บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ How a Local Award Turned Into a Growth Explosion | Otto Othman

of work for Nightlife 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:55.589 because naturally he used to do a lot of 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.589 work for the Opium Group. That's how I 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.509 met uh Dave Gruntman. That's how I met 00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:01.430 you. It was all it was all around that 00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:03.110 time. We did a lot of work for a lot of 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.589 the clubs and uh I found myself doing a 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:06.869 lot of marketing for a lot of these 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:08.070 incredible restaurants, right? I 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.149 remember working on the website for Tao 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.710 Las Vegas. So I I built it with with 00:03:12.720 --> 00:03:15.509 Tams and a lot of incredible venues like 00:03:15.519 --> 00:03:17.110 the ones that you guys have built. Um I 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:18.869 did the Cameo website, you know, and 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.589 that that's how long ago. And on the 4th 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:23.910 of July, hanging out with one of my dear 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:26.390 friends, taking some shots of tequila. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:30.149 Uh my mom's pincho recipe was a hit 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:31.509 amongst my friends. I was born and 00:03:31.519 --> 00:03:32.309 raised in Brazil. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:32.630 >> Yeah. 00:03:32.640 --> 00:03:34.949 >> And um when I first moved, out of all 00:03:34.959 --> 00:03:36.309 places in the world, I moved to Haley, 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:38.229 Florida. That's where my dad had an 00:03:38.239 --> 00:03:39.509 opportunity. So that's why I speak 00:03:39.519 --> 00:03:41.430 human. by there. By the way, you do 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:42.630 speak Cuban. 00:03:42.640 --> 00:03:45.110 >> I I am a Cuban at heart because I move I 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.430 was thrown into the mix there in Haley 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:48.710 and I had to figure out how to speak 00:03:48.720 --> 00:03:50.789 Spanish, but I speak Portuguese, but I'm 00:03:50.799 --> 00:03:52.710 Middle Eastern, by the way. I'm Middle 00:03:52.720 --> 00:03:53.830 Eastern. So, 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:55.430 >> you you're Middle Eastern. You speak 00:03:55.440 --> 00:03:56.869 Portuguese and Spanish. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.190 >> And Spanish and English now, too. 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:02.309 >> So, um So, brother, so my mom's recipe 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.350 was a hit 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.270 >> and I always told my mom like, "One day, 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.030 I'm going to open a restaurant selling 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:08.869 your pincho recipe." In Brazil, we call 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.670 it pinu. And uh after that experience 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:13.910 with nightlife, you know, I I even left 00:04:13.920 --> 00:04:15.589 TAMS and I started working at Sapion 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:17.670 Nitro, which I started working with big 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.990 national brands and I was part of a team 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.749 that handled a lot of the work for Fiat 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:23.590 and Chrysler North America, Twix, 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.070 Eminem, Snickers. We built incredible 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:28.230 campaigns for all these big brands. So I 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.070 loved design. I loved and then I got 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:32.390 into the advertising side and marketing. 00:04:32.400 --> 00:04:34.550 So I became very good at marketing. And 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.710 on that Fourth of July barbecue, I told 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:38.390 my best friend at the time, Nadal, I 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:39.670 told him, "Hey, let's just open a 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.350 restaurant. Let's sell my mom's pincho 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.110 recipe. Let's do this 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.230 >> Brazilian or Latin Latin inspired street 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.030 food concept." Five Guys was open up in 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:50.550 Miami at the time. I was becoming part. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.950 I love Five Guys. It was amazing. I 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:54.469 said, I think we can we can do something 00:04:54.479 --> 00:04:56.469 much cooler given my experience. 00:04:56.479 --> 00:04:56.790 >> Yeah. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:59.510 >> And we were two kids with 77 grand. And 00:04:59.520 --> 00:05:01.189 that's all we had between me, him, his 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.590 little brother, Nizar, and Nadal's wife 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.189 at the time, Crystal, also joined the 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:06.790 team. And the four of us went to town, 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:08.230 bro. And we opened the first spot. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:09.270 >> Where was the first spot? 00:05:09.280 --> 00:05:11.029 >> We lived in Miami Lakes. We couldn't 00:05:11.039 --> 00:05:13.430 afford anything. Like, we wanted to open 00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:15.830 in Hyia. We couldn't find a spot. A lot 00:05:15.840 --> 00:05:17.830 of our friends lived in Kendall. And I 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:19.830 was like, okay, [ __ ] it. Let's just do 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:21.670 in the middle somewhere that we can pull 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:22.870 in a little bit of our friends from 00:05:22.880 --> 00:05:24.230 here. I had a lot of friends in the 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:25.990 beach, like people from the industry. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.590 And I said, let's just open somewhere 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.830 around there. We found a restaurant on 00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:31.350 Bird Road in 98. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:31.670 >> Yeah. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.909 >> Uh right next to Rio Cristal. 00:05:33.919 --> 00:05:34.230 >> Yeah. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.150 >> Um it was a spot that was that went 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:38.150 under. It was a Peruvian spot. So it was 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:39.670 a second generation spot that didn't 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.350 require a lot of money. So we said, 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:42.550 "Okay, this is it." 00:05:42.560 -->

00:05:44.070 >> 77 grand was enough to do it. 00:05:44.080 --> 00:05:45.029 >> That's that's all we had. 00:05:45.039 --> 00:05:45.990 >> What year was this? 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.830 >> 2010. 00:05:47.840 --> 00:05:50.870 >> 2010. Yeah. So November 6 was our grand 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:54.310 opening. On November uh on November 2nd, 00:05:54.320 --> 00:05:56.629 I got a phone call from Nadal. He goes, 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:58.230 "Hey, bro. we need to open the 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.070 restaurant this week. And I'm like, I'm 00:06:00.080 --> 00:06:01.189 like, there's no way. We don't have a 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:02.629 team. We don't have anybody. Like, what 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:03.909 are you talking about? Like, he goes 00:06:03.919 --> 00:06:06.870 goes auto, there's $627 left in the bank 00:06:06.880 --> 00:06:09.670 account. We need to open this Saturday. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.590 And my birthday's November 4th. So, I 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:12.870 said I'm like, all right, cool. 00:06:12.880 --> 00:06:13.510 >> Birthday party. 00:06:13.520 --> 00:06:15.110 >> I'm like, I'll find yourself two 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.430 employees. I'll invite all my friends. 00:06:17.440 --> 00:06:20.150 We will train everybody at my birthday 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.469 party at the restaurant and we will open 00:06:22.479 --> 00:06:24.390 Saturday. And that's how Pincho opened. 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:25.749 I gave him my credit card. He went to 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:27.909 Costco, dude. Not even like he bought 00:06:27.919 --> 00:06:29.430 all the food from Costco. We didn't have 00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:31.909 like CBI or or US Foods or whatever. 00:06:31.919 --> 00:06:33.430 Went to Costco, bought the food, we did 00:06:33.440 --> 00:06:35.670 the birthday party, trained the team 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.510 during my birthday party, got a lot of 00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:38.230 feedback, 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.390 >> and we opened Saturday and we had lines 00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:41.029 out the door. 00:06:41.039 --> 00:06:41.749 >> No [ __ ] 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:42.150 >> Yeah. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:44.390 >> Was it terrifying or was it like 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:46.790 exciting? Take me back there, dude. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.670 >> Man, uh I think it was a we were nervous 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.110 for sure. I think there was a lot riding 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.270 for Nadal more than than for me because 00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:55.270 I kept my job, right? And I was getting 00:06:55.280 --> 00:06:56.950 paid really well. I was a creative 00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:58.710 director for Fiat and Chrysler North 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.070 America. I was getting paid really well. 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:02.230 So I was like, it was Nidal's thing. And 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:03.749 I'm like, listen, I'll invest with you. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:05.430 I'll put money behind you and I'll help 00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:07.270 as much

as I can, but I got to keep my 00:07:07.280 --> 00:07:09.749 job until this thing keeps going. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.950 >> Um, first day, grand opening, I think we 00:07:12.960 --> 00:07:14.710 did like four grand in sales, right? It 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:16.230 was was huge. Like, all right, cool. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:17.510 Bird Road in the middle of nowhere. 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:19.189 Flanigans wasn't there yet. Like there 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.390 was no one out there. And Monday we did 00:07:22.400 --> 00:07:24.870 I think less than $100 in sales. And 00:07:24.880 --> 00:07:26.550 that's when reality hit. I was like, "Oh 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.150 shit." I'm like, "Is this thing going to 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:28.790 work?" 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.110 >> Yeah. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.710 >> And you know, if if you're in the 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.070 industry and you know this, you know, 00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:34.070 the first year of Pincho, we did 200 00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:35.830 grand in sales. The whole year. 00:07:35.840 --> 00:07:36.710 >> The whole year. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:38.550 >> The whole year. Anybody in their right 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:40.230 mind would have shut that [ __ ] down 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.150 quick. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.749 >> Ignores Bliss. We thought it was great. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:44.710 >> Yeah. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.710 >> We're like, "Oh shit." Okay. Next year, 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:47.589 400 grand. 00:07:47.599 --> 00:07:50.629 >> Yeah. So ignorant, but naive. naive. We 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.070 kept going. You know, it was a lot of 00:07:52.080 --> 00:07:53.990 sweat and tears from Nadon, his wife, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.510 cuz they were the majority of the staff. 00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:57.189 They worked really hard the first few 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.909 years. And uh on the second year, he 00:07:59.919 --> 00:08:01.589 came to me. I had just gotten married to 00:08:01.599 --> 00:08:03.670 my wife. I was living in Brickhole. I 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.029 had a dope life. 00:08:07.039 --> 00:08:09.430 >> And uh he he called he called me and he 00:08:09.440 --> 00:08:11.749 was like, "Bro, uh I'm closing the 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.670 restaurant. I can't do this shit." And 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:14.790 I'm like, "What do you mean?" He goes, 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:16.550 "I just can't." The second year we did 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.110 360, right? So we almost doubled but it 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.029 was very hard. It takes a lot on you 00:08:21.039 --> 00:08:22.390 still. You can't pay yourself a proper 00:08:22.400 --> 00:08:24.309 salary. It's it's very hard. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:24.869 >> You can't 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.029 >> We're very underfunded, right? We never 00:08:27.039 --> 00:08:29.270 involved any investors. This was just 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:30.390 our money. 00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:32.149 >> And um I told him,

"Come to my 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:33.829 apartment." He came to my apartment and 00:08:33.839 --> 00:08:35.430 he's literally tears in his eyes. Him 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:36.870 and his little brother was there. And I 00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:38.949 told him, "Look, bro, we can't close. 00:08:38.959 --> 00:08:41.029 Everybody that walks through those doors 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.190 loves the food. We just have a marketing 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:44.470 problem. You know, back in the day, you 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:45.910 couldn't advertise with Facebook and 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:47.590 Instagram." You remember? Not that 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:48.150 great. No, 00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:49.509 >> no, no. It was nothing. It was nothing. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:50.790 It was like It was a lot of word of 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:52.710 mouth, a lot of flyers, a lot of street 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:54.630 teams. It was like the old school way of 00:08:54.640 --> 00:08:55.350 doing things. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.710 >> Got to pick up the phone and call 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:57.030 people. 00:08:57.040 --> 00:08:58.790 >> Yeah. We didn't have PR. We didn't have 00:08:58.800 --> 00:08:59.829 any of that stuff. So, I told him, 00:08:59.839 --> 00:09:00.310 "Look, 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.070 >> print, dude." 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.430 >> Print. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:05.509 >> Wow. I could [ __ ] about print for 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:06.630 hours. Sorry. 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:08.949 >> Absolutely. I told him, "Look, listen. I 00:09:08.959 --> 00:09:11.430 will fund whatever it is. I'll continue 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:13.190 pumping money. Here's I wrote him a 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.870 check." I told him, "Pay yourself 00:09:14.880 --> 00:09:16.310 whatever you need to pay yourself so you 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.030 can be mentally okay. I'll put my money 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:20.790 on this thing every month. I don't care 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:22.630 as long as we keep going." And we did 00:09:22.640 --> 00:09:24.470 that. In the third year was our break. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:25.910 Third year, we did almost a million 00:09:25.920 --> 00:09:26.389 dollars. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:27.030 >> Holy [ __ ] 00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:28.310 >> Yeah. Oh my god. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.150 >> We started We started winning uh best 00:09:30.160 --> 00:09:31.910 burger awards. 00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:33.269 >> You won. That's right. You won best 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.670 burger on the on the beach burger bash. 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:37.190 You won it three years. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:38.150 >> So three times. 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:40.630 >> Yeah. We are the only Miami brand, local 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:42.389 brand, to win it three times. Well, 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:44.550 first of all, it was Bobby Fle, Michael 00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:46.389 Simon winning every year. It was all 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.990 these celebrity chefs. And in 2015,

we 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.470 won and we broke that cycle. So, that 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.949 put us on the map. That like we took 00:09:54.959 --> 00:09:56.310 off. That that took us 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:57.990 >> Winning Burger Bash is huge. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.150 >> Yeah. It's like the Oscars of the burger 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:02.389 world, right? It's a big deal. Uh our 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.790 website almost crashed. We had like over 00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:07.750 a thousand franchise requests overnight. 00:10:07.760 --> 00:10:10.710 We got a shitload of PR and press and 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.470 like holy crap. That changed the game 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:14.550 for us. But that's not what took us to 00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:16.310 to that almost million. What that was 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:17.990 like the smaller awards. We won like 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.750 best French fries South Florida. We won 00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:21.590 like a local competition 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.630 >> like the new time stuff. 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:25.269 >> The new time stuff like Burger Beast 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.870 Seph came out and and and wrote about us 00:10:28.880 --> 00:10:32.230 and Burger Bash took us to way over like 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.389 um anyway. So that that was really the 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.110 the when we saw the brand going from the 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.150 300s to the million mark, what did we 00:10:40.160 --> 00:10:41.910 do? We said, "Fuck it. Let's open store 00:10:41.920 --> 00:10:43.110 number two. We have a we have a real 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:43.910 estate problem." 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:44.630 >> Oh my god. 00:10:44.640 --> 00:10:46.310 >> We have a So we went we opened Coral 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.389 Gables. Coral Gables opened up freaking 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.069 over a million dollars a year in sales. 00:10:50.079 --> 00:10:50.870 >> That's how it opened. 00:10:50.880 --> 00:10:52.230 >> Yeah, it opened over a million dollars 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.310 in sales. Small little hole in the wall, 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:54.630 you know. 00:10:54.640 --> 00:10:56.150 >> Yeah, small. But I go by there every so 00:10:56.160 --> 00:10:56.790 often, man. 00:10:56.800 --> 00:10:59.190 >> And today we It's due for a remodel. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.829 We're almost at 13 years now in that 00:11:01.839 --> 00:11:03.590 location. And man, then the brand took 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.750 off and that was that was how Pincho 00:11:05.760 --> 00:11:06.870 became Pincho. 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:09.750 >> Wow. You really like that that exploded. 00:11:09.760 --> 00:11:12.470 Now, you you actually designed this 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.230 place and you look at this place and 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.230 I've been reading about about your 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.990 perception on how you operate them, but 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.590 more like a user experience type of 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:20.389 place. Right. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.430 >> Right. Absolutely. What what is it about 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.389 your background in creating apps which 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:27.910 I'm going to ask you about NPro in a 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:29.509 minute by the way and a few other things 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.750 for those that don't your your your your 00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:33.509 creation of apps and these campaigns and 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.829 your marketing background. How did you 00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:37.990 apply that to really change it so you're 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.870 more than just a QSR type? 00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:42.630 >> It's very interesting. When we first did 00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:44.790 the first location, we didn't have a lot 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:47.430 of money. So, we went with a simplistic 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.710 design and I think I was very big at the 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.430 time in user experience. And I told my 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:54.790 partners, I'm like, man, I don't want 00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:57.110 this menu to be massive. I want eight 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:58.949 things on the menu. Eight things only. 00:11:58.959 --> 00:12:00.150 And they were like, what? It's called 00:12:00.160 --> 00:12:01.829 Pincho Factory. Like, it needs to have 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:04.069 like 10 pinchos. And I'm like, no, we're 00:12:04.079 --> 00:12:05.670 not going to have 10 pinchos. We're 00:12:05.680 --> 00:12:07.030 going to have three pinchos. Steak 00:12:07.040 --> 00:12:08.949 chicken. And at the time, it was a like 00:12:08.959 --> 00:12:11.269 a kufta, like a a ground beef. and we're 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:12.949 gonna have one burger on the menu. We're 00:12:12.959 --> 00:12:14.470 going to have one this because I just 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.870 wanted the experience to be amazing. I 00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:18.550 wanted anybody that walked in there 00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:20.150 didn't have like the Cheesecake Factory 00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:22.069 effect where you open a Bible and you're 00:12:22.079 --> 00:12:24.150 like, "What the [ __ ] do I order?" 00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:25.670 >> So, I didn't want that. I wanted the 00:12:25.680 --> 00:12:27.190 experience to be amazing. And I wanted 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:28.310 everybody, 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:30.230 >> no matter what they ordered, for them to 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.110 be like, 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.269 >> "Holy crap, that was amazing, and I'm 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:34.710 going to come back." It was by design. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.710 We did that. So, we went very simplistic 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.949 design, very simplistic menu, and it 00:12:38.959 --> 00:12:39.750 worked. It worked. 00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:41.430 >> Yeah. It's like the master of jack of 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:42.790 all trades, master at none. Right. 00:12:42.800 --> 00:12:43.430 >> Correct. Correct.

