Hardware Podcasts

MOD Pizza & Seattle Coffee Company: Scott and Ally Svenson

How I Built This · 24 Jul 2023 · 1h 27m

What this episode covers

Scott and Ally Svenson, co-founders of Seattle Coffee Company and MOD Pizza, recount their journey from launching a Starbucks-inspired coffee chain in London to creating the fast-casual pizza category in the US. They detail the strategic decision to sell Seattle Coffee Company to Starbucks to secure market position before the giant's arrival, and the subsequent pivot to MOD Pizza, which was born from a personal frustration with feeding their family. The episode highlights their unique operational challenges, including solving the throughput bottleneck of fresh pizza production and implementing a socially conscious hiring model that prioritizes employment for formerly incarcerated individuals and those with developmental disabilities.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Seattle Coffee Company, MOD Pizza, Starbucks, Chipotle, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Cresta Care, Tours in Macatonia, Carluccio's, Siena Group, U.S. Bank

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