Know What Matters

Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations

By: Ron Shaich

Narrated by: Will Tulin

Ron Shaich is a business visionary who has been part of building three iconic restaurant brands: Au Bon Pain, Panera Bread, and now Cava. Along the way, he developed "fast casual," a $100 billion-plus segment of the industry. Now he reveals what he learned about entrepreneurship, running large enterprises, business transformation, and life itself. He illustrates these lessons with his experiences turning a small cookie store into 2,400 restaurants with $5 billion in revenue, delivering annual investor returns of 25% over two decades, and outperforming both Starbucks and Chipotle. How did Shaich succeed repeatedly in such a tough industry? By discovering today what will matter tomorrow and never hesitating to undertake sweeping transformations to get the job done.

Telling yourself the truth, knowing what really matters, and getting it done is the path to creating and sustaining a meaningful life, a market-leading business, and even a healthier society. Shaich's reflections are sometimes practical ("Make smart bets"), sometimes philosophical ("Conduct an annual pre-mortem"), often challenging ("You don't own the business, the business owns you"), and always incisive ("You take the money, I'll take control."). Know What Matters is a powerful guide to building transformative businesses while leading a life you respect and leaving a positive impact on the world.

©2023 Ron Shaich (P)2023 Ascent Audio

Business and integrity 

Ron never lost his integrity for life, employees, and business. Tons of great tips as a business owner.

A wonderful founders Journey!

Ron Shaich takes the readers on a beautiful entrepreneurs journey filled with practical lessons on how to build a great business ! He also takes you on his personal transformation with fantastic storytelling. Well Done !

Good business narrative from start to finish,may we all focus on the journey and not on the legacy.

Good and settle inspirational book , that brings depth on the journey, that business owners face , one that would hard but worth it

A masterclass in how to be a human 10x CEO for the price of a Panera Pick2

Literally one of the best business books I have ever read. It condenses 40 years of business prowess into a riveting and human narrative.

I feel inspired to adopt Ron as a role model; his North Star of long term value creation over short sighted profits and his dedication to customers & stakeholders is exactly the kind of leader I want to be.

Inspiration with purpose

As a long time admirer and customer of Panera, the story and learnings will be firmly etched in my mind and heart for a long time.