00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.110 >> So, it seems like to me everyone that 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.990 does a good job in in that world, the 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.990 QSR world does that one or two things 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.430 really, really well. Yeah. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:52.550 >> And they don't try to be everything and 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:53.829 everybody just be this. 00:12:53.839 --> 00:12:55.430 >> Every time we veered off from that 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.269 mentality, it bites us in the ass cuz 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.670 it's easy to love another burger that we 00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:01.509 created. It's it's easy to add things to 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.430 the menu and and and you all of us we 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.590 call it the menu creep. It creeps up and 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.430 then it becomes 30 items and then every 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.269 now and then we have to cut. And when we 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.030 cut, a ton of people get upset like, 00:13:11.040 --> 00:13:12.389 "Why did you guys remove the fritanga 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:13.750 burger?" Well, this is why we removed 00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:16.069 the frit burger is because we end up 00:13:16.079 --> 00:13:17.750 with like 30 items. And then when you 00:13:17.760 --> 00:13:18.790 have 30 items, 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:19.430 >> yeah, 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.990 >> to be consistent, consistency is the 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:23.829 hardest thing in this game. And God 00:13:23.839 --> 00:13:26.150 knows Petro has dropped the ball in 00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:28.710 terms of consistency. And we're 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.069 constantly evolving and constantly being 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:30.470 better. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:31.509 >> How do you stay on top of the 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:32.550 consistency aspect? 00:13:32.560 --> 00:13:34.150 >> Yeah. Well, the first thing that I did, 00:13:34.160 --> 00:13:37.829 I applied technology to it. I I've got I 00:13:37.839 --> 00:13:41.750 have this new uh back-end um software 00:13:41.760 --> 00:13:43.509 that helps with hospitality like 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.990 tremendous like I'm talking about every 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.389 time a customer goes into the restaurant 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.790 and orders online or in store in store 00:13:50.800 --> 00:13:52.389 they have to scan a QR code but if you 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:55.110 order online 1 hour later after you eat 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:56.470 you receive a text message how was your 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:58.230 experience from 1 to five. If you put 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.710 five, great. If you put four and below, 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:02.150 because it's a text message, it's gonna 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:04.389 ask you how come what what was any 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:05.990 feedback for the team. Whatever feedback 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:07.590 they write, that goes straight to me, 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.590 the CEO, and my director of operations 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.750 and my manager. So, the whole company 00:14:11.760 --> 00:14:15.590 sees every single mistake and then right 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:17.990 then and then the manager gets that text 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.750 message and then he replies and 00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:22.550 addresses it. So, now all of that data, 00:14:22.560 --> 00:14:25.030 it goes back into a a dashboard with the 00:14:25.040 --> 00:14:27.910 use of AI. It gives us exactly what's 00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:29.430 happening every restaurant and where we 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:29.910 need to. 00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:30.710 >> That's incredible. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.470 >> So I know that it's tied into your POS. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.310 >> Tied into the POS, tied into online 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.470 ordering. And it's incredible because 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.389 one, you save the guests right then and 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:40.470 then. Hospitality is everything for me. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:42.870 Everything. Ever since I've stepped back 00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:45.430 into my role, I'm just obsessed about 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.590 customer um experience. I want 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.189 everybody, we're in the business of 00:14:49.199 --> 00:14:50.949 hospitality. I'm not here just to make a 00:14:50.959 --> 00:14:52.790 buck. I'm here to make sure that when 00:14:52.800 --> 00:14:54.629 you walk into Pincho, you're gonna come 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.470 back and you're gonna come back multiple 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:57.430 times and you're gonna tell your 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.430 friends. So, I'm obsessing a lot about 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.269 that. And then this software is 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.430 incredible. That's one. Second, double 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:05.030 down on training. Training is 00:15:05.040 --> 00:15:07.269 everything, bro. Training is everything. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.990 We under in this new age, this new 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.310 employee base, this Gen Z, it's a whole 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.550 different world. To train these kids is 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:16.389 not the same as it used to be. Before 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.069 used to print things out, give it to 00:15:18.079 --> 00:15:19.430 people, they'll read it. Da da da. You 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.509 have a trainer. Now we have videos. We 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:23.670 have a what we call Pinchu University. 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:26.069 When you get on boarded, you get a login 00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:28.470 to Pinchu. Pinchu and then and then 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.069 depending on your position, there's all 00:15:30.079 --> 00:15:31.750 your training content, everything, all 00:15:31.760 --> 00:15:33.189 the courses that you need to take from 00:15:33.199 --> 00:15:35.430 leadership, from hospitality. We've 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.110 built an incredible system. 00:15:37.120 -->

00:15:38.629 >> And the training system is that you have 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:40.230 online, is it video based, you said? 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:41.269 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's all video. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:42.949 >> Nice. Did you use AI to build that? 00:15:42.959 --> 00:15:46.150 >> I did not. No. No. No. No. I had not 00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:47.910 like hey Jen or any of the other stuff 00:15:47.920 --> 00:15:50.629 no yet you because you can you I mean 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:51.829 you I'm an AI 00:15:51.839 --> 00:15:53.670 >> geek yeah yeah I haven't I haven't done 00:15:53.680 --> 00:15:55.910 that yet. Uh we use a lot of AI to clean 00:15:55.920 --> 00:15:58.949 up the content because training is is is 00:15:58.959 --> 00:16:01.430 an art. You you can get a document 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:02.949 that's three pages and no one's going to 00:16:02.959 --> 00:16:04.550 give a [ __ ] No one's going to read it. 00:16:04.560 --> 00:16:06.230 I'm like grab this document. Give me 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:07.670 everything that's really important and 00:16:07.680 --> 00:16:09.430 then put it in a one pager so people can 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:09.910 really 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:11.430 >> Oh my god, dude. Okay, I'm going to show 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:12.550 you a little something that I I was 00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:14.790 going to try and do and we I can't 00:16:14.800 --> 00:16:16.230 believe I'm going to say this. We could 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.310 decide maybe to cut this out or not or 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.790 keep it or keep it. But look, the um 00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:22.389 with with training like that, I I've 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:23.910 been I've been obsessing over it, too. 00:16:23.920 --> 00:16:25.670 And I found this this thing called Hey, 00:16:25.680 --> 00:16:28.150 Jen. And you basically film yourself 00:16:28.160 --> 00:16:29.590 talking for three minutes. Yeah. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.350 >> Whatever it is, your mannerisms, stuff 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:31.990 like that. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.749 >> Then you take your training manual and 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:35.670 you say, "Okay, make this into words 00:16:35.680 --> 00:16:37.829 that I can say on the video." And then 00:16:37.839 --> 00:16:40.150 you put the script onto the video of you 00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:43.110 and the AI replicates you doing the 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:44.310 training. 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:44.710 >> That's it. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:45.910 >> That's amazing. 00:16:45.920 --> 00:16:47.189 >> That's it. You don't have to pay models. 00:16:47.199 --> 00:16:48.230 You don't have to do everything. I mean, 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.670 you just have to do the work. 00:16:49.680 --> 00:16:50.069 >> Yeah. 00:16:50.079 --> 00:16:50.870 >> Holy [ __ ] 00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:53.030 >> dude. And and you can't even tell. And 00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:54.550 you can't even tell. Like that's what's 00:16:54.560 --> 00:16:56.230 going on right now across the board 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:57.509 where you see it online. I mean, you 00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:59.269 could see little things here and there, 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:00.710 but for a training video where 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.790 somebody's doing it, that's totally 00:17:02.800 --> 00:17:03.430 acceptable. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:07.189 >> Very cool. Anyways, I I mean that's the 00:17:07.199 --> 00:17:09.029 name of the game when you're scaling and 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.110 you're growing and you have Yeah. You 00:17:11.120 --> 00:17:12.630 got to be efficient, you know, and as 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.309 long as it feels like it's you, I think 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.029 that's a good thing. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:16.549 >> Yeah. No, cuz then sometimes it doesn't, 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:17.909 you know, it talks like a [ __ ] robot. 00:17:17.919 --> 00:17:19.750 You're like, "Fuck that, dude." But um 00:17:19.760 --> 00:17:21.270 let me ask you a question. So, you took 00:17:21.280 --> 00:17:22.230 your mom's recipe. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:22.549 >> Yeah. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:23.750 >> What do you sell more, Pinchos or 00:17:23.760 --> 00:17:25.270 burgers? 00:17:25.280 --> 00:17:27.350 >> Oh, man. So, it's funny. In Texas, we 00:17:27.360 --> 00:17:29.669 sell a lot more pinchos than burgers. In 00:17:29.679 --> 00:17:31.909 Miami is 50/50. 00:17:31.919 --> 00:17:32.390 >> Holy [ __ ] 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.470 >> 5050. Yeah. What did your mom say about 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:35.669 the pincho recipe? 00:17:35.679 --> 00:17:38.070 >> My mom in the beginning she was doing 00:17:38.080 --> 00:17:39.190 this. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.190 >> She's very proud of it now. In the in 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:42.710 the beginning, man, she would walk into 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:44.310 restaurants and she would call people 00:17:44.320 --> 00:17:46.789 out. She's like she would walk in and 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:47.669 like 00:17:47.679 --> 00:17:49.510 >> like, "Yo, this is not my recipe. 00:17:49.520 --> 00:17:50.870 >> Not my pizza recipe." 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:51.510 >> She's proud. 00:17:51.520 --> 00:17:53.430 >> Oh yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, she's very 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.270 proud of everything that we've built. I 00:17:55.280 --> 00:17:57.190 mean, we came to this country, man. A 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.110 lot of people don't understand what what 00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:00.789 goes through the mind of an immigrant. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:02.310 My parents are immigrants. They they 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:05.270 left a world behind to be here, right? 00:18:05.280 --> 00:18:06.870 You leave an entire world behind to come 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:08.710 to this country to We came here to build 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:09.430 a better life 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.669 >> from Brazil. When when did you come? 00:18:11.679 --> 00:18:14.230 >> 2000 Yeah. 20201. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:15.909 >> Wow. So you're you're a kid.

Oh, you're 00:18:15.919 --> 00:18:16.549 a teenager. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:17.909 >> Yeah. I was 15 16. 00:18:17.919 --> 00:18:18.470 >> There you go. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.630 >> Yeah. I basically I'm more than half my 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.470 life here. You know, I'm 25 years in 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.830 Miami. I'm 41. Um and we came here to 00:18:25.840 --> 00:18:27.270 build a better life. And when I told my 00:18:27.280 --> 00:18:29.110 parents I was going to quit my career to 00:18:29.120 --> 00:18:31.510 do Pichu, they had a heart attack. Like 00:18:31.520 --> 00:18:33.350 what do you mean? You told me you're 00:18:33.360 --> 00:18:34.070 crushing it. 00:18:34.080 --> 00:18:35.590 >> What is wrong with you? It's like you're 00:18:35.600 --> 00:18:36.710 working for Rice. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.150 >> Dude, I remember you back then. You were 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:38.630 crushing it. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:40.150 >> Yeah, we were doing amazing. I was doing 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.230 great making great money for my age. I 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:45.510 was spending all my money at space and 00:18:45.520 --> 00:18:47.750 >> and I live uh you know that's where I 00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:49.669 was spending all most of my time. But uh 00:18:49.679 --> 00:18:51.029 but yeah, she's very proud. 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.669 >> You treat Pinch like a character. I I 00:18:53.679 --> 00:18:54.070 read that 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.830 >> my imaginary friend. take me to that 00:18:55.840 --> 00:18:57.669 process and and how how did you realize 00:18:57.679 --> 00:18:59.750 that treating something like like a 00:18:59.760 --> 00:19:01.510 living breathing character and creature 00:19:01.520 --> 00:19:03.190 is how you would take care of a business 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.909 because people don't I love my kids I 00:19:05.919 --> 00:19:06.950 have my life 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.870 >> but you know your business is also you 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:10.390 got to treat it like a Elon Musk you 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.310 gota it's like another child you have to 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:13.270 you have to you have to you have to 00:19:13.280 --> 00:19:14.390 treat it like a 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.950 >> you have to cater to it every single day 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:17.590 >> 100% 00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:18.870 >> when did you realize you needed to do 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:19.190 that 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.549 >> you know I think right in the beginning 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.230 when we started growing we were like 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.310 okay what what's not working here you 00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:26.310 know what what's not working at Pinchro 00:19:26.320 --> 00:19:28.310 cuz the first two years was rough. 00:19:28.320 --> 00:19:28.789 >> Yeah. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.510 >> And then we we started thinking, okay, 00:19:31.520 --> 00:19:35.110 if Pincho was a person, how would he 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:36.710 because

we we knew for a fact it was a 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:38.950 he because the the three co-founders, 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.909 you know, we we were we were guys. We 00:19:41.919 --> 00:19:43.350 said we have to start thinking about as 00:19:43.360 --> 00:19:44.870 a person, you know, what does Pincho 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.029 like to listen to? How does he like to 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:48.870 treat his friends? You know, what does 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.510 he like to wear? What does he drive? And 00:19:51.520 --> 00:19:53.029 when you put yourself in that position, 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:54.630 you start making decisions slightly 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.070 different and you start treating your 00:19:56.080 --> 00:19:57.830 brand as a human being. The thing is 00:19:57.840 --> 00:19:59.110 what a lot of people don't understand 00:19:59.120 --> 00:20:00.549 and I know me and you spoke a little bit 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.029 about that. It's incredibly difficult to 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.470 build a brand that has soul and and 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:07.990 while you're building a family and you 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.510 have to separate these two worlds and 00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:13.270 it's very difficult. It's not an easy 00:20:13.280 --> 00:20:16.870 thing and Pincho has now over over 200 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:19.430 employees close to 300 people. you know, 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.150 you it's a lot of responsibility. It is. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.710 So, whenever I step into that role, I 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.630 think, okay, it's very different in my 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.510 life. I I I have to cater to 300 people. 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:31.830 It's, you know, a lot of the way that I 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:34.470 raise my actual child is the way that I 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.549 set values at Pincho because I always 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.870 say this, the culture in your company is 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:40.390 going to grow like a kid, whether you 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:42.390 like it or not. So, either you instill 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.830 values in it or you don't. So, I instill 00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:47.909 values in Pincho as this kid and I'm 00:20:47.919 --> 00:20:49.669 like, Pincho, this is how this is how I 00:20:49.679 --> 00:20:51.590 want you to behave. This is how I want 00:20:51.600 --> 00:20:53.590 you to look. I I don't want you to do 00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:54.950 this. I don't want you to do that. And 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.510 these are the rules. And that Pincho 00:20:57.520 --> 00:20:59.110 relays that message to the rest of the 00:20:59.120 --> 00:21:01.669 company. And that's how you raise 00:21:01.679 --> 00:21:01.990 >> Yeah. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.789 >> a healthy company. Because if you don't, 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:05.990 what happens if you don't if you don't 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.669 give your you if you don't instill 00:21:07.679 --> 00:21:09.350 values in

your children, what happens? 00:21:09.360 --> 00:21:10.230 They're going to grow up whether you 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.390 like it or not. They're either by luck 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.110 and by God become great humans or 00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:17.029 they're going to end up being not the 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.350 best. So that's how I look at it. And 00:21:19.360 --> 00:21:21.510 ever since I started doing that has 00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:22.710 helped me tremendously. You know, 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.149 >> dude, I remember having that 00:21:24.159 --> 00:21:25.510 conversation with you. It's hard to 00:21:25.520 --> 00:21:27.590 balance a successful life. 00:21:27.600 --> 00:21:28.230 >> Oh yeah. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.789 >> A personal life and at the same time a 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.270 successful business. And I I I've sat 00:21:33.280 --> 00:21:35.110 across uh right here with a few people 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:36.870 and it's like how do you balance 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.470 everything? And they always tell me the 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.310 same thing that I believe. There is no 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:41.830 balance. You just got to go full 00:21:41.840 --> 00:21:43.190 throttle on both 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.909 >> and and and just and just make it work. 00:21:45.919 --> 00:21:47.590 >> And that's okay because if you truly 00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:49.430 want to be great at something, you have 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.750 to give it your all. And sometimes, you 00:21:51.760 --> 00:21:54.230 know, as much as I it sucks to say this, 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.390 the family suffers in different moments 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.310 and stages of your business. So, if 00:21:58.320 --> 00:21:59.669 you're in a stage of your business where 00:21:59.679 --> 00:22:02.149 your business really needs you, you got 00:22:02.159 --> 00:22:04.950 to give 90% to that. Guess what? Your 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.190 family ends up paying the price for it. 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.430 But it cannot be forever. and you have 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:10.710 to sit down with your family. I'm like, 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.149 I just had that happen to me and I'm 00:22:12.159 --> 00:22:13.990 like, guys, I gotta move to Houston for 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.789 two months and it's going to suck, but I 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.230 gotta go be there for my business. I got 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.310 to go build and help because it takes a 00:22:20.320 --> 00:22:21.590 lot of effort to build a brand from the 00:22:21.600 --> 00:22:22.149 ground up. 00:22:22.159 --> 00:22:22.630 >> Yeah. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:23.990 >> And just being upfront about it. But 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.190 even when you do, it's still hard 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:25.510 because 00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:26.549 >> it's super hard because you miss them 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:28.470 too when it's this is why I'm doing it, 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.870 etc. Then and then vice versa. When your 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.029 family needs you, bro, whatever it 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:33.430 takes. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:34.870 >> Whatever it takes. Exactly. If my family 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.110 needs me, guess what? my business guys 00:22:37.120 --> 00:22:39.669 figure it out because my kid needs me, 00:22:39.679 --> 00:22:43.190 my wife needs me. So you it again you 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.669 see you see that pinch is another child. 00:22:45.679 --> 00:22:48.310 >> Your business is just another child and 00:22:48.320 --> 00:22:49.750 that's what it is. And then your kids 00:22:49.760 --> 00:22:50.630 are like 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:52.549 >> why do you keep spending time with that 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:53.830 child? 00:22:53.840 --> 00:22:55.830 >> It's like because that child feeds you. 00:22:55.840 --> 00:22:58.870 >> Yeah. No, of course. And and listen 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.950 seeing that seeing what you did with the 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:03.430 first one bootstrapped it went through. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:06.950 >> Yeah. You hit number two, Coral Gables. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.070 Yeah. Blows up. Then you started 00:23:10.080 --> 00:23:12.070 expanding. Yeah. Like I'm sure by then 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:12.789 you're like 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.549 >> That's when I I had just gotten married 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.070 to my wife, Natalya. Shout out Natalia. 00:23:16.080 --> 00:23:18.149 I love you. Uh and I told her, you know, 00:23:18.159 --> 00:23:20.310 I was living this, you know, incredible 00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:22.310 life, making great money, living in 00:23:22.320 --> 00:23:24.950 Bickl. I was like, it was amazing. And 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.789 then I told her, "Listen, you know, I 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.190 got to quit my career and I'm going to 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:31.830 go build, you know, this incredible, 00:23:31.840 --> 00:23:35.190 beautiful Colombian uh human." And I was 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:36.789 like, she goes, "Yeah, whatever it 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:37.909 takes." And I'm like, "Whatever it 00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:39.110 takes." She's like, "Yeah, all right, 00:23:39.120 --> 00:23:40.149 cool. We're going to subleasase this 00:23:40.159 --> 00:23:41.350 apartment. We're going to go move back 00:23:41.360 --> 00:23:43.590 with my parents because I'm I'm going 00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:46.149 from getting paid over 200 grand a year, 00:23:46.159 --> 00:23:48.230 making good money." Back then, I was 26 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:48.950 years old. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:50.470 >> That's a lot of money back then, dude. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:52.630 >> To go get paid zero, you know, the first 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.470 year of Pra got paid zero. The second 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:55.669 year of Pinch, I think I paid myself 00:23:55.679 --> 00:23:58.789 like 15 grand, you know, $1,000 a month. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.789 The third year of Pra, I paid

myself 30 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:02.789 G's. Like that was my life, you know. I 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.510 had savings and all that, but uh that 00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:07.510 was the moment that I went to grow this 00:24:07.520 --> 00:24:08.870 thing and I said, "Let's go grow 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:11.990 Pincho." And uh we went for it, man. We 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.789 we hired somebody to help us like 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.710 rightsize the business, make sure that 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.470 we were profitable because we had great 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.750 sales, but we weren't profitable. We 00:24:19.760 --> 00:24:21.029 weren't managing our food costs 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.390 correctly. We weren't managing the labor 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.830 correctly. You had no you had no 00:24:23.840 --> 00:24:26.070 restaurant experience and you just 00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:29.190 forced your way through grit 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:30.950 >> and rolling up your sleeve. You forced 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:32.549 yourself into a multi-million dollar 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.149 business. It's like [ __ ] it. Let's go. 00:24:34.159 --> 00:24:35.909 >> Let's just go. Just figure it out, man. 00:24:35.919 --> 00:24:37.990 And I think that's what makes the best 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.029 entrepreneurs, the people that say, 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:40.630 "Fuck it, bro. Just figure it out." And 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.149 I think people that have that mentality 00:24:42.159 --> 00:24:43.830 just are resourceful. And I think the 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:45.590 three of us at the time, well, the four 00:24:45.600 --> 00:24:46.870 of us because Crystal was part of the 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:48.789 team, um, we did that all the time. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.070 Let's just figure it out. And then 00:24:50.080 --> 00:24:52.230 Adrien Sanchez, which you know, Adrian 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.909 joined in year one. Right after year 00:24:53.919 --> 00:24:55.510 one, he was part of the team. Let's 00:24:55.520 --> 00:24:57.110 figure it out. We decided to franchise 00:24:57.120 --> 00:24:58.070 to grow. 00:24:58.080 --> 00:25:00.070 >> We grew a free stores via franchise and 00:25:00.080 --> 00:25:02.070 the rest via company owned stores. And 00:25:02.080 --> 00:25:04.630 man, that was a very that was a huge 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:06.310 learning lesson for us, right? You know, 00:25:06.320 --> 00:25:08.310 >> but it was it was a way to to expand the 00:25:08.320 --> 00:25:09.269 brand name. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:10.070 >> Yeah, of course. 00:25:10.080 --> 00:25:10.950 >> To multiple locations. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.470 >> We didn't have the capital, you know. By 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.070 then we had I had saved up some more 00:25:14.080 --> 00:25:15.750 money you know but a lot of the money 00:25:15.760 --> 00:25:18.710 that I that I had was I I had to expend 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.190 spend money on myself and my family. So 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:23.909 we said okay let's grow this thing via 00:25:23.919 --> 00:25:26.470 franchising because it's just really a 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:29.510 way of finan it's a finance mechanism to 00:25:29.520 --> 00:25:31.350 help you grow. That's what it is. as 00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:33.590 using other people's money to grow the 00:25:33.600 --> 00:25:34.870 brand and we did that 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:35.830 >> collect brand fees 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:37.590 >> and collect royalties 00:25:37.600 --> 00:25:39.590 >> and then we opened a few joint ventures 00:25:39.600 --> 00:25:43.110 that we own right was ours uh Sunrise 00:25:43.120 --> 00:25:45.750 was ours we open Flagler was ours and 00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:48.070 then the rest were franchise stores and 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:51.750 then man it it took off but lots of 00:25:51.760 --> 00:25:54.070 learning lessons when you run one store 00:25:54.080 --> 00:25:56.149 it's easy you're there every day you run 00:25:56.159 --> 00:25:58.149 two restaurants still kind of easy 00:25:58.159 --> 00:25:59.350 because you're splitting yourself 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:01.750 between two. When you open three, that's 00:26:01.760 --> 00:26:03.350 when the wheels come off. 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:04.549 >> You know, I read that you said that 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.470 somewhere. What's the difference between 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:08.230 the two and then the three in? Why did 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:09.190 the wheels come off? 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:10.950 >> Because when you get to three, you can't 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:13.669 split your time equally the best way. If 00:26:13.679 --> 00:26:15.269 you don't have strong systems and 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.110 procedures and training and all of the 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:18.710 above, you need to make sure that you're 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:20.230 not needed. Because if you're needed all 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.029 the time, you can never grow. So, we 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:24.470 were very lucky that we've hired a 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:27.029 director of operations early on and you 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.510 we're paying him almost four times what 00:26:29.520 --> 00:26:31.510 we're paying ourselves. Um, and we made 00:26:31.520 --> 00:26:32.950 that decision like, okay, this is what 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:33.350 we need. 00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:33.990 >> Did it help you? 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.070 >> It was amazing. It was single-handedly 00:26:36.080 --> 00:26:37.590 the only reason we were able to grow. It 00:26:37.600 --> 00:26:38.870 was because he came on board. He was 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.590 like, where's your training documents? 00:26:41.600 --> 00:26:44.149 >> You're looking at them. 00:26:44.159 --> 00:26:46.070 Where's where where are your recipes? 00:26:46.080 --> 00:26:48.549 Oh, the doll's mind. You know uh how 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:50.870 many I remember this. It's like how many 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.510 uh

