different goal for his restaurants. He wants his restaurants to become essential in people's lives. He wants people to say that their lives got better because the restaurant existed.

Danny Meyer discusses the shortage of good cooks in the US, and how this led him to experiment with a no-tipping policy at one of his restaurants. He describes the lessons he learned from this experiment, including the importance of good training for servers.

The writer discusses how they dislike the tipping system, as it can be demoralizing for waiters who do not receive tips. They also argue that cooks should be given a share of tips, as they work just as hard as waiters.

Hospitality Included is a system where tips are no longer accepted, and instead, the price of the menu items includes the cost of the labor. This allows for cooks to be paid fairly, without the disparity between what servers and cooks make.

Hospitality Included is a system where everything on the menu is included in the price, and tips are not given. The goal is to provide better quality food and service, as well as to create a better working environment for employees. The system has been implemented in several restaurants with mixed results.

Danny Meyer discusses the decision to eliminate tipping at his restaurants and the impact of Covid-19 on the restaurant industry. He describes how New Yorkers were incredibly grateful for servers who were willing to serve them on the sidewalk, throwing $20, $50, and $100 bills at them. Meyer tells his servers that they cannot accept tips and must tell guests not to say thank you.

Danny Meyer talks about the decision to switch to a Hospitality Included model at his restaurants. He describes how it was a tough transition for some of his top performers, who were used to earning a lot in tips. However, he feels that it was the right thing to do for his employees and for the company as a whole.

The author describes how restaurants in America use tipping as a way to provide service, and how this system is difficult to break. He describes how some restaurants tried to break away from this system, but eventually had to give up. He talks about how the system benefits those who have been working in the restaurant for a long time, and how this can be unfair to newer employees. He describes how Japan has a different system for providing service, and how this could be beneficial for American restaurants.

Danny Meyer discusses the importance of hospitality in the workplace. He explains that the term "51 percenters" refers to employees who are dedicated to providing great service and making others feel comfortable and cared for. Meyer emphasizes that these employees are essential to the success of any business, and that they should be compensated accordingly.

Danny Meyer and Tim Ferriss discuss the importance of marketing and Seth Godin's book, "This is Marketing." Meyer says that marketing is like hospitality and that the biggest longing people have is to belong. Ferriss says that Godin is a very straightforward person and that he likes this about him.

Seth is a genius and a mensch, and is very good at living according to his values. However, he had an accident where he broke his nose. Tim Ferriss thinks that if Seth could put anything on a billboard, he would put "Cant we please have a charitable assumption about one another?" on it. Danny Meyer agrees and says that assuming the best intentions is helpful in any relationship or experience.

In this conversation, Danny Meyer and Tim Ferriss discuss the importance of assuming the best in people. Meyer shares that this is something he's always done naturally, but it's also something that he believes is important to cultivate. He explains that assuming the best in people doesn't mean being optimistic, but rather being hopeful. Ferriss asks Meyer if there is anything else he would like to say or request, and Meyer asks for people to be more understanding and forgiving.

In this conversation, Danny Meyer and Tim Ferriss discuss the importance of supporting local restaurants. Meyer emphasizes how crucial restaurants are for the economy and for social life, and notes that people are longing to connect with others after the isolation of the pandemic. Ferriss thanks Meyer for his time and notes that the conversation has given him a lot to think about. Meyer invites Ferriss to try the special burger at the Shake Shack in Austin, Texas.

In this episode of the Tim Ferriss Show, Danny Meyer talks about his new book, Setting the Table, and his work with USHG (Union Square Hospitality Group). He also discusses the Lockhart Link, a new addition to the USHG family of restaurants.

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