# Sweetgreen: Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2020-04-13
- Length: 1h 09m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman

## Summary

Sweetgreen co-founders Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman, along with Nathaniel Ru, explain how they launched a salad restaurant in a 500-square-foot concrete shack near Georgetown University in 2007, overcoming a lack of experience and capital. They detail the company's evolution from a student-focused spot to a tech-enabled fast-casual chain, highlighting the pivotal 2018 decision to pivot toward digital ordering and 'Outpost' locker systems, which caused their entire executive team to resign. The episode concludes with an update on how the pandemic forced a shift to contactless delivery and the donation of over 100,000 meals to healthcare workers via partnerships with World Central Kitchen.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=0) Introduction: Sweetgreen Founders and the Crisis Pivot
- [5:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=335) Georgetown Origins and the First Concrete Shack
- [14:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=860) Raising Capital and Building the First Restaurant
- [31:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=1867) Surviving the First Winter and Early Marketing
- [38:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=2301) Expansion, Steve Case Investment, and Supply Chain
- [54:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=3294) The 2018 Tech Pivot and Executive Exodus
- [1:05:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-13-sweetgreen-nicolas-jammet-and-jonathan-neman#t=3933) Pandemic Response and World Central Kitchen Partnership

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Sweetgreen (company)
- Georgetown University (other)
- Steve Case (other)
- Revolution (other)
- Kini Produce (company)
- World Central Kitchen (company)
- Jose Andres (other)
- Chipotle (company)
- Subway (company)
- McDonald's (company)
- Blockbuster (company)
- Netflix (company)
- Amazon (company)
- Whole Foods (company)
- Costco (company)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- La Caravel (company)
- The Strokes (other)
- Vampire Weekend (other)
- Kendrick Lamar (other)

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- [From Hand Sanitizer to Tomato Sauce - How Sauz Went From 10 Doors to 3,500 in a Year](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-08-29-from-hand-sanitizer-to-tomato-sauce-how-sauz-went-from-10-doors-to-3-500-in-a-ye) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [#115 Pure Gold Series: Lessons on Iterating from Seth Goldman + Updates on Eat the Change & Just Ice Tea](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2023-11-21-115-pure-gold-series-lessons-on-iterating-from-seth-goldman-updates-on-eat-the-c) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [017: Healthy Instant Noodles & Cutting-Edge Vending Machines with Damien Lee of Mr. Lee's Noodles](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-09-06-017-healthy-instant-noodles-cutting-edge-vending-machines-with-damien-lee-of-mr) (Product Startup)
- [Founder Feature:  Elan Halpern & Kiki Couchman of Sourmilk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-11-07-founder-feature-elan-halpern-kiki-couchman-of-sourmilk) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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