uh we were we were writing down the 00:26:53.520 --> 00:26:55.110 training and we're like uh how many 00:26:55.120 --> 00:26:57.190 ounces of this and then the dog goes uh 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.630 two gloop gloops. I'm like 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:02.870 >> two gloop. He goes yeah glue gloop. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:05.430 >> I was like bro that is not a way of 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.430 doing this. It was like and so we we 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.070 systemized the whole brand and we grew 00:27:10.080 --> 00:27:11.990 man and we were successful and and 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.789 Pincho Factory became u a Miami loved 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:15.190 brand. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.990 >> Nice. So you expanded and it and and 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.909 exploded into to to I don't know how 00:27:19.919 --> 00:27:21.990 many I remember six brands or something 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.830 >> like six six stores at the time. 00:27:23.840 --> 00:27:25.909 >> Six at a time but then you you then 00:27:25.919 --> 00:27:27.909 consolidated. No like you you at some 00:27:27.919 --> 00:27:29.750 point I don't think it was matching what 00:27:29.760 --> 00:27:30.630 you envisioned. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:32.710 >> Right. So we got to eight units at that 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:34.630 point. We had eight restaurants. We 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:36.070 opened a franchise in Orlando. 00:27:36.080 --> 00:27:38.470 Franchisee didn't work out. We just had 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:40.070 different values and then we said hey 00:27:40.080 --> 00:27:41.909 listen this is not for us. So we parted 00:27:41.919 --> 00:27:43.590 ways amicably. He converted the 00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:45.350 restaurant to something else. But man, I 00:27:45.360 --> 00:27:47.510 just didn't like the franchise game. Um 00:27:47.520 --> 00:27:50.390 because quality is is inconsistency, 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.830 right? When people say, "Oh, your 00:27:51.840 --> 00:27:53.110 quality has changed." It's not because 00:27:53.120 --> 00:27:56.630 we decided to buy lesser quality beef. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.389 We've always bought great quality beef. 00:27:58.399 --> 00:27:59.909 It's just because people are not as 00:27:59.919 --> 00:28:02.070 consistent. And then I didn't want to do 00:28:02.080 --> 00:28:04.549 that anymore. So I went to my my 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:06.070 investors, my board, and said, "Hey 00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:08.070 guys, look, we're right after COVID, 00:28:08.080 --> 00:28:09.669 right? I had just I had just stepped in 00:28:09.679 --> 00:28:11.269 as CEO of the brand because I was 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:13.669 naturally the CMO for a long time. And 00:28:13.679 --> 00:28:15.750 uh we'll talk about that mistake in a 00:28:15.760 --> 00:28:17.510 bit, but I said, "I don't want to do 00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:18.950 this anymore." And like, "What do you 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:20.310 mean?" And they're like, "I want to buy 00:28:20.320 --> 00:28:21.830 all my restaurants back." They're like, 00:28:21.840 --> 00:28:23.029 "Dude, is this going to take a ton of 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:24.389 money?" You know, we owned three 00:28:24.399 --> 00:28:26.950 restaurants fully. No, four. No, two 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.510 fully. And then two were joint ventures 00:28:29.520 --> 00:28:31.750 and then the rest were were franchises. 00:28:31.760 --> 00:28:33.110 And I said, "Yeah, I'm just going to go 00:28:33.120 --> 00:28:34.470 find some money. I'm going to talk to 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:36.470 people. We have a really great brand, 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:38.710 but this franchising game is just a pain 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:40.470 in the ass." And they said, "Yeah, sure. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.070 If that's what you want to do, we we're 00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:44.870 behind you." Mind you, my board is all 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:46.470 franchise guys, right? Like all my 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.870 investors are super proheavy franchise. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:49.190 You know, 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:49.990 >> today, 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.950 >> back then, back then, Andy Howard, he 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.149 bought um Wing Stop at 30 units, took it 00:28:56.159 --> 00:28:58.149 to 500. That was my first check into 00:28:58.159 --> 00:28:59.830 Pincho. No way. Andy Howard, he's from 00:28:59.840 --> 00:29:01.990 Miami. He's he's the owner of Huey 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.750 Mcoo's Chicken Tenders, if you guys have 00:29:03.760 --> 00:29:05.909 seen it. I had Jim Mises from Blaze 00:29:05.919 --> 00:29:08.549 Pizza and I had Ned, which he's an early 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:10.230 on investor in Five Guys. These guys are 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:11.830 all franchise guys and I had to tell 00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:13.029 them I don't want to franchise anymore. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.389 It was like a tough conversation. 00:29:14.399 --> 00:29:15.590 >> Oh Jesus Christ. It was 00:29:15.600 --> 00:29:17.510 >> and they all money behind this thing to 00:29:17.520 --> 00:29:19.110 grow a via franchise. I'm like I don't 00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:20.549 want to do it. And they're like why? And 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:23.190 I'm like because I need quality. I need 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:24.789 consistency. I need to take care of my 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:26.710 team. I'm not proud of going to work 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.070 every day and just dealing with these 00:29:28.080 --> 00:29:30.789 freaking headaches. And shout out to all 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:32.710 these three amazing folks. And they 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.389 said, "We're behind you. We invested in 00:29:34.399 --> 00:29:36.149 you actually." And I love that. Yeah, 00:29:36.159 --> 00:29:38.070 man. And I went and I started talking to 00:29:38.080 --> 00:29:39.830 a ton of investors. I probably had 00:29:39.840 --> 00:29:40.630 conversations with you. 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:42.149 >> We talked about it. You came by the warf 00:29:42.159 -->

00:29:43.590 when the warf just took off. It was 00:29:43.600 --> 00:29:45.830 like, "Oh, Emy's got money now." 00:29:45.840 --> 00:29:47.350 >> I'm like, "Hey, Emmy, do you want to do 00:29:47.360 --> 00:29:47.669 you want to 00:29:47.679 --> 00:29:48.789 >> No, you must have talked to a lot of 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:49.190 people, man. 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:52.230 >> I talked to like maybe 60 70 people. Uh, 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:54.789 we got three solid offers. Uh, one of 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.389 them was to buy the company outright 00:29:56.399 --> 00:29:58.149 where all my investors would make their 00:29:58.159 --> 00:30:00.070 money back. Plus, uh, I convinced them 00:30:00.080 --> 00:30:01.269 not to take that offer. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:01.990 >> Oh my gosh. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:03.669 >> And, uh, and then I partner up with 00:30:03.679 --> 00:30:05.990 Saver Fund. Saver Fund, incredible human 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.510 beings. I think is one of the best 00:30:07.520 --> 00:30:09.350 private equity growth equity uh 00:30:09.360 --> 00:30:12.310 companies in in the country. All they do 00:30:12.320 --> 00:30:14.630 is invest in small brands and help them 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:17.750 get to 30 40 units. Uh but they mentor 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:19.190 you. They give you access to real 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:21.590 estate, construction. It's everything is 00:30:21.600 --> 00:30:23.830 done in that office. All I have to hire 00:30:23.840 --> 00:30:25.750 is marketing and operation which is your 00:30:25.760 --> 00:30:27.830 which is your wheelhouse. Yeah. So they 00:30:27.840 --> 00:30:29.110 help me find real estate, they help me 00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:30.789 with construction, they help me with HR, 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.029 with finance. All of that's done by an 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:35.830 incredible team in Salt Lake City. And 00:30:35.840 --> 00:30:37.590 they're amazing, bro. It's the best. 00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:38.310 >> How did you meet them? 00:30:38.320 --> 00:30:40.149 >> At a conference in New York. I was just 00:30:40.159 --> 00:30:40.470 at 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:42.549 >> You're going to conferences 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:43.190 like like 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:45.190 >> to go speak to No, I was invited to 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:45.909 speak. 00:30:45.919 --> 00:30:46.230 >> Okay. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:47.669 >> I was invited to speak at a conference 00:30:47.679 --> 00:30:49.909 in New York by this guy named Ashish. He 00:30:49.919 --> 00:30:51.750 met me in Miami. He goes, "I I love your 00:30:51.760 --> 00:30:53.990 story, bro. You got to come at the [ __ ] 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.950 bank." And he I was there. He goes, "You 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:57.909 got to meet these people." And I'm like, 00:30:57.919 --> 00:31:00.310 "All right, cool." I met them. And then, 00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:02.149 you know, Andrew Smith is really 00:31:02.159 --> 00:31:04.149 incredible human, but he was too nice. 00:31:04.159 --> 00:31:05.350 So, I was like, "Oh, man. this guy's 00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:07.590 maybe just really good salesman. I I 00:31:07.600 --> 00:31:09.350 don't know, you know. But we became 00:31:09.360 --> 00:31:11.830 friends and then we continued talking, 00:31:11.840 --> 00:31:14.070 you know, one year that was like six, 00:31:14.080 --> 00:31:16.470 they came to Miami, they loved the food. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:19.029 I went and they wanted majority and I 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:20.789 was like, "Hell no, I'm not doing a deal 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:22.310 with anybody where I'd lose control of 00:31:22.320 --> 00:31:24.149 the company." I went to Salt Lake City 00:31:24.159 --> 00:31:26.470 and then I met them there and then I met 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:28.310 the founders that they backed and I was 00:31:28.320 --> 00:31:30.230 like, "Holy [ __ ] dude. This is 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:31.990 amazing." Like, imagine getting all the 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:33.990 support overnight and then I did my 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:35.750 diligence. I called all other founders 00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:37.430 and I'm like, "Who are these people? Are 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.430 they good?" And they're like, "Aut them, 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:40.549 they're even better." 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:40.950 >> Oh my god. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:42.070 >> Once you become partners with these 00:31:42.080 --> 00:31:43.190 guys, they're even better. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:43.750 >> So then 00:31:43.760 --> 00:31:45.750 >> it's amazing having the right partner. 00:31:45.760 --> 00:31:47.830 >> Yeah. And but then co happened. 00:31:47.840 --> 00:31:49.029 >> Oh no. 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:51.830 >> We were at the at the about to receive 00:31:51.840 --> 00:31:53.350 this investment and they were like, 00:31:53.360 --> 00:31:55.269 "We're not writing checks. You're going 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:57.669 to have to figure this [ __ ] out and and 00:31:57.679 --> 00:31:59.269 then let us know." You know, they you 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:00.630 know, well, they didn't tell me that. I 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:03.509 knew that. No one was writing checks. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:04.470 the world froze 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:07.269 >> and then um I remember that was that you 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:08.950 know one of the questions you asked is 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:10.470 like when was the first time I felt like 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.750 a real CEO 00:32:11.760 --> 00:32:13.830 >> like the first decision it was co 00:32:13.840 --> 00:32:14.230 >> really 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.549 >> co yeah cuz everybody all my investors 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:17.990 all my friends said 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.310 >> lay off everybody furlow everyone just 00:32:20.320 --> 00:32:22.230 freaking don't worry about this thing 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.269 and I was like I'm not going to do that 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:27.110 >> that was your first major decision 00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:28.470

>> I am not going to do that yeah I went 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:30.310 against my entire board I went against 00:32:30.320 --> 00:32:31.430 everybody I'm like I'm not going to 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:33.029 furlow not even one 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:34.789 If everybody's going down, it's not just 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:36.310 Pinchu, it's the whole world. We're all 00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:38.149 going to go down swinging together and I 00:32:38.159 --> 00:32:40.149 don't give a [ __ ] I got on a there was 00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:41.990 no Zoom back then. There was um I think 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:43.269 it was Google Hangout. I don't know. We 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:44.789 got on a video call. We never done video 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:47.509 calls. Yeah. Skype. Shout out to Skype. 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.350 RIP. Um 00:32:49.360 --> 00:32:54.389 >> and then I I I told my managers I was 00:32:54.399 --> 00:32:56.470 >> He said RIP. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:59.669 >> I had to uh What a missed moment, dude. 00:32:59.679 --> 00:33:00.870 Like really, bro? You could have 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:03.750 literally been the best conference, 00:33:03.760 --> 00:33:06.230 video conference in the world doing it 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.950 >> in the world. Anyway, so I called my 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:10.630 managers and I told them, 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:12.710 >> listen, I know you guys are scared. I am 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:14.789 scared. I can't afford to pay everybody. 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:16.789 You know, we had like 180 people at the 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:18.710 time or so. I said, "If you're a 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:21.190 manager, we are going to I'm going to 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.509 take care of you. I if you get sick, I 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:25.110 will send you your pay, okay? 00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:26.230 >> Don't worry about it." You know, two 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.909 weeks because it was 14 days. Remember, 00:33:27.919 --> 00:33:29.909 >> you guys were able to Oh, yeah. 14 days 00:33:29.919 --> 00:33:30.870 to flatten the curve. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:32.950 >> Yeah. Yeah. And then I'm like, but for 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:34.549 the team, here's what we're going to do. 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:35.669 We're a restaurant. I'm not going to 00:33:35.679 --> 00:33:37.029 furlow anybody. Nobody's going to get 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:38.789 fired. We're we're we're going through 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:40.549 the desert. We have x amount of water. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:42.470 We're just going to share it between us. 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:43.990 You might gain instead of 40 hours, you 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.070 get 30, you get 25 this week. But we're 00:33:46.080 --> 00:33:48.310 going to take employees, figure out how 00:33:48.320 --> 00:33:49.590 to pay your landlords in your car 00:33:49.600 --> 00:33:51.269 payments. But here's what we're going to 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:53.750 do. Every employee that gets sick and 00:33:53.760 --> 00:33:55.430 gets sent home, we're going to send them 00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:57.590 food every day. We have rice, beans, 00:33:57.600 --> 00:33:59.590 chicken. No one's gonna go hungry. If 00:33:59.600 --> 00:34:01.669 you have kids and they're not in school, 00:34:01.679 --> 00:34:03.029 we're gonna give you food for you and 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:04.310 your for your kids. You can take food 00:34:04.320 --> 00:34:05.669 for your kids every day. If you have 00:34:05.679 --> 00:34:06.870 seven kids, I don't care. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:08.310 >> Like, we're not gonna go hungry, bro. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.389 We're a restaurant and and then this is 00:34:10.399 --> 00:34:11.589 what we're going to do. And then we'll 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:12.230 figure it out. 00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:14.389 >> And you did this as you still had 00:34:14.399 --> 00:34:15.190 franchises. 00:34:15.200 --> 00:34:16.869 >> I still had franchises. Still had 00:34:16.879 --> 00:34:18.069 everything. I picked up the phone. I 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:19.109 called everybody. I'm like, "This is 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:21.109 what we're doing." And then I said, 00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:22.629 >> I don't know if you knew this, we were 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:24.790 the first brand to offer a discount to 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:26.950 healthcare uh hospital workers. first 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:28.149 brand. That's amazing 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:29.109 >> because my friend in DC 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:31.430 >> I remember you being on socials and 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:32.310 being active. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:34.950 >> My friend in DC said he called me. He 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:37.669 goes, "I'm giving everybody free I'm 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:39.349 giving healthcare workers, hospital 00:34:39.359 --> 00:34:40.550 workers free food." I'm like, "Fuck, 00:34:40.560 --> 00:34:42.389 man. I can't do that. It's going to 00:34:42.399 --> 00:34:43.510 break me." I'm like, "I'll give 00:34:43.520 --> 00:34:45.510 everybody 50% off just to help the 00:34:45.520 --> 00:34:47.510 community." I went to social and I said 00:34:47.520 --> 00:34:49.829 that. It went viral. Every single person 00:34:49.839 --> 00:34:51.589 in Miami came to help out and show love 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.230 for Patron Return. My sales went like 00:34:54.240 --> 00:34:56.869 this. 7% drop. That's all my sales 00:34:56.879 --> 00:34:57.270 dropped. 00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:57.750 >> That's amazing. 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.710 >> And then my my investors called and um 00:35:00.720 --> 00:35:02.550 the people sorry long story but the 00:35:02.560 --> 00:35:06.069 people from Utah called how how was like 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:08.550 my sales dropped like 7%. They're like 00:35:08.560 --> 00:35:12.069 70. I'm like no no no seven 7%. And then 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:13.910 they're like did co get there? And I'm 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.790 like yeah co's here. And anyway long 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:18.870 story

short man I was able to raise the 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:19.589 money from them. 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.430 >> Can I just say thank god Florida opened 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:21.990 up first? 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:22.630 >> Thank god 00:35:22.640 --> 00:35:23.589 >> bro. 00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:25.349 >> Thank god. Yeah. Yeah. I remember 00:35:25.359 --> 00:35:26.870 everybody in their mothers was coming to 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:28.710 Florida. Everybody wanted to be here. 00:35:28.720 --> 00:35:30.150 That was a huge help. That was a huge 00:35:30.160 --> 00:35:30.470 help. 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:31.030 >> That was, 00:35:31.040 --> 00:35:32.069 >> you know, that changed my life. 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:33.829 >> But we did we did all the right things. 00:35:33.839 --> 00:35:34.310 >> You did. 00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:37.270 >> And we raised all the money and I bought 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.030 every single Pincho restaurant back. 00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:40.310 >> You there was a lot of people to make 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:41.589 that happen, right? Like you had to 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:42.790 speak to a lot of people. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:45.109 >> I had to first of all convince everyone 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:47.030 that was making money that they need to 00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:48.630 sell me the restaurants back cuz my 00:35:48.640 --> 00:35:50.630 franchises were successful franchises. 00:35:50.640 --> 00:35:52.550 No one was losing money. Imagine me 00:35:52.560 --> 00:35:54.230 going to you Emmy. Hey, Emmy, you're my 00:35:54.240 --> 00:35:56.550 franchisee in Penrook Pines. I know 00:35:56.560 --> 00:35:58.390 you're making 20 grand a month. Uh, I 00:35:58.400 --> 00:35:59.589 want your business back, but I want it 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.950 at this cost. It was a very difficult uh 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:05.750 but my luckily for me, two franchises 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:08.230 were my friends. Two of them weren't. 00:36:08.240 --> 00:36:09.829 And I just sat down with everybody and I 00:36:09.839 --> 00:36:11.109 laid it and I'm like, "Look guys, it's 00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:12.630 co we don't know what's going to happen. 00:36:12.640 --> 00:36:14.150 I have an opportunity to make the 00:36:14.160 --> 00:36:15.750 company better. I have an opportunity to 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:17.190 give you your money back plus." 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:18.790 >> Yeah. So, at least they get out 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:20.470 positive. So, of course, everybody 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:22.230 everybody made money and everybody said 00:36:22.240 --> 00:36:25.589 yes. And I had to get 27 signatures from 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:27.829 everybody to close this. And we closed 00:36:27.839 --> 00:36:29.270 in September of 2021. 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:30.950 >> You've been big on relationships, too, 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:33.030 man. Like, that that's probably the 00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:34.150 reason you were able to pull that 00:36:34.160 --> 00:36:35.190 because of all your relationships, 00:36:35.200 --> 00:36:35.670 though. 00:36:35.680 --> 00:36:37.750 >> I mean, look, I'm a I'm a I'm sure 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:39.510 you're like that. My dad used to 00:36:39.520 --> 00:36:40.710 relationships are more than 00:36:40.720 --> 00:36:41.990 >> My dad used to tell me this, you know, 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.990 my dad just recently passed away. The 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.829 worst thing in the world. No, thank you. 00:36:45.839 --> 00:36:48.069 He used to tell me, "It takes 25 years 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:49.910 for you to build a reputation, it takes 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:51.349 five minutes for you to destroy it." 00:36:51.359 --> 00:36:52.069 >> Oh yeah. 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:53.829 >> So, oh man, I'm getting emotional. 00:36:53.839 --> 00:36:54.230 Anyway, 00:36:54.240 --> 00:36:55.349 >> man, it happens. 00:36:55.359 --> 00:36:57.990 >> You know, and then u I'm up very big on 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.910 if I tell you this is what I'm going to 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:02.550 do. I don't d I have no contracts with a 00:37:02.560 --> 00:37:03.670 lot of people. I'm like I shake hands 00:37:03.680 --> 00:37:04.870 with people. I'm like this is what I am. 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:06.390 It's my word, you know? It's it's my 00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:08.069 reputation whether I live here. I'm part 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:10.790 of this community and and and it's done 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:11.349 very well for me. 00:37:11.359 --> 00:37:13.030 >> Oddly enough, I mean, look, 00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:13.430 >> yeah, 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:15.349 >> I'm I'm the same way. So, I sympathize 00:37:15.359 --> 00:37:17.670 with you. Look, my my partner and I, we 00:37:17.680 --> 00:37:19.990 have a massive business. We don't have a 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:20.630 great 00:37:20.640 --> 00:37:21.430 >> Alex. Yeah. 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:22.069 >> No [ __ ] 00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:22.550 >> Yeah, man. 00:37:22.560 --> 00:37:24.069 >> Alex, what's up, bro? 00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:27.349 >> No, we don't. Like, and just we're on 00:37:27.359 --> 00:37:29.030 eight, we're on eight years now. Nine 00:37:29.040 --> 00:37:30.069 years almost. 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:31.430 >> Those are the best. Those are the best 00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:31.910 relation. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:32.950 >> You have to look at the paper. I mean, 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:34.230 no, you should still do it because 00:37:34.240 --> 00:37:36.550 whatever, but um I wouldn't You can't do 00:37:36.560 --> 00:37:38.069 it everybody, but if you're right, 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:40.790 >> we've had our fair share of bad deals. 00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:42.310 We don't battle, you know, we're not 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:44.470 we're not perfect. But if somebody's a 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:46.310 piece of [ __ ] I'm not going to do 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:48.310 business with you. Values over 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:48.630 everything. 00:37:48.640 --> 00:37:49.990 >>

