Panera Bread
company on 7 shows · 21 statements across 6 episodes · said 139 times in 17 episodes since 2018
How I Built This 84 
the Knowledge Project 42 
the Neon Show 4 
the a16z Podcast 3 
the Y Combinator Startup Podcast 2 
My First Million 2 
20VC 2
Mentions by year, every show
tap a year for its mentions
How I Built This 84the Knowledge Project 42the Neon Show 4the a16z Podcast 3My First Million 220VC 2the Y Combinator Startup Podcast 2
2025 47 mentions in 4 episodes 12 per episode
2024 4 mentions in 3 episodes 1 per episode
2023 5 mentions in 2 episodes 3 per episode
2021 3 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2020 36 mentions in 4 episodes 9 per episode
2019 3 mentions in 1 episode
2018 41 mentions in 1 episode
every mention on every show, scene by scene, with the transcript →
21 statements about Panera Bread, every show
Panera generated a 25% IRR over two decades, outperforming Berkshire Hathaway.
“Panera was the best performing restaurant stock over two decades. Its last two decades produced 25% IRR In fact, somebody told me we actually beat Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.”
Shaich convinced Au Bon Pain to sell everything and bet on Panera.
“I went off and came back two months later and went to my board with a proposal to sell every other business and bet the whole thing on this Panera Bread division.”
Panera spent $150 million on technology during its digital transformation.
“I spent a hundred and fifty million dollars on technology.”
JAB acquired Panera Bread for $7.8 billion in a historic deal.
“And they paid for it, and what, at that time, was the largest or second largest U.S. Restaurant deal ever done. 7.8 billion dollars, and among the highest multiples.”
The restaurant industry is a winner-take-all market for scaled players.
“My industry is an industry of winner-take-all. Think McDonald's and Burger King. Think Panera and Corner Bakery, Chipotle and Qdoba. All of the value creation tends to happen for those that are building something of large scale.”
Economic downturns are the best times for apparel brands to expand retail
“This is going to be the best time ever for up and coming clothing brand to get an amazing retail fleet.”
Scott Svenson: Category leadership outweighs the collateral damage of hyper-growth
“Whatever mistakes we made, whatever collateral damage, if you will, there comes from going too fast would be more than made up for by winning in this category and having All the advantages that come from being that market share leader over time, being the Star…”
Chandrasekaran: In a crisis, companies should build windmills rather than bunkers
“Obviously you need to conserve cash, you need to sort of get into survival mode but also you don't want to, like, go in a bunker And hide out until everything clears, right? You want to sort of build windmills that actually start leveraging what is going on in…”
Shaich won a board battle with two votes against VCs' three
“It was a huge boardroom struggle, because I had two votes, our venture capitalists had three, and all of them had invested in Au Bon Pain.”
Shaich: Panera stock surged 100x after selling off Au Bon Pain
“The stock has been up a hundredfold since then.”
Panera Bread ultimately sold to JAB Holding for $315 per share
“And ended up selling for 315 a share.”
Shaich: Panera tripled its stock price through the Great Recession
“We said this is the time to build competitive advantage, and ultimately we tripled the stock through the recession.”
Shaich: Public markets force CEOs into short-term cost-cutting over transformative bets
“There's a pervasive sense of short-termism that has invaded our markets. The reality is, when you have such short-term pressure on our CEOs, they react. And what that ends up meaning is cost-cutting. And they avoid the kind of transformative events that drove …”
Raz: Panera bought back Au Bon Pain 20 years after selling it
“Late in 2017, after Panera went private again, and 20 years after selling Obonpan to focus on building out Panera, the company actually bought back Obonpan.”
Shaich: VCs controlled 3 of 5 board votes during Au Bon Pain divestment fight
“It was a huge boardroom struggle, because I had two votes, our venture capitalists had three, and all of them had invested in Au Bon Pain.”
Shaich: Panera Bread ultimately sold for $315 per share
“No, and it ended up selling for 315 a share.”
Shaich: Panera tripled its stock price during the Great Recession
“We said this is the time to build competitive advantage, and ultimately we tripled the stock through the recession.”
Shaich controlled 17% of Panera Bread's voting stock
“No, I, you know what, the truth is, I probably could, because I voted 17% of the stock, and I had this reputation, this credibility.”
Shaich: Public market short-termism forces CEOs into cost-cutting over transformative bets
“There's a pervasive sense of short-termism that has invaded our markets. The reality is, when you have such short-term pressure on our CEOs, they react. And what that ends up meaning is cost-cutting. And they avoid the kind of transformative events that drove …”