# How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2021-03-25
- Length: 23m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur

## Summary

Vivian Ku, owner of the Los Angeles restaurants Pine and Crane, Joy, and the breakfast pop-up Today Starts Here, discusses navigating the pandemic and rising anti-Asian violence. She explains how she pivoted from planned expansion to a lease-for-lease-break pop-up model to retain her team and maintain cash flow. Ku also reflects on her family's agricultural background, her grandfather's influence on her career choices, and the challenges of securing PPP loans and managing staff morale during uncertainty.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=0) Introduction: Vivian Ku and the Resilience Series
- [1:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=92) Navigating Anti-Asian Violence and Cultural Representation
- [3:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=237) The Culinary History of Taiwanese Food and Pine and Crane
- [6:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=387) Family Background and Decision to Enter Hospitality
- [9:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=592) Overcoming Fear and Signing the First Lease
- [12:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=768) Pandemic Survival: PPP Loans, Staffing, and Operations
- [15:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-25-how-i-built-resilience-vivian-ku-restaurateur#t=921) The Today Starts Here Pop-Up Pivot and Future Outlook

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Pine and Crane (product)
- Joy (product)
- Today Starts Here (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- NPR (company)

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- [#66 Sharing is Caring: How Alison Cayne & Haven's Kitchen share cooking confidence and industry knowledge](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2022-10-25-66-sharing-is-caring-how-alison-cayne-havens-kitchen-share-cooking-confidence-an) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
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- [#136: Growing Jaju Pierogi with Social Media Pro Vanessa White](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-04-02-136-growing-jaju-pierogi-with-social-media-pro-vanessa-white) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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