You can't do good business with bad 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:50.390 people. 00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:51.910 >> No way. There's no way you're going to 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:53.109 you're going to die no matter what. 00:37:53.119 --> 00:37:54.470 >> You said something earlier. You were the 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:58.390 CMO, then you became the CEO. But then 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:00.710 if you were the one of the founders, who 00:38:00.720 --> 00:38:01.670 was the CEO? 00:38:01.680 --> 00:38:04.310 >> So we brought on So my co-founder Nadal 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:06.230 was the CEO. Okay. And then we brought 00:38:06.240 --> 00:38:09.030 on somebody, you know, big shot guy, 00:38:09.040 --> 00:38:11.270 former Starbucks executive to come and 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:13.109 lead the brand, incredible person, very 00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:15.750 smart, you know, amazing human being, 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:18.310 you know, and we promoted him to CEO and 00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:19.910 they'd all stepped down and went to do 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:23.030 other things. And um that was a mistake, 00:38:23.040 --> 00:38:24.630 you know, because he he wasn't a 00:38:24.640 --> 00:38:26.069 founder. He wasn't somebody that would 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:28.710 roll up their sleeve and go and work. 00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:30.470 And if you've had bad experiences with 00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:32.790 Pincho, that was around that time. It 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:35.030 was consistency wasn't the same. It was 00:38:35.040 --> 00:38:37.270 all because it's always leadership. It's 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:38.630 always about that, you know, and we're 00:38:38.640 --> 00:38:40.550 still paying a price for for those 00:38:40.560 --> 00:38:41.910 people that had bad experiences back 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:43.270 then. This is like six years ago and 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:44.470 people's like, "Oh yeah, I went to your 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:46.310 restaurant seven six, seven years ago 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:48.390 and I had a bad experience." All I can 00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:49.670 tell you is reach out to us. We'll take 00:38:49.680 --> 00:38:51.190 care of you. You know, we're thank God, 00:38:51.200 --> 00:38:52.470 you know, knocking with the business is 00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:54.950 doing amazing today. But, you know, that 00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:57.270 that relationship didn't work out. So, I 00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:59.109 stepped into the CEO role. 00:38:59.119 --> 00:38:59.430 >> Wow. 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:00.630 >> And then co happened. 00:39:00.640 --> 00:39:02.630 >> Oh my god. Thank God. 00:39:02.640 --> 00:39:03.510 >> Thank God it was you though. 00:39:03.520 --> 00:39:04.790 >> Well, yeah. Thank God it was me. Thank 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:05.829 god it was me. I'm not going to lie. 00:39:05.839 --> 00:39:08.550 Thank God it was me. And um but yeah, 00:39:08.560 --> 00:39:11.030 these are the things people is it's 00:39:11.040 --> 00:39:12.470 everything in this business especially 00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:13.910 when you're growing and you're scaling 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:15.510 and you have to scale the founders 00:39:15.520 --> 00:39:17.910 mentality and the way of being. Now 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:20.470 today I have I have a rule you know that 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:22.310 I've just learned this you imagine 15 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:24.310 years I have a rule that it's called 00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:26.630 over my dead bodies. I've learned this 00:39:26.640 --> 00:39:28.870 from my friend named Arjunent. Shout out 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:30.950 to Arjun. There are there's a set of 00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:34.630 things that are going to be over my dead 00:39:34.640 --> 00:39:37.589 bodies. They live in your head, but you 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:39.589 got to write them down. And everybody in 00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:42.069 the company needs to know like we're not 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:43.190 going to change the quality of this 00:39:43.200 --> 00:39:46.390 burger over my dead body, you know, 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:47.750 because every time we 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:50.069 >> By the way, I am stealing this because 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:51.109 this is phenomenal. 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:53.430 >> Yeah. It's it we all have that. We know 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:54.630 that. But you just got to write it down 00:39:54.640 --> 00:39:55.030 like 00:39:55.040 --> 00:39:56.390 >> bodies because there's multiple things. 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:57.589 >> Yeah. Yeah. This is these are the 00:39:57.599 --> 00:39:58.710 things. These are the rules. What are 00:39:58.720 --> 00:39:59.829 your over dead bodies? 00:39:59.839 --> 00:40:01.750 >> The quality of my food, it's never going 00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:03.829 to change. I don't care if the price of 00:40:03.839 --> 00:40:05.349 beef goes up, the price of the burger 00:40:05.359 --> 00:40:07.270 goes up. We've we've made a mistake that 00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:09.030 I told you earlier. The beef was going 00:40:09.040 --> 00:40:11.349 up. We needed the price to be like to 00:40:11.359 --> 00:40:14.630 contain. So, we did the we we went from 00:40:14.640 --> 00:40:17.270 a thick patty to a smaller patty because 00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:19.349 we needed to cook the burger faster and 00:40:19.359 --> 00:40:21.270 then we needed to maintain the price. 00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:22.950 Man, that was a mistake. And that was, 00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:25.190 you know, a lot of advisers and 00:40:25.200 --> 00:40:26.550 investors telling you, "Here's what you 00:40:26.560 --> 00:40:29.510 should do over my dead body. I am never 00:40:29.520 --> 00:40:31.510 doing that again. I am never gonna like 00:40:31.520 --> 00:40:32.069 make portions." 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:33.190 >> That was catastrophic for you. 00:40:33.200 --> 00:40:35.270 >> Yeah, dude. It was six months of people 00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:37.670 just having bad experiences saying like, 00:40:37.680 --> 00:40:39.109 "Oh, oh, this is what

happens when you 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:40.790 grow. This is private equity." It's not 00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:43.430 private equity. It's just the the market 00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:45.589 sucks. Like when when cost of goods go 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:47.670 up 30, 40% and you want to maintain a 00:40:47.680 --> 00:40:49.190 price so you're still reasonable for 00:40:49.200 --> 00:40:51.030 people. People don't understand when 00:40:51.040 --> 00:40:52.790 rents 00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:54.390 used to be seven grand, but now they're 00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:57.109 15 grand. Employees used to be $10 an 00:40:57.119 --> 00:40:59.030 hour, but now they're $17 an hour. You 00:40:59.040 --> 00:41:00.390 know, if you want to get a good person, 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.550 it's tough. I have now over my dead 00:41:02.560 --> 00:41:04.790 bodies. It's just going to go up. You 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:05.030 know, 00:41:05.040 --> 00:41:05.910 >> quality of food. 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:08.550 >> Quality of food. Over my dead body. Uh 00:41:08.560 --> 00:41:10.950 second, the design of the restaurants. 00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:14.470 They all need to have a homey feel. We 00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:17.349 never want to Yeah. We never want to be 00:41:17.359 --> 00:41:19.910 corporate. We never want to be chain 00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.710 like over my dead body. That's not going 00:41:22.720 --> 00:41:25.030 to happen again. You know, um treating 00:41:25.040 --> 00:41:27.349 people with disrespect. When I took over 00:41:27.359 --> 00:41:29.190 CEO, that was over my dead body day one. 00:41:29.200 --> 00:41:30.390 And that's the thing that people don't 00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:31.990 understand. When you're a franchisee, 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:33.910 you're a franchiseor. Sorry. A 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:35.270 franchisee might mistreat their 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:36.870 employees. You can't do anything about 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:37.510 that. 00:41:37.520 --> 00:41:39.349 >> It's not your It's not your team. So, I 00:41:39.359 --> 00:41:41.270 have a I think over my dead body. If 00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:42.790 you're an [ __ ] at Pinch, you get 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:45.109 fired tomorrow. Like you I I don't care 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:47.990 if you're the best A player in the game. 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.670 You're not going to work here. Like I 00:41:49.680 --> 00:41:51.430 don't I don't deal with [ __ ] Like 00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:54.309 dude, this is I don't say we're a family 00:41:54.319 --> 00:41:57.109 because family I I've I've heard this 00:41:57.119 --> 00:41:59.589 from Netflix. Family lets people 00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.190 underperform. We're a team. 00:42:01.200 --> 00:42:01.589 >> Yeah. 00:42:01.599 --> 00:42:02.069 >> But we 00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:02.950 >> the dream team, dude. 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:03.670 >> Dream team. So 00:42:03.680 --> 00:42:04.790 >> treat like a dream team. 00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:07.829 >> Yeah. So So I never you know that's over 00:42:07.839 --> 00:42:09.510 my dead body. you know, the way that, 00:42:09.520 --> 00:42:11.109 you know, my mom's family recipe 00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:14.069 changing over my dead body. You know, 00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:17.109 there's there's really iconic things now 00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:19.829 that I know matter a lot to Pincho that 00:42:19.839 --> 00:42:21.510 this is who we are, bro. If you like it, 00:42:21.520 --> 00:42:22.630 you like it. If you don't, you don't. It 00:42:22.640 --> 00:42:24.390 is what it is. We're not for everyone, 00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:27.270 but we we are as as inclusive as 00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:27.670 possible. 00:42:27.680 --> 00:42:28.950 >> Dude, I want to I want to touch on 00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:30.230 something that because now you've talked 00:42:30.240 --> 00:42:32.309 about systems you had to implement. You 00:42:32.319 --> 00:42:34.069 talked about your your core values and 00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:36.150 the over your dead bodies. There was 00:42:36.160 --> 00:42:38.069 something you did in the past that I 00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:40.150 think was maybe like maybe you didn't 00:42:40.160 --> 00:42:42.470 see it but I'm seeing it now. You were 00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:44.870 co-founded an operations app for 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.230 nightclubs, didn't you? Called nightro 00:42:48.240 --> 00:42:50.309 and a lot of us used it in the 00:42:50.319 --> 00:42:52.790 nightclubs and this was like 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:54.550 >> before seven rooms or right around the 00:42:54.560 --> 00:42:56.150 same time as seven rooms started which 00:42:56.160 --> 00:42:57.750 by the way sold for like a billion 00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:59.109 dollars or whatever. We should have 00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:00.630 stayed 00:43:00.640 --> 00:43:03.190 stuck to that. Anyways, but but you you 00:43:03.200 --> 00:43:05.990 know the that was the first time that I 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.230 saw as an operator and and a promoter 00:43:08.240 --> 00:43:10.630 back in the day and nightclub guy the 00:43:10.640 --> 00:43:13.510 >> the electronic systems being implemented 00:43:13.520 --> 00:43:15.670 into operations the digital the 00:43:15.680 --> 00:43:17.670 digitalness. How did that happen? And 00:43:17.680 --> 00:43:18.309 did 00:43:18.319 --> 00:43:20.309 >> any of that have anything to do with how 00:43:20.319 --> 00:43:21.589 you operate today? 00:43:21.599 --> 00:43:24.069 >> That's that's is a really random thing, 00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:26.710 right? I was working at Sapia Nitro and 00:43:26.720 --> 00:43:28.870 we had this hiring event, you know, and 00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:30.710 at the time I was leading I think I was 00:43:30.720 --> 00:43:32.390 leading the Chrysler team, the Fiat 00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:34.390 Chrysler. No, I was leading the Sprint 00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:36.790 and Nexto team. Next, remember Nexto? 00:43:36.800 --> 00:43:37.270 >> Yeah. 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:39.430 >> And and then I met I met this

guy named 00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:40.950 Juan Bermudez because we were trying to 00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:42.150 hire him. 00:43:42.160 --> 00:43:44.230 >> And I met him, we became friends, 00:43:44.240 --> 00:43:46.470 Venezuelan kid, and then he was starting 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:48.790 this startup called Nightro. And he knew 00:43:48.800 --> 00:43:51.109 I had a background in in night life. And 00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:52.630 he goes, "Hey, listen. I'm going to do 00:43:52.640 --> 00:43:53.030 this 00:43:53.040 --> 00:43:55.430 >> raging night. Oh my god, I was I was 00:43:55.440 --> 00:43:58.470 after hours space guy. And then and then 00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:00.630 I was he approached me. He goes, "Look, 00:44:00.640 --> 00:44:02.230 man, you have you have experience in in 00:44:02.240 --> 00:44:04.230 UX and design and you have all of these 00:44:04.240 --> 00:44:06.710 contacts. Do you want to build this 00:44:06.720 --> 00:44:08.870 software for Nightlife?" And I thought 00:44:08.880 --> 00:44:10.470 it was genius. And then I was like, 00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:12.390 "Okay, what where are you with this?" 00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:14.230 He's like, "I'm I'm like Photoshop, like 00:44:14.240 --> 00:44:16.630 still just designing this thing." 00:44:16.640 --> 00:44:18.309 >> And man, you know, I gotta give a shout 00:44:18.319 --> 00:44:20.870 out to my boy Dave Gruntman. Uh I called 00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:22.230 up Dave, you know, it's the first 00:44:22.240 --> 00:44:24.150 person. I'm like, "Listen, I'm like, 00:44:24.160 --> 00:44:26.150 Dave, I love you. How are you? I haven't 00:44:26.160 --> 00:44:27.990 talked to you in a minute. I'm building 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.589 this thing that I think can really 00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:30.870 work." And I pitched it to him over the 00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:32.870 phone. He goes, "I love it, but I love 00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:35.349 you." If at the time, I think Joe Lopez 00:44:35.359 --> 00:44:36.790 was I I don't know who it was. It was 00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:38.710 somebody at Story that was like the the 00:44:38.720 --> 00:44:40.550 head of OBS story for him. He goes, "If 00:44:40.560 --> 00:44:42.150 my director of op says no, it's a no." 00:44:42.160 --> 00:44:43.589 Like, "You're my boy and I love you, but 00:44:43.599 --> 00:44:45.270 like I don't I don't get into that 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:47.349 detail." I went and I pitched it to to 00:44:47.359 --> 00:44:49.589 his team and they said, "If you can 00:44:49.599 --> 00:44:51.349 build this, there's no amount of money 00:44:51.359 --> 00:44:53.349 that clubs would pay you because this is 00:44:53.359 --> 00:44:55.030 a really great idea." It was basically 00:44:55.040 --> 00:44:56.950 the open table for nightlife, 00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:59.109 >> like where the tables and promoters and 00:44:59.119 --> 00:44:59.349 all that, 00:44:59.359 --> 00:45:00.790 >> dude. Instead of doing it by paper, 00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:02.550 >> instead of Yeah. promoter that got you 00:45:02.560 --> 00:45:04.230 30 people, it will calculate at the end 00:45:04.240 --> 00:45:05.829 of the night the ticketing. And we went 00:45:05.839 --> 00:45:07.589 for it, bro. We went for it. We worked 00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:10.950 handinhand with Liv and we basically 00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:12.950 grew from Liv. Everything that Liv 00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:13.670 needed 00:45:13.680 --> 00:45:16.230 >> Yeah. is how Night Pro was built. Uh we 00:45:16.240 --> 00:45:18.390 were there every day, every weekend. We 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:19.670 were No, but we were there in the 00:45:19.680 --> 00:45:22.230 beginning stages at night coding just 00:45:22.240 --> 00:45:23.829 testing and then they were looking like, 00:45:23.839 --> 00:45:24.790 "Hey guys, this is not working." Like, 00:45:24.800 --> 00:45:25.990 "Oh [ __ ] let me fix it." And then we 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:27.510 would fix things. 4 in the morning. Juan 00:45:27.520 --> 00:45:29.990 was there coding this thing and it grew 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:32.630 and it got to like almost 300 clubs and 00:45:32.640 --> 00:45:34.550 then we got acquired by Tableist. 00:45:34.560 --> 00:45:35.589 >> That's amazing, dude. 00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:36.870 >> It was a great win 00:45:36.880 --> 00:45:39.190 >> and uh and it's still going. Uh, dude, 00:45:39.200 --> 00:45:42.390 but but the way that I wonder if there's 00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:44.870 any thing there that you picked up 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:46.550 because that was before Pincho, right? 00:45:46.560 --> 00:45:48.309 >> Oh, yeah. That was in tandem, but that 00:45:48.319 --> 00:45:50.230 was in the beginning of Pincho. That was 00:45:50.240 --> 00:45:51.430 >> during the the first year. 00:45:51.440 --> 00:45:52.710 >> During the first year, first or second 00:45:52.720 --> 00:45:55.670 year of Pincho? I mean, 100%. The first 00:45:55.680 --> 00:45:57.109 thing that came was like we had no 00:45:57.119 --> 00:45:58.870 online ordering. Like, oh [ __ ] why 00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:00.069 don't we have an online order? So, we 00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:02.390 started digitizing a lot of the things. 00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:04.309 remember everything was in Nadal's brain 00:46:04.319 --> 00:46:06.150 and everything was in Adrian's brain and 00:46:06.160 --> 00:46:07.829 it was like so that's when we started 00:46:07.839 --> 00:46:09.589 doing a lot of digital work 00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:11.990 >> we were very tech forward 00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:13.990 >> that my investors when they came to 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:15.910 Pincho uh when they were doing diligence 00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:16.950 they're like they're like who's your 00:46:16.960 --> 00:46:18.790 head of technology here like and I'm 00:46:18.800 --> 00:46:21.270 like this guy they're like how did like 00:46:21.280 --> 00:46:23.430 why do you have such a good tech stack 00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:25.270 I'm like because that's my background so 00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:26.870

from the POS that we chose from the 00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:28.630 online ordering system that we chose the 00:46:28.640 --> 00:46:30.230 way that we did training on the back end 00:46:30.240 --> 00:46:32.630 Pinch University we built Like there's 00:46:32.640 --> 00:46:34.470 all these things that we built that 00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:37.430 people our size like don't know. People 00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:39.910 have 40 units, 50 restaurants. We'll get 00:46:39.920 --> 00:46:41.510 to it. You know, learning management 00:46:41.520 --> 00:46:43.430 software. So all of that came from my 00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:44.470 background in Sapia. 00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:45.030 >> That's awesome. 00:46:45.040 --> 00:46:46.230 >> Yeah. Yeah, man. I mean, 00:46:46.240 --> 00:46:47.589 >> what POS do you use now? 00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:50.630 >> We toast toast. Yeah, we Yeah, I love 00:46:50.640 --> 00:46:52.309 Toast. I think Toast is one of the best. 00:46:52.319 --> 00:46:54.790 Uh we were with a really shitty one in 00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:56.870 the past and then we switched to Brink 00:46:56.880 --> 00:46:59.270 >> by Par and about a year and a half ago 00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:01.349 we switched to Toast. Yeah, Toast is one 00:47:01.359 --> 00:47:01.750 of the best. 00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:03.349 >> Yeah, know for sure. For restaurants, 00:47:03.359 --> 00:47:05.030 >> it's one of the best. It's easy. It's 00:47:05.040 --> 00:47:07.190 friendly. It's good. You know, the whole 00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:08.550 credit card thing is a bit of a pain in 00:47:08.560 --> 00:47:09.990 the ass, but you know, we work. 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:10.870 >> You have your own app. 00:47:10.880 --> 00:47:12.550 >> We have our own app. We have our own 00:47:12.560 --> 00:47:14.230 That's one thing that I'm very proud of. 00:47:14.240 --> 00:47:14.550 Like, 00:47:14.560 --> 00:47:15.670 >> and you built it yourself or you built 00:47:15.680 --> 00:47:17.109 it with a team of people. I didn't build 00:47:17.119 --> 00:47:19.190 it myself, but I met this amazing human 00:47:19.200 --> 00:47:22.230 named Zach um at at a conference, at a 00:47:22.240 --> 00:47:24.309 fast casual conference, and you know, we 00:47:24.319 --> 00:47:25.829 were having a drink, you know, at the 00:47:25.839 --> 00:47:27.670 bar. And then I'm Palestinian, he's 00:47:27.680 --> 00:47:29.589 Jewish, and we were just going back on 00:47:29.599 --> 00:47:31.910 this Palestine Israel thing. Holy [ __ ] 00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:33.829 >> This was like eight years ago. Eight 00:47:33.839 --> 00:47:35.270 years ago, like nine years ago. I didn't 00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:37.030 even know what he did for a living, bro. 00:47:37.040 --> 00:47:38.870 And then he goes to me and we're just 00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:40.150 talking, you know, a lot of my friends 00:47:40.160 --> 00:47:41.829 are Jewish. And then we were just 00:47:41.839 --> 00:47:43.109 talking back and forth. And he goes, "By 00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:44.069 the way, what do you do?" I'm like, "I 00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:45.910 own restaurants." Oh [ __ ] is like I'm 00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:48.150 building this this software for 00:47:48.160 --> 00:47:50.710 restaurants like um a loyalty platform. 00:47:50.720 --> 00:47:52.390 He goes, he goes, "What would it take 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:55.910 you to switch your loyalty to me?" And I 00:47:55.920 --> 00:47:57.430 saw it as an opportunity. And I said, 00:47:57.440 --> 00:47:59.750 "Well, if you let me design it, design 00:47:59.760 --> 00:48:02.069 the experience from A to Z and build me 00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:04.309 an app, I'll I'll give you my loyalty 00:48:04.319 --> 00:48:05.990 business." Because we were with another 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:07.829 company that sucked at the time. And he 00:48:07.839 --> 00:48:11.109 goes, "Deal?" And then and then I went 00:48:11.119 --> 00:48:13.510 went to Illustrator and built an entire 00:48:13.520 --> 00:48:17.030 this way before Figma ever existed. and 00:48:17.040 --> 00:48:18.870 um and I built it and I sent it to them 00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:20.630 and then I was part of the team and we 00:48:20.640 --> 00:48:23.030 built the experience. So and then Pinro 00:48:23.040 --> 00:48:25.510 now the app and all that came from from 00:48:25.520 --> 00:48:26.950 our team's uh you know 00:48:26.960 --> 00:48:28.470 >> that's amazing. You can order from your 00:48:28.480 --> 00:48:29.190 app obviously. Yeah. 00:48:29.200 --> 00:48:31.270 >> Yeah. Yeah. We we're very good at 00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:31.910 technology. 00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:34.069 >> Do you um do you integrate with third 00:48:34.079 --> 00:48:35.190 party delivery apps? 00:48:35.200 --> 00:48:36.470 >> We integrate with thirdparty delivery 00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:38.870 apps. That's what saved us at co did it 00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:41.349 >> we had that locked in from day one. You 00:48:41.359 --> 00:48:42.790 know you place an order go straight to 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:44.870 the kitchen. No no no tablets none of 00:48:44.880 --> 00:48:46.710 that crap. I think one of the best 00:48:46.720 --> 00:48:48.470 things that we've done recently is um 00:48:48.480 --> 00:48:50.950 AI. So if you call any pinch location 00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:52.710 now, you you can talk to a team member 00:48:52.720 --> 00:48:55.349 if you want, but there is Carlos 9000. 00:48:55.359 --> 00:48:56.150 That's what we call him. 00:48:56.160 --> 00:48:56.950 >> Carlos 9000. 00:48:57.680 --> 00:48:59.270 >> He's the ninth iteration of Carlos. Is 00:48:59.280 --> 00:48:59.750 that what it is? 00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:02.309 >> Yeah. He's our AI. He'll say, hi. Hi. 00:49:02.319 --> 00:49:03.829 Thanks for calling Petro. How can I help 00:49:03.839 --> 00:49:05.589 you? And then you can be like, are you 00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:06.950 guys open? Like, yeah, we're open right 00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:09.109 now. And he just talks to you. And it's 00:49:09.119 --> 00:49:10.950 in this third iteration

now. It's 00:49:10.960 --> 00:49:12.549 insane. And you can be like, all right, 00:49:12.559 --> 00:49:13.750 I would like to place an order. Okay, 00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:15.270 cool. I got you. What do you like? Let 00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:17.190 me get a peach burger with quesopto. We 00:49:17.200 --> 00:49:19.430 had to train it to understand the Miami 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:22.309 accent which was hard as [ __ ] It was 30 00:49:22.319 --> 00:49:24.390 days and we're still iterating but dude 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:26.069 it's it's and it integrates directly 00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:28.309 into into everything into our online 00:49:28.319 --> 00:49:29.990 ordering. It goes into our online 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:31.109 ordering page 00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:33.270 >> because if you 86 an item the AI needs 00:49:33.280 --> 00:49:35.109 to know like there's a lot of 00:49:35.119 --> 00:49:36.150 >> you got to integrate it into the 00:49:36.160 --> 00:49:36.470 platform. 00:49:36.480 --> 00:49:37.750 >> Yeah. So it's integrated and it goes 00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:39.190 straight to the kitchen. It's amazing. 00:49:39.200 --> 00:49:40.549 >> So you love using AI? 00:49:40.559 --> 00:49:42.870 >> I love AI. I think AI is is amazing. I 00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:45.270 mean, I'm scared about like just 00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:46.549 mentally what's going to do to 00:49:46.559 --> 00:49:48.150 everybody's brains over the next few 00:49:48.160 --> 00:49:49.829 years, but I'm a big believer that's 00:49:49.839 --> 00:49:51.109 just going to give us superhuman 00:49:51.119 --> 00:49:52.950 strength. It's a superpower. 00:49:52.960 --> 00:49:53.910 >> Yeah. It's almost like you're not going 00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:55.829 to have to force your brain to think 00:49:55.839 --> 00:49:57.109 more to grow. 00:49:57.119 --> 00:49:58.390 >> They did a study and I don't know how 00:49:58.400 --> 00:49:59.510 true this is because you see all the 00:49:59.520 --> 00:50:01.430 show online, so you don't know, but that 00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:04.549 that certain parts of the brain of folks 00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:06.150 are not being as developed as they need 00:50:06.160 --> 00:50:08.069 to because they don't need to think as 00:50:08.079 --> 00:50:08.470 hard. 00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:09.109 >> As hard. 00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:10.950 >> Yeah. Yeah. because you know you have 00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:14.150 you have a freaking PhD person in your 00:50:14.160 --> 00:50:16.309 pocket and u it's pretty wild. I've done 00:50:16.319 --> 00:50:17.990 it I've done incredible things with it. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:20.390 I mean man I get Excel sheets thrown in 00:50:20.400 --> 00:50:21.910 there and I'm like analyze this data 00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:23.910 give like I'm going to open up a new 00:50:23.920 --> 00:50:26.150 pincho location. I I download Uber Eats 00:50:26.160 --> 00:50:28.309 data and I here's all my zip code. Let 00:50:28.319 --> 00:50:29.910 me know where I should do. Like it's 00:50:29.920 --> 00:50:30.549 insane. 00:50:30.559 --> 00:50:32.069 >> It's great. Well 00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:33.750 >> you just opened talked about a second 00:50:33.760 --> 00:50:35.750 location. So you went from Miami and you 00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:36.790 landed in Houston. 00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:37.349 >> Yeah. Yeah. 00:50:37.359 --> 00:50:39.430 >> How'd that happen? My investors uh 00:50:39.440 --> 00:50:42.150 wanted us to open up another market. We 00:50:42.160 --> 00:50:43.430 had a lot of people that actually used 00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:45.589 to ask for Pincho to go to Houston as a 00:50:45.599 --> 00:50:48.230 franchise. We did a study. They were 00:50:48.240 --> 00:50:50.390 already going to Houston. But we 00:50:50.400 --> 00:50:52.950 geoenced every Pincho location in Miami 00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:55.589 with a company called Site Zeus. Crazy 00:50:55.599 --> 00:50:58.069 scary. And it basically built a 00:50:58.079 --> 00:51:00.470 psychoraph of what our customer is. It 00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:02.470 says this is your customer. Like 30 days 00:51:02.480 --> 00:51:04.870 of people walking. Our phones give up so 00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:07.190 much information you have no idea. And I 00:51:07.200 --> 00:51:08.710 said, "This is what your customer looks 00:51:08.720 --> 00:51:10.069 like. This is their spending habits. 00:51:10.079 --> 00:51:11.430 This is what they vote. This is their 00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:13.430 male, their female, their age. Before 00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:16.790 PROO, 30% of them come from work. After 00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:19.349 Pinro, 30% go to Publix." Like it gives 00:51:19.359 --> 00:51:21.430 you insane amount of data. And then it 00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:23.109 creates an audience, right? Like, and 00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:24.309 then it says, "Here's your lookalike 00:51:24.319 --> 00:51:26.470 audience in US. This is where the rest 00:51:26.480 --> 00:51:28.309 people that look just like these people 00:51:28.319 --> 00:51:30.309 where they live." And lo and behold, 00:51:30.319 --> 00:51:31.829 Houston's at the top of the list. So, no 00:51:31.839 --> 00:51:33.510 way. Yeah. Yeah. We went to Houston. 00:51:33.520 --> 00:51:33.990 Shout out to 00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:34.790 >> You like Texas? 00:51:34.800 --> 00:51:37.190 >> I love Htown. H sounds the best. Uh it's 00:51:37.200 --> 00:51:39.109 a tough market because there's a lot of 00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:40.470 great food. 00:51:40.480 --> 00:51:40.870 >> Yeah, 00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:41.510 >> it's it's 00:51:41.520 --> 00:51:43.510 >> Texas is great food. I love barbecue. 00:51:43.520 --> 00:51:46.309 >> Amazing food. So, it's very competitive. 00:51:46.319 --> 00:51:48.150 It's very different. You know, you know, 00:51:48.160 --> 00:51:49.829 we were going to open up a our first 00:51:49.839 --> 00:51:51.670 restaurant. This is a true story. We had 00:51:51.680 --> 00:51:54.309 a huge sign that said born in Miami that 00:51:54.319 --> 00:51:55.430 was going

to go on the wall because that 00:51:55.440 --> 00:51:57.829 was our tagline. And I remember our 00:51:57.839 --> 00:51:59.670 friend going to me, he's like, "Out 00:51:59.680 --> 00:52:01.270 better not do that." I'm like, "What do 00:52:01.280 --> 00:52:02.390 you mean?" 00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:04.950 better not put Born in Miami huge on 00:52:04.960 --> 00:52:07.270 this wall because people here are proud 00:52:07.280 --> 00:52:10.470 of Texas. I'm like really? And and it's 00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:12.390 true. And you know that in in high 00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:14.309 school they they pledged the allegiance 00:52:14.319 --> 00:52:16.710 to the Texas flag than the United States 00:52:16.720 --> 00:52:18.230 flag. 00:52:18.240 --> 00:52:20.549 >> You see more Texas flags up 00:52:20.559 --> 00:52:22.390 >> flag. But it's a great market, man. It's 00:52:22.400 --> 00:52:23.910 great people. Great. Everybody's so 00:52:23.920 --> 00:52:26.069 nice. It's crazy. Everybody's so nice. 00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:27.349 >> You're not from there. How were you able 00:52:27.359 --> 00:52:29.670 to to to put boots on the ground and and 00:52:29.680 --> 00:52:31.990 and make it happen? like did you do it 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:34.630 yourself or you know I've I've always 00:52:34.640 --> 00:52:36.390 like gone back and forth on my head on 00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:37.430 on how that happened. 00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:39.349 >> Listen, it's so tough you know um I 00:52:39.359 --> 00:52:40.470 think what a lot of people don't 00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:42.069 understand is when you open in a new 00:52:42.079 --> 00:52:43.670 market and you're not Shake Shack or 00:52:43.680 --> 00:52:44.870 Chick-fil-A, you don't have brand 00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:46.549 awareness. People don't know who you 00:52:46.559 --> 00:52:48.069 are. So it's basically building the 00:52:48.079 --> 00:52:50.790 brand from the ground up. And we have to 00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:52.069 learn that the hard way. You know, the 00:52:52.079 --> 00:52:53.430 first year in is like, okay, this is a 00:52:53.440 --> 00:52:54.150 lot of work. So 00:52:54.160 --> 00:52:55.589 >> did you do more than the first year in 00:52:55.599 --> 00:52:57.270 in your other store in Miami when your 00:52:57.280 --> 00:52:59.190 first store in Miami when you did 200? 00:52:59.200 --> 00:53:01.510 >> No, no, no. I mean, oh yeah, way more. 00:53:01.520 --> 00:53:03.670 Thank god. Thank God. Thank God. We 00:53:03.680 --> 00:53:05.589 opened, we opened with a bang there. We 00:53:05.599 --> 00:53:07.750 opened really strong. Uh, you know, like 00:53:07.760 --> 00:53:08.870 everything else, we always have a 00:53:08.880 --> 00:53:10.549 honeymoon stage, honeymoon period. The 00:53:10.559 --> 00:53:12.549 sort of sales go down a bit, but has 00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:14.069 been received extremely well. We just 00:53:14.079 --> 00:53:15.829 made the list of best burgers in 00:53:15.839 --> 00:53:17.990 Houston. Finally, Houston magazine.

So, 00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:19.750 shout out to my team. But it's it's a 00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:21.349 grind, bro. You got to be there. I I 00:53:21.359 --> 00:53:22.710 basically looked at my wife and my 00:53:22.720 --> 00:53:24.069 family and I said, "Look, I love you 00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:25.829 guys, but I'm going to basically move to 00:53:25.839 --> 00:53:29.670 Houston and relocate temporarily. Monday 00:53:29.680 --> 00:53:31.750 nights I'm there until Sunday mornings." 00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:34.150 And then sat Sunday, Monday morning I'm 00:53:34.160 --> 00:53:35.829 here with my families. Monday nights I'm 00:53:35.839 --> 00:53:37.750 back in Houston. And I did that for a 00:53:37.760 --> 00:53:39.190 good two and a half months. And now I 00:53:39.200 --> 00:53:41.349 came back for the holidays and we just 00:53:41.359 --> 00:53:43.109 celebrated 15 years of Pinchos. So we 00:53:43.119 --> 00:53:44.390 did that. And um 00:53:44.400 --> 00:53:45.990 >> Congratulations. 15 years. 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:47.670 >> 15 years, bro. 15 years. 00:53:47.680 --> 00:53:48.870 >> That's right. 2010. Yes. 00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:50.870 >> Hell yeah. And uh but yeah, it's it's 00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:52.950 great. It's fun. You know, it's Would I 00:53:52.960 --> 00:53:55.109 do another state? Probably not because 00:53:55.119 --> 00:53:56.549 it's a lot of work. I'll probably go to 00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:58.950 Orlando first. Go to Tampa first. Go to 00:53:58.960 --> 00:54:02.069 [ __ ] I got Pal's great 00:54:02.079 --> 00:54:02.630 Fort Lauderdale. 00:54:02.640 --> 00:54:03.670 >> You know that I'm still not in. 00:54:03.680 --> 00:54:05.030 >> We're in Fort Lauderdale, man. I think 00:54:05.040 --> 00:54:06.470 having a pincho near us would be great. 00:54:06.480 --> 00:54:08.150 >> Hell yeah. Let's put one in the warf, 00:54:08.160 --> 00:54:09.430 bro. Let's go. 00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:11.349 >> We got We should talk about it after 00:54:11.359 --> 00:54:12.549 this. 00:54:12.559 --> 00:54:14.710 >> Actually, we should. 00:54:14.720 --> 00:54:15.750 I'm not going to lie. We should. 00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:17.190 >> Yeah. We would We would do really well. 00:54:17.200 --> 00:54:18.950 Yeah. you would smash it over there. 00:54:18.960 --> 00:54:19.430 >> Hell yeah. 00:54:19.440 --> 00:54:22.150 >> Um, what's it like leading 300 people? 00:54:22.160 --> 00:54:24.069 >> Man, it's a lot of responsibility, but 00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:25.670 it's very rewarding. 00:54:25.680 --> 00:54:27.030 >> Do you ever get imposter syndrome? 00:54:27.040 --> 00:54:28.069 >> I have it right now. 00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:29.109 >> I have it all the time. 00:54:29.119 --> 00:54:30.069 >> All the [ __ ] time. 00:54:30.079 --> 00:54:31.190 >> And if you're not if you're not having 00:54:31.200 --> 00:54:32.150 it, you're not doing the right things. 00:54:32.160 --> 00:54:34.870 >> I have it right now. It's It's I am I 00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:36.790 think I I read up on this,

you know, I 00:54:36.800 --> 00:54:38.549 think like 70% of educated people have 00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:41.589 imposter syndrome because 70 or 75 of 00:54:41.599 --> 00:54:42.790 people that had that have gone to 00:54:42.800 --> 00:54:43.270 college. And 00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:44.230 >> why do you think it is? Because they're 00:54:44.240 --> 00:54:45.829 self-aware or they're too self-aware or 00:54:45.839 --> 00:54:47.030 they're unsecure. I don't know. 00:54:47.040 --> 00:54:48.470 >> It's a great thing because it keeps 00:54:48.480 --> 00:54:50.390 arrogance at bay. You're not an arrogant 00:54:50.400 --> 00:54:51.910 person. You know what you don't know and 00:54:51.920 --> 00:54:53.990 you walk into scenarios knowing that, 00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:55.510 you know, you need to learn and you need 00:54:55.520 --> 00:54:57.430 to be better and you need to perform. 00:54:57.440 --> 00:54:59.510 And I think I think it's a great thing, 00:54:59.520 --> 00:55:00.630 you know, and I think you just have to 00:55:00.640 --> 00:55:03.349 learn how to live with it. Um, but uh, 00:55:03.359 --> 00:55:05.109 look, it's it's a lot of I I don't think 00:55:05.119 --> 00:55:07.109 people understand, right? There's close 00:55:07.119 --> 00:55:10.230 to 300 people that eat from Pincho. Like 00:55:10.240 --> 00:55:12.230 their checks are from Pincho. This is 00:55:12.240 --> 00:55:14.230 how they pay their rent. This is it's a 00:55:14.240 --> 00:55:15.829 lot of responsibility. you have like a 00:55:15.839 --> 00:55:17.589 mini country that you're leading, right? 00:55:17.599 --> 00:55:19.109 It's like 300 people that look up to you 00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:21.510 as the leader for guidance, for what 00:55:21.520 --> 00:55:23.190 what should we do next? Where are we 00:55:23.200 --> 00:55:25.750 going from from a a lot of hourly 00:55:25.760 --> 00:55:27.829 employees is just a passive job. You 00:55:27.839 --> 00:55:28.710 know, they're working because they're 00:55:28.720 --> 00:55:30.230 paying for for you know, they're going 00:55:30.240 --> 00:55:31.510 to college or whatever. They they're 00:55:31.520 --> 00:55:33.589 going to become something incredible and 00:55:33.599 --> 00:55:35.190 but there's a lot of our managers that 00:55:35.200 --> 00:55:36.549 this is their life. You know, there's 00:55:36.559 --> 00:55:38.150 these are people that are looking at me 00:55:38.160 --> 00:55:40.309 saying, "How are you going to build more 00:55:40.319 --> 00:55:42.230 opportunity for me? How are I've been 00:55:42.240 --> 00:55:43.670 with you for I have people that have 00:55:43.680 --> 00:55:45.430 been with me for 10 years. 10 years, 00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:47.270 man. You know what I mean? So, it's an 00:55:47.280 --> 00:55:48.950 incredible feeling, but at the same 00:55:48.960 --> 00:55:51.270 time, it's a lot of responsibility. I 00:55:51.280 --> 00:55:53.589 enjoy it. I love it. I think naturally, 00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:57.030 you are the you 100% are this. You you 00:55:57.040 --> 00:55:59.349 put you put you or me on anybody in any 00:55:59.359 --> 00:56:01.430 room and we naturally become the leaders 00:56:01.440 --> 00:56:03.589 of that room because we like to help 00:56:03.599 --> 00:56:05.349 others. We like to be there and support 00:56:05.359 --> 00:56:07.589 and be like, "Don't worry, I got you." 00:56:07.599 --> 00:56:09.750 You know, that's just the like you put 00:56:09.760 --> 00:56:11.910 me in a in anywhere and I would like to 00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:13.990 help whoever's around me and I think I 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:15.829 just channel all of that into building a 00:56:15.839 --> 00:56:17.510 company. And the way that I look at it 00:56:17.520 --> 00:56:19.670 is I am building opportunities for other 00:56:19.680 --> 00:56:20.390 people. 00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:21.670 >> Yeah. Keeps you motivated, too. 00:56:21.680 --> 00:56:23.589 >> Amazing thing, bro. It's it's a good 00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:23.990 feeling. 00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:25.750 >> You almost lost everything. No, 00:56:25.760 --> 00:56:28.870 >> almost did. I put it all on red uh at 00:56:28.880 --> 00:56:31.990 the win. No, I'm just kidding. 00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:35.109 I was like, yes, all stores, if I lose, 00:56:35.119 --> 00:56:36.630 don't worry. No, man. Yeah. I mean, 00:56:36.640 --> 00:56:38.390 look, um, we've all had we've had our 00:56:38.400 --> 00:56:39.829 ups and downs, but yeah, right around 00:56:39.839 --> 00:56:44.470 that 2019 mark, you know, um, we've made 00:56:44.480 --> 00:56:47.109 some bad calls in terms of leaders, you 00:56:47.119 --> 00:56:48.390 know, in terms of people that came into 00:56:48.400 --> 00:56:50.309 the brand, from our area manager, from 00:56:50.319 --> 00:56:52.789 the managers, and the stores weren't 00:56:52.799 --> 00:56:55.589 consistent. You know, the franchises, I 00:56:55.599 --> 00:56:57.430 had bought back two of the stores 00:56:57.440 --> 00:56:59.589 already at that time, some of 00:56:59.599 --> 00:57:01.270 >> And now you're fully in there. You're 00:57:01.280 --> 00:57:03.030 you're the CMO at the time. at the time 00:57:03.040 --> 00:57:05.109 was a CMO and then I had to step in as 00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:07.270 CEO of the brand and I just did not have 00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:09.190 the right team and the team that wasn't 00:57:09.200 --> 00:57:11.829 hired by me. Team wasn't hired by me and 00:57:11.839 --> 00:57:14.630 I had to start letting go some people 00:57:14.640 --> 00:57:16.710 and then one day the CFO comes to me out 00:57:16.720 --> 00:57:18.549 of nowhere and he goes, "Hey man, 00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:19.910 there's only 30 grand in the bank 00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:20.950 account." I was like, "What? What do you 00:57:20.960 --> 00:57:22.230 mean?" He's like, "We have six 00:57:22.240 --> 00:57:23.349 restaurants, you know, 00:57:23.359 --> 00:57:25.510 >> 30 grand." And he's like, "What the we 00:57:25.520 --> 00:57:26.630 have to do payroll is

like hundred 00:57:26.640 --> 00:57:27.589 something thousand dollars." I'm like, 00:57:27.599 --> 00:57:29.349 "What do you mean?" He goes, "Yeah, man. 00:57:29.359 --> 00:57:31.190 You know, the restaurant's been losing 00:57:31.200 --> 00:57:33.030 money." D, you know, I had just stepped 00:57:33.040 --> 00:57:35.670 into this role and I'm like, what? What 00:57:35.680 --> 00:57:37.750 the [ __ ] are you talking about? And it 00:57:37.760 --> 00:57:40.470 was a moment of like an oh [ __ ] moment, 00:57:40.480 --> 00:57:42.150 man. You know, I got I felt like 00:57:42.160 --> 00:57:44.309 somebody punched me in the throat and I 00:57:44.319 --> 00:57:45.829 couldn't breathe and I was like, what's 00:57:45.839 --> 00:57:46.390 going on? 00:57:46.400 --> 00:57:47.190 >> Panic attack mode. 00:57:47.200 --> 00:57:49.750 >> Panic attack. I called my my my board. 00:57:49.760 --> 00:57:50.950 You know, some people were willing to 00:57:50.960 --> 00:57:53.670 help, some people weren't. You know, 00:57:53.680 --> 00:57:56.390 previous investors were like, "Hey, you 00:57:56.400 --> 00:57:58.549 know, you got to do what you got to do." 00:57:58.559 --> 00:58:02.710 No one wants it's it's it's very hard to 00:58:02.720 --> 00:58:05.349 receive support from people if they feel 00:58:05.359 --> 00:58:08.470 that it's a knife it's falling and you 00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:10.710 need to go catch a falling knife right 00:58:10.720 --> 00:58:12.230 like well catching a falling knife is 00:58:12.240 --> 00:58:13.190 not a 00:58:13.200 --> 00:58:17.030 >> so I um I called uh I called my dad and 00:58:17.040 --> 00:58:18.549 I was like listen I need you to lend me 00:58:18.559 --> 00:58:21.990 30 grand because I need to I need to 00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:23.750 make some payments and he goes what's 00:58:23.760 --> 00:58:25.670 going on I was like this is where I'm at 00:58:25.680 --> 00:58:27.589 and but I'm gonna I have a great 00:58:27.599 --> 00:58:29.349 company. I'm going to turn it around. 00:58:29.359 --> 00:58:31.109 And my dad's like, obviously, he's like 00:58:31.119 --> 00:58:33.030 done. And then I went and I I took a 00:58:33.040 --> 00:58:35.589 credit line against my house, 150 grand. 00:58:35.599 --> 00:58:36.630 I said, 00:58:36.640 --> 00:58:37.990 >> how's that conversation? 00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:39.510 >> Took my wife. I'm like, listen, this is 00:58:39.520 --> 00:58:40.870 what I got to do. I got to I got to put 00:58:40.880 --> 00:58:42.630 it I got to go all in, you know. I'm 00:58:42.640 --> 00:58:44.870 just recently taking over this company. 00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:46.710 I'm not It's like 10 years of my life at 00:58:46.720 --> 00:58:48.309 the time, you know. I was like, I'm not 00:58:48.319 --> 00:58:49.829 going to lose it. It's Picho. It's like 00:58:49.839 --> 00:58:51.910 Praactory, you know. Is we hadn't even 00:58:51.920 --> 00:58:53.190 changed the name, I think. 00:58:53.200 --> 00:58:54.470 >> No, we're gonna talk about that next, 00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:56.710 dude. And then I was like, I went I 00:58:56.720 --> 00:58:58.630 grabbed that and I said, "Okay, total 00:58:58.640 --> 00:59:00.549 lockdown mode. Who we pay? Who we don't 00:59:00.559 --> 00:59:02.230 pay? We're gonna get out of the 00:59:02.240 --> 00:59:04.789 situation." And bro, it was the lowest 00:59:04.799 --> 00:59:06.150 point of my life. Lowest point of my 00:59:06.160 --> 00:59:07.990 life. I was I didn't want to get up from 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:09.589 bed. I would wake up in the morning. I 00:59:09.599 --> 00:59:10.870 just didn't want to talk to anybody. I 00:59:10.880 --> 00:59:12.870 started wearing till today. This is a 00:59:12.880 --> 00:59:15.270 true story. I only wear black t-shirts 00:59:15.280 --> 00:59:16.630 because I would wake up in the morning. 00:59:16.640 --> 00:59:17.990 I just didn't want to get dressed. I was 00:59:18.000 --> 00:59:20.870 like, I want to I used to love shopping 00:59:20.880 --> 00:59:23.030 and love getting good clothes. And I'm 00:59:23.040 --> 00:59:25.190 like, I got to be hyperfocused on my 00:59:25.200 --> 00:59:26.950 company. I'm going to wear the same 00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:28.549 jeans, the same t-shirt. I went online. 00:59:28.559 --> 00:59:30.789 I bought 10 Next Level T-shirts were 10 00:59:30.799 --> 00:59:32.710 black. They're super comfortable. 00:59:32.720 --> 00:59:34.630 They're $7 each. And I said, "This is 00:59:34.640 --> 00:59:35.589 what I'm doing. I'm going to be 00:59:35.599 --> 00:59:36.390 >> That was your uniform." 00:59:36.400 --> 00:59:37.910 >> That was my uniform. I woke up every I 00:59:37.920 --> 00:59:39.510 started drinking coffee and never drink 00:59:39.520 --> 00:59:41.990 coffee in my life. I I was so low, Emmy. 00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:44.950 Like I I was like, I just need to make I 00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:46.950 have X amount of energy. I need to make 00:59:46.960 --> 00:59:49.349 decisions every day. I don't want to 00:59:49.359 --> 00:59:50.630 talk to nobody. I didn't talk to 00:59:50.640 --> 00:59:52.789 friends. And I just it was a a very 00:59:52.799 --> 00:59:55.430 difficult dark moment. Called my my 00:59:55.440 --> 00:59:56.789 mentor Jim Mises. 00:59:56.799 --> 00:59:58.230 >> So you I was about to ask you who your 00:59:58.240 --> 00:59:58.789 mentor was. 00:59:58.799 --> 00:59:59.349 >> Yeah. Jim. 00:59:59.359 --> 01:00:00.870 >> Yeah. Cuz you for you to for you to get 01:00:00.880 --> 01:00:02.150 as far and get through this stuff you 01:00:02.160 --> 01:00:03.190 had to have a mentor. 01:00:03.200 --> 01:00:05.109 >> Jim Misa. Shout out Jim Mises. He's the 01:00:05.119 --> 01:00:08.390 guy who created 5979 99 cents man. He 01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:09.910 invented that. Taco Bell 01:00:09.920 --> 01:00:12.309 >> many years ago. He 01:00:12.319 --> 01:00:15.030 kind of invented the dollar menu and 01:00:15.040 --> 01:00:16.950 that took about the time from 600 grand 01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:19.190 a year to

like 1.2 million. Um but 01:00:19.200 --> 01:00:21.990 anyway, that's that clip. Uh um man, I 01:00:22.000 --> 01:00:23.430 called him and I'm like, "Listen, I need 01:00:23.440 --> 01:00:25.109 your help." He came to Miami, got on the 01:00:25.119 --> 01:00:27.190 plane. He wasn't He was on my board. He 01:00:27.200 --> 01:00:29.190 was He came to Miami and he gave me a 01:00:29.200 --> 01:00:30.870 lesson here in the Gables. I had a an 01:00:30.880 --> 01:00:33.589 office and he gave me an op an ops like 01:00:33.599 --> 01:00:35.030 operations because I wasn't an 01:00:35.040 --> 01:00:37.270 operations guy. He literally was I have 01:00:37.280 --> 01:00:39.750 a I I remember he had on he was on his 01:00:39.760 --> 01:00:41.750 knees on the board writing. This guy is 01:00:41.760 --> 01:00:44.950 like one of He was a CEO of Blaze Pizza. 01:00:44.960 --> 01:00:45.670 He was 01:00:45.680 --> 01:00:46.630 >> Blaze Pizza. LeBron James. 01:00:46.640 --> 01:00:48.309 >> LeBron James. He's a CEO of Blaze Pizza. 01:00:48.319 --> 01:00:49.430 Came to Miami. He goes, "Out, I'm going 01:00:49.440 --> 01:00:50.549 to teach you operations. I'm going to 01:00:50.559 --> 01:00:52.789 teach you this. Teach you this d." And 01:00:52.799 --> 01:00:54.470 man, he t looks. 01:00:54.480 --> 01:00:55.190 >> Oh my god, dude. 01:00:55.200 --> 01:00:57.270 >> He he said, "Here's what you got to do. 01:00:57.280 --> 01:01:00.069 Let's just go fix. First of all, your 01:01:00.079 --> 01:01:02.230 team is is a pyramid. Like the 01:01:02.240 --> 01:01:04.950 operations pyramid versus your team. 01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:07.109 Who's your team? Who who needs to be 01:01:07.119 --> 01:01:08.950 here? Who doesn't need to be here?" And 01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:10.630 and this is a bus. You got to get the 01:01:10.640 --> 01:01:12.230 right people on this bus and make sure 01:01:12.240 --> 01:01:14.870 they're all trained correctly. Second, 01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:16.710 your facilities. 01:01:16.720 --> 01:01:19.349 Your facilities. Is it clean? Is it not 01:01:19.359 --> 01:01:21.270 clean? Like what's the vibe? What's the 01:01:21.280 --> 01:01:23.670 experience? Go and fix that. Third is 01:01:23.680 --> 01:01:25.430 your systems. Where are your systems? Is 01:01:25.440 --> 01:01:27.670 everything intact? Like your like your 01:01:27.680 --> 01:01:29.349 systems, your procedures are all there. 01:01:29.359 --> 01:01:32.230 Great. Then it's marketing. Go hands 01:01:32.240 --> 01:01:34.230 down on marketing. Then then you'll make 01:01:34.240 --> 01:01:35.349 money. Then then at the top of the 01:01:35.359 --> 01:01:37.670 pyramid is money, finance. And brother, 01:01:37.680 --> 01:01:40.549 I put a plan together and I executed and 01:01:40.559 --> 01:01:42.870 I went hard on it and I got us out of 01:01:42.880 --> 01:01:43.750 that situation. 01:01:43.760 --> 01:01:44.950 >> Holy moly, dude. 01:01:44.960 --> 01:01:45.510 >> Yeah, man. 01:01:45.520 --> 01:01:46.549 >> You plowed

through. 01:01:46.559 --> 01:01:49.990 >> Yeah. I paid back my my uh the my more 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:51.670 uh my line of credit. I think like two 01:01:51.680 --> 01:01:53.109 years later, two years to three years 01:01:53.119 --> 01:01:55.190 later, I paid it all back. That's when I 01:01:55.200 --> 01:01:55.990 raised the 01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:57.670 >> and then I went from that and I raised 01:01:57.680 --> 01:01:59.990 $20 million from Savory 01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:01.430 >> and then the buyouts did the 01:02:01.440 --> 01:02:02.630 >> I bought all the restaurants. 01:02:02.640 --> 01:02:04.309 >> Okay. So, at one point you dropped the 01:02:04.319 --> 01:02:05.030 factory. 01:02:05.040 --> 01:02:05.510 >> Yes. 01:02:05.520 --> 01:02:07.829 >> That was a sick marketing campaign. I 01:02:07.839 --> 01:02:09.349 remember seeing it go viral on social 01:02:09.359 --> 01:02:11.270 media. For those that didn't see this 01:02:11.280 --> 01:02:12.950 marketing campaign, it's to me one of 01:02:12.960 --> 01:02:16.230 the one of the definitely in the top 10 01:02:16.240 --> 01:02:17.510 uh that I've seen. 01:02:17.520 --> 01:02:19.109 >> So, yeah. No, for sure. 01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:20.710 >> Tell us what it's tell us how it works. 01:02:20.720 --> 01:02:22.390 >> That that's one of the hardest decisions 01:02:22.400 --> 01:02:23.990 we've ever made as a company because 01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:25.670 again, if you look at the brand as your 01:02:25.680 --> 01:02:27.190 child and it's a human, 01:02:27.200 --> 01:02:28.710 >> you're essentially saying, "Hey, 01:02:28.720 --> 01:02:30.950 Caritos, you're no longer Caritos. We're 01:02:30.960 --> 01:02:33.109 going to change your name 01:02:33.119 --> 01:02:35.030 >> to Carlos." You know, not even it was it 01:02:35.040 --> 01:02:36.950 was a bit further than that. But I knew 01:02:36.960 --> 01:02:40.470 we wanted to grow. I knew that that the 01:02:40.480 --> 01:02:42.950 brand had legs. Everybody loved the 01:02:42.960 --> 01:02:45.670 brand. But every time I went and 01:02:45.680 --> 01:02:47.109 traveled around the country with the 01:02:47.119 --> 01:02:48.789 word Petra factory on my shirt, people 01:02:48.799 --> 01:02:50.710 thought I was a factory. They're like, 01:02:50.720 --> 01:02:52.309 "Oh, what do you guys manufacture?" I'm 01:02:52.319 --> 01:02:54.150 like, "What do you mean it's Petra 01:02:54.160 --> 01:02:55.670 Factory? Burgers and kebabs?" They're 01:02:55.680 --> 01:02:57.030 like, "Oh, you guys manufacture like 01:02:57.040 --> 01:02:59.510 parts for burgers for like machines or 01:02:59.520 --> 01:03:01.430 like like for kebabs? Like what what do 01:03:01.440 --> 01:03:03.829 you" And I knew we had a problem. And I 01:03:03.839 --> 01:03:06.549 was like, "Bro, I am going to figure 01:03:06.559 --> 01:03:08.150 this out. 01:03:08.160 --> 01:03:11.589 I went and I printed I hired a company 01:03:11.599 --> 01:03:13.990 to help me with the rebrand and I and 01:03:14.000 -->

01:03:15.589 they gave me some options and I printed 01:03:15.599 --> 01:03:19.349 like pinch factory pincho picho factory 01:03:19.359 --> 01:03:21.510 uh house of kebab not house of kebab 01:03:21.520 --> 01:03:24.549 that's rice pincho factory uh kebab I 01:03:24.559 --> 01:03:26.789 don't know what all these variations of 01:03:26.799 --> 01:03:31.510 the brand and then I went to um I went 01:03:31.520 --> 01:03:33.430 to kayak.com 01:03:33.440 --> 01:03:35.990 I bought a ticket to Chicago O'Hare I 01:03:36.000 --> 01:03:37.670 took all those six pieces of paper. I 01:03:37.680 --> 01:03:39.990 landed in Chicago and I got out of the 01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:43.270 plane. I went to 40 strangers and asked 01:03:43.280 --> 01:03:45.990 him, "Hey, my name is Otto. I'm a 01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:47.910 student. Can you please help me guess 01:03:47.920 --> 01:03:51.670 what this is?" And I did my study and I 01:03:51.680 --> 01:03:53.829 and at 9:00 I went back to the plane and 01:03:53.839 --> 01:03:54.870 I came back home. 01:03:54.880 --> 01:03:55.910 >> Why Chicago? 01:03:55.920 --> 01:03:57.190 >> It was the heart of the United States of 01:03:57.200 --> 01:03:57.750 America. 01:03:57.760 --> 01:03:58.069 >> Okay. 01:03:58.079 --> 01:03:59.029 >> And I was like, "You know what? You're 01:03:59.039 --> 01:04:02.630 gonna get a random random uh you know, 01:04:02.640 --> 01:04:04.390 >> by the way, people in Chicago are nice. 01:04:04.400 --> 01:04:07.349 It's amazing." And no one could guess 01:04:07.359 --> 01:04:11.029 that Pincho Factory was a restaurant. No 01:04:11.039 --> 01:04:13.670 one. No one. So I I knew I had a problem 01:04:13.680 --> 01:04:15.190 and I said, "You know what? I got to 01:04:15.200 --> 01:04:18.309 change the name. I am not going to uh 01:04:18.319 --> 01:04:20.470 open restaurants successfully across 01:04:20.480 --> 01:04:22.789 America if that's my goal if it's called 01:04:22.799 --> 01:04:24.549 Pincho Factory." And then when we 01:04:24.559 --> 01:04:25.670 decided what are we going to call this 01:04:25.680 --> 01:04:27.430 thing, I'm like, well, everybody already 01:04:27.440 --> 01:04:29.109 calls it Pincho anyway. Hey, you want to 01:04:29.119 --> 01:04:30.710 go to Pincho? You want to grab Pincho 01:04:30.720 --> 01:04:32.549 later? You know, you only say Pincho 01:04:32.559 --> 01:04:33.910 Factory to people that don't know the 01:04:33.920 --> 01:04:35.430 brand. It's like, "Have you been to 01:04:35.440 --> 01:04:37.910 Pincho factory?" It's almost like a last 01:04:37.920 --> 01:04:39.990 name. And then I was like, "We we're 01:04:40.000 --> 01:04:41.510 going to change the name to Pincho." So, 01:04:41.520 --> 01:04:43.430 we made a decision and we said, "How do 01:04:43.440 --> 01:04:45.270 we make it go big? How do we let 01:04:45.280 --> 01:04:47.670 everybody know that we are dropping 01:04:47.680 --> 01:04:49.270 factory?" And because of my background 01:04:49.280 --> 01:04:51.109 in advertising and

marketing, I said, 01:04:51.119 --> 01:04:53.109 "We have to spend as little money as 01:04:53.119 --> 01:04:54.870 possible and we have to make it go 01:04:54.880 --> 01:04:57.190 viral." And this is where before viral 01:04:57.200 --> 01:04:59.109 was a thing, you know, this is 2019, 01:04:59.119 --> 01:05:03.349 2020, no 20 2018, 2019. And we decided 01:05:03.359 --> 01:05:06.069 to stage a theft of the word factory. 01:05:06.079 --> 01:05:07.990 And then we we posted a picture online 01:05:08.000 --> 01:05:10.789 and we said we're like, "WTF?" Like, 01:05:10.799 --> 01:05:12.309 "Did somebody just steal the word 01:05:12.319 --> 01:05:13.589 factory? You guys don't have anything 01:05:13.599 --> 01:05:16.470 better to do? Are you serious?" And 01:05:16.480 --> 01:05:19.109 brother, no one loves bad news more than 01:05:19.119 --> 01:05:19.990 the internet. 01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:20.549 >> No. 01:05:20.559 --> 01:05:22.150 >> No. My god. If it's good news, no one 01:05:22.160 --> 01:05:24.309 cares. If it's bad news, it goes viral. 01:05:24.319 --> 01:05:26.470 Everybody talks about it. And then we 01:05:26.480 --> 01:05:29.029 leaked footage of video then of that 01:05:29.039 --> 01:05:31.589 person at night dropping down factory. 01:05:31.599 --> 01:05:33.910 And then people are like, "What the f?" 01:05:33.920 --> 01:05:36.150 And then we dropped the same thing at 01:05:36.160 --> 01:05:38.150 Flaggler. Two days later, they stole the 01:05:38.160 --> 01:05:39.990 factory at Flaggler. And then everybody 01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:42.630 is like, "Holy [ __ ] this is thing." But 01:05:42.640 --> 01:05:44.150 here's what we did. We started 01:05:44.160 --> 01:05:45.750 sprinkling the truth. 01:05:45.760 --> 01:05:48.789 >> We said, "Hey, bro, don't tell anyone." 01:05:48.799 --> 01:05:51.190 >> But this is a rebrand. Cuz we wanted 01:05:51.200 --> 01:05:52.789 when you say don't tell anyone, guess 01:05:52.799 --> 01:05:53.829 what they do? 01:05:53.839 --> 01:05:56.390 >> They tell everyone. 01:05:56.400 --> 01:05:58.789 >> So we we sprinkled to 40 people, I think 01:05:58.799 --> 01:06:00.470 it was, or 50 people like don't tell 01:06:00.480 --> 01:06:01.910 anyone. here's what we're doing. Don't 01:06:01.920 --> 01:06:04.549 tell anyone here are doing 01:06:04.559 --> 01:06:06.549 it. The news caught wind of it. They're 01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:08.150 like and they're they Oh, it's 01:06:08.160 --> 01:06:09.270 hilarious. You got to watch the clip. 01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:09.589 It's like, 01:06:09.599 --> 01:06:11.589 >> no, no, it's great. I I I remember 01:06:11.599 --> 01:06:12.390 seeing it. 01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:14.390 >> I remember seeing you post it and share 01:06:14.400 --> 01:06:18.069 it and me being like, dude, 01:06:18.079 --> 01:06:19.670 >> that somebody really did this. I thought 01:06:19.680 --> 01:06:21.589 they stole it and then and then I two 01:06:21.599 --> 01:06:23.670 days later I was like, "Oh, I get it. 01:06:23.680 -->

01:06:26.230 >> Yeah, we dropped we dropped the factory, 01:06:26.240 --> 01:06:27.910 man." Yeah. And look, it was a tough 01:06:27.920 --> 01:06:30.309 decision because we still call it Pizza 01:06:30.319 --> 01:06:31.349 Factory. 01:06:31.359 --> 01:06:32.870 >> Still call it Pizza Factory to today. I 01:06:32.880 --> 01:06:33.589 was like, I do. 01:06:33.599 --> 01:06:34.630 >> Yeah. You do too. 01:06:34.640 --> 01:06:35.910 >> I do. But over there, 01:06:35.920 --> 01:06:37.270 >> if you're Yeah. If you're someone else 01:06:37.280 --> 01:06:37.910 that doesn't know it, 01:06:37.920 --> 01:06:39.990 >> if you're an OG, you call it Pinch 01:06:40.000 --> 01:06:41.109 Factory, you know. I was like, 01:06:41.119 --> 01:06:43.190 >> I still call it Joe Robbie Stadium. 01:06:43.200 --> 01:06:45.430 >> All right. Like I don't know. 01:06:45.440 --> 01:06:47.430 >> That's amazing. So, you know, we did it. 01:06:47.440 --> 01:06:49.750 It was it was for a good reason. And it 01:06:49.760 --> 01:06:51.349 worked. You know, it worked. You know, 01:06:51.359 --> 01:06:53.430 people still know Picho is Prol Factory. 01:06:53.440 --> 01:06:55.910 you know, at the Pincho in Bird Road. We 01:06:55.920 --> 01:06:58.069 grabbed the original sign. It's on the 01:06:58.079 --> 01:06:59.990 wall. Pincho factory cuz we never want 01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:01.430 to forget where we came from. You know, 01:07:01.440 --> 01:07:02.470 it's it's a 01:07:02.480 --> 01:07:04.150 >> that's a that's an amazing plan. How 01:07:04.160 --> 01:07:05.589 many how many locations you have now? 01:07:05.599 --> 01:07:07.109 >> We're 14. 01:07:07.119 --> 01:07:07.910 >> 14 restaurants. 01:07:07.920 --> 01:07:09.829 >> 14. What's your goal? 01:07:09.839 --> 01:07:11.750 >> You know, for me now that that I've that 01:07:11.760 --> 01:07:14.549 I'm leading the brand, um quality over 01:07:14.559 --> 01:07:17.270 quantity is sort of my mentality now. I 01:07:17.280 --> 01:07:18.870 don't you know, when I was younger, I'll 01:07:18.880 --> 01:07:20.549 be like, I want to open a thousand 01:07:20.559 --> 01:07:21.910 restaurants. 01:07:21.920 --> 01:07:23.029 No, man. I just want to build 01:07:23.039 --> 01:07:24.710 opportunities for people. I want to make 01:07:24.720 --> 01:07:26.950 great money. I want to make Miami proud. 01:07:26.960 --> 01:07:28.470 I want to build opportunities for the 01:07:28.480 --> 01:07:30.230 leaders that've been here for 10 years 01:07:30.240 --> 01:07:32.150 that want to do thing like what like 01:07:32.160 --> 01:07:33.670 people don't know this, but here's what 01:07:33.680 --> 01:07:35.750 we did a few years ago. If you're a 01:07:35.760 --> 01:07:38.870 manager at Pinchro, a manager, assistant 01:07:38.880 --> 01:07:41.349 manager and above, we give you a bonus 01:07:41.359 --> 01:07:43.270 every month if you have to hit your your 01:07:43.280 --> 01:07:45.270 your metrics, right? Like if you're a 01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:47.910 GM, you get up to $1,000

every month. 01:07:47.920 --> 01:07:49.750 For every dollar that you get, we give 01:07:49.760 --> 01:07:52.150 you $2 in restricted stock in the 01:07:52.160 --> 01:07:53.829 company. So for every thousand dollars 01:07:53.839 --> 01:07:55.589 that you get, we give you $2,000 in 01:07:55.599 --> 01:07:58.069 stock that accumulates as a manager. And 01:07:58.079 --> 01:08:00.549 then when we exit this next round, 01:08:00.559 --> 01:08:02.470 everybody cashes out. So potentially if 01:08:02.480 --> 01:08:03.829 you're a manager, you can cash out 100 01:08:03.839 --> 01:08:05.349 grand, you know, and that it's 01:08:05.359 --> 01:08:07.670 life-changing money. Like we always do 01:08:07.680 --> 01:08:10.950 things to make sure that our team is 01:08:10.960 --> 01:08:12.470 it's good, that they're good, that 01:08:12.480 --> 01:08:13.990 they're making a decent living that 01:08:14.000 --> 01:08:15.270 because man, you take care of your team, 01:08:15.280 --> 01:08:16.229 they take care of the guest 01:08:16.239 --> 01:08:17.510 >> for sure. If you don't take care of your 01:08:17.520 --> 01:08:18.309 team, they're not going to take care of 01:08:18.319 --> 01:08:19.829 the guys. So, we we're constantly trying 01:08:19.839 --> 01:08:21.590 to do that. So, you know, we'll probably 01:08:21.600 --> 01:08:24.070 get to like 20 25 restaurants with this 01:08:24.080 --> 01:08:27.510 fund. My partners after that start maybe 01:08:27.520 --> 01:08:29.990 I'll grow franchising, but now I'm 01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:32.309 franchising from a position of strength. 01:08:32.319 --> 01:08:33.030 >> Yeah. 01:08:33.040 --> 01:08:35.110 >> When you're three units, you don't 01:08:35.120 --> 01:08:37.110 attract the best franchises. No. 01:08:37.120 --> 01:08:38.550 >> Right. My friends that were my 01:08:38.560 --> 01:08:40.550 franchises were my best franchises. 01:08:40.560 --> 01:08:42.390 Shout out to Nelson. Shout out to Sadiel 01:08:42.400 --> 01:08:44.309 and Sandy. These guys were my best 01:08:44.319 --> 01:08:46.070 franchises because they gave a [ __ ] 01:08:46.080 --> 01:08:47.749 because they cared about the brand, 01:08:47.759 --> 01:08:49.349 because they were my friends. But when 01:08:49.359 --> 01:08:51.030 you're new and you're small, it sucks. 01:08:51.040 --> 01:08:52.709 But when you're 20, 25 units, you're 01:08:52.719 --> 01:08:54.149 backed by private equity, you have money 01:08:54.159 --> 01:08:56.550 in the bank. Now you could say yes to 01:08:56.560 --> 01:08:57.510 the right people. 01:08:57.520 --> 01:08:57.749 >> Yeah. 01:08:57.759 --> 01:08:58.950 >> Now I can say yes to an 01:08:58.960 --> 01:08:59.749 >> position of power. 01:08:59.759 --> 01:09:01.349 >> Yeah. Somebody like you that wants to 01:09:01.359 --> 01:09:02.870 franchise. I'll be like, "Yes, he's an 01:09:02.880 --> 01:09:04.309 operator. He has multiple restaurants. 01:09:04.319 --> 01:09:06.309 He's great. You know, I'm not I'm not 01:09:06.319 --> 01:09:07.829 franchising to somebody that's new to 01:09:07.839 --> 01:09:09.030 the game and doesn't know what they're 01:09:09.040 --> 01:09:10.630 doing." So, you know, we want to 01:09:10.640 --> 01:09:12.309 continue making Miami proud, bro. Making 01:09:12.319 --> 01:09:14.789 my mom proud. you know, you know, just 01:09:14.799 --> 01:09:16.550 who thought a Palestinian would be 01:09:16.560 --> 01:09:18.550 leading a land inspired kitchen, you 01:09:18.560 --> 01:09:19.829 know, together with together with 01:09:19.839 --> 01:09:22.070 Adrian, my Cuban. Adrian is the only 01:09:22.080 --> 01:09:23.669 co-founder that still, you know, we call 01:09:23.679 --> 01:09:25.430 him an honorary co-founder. He couldn't 01:09:25.440 --> 01:09:27.349 be here today cuz he's traveling, but 01:09:27.359 --> 01:09:28.789 it's me and Adrian against the world 01:09:28.799 --> 01:09:31.030 right now, you know, putting the 305 on 01:09:31.040 --> 01:09:32.789 our back and making everybody proud. 01:09:32.799 --> 01:09:33.829 >> That's fantastic. 01:09:33.839 --> 01:09:34.550 >> Yeah, man. 01:09:34.560 --> 01:09:36.229 >> Want to do some rapid fire stuff? Let's 01:09:36.239 --> 01:09:37.910 do some fun stuff. All right. Was the 01:09:37.920 --> 01:09:41.189 Pinchos Out of Factory stunt the 01:09:41.199 --> 01:09:42.390 riskiest thing you ever did with your 01:09:42.400 --> 01:09:42.870 brand? 01:09:42.880 --> 01:09:46.470 >> 100%. 100%. The riskiest thing I've ever 01:09:46.480 --> 01:09:48.550 done my brand was changed the name 01:09:48.560 --> 01:09:50.070 because for a year and a half, two 01:09:50.080 --> 01:09:52.550 years, people just shout at us. Like our 01:09:52.560 --> 01:09:54.470 sales dropped. There was a lot that went 01:09:54.480 --> 01:09:56.950 with it. There was a almost we almost 01:09:56.960 --> 01:09:58.709 went under because we changed the name 01:09:58.719 --> 01:10:00.709 because people were confused because we 01:10:00.719 --> 01:10:02.790 didn't change our signage as fast as we 01:10:02.800 --> 01:10:04.550 changed our name online. So people 01:10:04.560 --> 01:10:06.870 online were like they're seeing Pincho. 01:10:06.880 --> 01:10:07.750 They're like, "What the hell's these 01:10:07.760 --> 01:10:09.510 guys? They're copying Praactory." So, 01:10:09.520 --> 01:10:11.430 you know, it and then CO happened and 01:10:11.440 --> 01:10:14.149 then I didn't change my signs for so co 01:10:14.159 --> 01:10:16.470 helped me. But that was literally the 01:10:16.480 --> 01:10:18.790 riskiest thing I've ever done was change 01:10:18.800 --> 01:10:19.669 the name of the brand. 01:10:19.679 --> 01:10:20.470 >> True or false? 01:10:20.480 --> 01:10:20.870 >> Okay. 01:10:20.880 --> 01:10:22.229 >> Third party delivery apps are a 01:10:22.239 --> 01:10:23.110 necessary evil. 01:10:23.120 --> 01:10:25.110 >> I hate them. 01:10:25.120 --> 01:10:26.950 >> But yes, they are. They are. And in this 01:10:26.960 --> 01:10:29.189 game, they are. Everybody's gotten

lazy. 01:10:29.199 --> 01:10:31.510 Everybody Everybody wants to be home. 01:10:31.520 --> 01:10:32.790 You know, we live in a country where 01:10:32.800 --> 01:10:35.669 where people will will door dash uh 01:10:35.679 --> 01:10:37.669 Sunday from McDonald's 01:10:37.679 --> 01:10:39.669 >> and pay, you know, $20 for it to make it 01:10:39.679 --> 01:10:40.149 to their house. 01:10:40.159 --> 01:10:41.990 >> I don't It's just It's just the way 01:10:42.000 --> 01:10:44.229 >> I I get upset every time I open up Uber 01:10:44.239 --> 01:10:45.430 Eats to order something. 01:10:45.440 --> 01:10:47.189 >> I pay Uber Eats in some restaurants more 01:10:47.199 --> 01:10:49.110 than I pay rent. Yeah. My Uber Eats. 01:10:49.120 --> 01:10:50.470 >> Well, you must be doing a lot of 01:10:50.480 --> 01:10:51.590 freaking delivery. 01:10:51.600 --> 01:10:53.430 >> Some stores will be almost 50% 01:10:53.440 --> 01:10:53.990 >> delivery. 01:10:54.000 --> 01:10:54.550 >> Yeah. 01:10:54.560 --> 01:10:55.110 >> No. 01:10:55.120 --> 01:10:57.669 >> Yeah. Yeah. Coral Gables is like 45% 01:10:57.679 --> 01:10:58.149 delivery. 01:10:58.159 --> 01:10:58.950 >> No. 01:10:58.960 --> 01:11:00.390 >> Walk into Gables is not packed, but 01:11:00.400 --> 01:11:01.910 guess what? That kitchen's cranking cuz 01:11:01.920 --> 01:11:03.189 everybody's sitting in the office and 01:11:03.199 --> 01:11:03.590 they just 01:11:03.600 --> 01:11:04.790 >> Yeah. The guys next door here are the 01:11:04.800 --> 01:11:05.189 same way. 01:11:05.199 --> 01:11:07.430 >> Yeah. Maybe if we remodel the store and 01:11:07.440 --> 01:11:09.510 make the vibe of, you know, 13 years get 01:11:09.520 --> 01:11:10.149 some people. 01:11:10.159 --> 01:11:11.510 >> The location's a little there, but And 01:11:11.520 --> 01:11:12.390 the Gables. Yeah. 01:11:12.400 --> 01:11:14.470 >> Yeah. But they non-stop. 01:11:14.480 --> 01:11:16.550 >> Those awards you won at all those burger 01:11:16.560 --> 01:11:18.310 festivals made a huge difference. True 01:11:18.320 --> 01:11:19.030 or false? 01:11:19.040 --> 01:11:22.310 >> Oh, absolutely. True. Well, not all of 01:11:22.320 --> 01:11:24.310 them. Not all of them. Not all of them. 01:11:24.320 --> 01:11:25.430 The ones that made the difference, 01:11:25.440 --> 01:11:27.189 Burger Bash. It's the only one. The only 01:11:27.199 --> 01:11:28.709 one that makes a difference, you know. 01:11:28.719 --> 01:11:29.110 Um, 01:11:29.120 --> 01:11:30.709 >> that's huge. that really helped you 01:11:30.719 --> 01:11:31.590 become a household name. 01:11:31.600 --> 01:11:32.550 >> That that's the only one that makes a 01:11:32.560 --> 01:11:32.790 difference. 01:11:32.800 --> 01:11:33.990 >> I mean, aside from the networking and 01:11:34.000 --> 01:11:35.510 everything you did, but and four years 01:11:35.520 --> 01:11:36.630 later when you won that four or five 01:11:36.640 --> 01:11:37.990 years later when you won that first one. 01:11:38.000 --> 01:11:39.590 >> And I think too people are tired of us 01:11:39.600 --> 01:11:41.990 winning, right? So like they really are. 01:11:42.000 --> 01:11:43.110 People told me the other day they're 01:11:43.120 --> 01:11:44.790 like, "Bro, like stop winning already." 01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:46.470 You know, it's it's I I tell my team all 01:11:46.480 --> 01:11:47.669 the time, we need to start winning at 01:11:47.679 --> 01:11:49.430 the store more than than winning these 01:11:49.440 --> 01:11:50.950 awards. You know, we've been lucky. 01:11:50.960 --> 01:11:52.709 We've won Burgericious eight times here 01:11:52.719 --> 01:11:54.709 in the Gables. You know, it's after you 01:11:54.719 --> 01:11:58.950 win eight times, it's like people care. 01:11:58.960 --> 01:11:59.669 No, 01:11:59.679 --> 01:12:01.189 >> it's like you know back when the 01:12:01.199 --> 01:12:03.510 Patriots were winning Super Bowls time 01:12:03.520 --> 01:12:05.590 >> Berg Bash was really the only one that 01:12:05.600 --> 01:12:07.510 mattered because it moved the needle 01:12:07.520 --> 01:12:08.950 >> right when you say matters. 01:12:08.960 --> 01:12:11.510 >> Has scaling made you a better leader or 01:12:11.520 --> 01:12:14.470 just more stressed? 01:12:14.480 --> 01:12:16.229 >> Is that a trick question? 01:12:16.239 --> 01:12:18.390 >> I know it's a curveball question. 01:12:18.400 --> 01:12:19.830 >> You can say skip. We'll skip it. 01:12:19.840 --> 01:12:23.350 >> Yeah. I mean here's here's my uh my 01:12:23.360 --> 01:12:26.630 think. 100% more stressed. Has it made 01:12:26.640 --> 01:12:28.709 me a better leader? I don't think 01:12:28.719 --> 01:12:30.870 scaling has made me a better leader. 01:12:30.880 --> 01:12:33.350 Meeting people along the way that have 01:12:33.360 --> 01:12:34.870 invested in me have made me a better 01:12:34.880 --> 01:12:37.030 leader. Having 10 restaurants versus I 01:12:37.040 --> 01:12:38.550 always say, man, now anybody that comes 01:12:38.560 --> 01:12:40.229 to me and says, "Man, you know, we want 01:12:40.239 --> 01:12:41.750 a franchise and become a McDonald's." 01:12:41.760 --> 01:12:43.110 I'm like, "Don't. If you have three 01:12:43.120 --> 01:12:44.630 restaurants cranking, making great 01:12:44.640 --> 01:12:45.830 money, what for?" 01:12:45.840 --> 01:12:46.229 >> Yeah. 01:12:46.239 --> 01:12:48.229 >> Just grow slowly, man. Just just enjoy 01:12:48.239 --> 01:12:49.750 life. Make some good money. I mean, you 01:12:49.760 --> 01:12:51.510 got to make good money. I'm not saying 01:12:51.520 --> 01:12:54.229 no. But scaling to me is not everything. 01:12:54.239 --> 01:12:56.149 >> No. you know, building opportunities for 01:12:56.159 --> 01:12:58.390 my team. 100%. 01:12:58.400 --> 01:12:59.669 >> That's awesome way to look at it. 01:12:59.679 --> 01:13:00.630 >> 100%. 01:13:00.640 --> 01:13:01.990 >> Some AB stuff. 01:13:02.000 --> 01:13:02.390 >> Okay. 01:13:02.400 --> 01:13:04.229 >> Toss bun or classic bun. 01:13:04.239 --> 01:13:06.630 >>

[ __ ] Toss bun. No, no, no, no. Classic 01:13:06.640 --> 01:13:07.990 bun. Classic bun. Classic. 01:13:08.000 --> 01:13:08.630 >> Classic bun. 01:13:08.640 --> 01:13:10.070 >> Classic bun. Yeah. Yeah. 01:13:10.080 --> 01:13:10.709 >> Classic bun. 01:13:10.719 --> 01:13:12.229 >> You just like it. That's your 01:13:12.239 --> 01:13:13.990 >> That's amazing. Our bun's amazing. 01:13:14.000 --> 01:13:17.350 >> Branding or operations? 01:13:17.360 --> 01:13:21.590 >> Depending on your stage. Today. Today. 01:13:21.600 --> 01:13:24.070 Operations. Operations. Today. 01:13:24.080 --> 01:13:25.750 operations. I I would tell you back in 01:13:25.760 --> 01:13:27.510 the back in the day, I'll tell you 01:13:27.520 --> 01:13:29.830 branding is everything. Today, 01:13:29.840 --> 01:13:32.790 consistent solid operations is 01:13:32.800 --> 01:13:34.070 everything. You know, you got to have 01:13:34.080 --> 01:13:35.270 >> after you've established a brand. 01:13:35.280 --> 01:13:36.709 >> After you establish a brand, I mean, and 01:13:36.719 --> 01:13:38.630 branding, yeah, we still good, but but 01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:40.310 you just got to be consistent, you know. 01:13:40.320 --> 01:13:42.790 Look, my family, we are we we are part 01:13:42.800 --> 01:13:44.470 owners of a brand called Snappers Fish 01:13:44.480 --> 01:13:45.030 and Chicken. 01:13:45.040 --> 01:13:45.590 >> Oh, no way. 01:13:45.600 --> 01:13:47.590 >> So, we my uncle started that. Yeah. So, 01:13:47.600 --> 01:13:49.270 we own a few Snappers. They never done 01:13:49.280 --> 01:13:51.110 any freaking marketing. They freaking 01:13:51.120 --> 01:13:51.990 crank. 01:13:52.000 --> 01:13:52.950 >> Just consistent. 01:13:52.960 --> 01:13:55.350 >> Yeah. consistent operations. Ask my 01:13:55.360 --> 01:13:57.110 uncle if he's has a social media. He 01:13:57.120 --> 01:13:59.350 goes, he laughs at me. He goes, "So, for 01:13:59.360 --> 01:13:59.750 what?" 01:13:59.760 --> 01:14:01.110 >> I seen him on Northwest 7. 01:14:01.120 --> 01:14:02.870 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I own that one. 01:14:02.880 --> 01:14:03.830 Northwest 7's mine. 01:14:03.840 --> 01:14:04.310 >> No way. 01:14:04.320 --> 01:14:06.790 >> Yeah. Yeah. And he goes, "For what?" He 01:14:06.800 --> 01:14:07.910 goes, "Did you see the line out the 01:14:07.920 --> 01:14:08.310 door?" 01:14:08.320 --> 01:14:09.110 >> Yeah. 01:14:09.120 --> 01:14:09.669 >> Oh my god. 01:14:09.679 --> 01:14:11.350 >> This guy still has food in the dining 01:14:11.360 --> 01:14:13.350 room. He hasn't rolled back the co days. 01:14:13.360 --> 01:14:15.110 He still He goes, "I'm not reopening the 01:14:15.120 --> 01:14:16.790 dining room." 01:14:16.800 --> 01:14:17.270 >> That's great. 01:14:17.280 --> 01:14:18.550 >> He hasn't reopened the dining room. 01:14:18.560 --> 01:14:20.550 >> No. No. Yeah. I mean, he did a few 01:14:20.560 --> 01:14:21.189 seats, but 01:14:21.199 --> 01:14:23.669 >> Oh my god. Would you rather be a 01:14:23.679 --> 01:14:25.830 destination or in the middle of a lot of 01:14:25.840 --> 01:14:29.110 traffic? 01:14:29.120 --> 01:14:31.270 Like do you would you rather be Maine in 01:14:31.280 --> 01:14:34.149 Maine or a destination off the side? 01:14:34.159 --> 01:14:36.870 >> If I'm from that city, destination. If 01:14:36.880 --> 01:14:38.790 I'm not from that city, Maine in Maine. 01:14:38.800 --> 01:14:39.990 And I've learned that the hard way with 01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:40.550 Houston. 01:14:40.560 --> 01:14:40.950 >> Really? 01:14:40.960 --> 01:14:42.149 >> Yeah. You need to be Maine. 01:14:42.159 --> 01:14:43.110 >> What happened specifically? 01:14:43.120 --> 01:14:44.790 >> Because because being Maine in Maine, 01:14:44.800 --> 01:14:47.750 even if you pay more, uh you leverage 01:14:47.760 --> 01:14:49.669 the brand awareness. Like if you know 01:14:49.679 --> 01:14:51.350 being being in a in a in a shopping 01:14:51.360 --> 01:14:53.270 center that has a strong day population, 01:14:53.280 --> 01:14:55.590 night population might cost you more 01:14:55.600 --> 01:14:56.310 money. 01:14:56.320 --> 01:14:58.470 >> You might not make as much, but guess 01:14:58.480 --> 01:15:00.470 what? It's a billboard. You know, people 01:15:00.480 --> 01:15:01.830 that are going in to shop at a Whole 01:15:01.840 --> 01:15:03.430 Foods, they're going to see you and 01:15:03.440 --> 01:15:04.310 they're going to be like, "Oh, you know 01:15:04.320 --> 01:15:06.229 what? Let me go try John Martins." Like, 01:15:06.239 --> 01:15:08.229 that's a good spot. But if you're on a 01:15:08.239 --> 01:15:09.510 destination is 01:15:09.520 --> 01:15:10.870 >> 10 times the work. 01:15:10.880 --> 01:15:11.270 >> Yeah. 01:15:11.280 --> 01:15:13.030 >> In Miami, I think all of us need to be 01:15:13.040 --> 01:15:14.390 destinations now. So we don't have to 01:15:14.400 --> 01:15:15.430 pay our landlords the amount of money 01:15:15.440 --> 01:15:16.790 that we're paying them because that's 01:15:16.800 --> 01:15:19.350 the reason why all the food's expensive. 01:15:19.360 --> 01:15:20.709 That's what it is. I think we should all 01:15:20.719 --> 01:15:22.070 get together figure you know what guys 01:15:22.080 --> 01:15:23.110 we are just going to build a shopping 01:15:23.120 --> 01:15:24.149 center right over here. 01:15:24.159 --> 01:15:25.590 >> There's a lot of vacancies lately. 01:15:25.600 --> 01:15:27.590 >> Yeah. And just do that because you know 01:15:27.600 --> 01:15:30.070 being in main here is it means that you 01:15:30.080 --> 01:15:34.149 need one more uh you know uh menu item 01:15:34.159 --> 01:15:36.630 that's $60 versus you know $20. 01:15:36.640 --> 01:15:38.310 >> You hire for culture or experience? 01:15:38.320 --> 01:15:42.390 >> Culture all day. Culture all day. I hire 01:15:42.400 --> 01:15:44.390 100%. Not even for culture, for 01:15:44.400 --> 01:15:47.110 personality. Personality. I I'm like, 01:15:47.120 --> 01:15:49.270 dude, if you're an [ __ ] I I can't

01:15:49.280 --> 01:15:50.149 change who you are. 01:15:50.159 --> 01:15:50.470 >> No, 01:15:50.480 --> 01:15:52.310 >> that's that parts of your upbringing. 01:15:52.320 --> 01:15:54.149 Being a good human and having integrity 01:15:54.159 --> 01:15:55.510 is part of your upbringing. It's 01:15:55.520 --> 01:15:56.950 something that your grandma, your dad, 01:15:56.960 --> 01:15:58.310 your mom, if you're lucky enough to have 01:15:58.320 --> 01:16:00.229 both parents, that's who teaches you how 01:16:00.239 --> 01:16:01.910 to be a good person. I can teach you 01:16:01.920 --> 01:16:03.750 skills. I can teach you how to make a 01:16:03.760 --> 01:16:05.110 better burger. I can teach you how to be 01:16:05.120 --> 01:16:07.189 this, but I cannot be I cannot teach you 01:16:07.199 --> 01:16:08.310 to be a good person. 01:16:08.320 --> 01:16:11.350 >> Miami hospitality needs more blank and 01:16:11.360 --> 01:16:13.830 less blank. 01:16:13.840 --> 01:16:16.870 We need more expensive Italian 01:16:16.880 --> 01:16:19.430 restaurants. That's That's what we need. 01:16:19.440 --> 01:16:21.110 We don't have enough. We don't have 01:16:21.120 --> 01:16:23.990 enough of that. I mean, bro, I mean, I'm 01:16:24.000 --> 01:16:26.390 just out here eating $20 pastas. I need 01:16:26.400 --> 01:16:29.750 45 $50 pastas. 01:16:29.760 --> 01:16:32.390 Oh my god. Uh, no. All jokes aside, 01:16:32.400 --> 01:16:35.430 honestly, I think right now what we need 01:16:35.440 --> 01:16:38.149 more is just accessible price and just 01:16:38.159 --> 01:16:40.310 consistent hospitality. You know, 01:16:40.320 --> 01:16:42.070 there's a lot I mean, I'll take it on. 01:16:42.080 --> 01:16:44.229 There's a lot of great people right now 01:16:44.239 --> 01:16:47.430 doing great things. We just need the 01:16:47.440 --> 01:16:51.110 crowd, the customers to not be so hard 01:16:51.120 --> 01:16:53.590 on the operators. That's one. Like 01:16:53.600 --> 01:16:56.070 people are ruthless. I mean, go online, 01:16:56.080 --> 01:16:57.590 they just freaking murder you if you 01:16:57.600 --> 01:16:58.870 make a mistake. Just a little bit more 01:16:58.880 --> 01:17:00.550 patience from everybody. And then 01:17:00.560 --> 01:17:02.470 second, we just need more accessible 01:17:02.480 --> 01:17:04.470 restaurants that are like just homegrown 01:17:04.480 --> 01:17:06.870 mom and pop restaurants that have great 01:17:06.880 --> 01:17:08.709 pricing, great hospitality. You know, I 01:17:08.719 --> 01:17:10.070 struggle a lot with that lately. 01:17:10.080 --> 01:17:11.590 Although there's a few newcomers that 01:17:11.600 --> 01:17:12.470 are amazing, 01:17:12.480 --> 01:17:14.310 >> but everybody's on the same boat and 01:17:14.320 --> 01:17:16.229 then they go and open on a destination 01:17:16.239 --> 01:17:17.750 on a corner, but then you you kill 01:17:17.760 --> 01:17:19.030 yourself with marketing because you have 01:17:19.040 --> 01:17:20.229 to get people through those doors and no 01:17:20.239 --> 01:17:21.590 one's talking about you. So, 01:17:21.600 --> 01:17:24.310 >> you've taken your hits, you've had your 01:17:24.320 --> 01:17:26.229 ups and downs. There's one piece of 01:17:26.239 --> 01:17:27.910 advice you give somebody that's just 01:17:27.920 --> 01:17:29.510 starting out and wants to get into the 01:17:29.520 --> 01:17:31.830 hospitality biz. What's one piece of 01:17:31.840 --> 01:17:33.750 advice that you wish you would have 01:17:33.760 --> 01:17:35.590 known before you got into it? 01:17:35.600 --> 01:17:37.750 >> Oh my god, I have a list of 10, bro. But 01:17:37.760 --> 01:17:39.990 if I had to, I mean, 01:17:40.000 --> 01:17:41.430 >> not necessarily if I would have known, 01:17:41.440 --> 01:17:42.149 but like 01:17:42.159 --> 01:17:44.149 >> what I hear a lot, a lot of people reach 01:17:44.159 --> 01:17:45.750 out to me for advice, you know, 01:17:45.760 --> 01:17:46.870 naturally, thank God, you know, because 01:17:46.880 --> 01:17:48.149 they look at Pinterest, say, "You guys 01:17:48.159 --> 01:17:49.750 are successful, and they always like, 01:17:49.760 --> 01:17:52.229 hey, what is 01:17:52.239 --> 01:17:54.550 >> almost died three times, you know, but 01:17:54.560 --> 01:17:57.189 um I think my my number one advice is 01:17:57.199 --> 01:17:59.510 you're living in the world, which is the 01:17:59.520 --> 01:18:01.350 best time to be alive from a from a 01:18:01.360 --> 01:18:02.870 technology standpoint. You don't have to 01:18:02.880 --> 01:18:05.590 go all in. You know, you can build a 01:18:05.600 --> 01:18:07.510 popup. you can like surround yourself 01:18:07.520 --> 01:18:09.030 with incredible people that can give you 01:18:09.040 --> 01:18:10.950 advice. I I see a lot of people that 01:18:10.960 --> 01:18:13.030 just want to go all in and go sign a 01:18:13.040 --> 01:18:15.830 lease that's $20,000 a month because 01:18:15.840 --> 01:18:17.990 they had this idea. I'm like, bro, you 01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:19.590 can you can reach out to a bakery that 01:18:19.600 --> 01:18:21.830 closes at 3:00 and do a popup there. 01:18:21.840 --> 01:18:24.229 Test it out, figure it out. Like, just 01:18:24.239 --> 01:18:27.030 go slowly. Make sure that you build 01:18:27.040 --> 01:18:29.590 something that people want. You know, it 01:18:29.600 --> 01:18:31.189 you want pe something that people love, 01:18:31.199 --> 01:18:32.630 right? There's this there's this uh 01:18:32.640 --> 01:18:34.709 advice on technology that's like you're 01:18:34.719 --> 01:18:36.470 better off building a product that a 01:18:36.480 --> 01:18:40.470 hundred people love than something that 01:18:40.480 --> 01:18:42.870 a thousand people kind of like my 01:18:42.880 --> 01:18:45.750 brother if you know my sister if you are 01:18:45.760 --> 01:18:47.669 building something you better have 01:18:47.679 --> 01:18:49.830 raving fans do it little by little and 01:18:49.840 --> 01:18:51.189 go outside of your your family your

01:18:51.199 --> 01:18:52.229 family's going to tell me that they love 01:18:52.239 --> 01:18:54.550 it no you got to go to random people so 01:18:54.560 --> 01:18:56.470 slowly but surely and you know don't 01:18:56.480 --> 01:18:58.470 sign these personal guarantees this can 01:18:58.480 --> 01:18:59.510 bankrupt people 01:18:59.520 --> 01:19:00.709 >> the PGs that 01:19:00.719 --> 01:19:02.870 >> 100% % the personal guarantee on a on a 01:19:02.880 --> 01:19:04.550 loan is what on a business investment is 01:19:04.560 --> 01:19:05.990 what what got me into bankruptcy. 01:19:06.000 --> 01:19:07.750 >> Oh [ __ ] dude. That's that's the worst. 01:19:07.760 --> 01:19:09.830 Yeah, it's it's really hard, man. Like 01:19:09.840 --> 01:19:11.270 now that I have investors and have a 01:19:11.280 --> 01:19:12.550 private equity, I no longer sign 01:19:12.560 --> 01:19:14.630 personal guarantees. It's incredible, 01:19:14.640 --> 01:19:16.950 right? But early on, if you if you're in 01:19:16.960 --> 01:19:18.310 this business, you know, you're on the 01:19:18.320 --> 01:19:19.590 hook for 01:19:19.600 --> 01:19:21.750 >> for the whole lease, you know, 10 years 01:19:21.760 --> 01:19:23.189 at eight grand a month. 01:19:23.199 --> 01:19:23.910 >> Yeah. Yeah. 01:19:23.920 --> 01:19:25.430 >> You know, it's it's it's brutal. So, 01:19:25.440 --> 01:19:27.350 yeah, take it slow. Don't go crazy. 01:19:27.360 --> 01:19:29.350 surround yourself with amazing humans 01:19:29.360 --> 01:19:30.950 and test your idea outside of your 01:19:30.960 --> 01:19:32.390 family. I know it's a lot of advice, but 01:19:32.400 --> 01:19:33.030 that's what I 01:19:33.040 --> 01:19:34.229 >> Awesome, man. 01:19:34.239 --> 01:19:36.070 >> Well, if there's anything else I think 01:19:36.080 --> 01:19:37.669 we [ __ ] we covered a lot, but if 01:19:37.679 --> 01:19:39.270 there's anything that we didn't drop or 01:19:39.280 --> 01:19:40.390 anything you want to talk about, now's 01:19:40.400 --> 01:19:41.030 the time to do it. 01:19:41.040 --> 01:19:43.189 >> No, I mean, Miami, we just celebrated 15 01:19:43.199 --> 01:19:46.390 years. I love you. We appreciate you. We 01:19:46.400 --> 01:19:47.750 bought all of our restaurants back 01:19:47.760 --> 01:19:49.270 because we care about community. We care 01:19:49.280 --> 01:19:50.790 about experience. You know, that was 01:19:50.800 --> 01:19:53.030 three, four years ago. I just honest to 01:19:53.040 --> 01:19:56.470 God just an enormous amount of gratitude 01:19:56.480 --> 01:19:58.470 uh for for my friends, for people like 01:19:58.480 --> 01:20:01.030 you that have taught me a lot along the 01:20:01.040 --> 01:20:03.110 way that have that that I've looked up 01:20:03.120 --> 01:20:05.030 to and for Miami as a whole for showing 01:20:05.040 --> 01:20:06.470 up to us every single time we needed you 01:20:06.480 --> 01:20:07.510 guys. So, 01:20:07.520 --> 01:20:09.189 >> thank you very much, Otto, for spending 01:20:09.199 --> 01:20:11.590 this this time with us, man. I I uh I 01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:13.830 really enjoyed talking to you. I I'm in 01:20:13.840 --> 01:20:15.189 the middle of a fast right now. 01:20:15.199 --> 01:20:15.750 >> Oh my god. 01:20:15.760 --> 01:20:17.110 >> But I get you know what I'm going to do 01:20:17.120 --> 01:20:18.630 on Sunday when I break it is I'm going 01:20:18.640 --> 01:20:19.350 to pincho. 01:20:19.360 --> 01:20:22.470 >> Hell yeah. Let's go. Let's go. Don't get 01:20:22.480 --> 01:20:23.990 the tostonas as buns. 01:20:24.000 --> 01:20:27.510 >> No. Yeah, I am, dude. I am. I am for 01:20:27.520 --> 01:20:29.350 sure. I love that. 01:20:29.360 --> 01:20:30.630 >> All right, guys. Thank you again for 01:20:30.640 --> 01:20:35.239 tuning in. Catch you on the next one.