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Apr 9, 2026 · 42m · how-i-built-this

Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle

Guy Raz · 15m spoken Steve Ells · 12m spoken Rebecca Smith · 3m spoken Sri Halima · 3m spoken John Rarick · 2m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

On The Advice Line, Chipotle founder Steve Ells and host Guy Raz provide actionable business guidance to entrepreneurs navigating brand differentiation, market expansion, and consumer engagement across the spirits, hardware, and wine industries.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 41.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Guy as informed peer 6.7 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 0.7 Guy pushing back 2.0
05100:0015:0030:006:12–17:14 · Guy as informed peer 6/10 Advising Streaky Bay Distillers on Brand Differentiation Guy Raz and Steve Ells advise Rebecca Smith on narrowing her product line to focus on what makes her brand unique. Raz draws parallels to Islay single malts, while Smith educates the hosts on native Australian botanicals like saltbush and coastal daisy.17:28–27:56 · Guy as informed peer 6/10 Advising MatZero on Multi-Market Focus and Purpose Sri Halima seeks guidance on balancing humanitarian aid with commercial outdoor markets. When Ells suggests adjusting temperature manually to conserve battery life, Halima corrects him by explaining their automated sensor feedback loop.28:10–39:36 · Guy as informed peer 8/10 Advising Cantina di Rosina on Cultivating Younger Wine Consumers Guy Raz demonstrates strong marketing and media expertise, advising John Rarick on value-first newsletter strategies, celebrity athlete gifting, and experiential marketing to counter macro wine industry headwinds.6:12–17:14 · Guest teaching 4/10 Advising Streaky Bay Distillers on Brand Differentiation Guy Raz and Steve Ells advise Rebecca Smith on narrowing her product line to focus on what makes her brand unique. Raz draws parallels to Islay single malts, while Smith educates the hosts on native Australian botanicals like saltbush and coastal daisy.17:28–27:56 · Guest teaching 5/10 Advising MatZero on Multi-Market Focus and Purpose Sri Halima seeks guidance on balancing humanitarian aid with commercial outdoor markets. When Ells suggests adjusting temperature manually to conserve battery life, Halima corrects him by explaining their automated sensor feedback loop.28:10–39:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 Advising Cantina di Rosina on Cultivating Younger Wine Consumers Guy Raz demonstrates strong marketing and media expertise, advising John Rarick on value-first newsletter strategies, celebrity athlete gifting, and experiential marketing to counter macro wine industry headwinds.6:12–17:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Advising Streaky Bay Distillers on Brand Differentiation Guy Raz and Steve Ells advise Rebecca Smith on narrowing her product line to focus on what makes her brand unique. Raz draws parallels to Islay single malts, while Smith educates the hosts on native Australian botanicals like saltbush and coastal daisy.17:28–27:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Advising MatZero on Multi-Market Focus and Purpose Sri Halima seeks guidance on balancing humanitarian aid with commercial outdoor markets. When Ells suggests adjusting temperature manually to conserve battery life, Halima corrects him by explaining their automated sensor feedback loop.28:10–39:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Advising Cantina di Rosina on Cultivating Younger Wine Consumers Guy Raz demonstrates strong marketing and media expertise, advising John Rarick on value-first newsletter strategies, celebrity athlete gifting, and experiential marketing to counter macro wine industry headwinds.6:12–17:14 · Guy pushing back 2/10 Advising Streaky Bay Distillers on Brand Differentiation Guy Raz and Steve Ells advise Rebecca Smith on narrowing her product line to focus on what makes her brand unique. Raz draws parallels to Islay single malts, while Smith educates the hosts on native Australian botanicals like saltbush and coastal daisy.17:28–27:56 · Guy pushing back 1/10 Advising MatZero on Multi-Market Focus and Purpose Sri Halima seeks guidance on balancing humanitarian aid with commercial outdoor markets. When Ells suggests adjusting temperature manually to conserve battery life, Halima corrects him by explaining their automated sensor feedback loop.28:10–39:36 · Guy pushing back 3/10 Advising Cantina di Rosina on Cultivating Younger Wine Consumers Guy Raz demonstrates strong marketing and media expertise, advising John Rarick on value-first newsletter strategies, celebrity athlete gifting, and experiential marketing to counter macro wine industry headwinds.

speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Guy 65.9% · guest 34.1%0:00 · Guy 65.9% · guest 34.1%3:00 · Guy 29.4% · guest 70.6%3:00 · Guy 29.4% · guest 70.6%6:00 · Guy 37% · guest 63%6:00 · Guy 37% · guest 63%9:00 · Guy 14% · guest 86%9:00 · Guy 14% · guest 86%12:00 · Guy 33.9% · guest 66.1%12:00 · Guy 33.9% · guest 66.1%15:00 · Guy 61% · guest 39%15:00 · Guy 61% · guest 39%18:00 · Guy 32.6% · guest 67.4%18:00 · Guy 32.6% · guest 67.4%21:00 · Guy 35.8% · guest 64.2%21:00 · Guy 35.8% · guest 64.2%24:00 · Guy 46.9% · guest 53.1%24:00 · Guy 46.9% · guest 53.1%27:00 · Guy 32.2% · guest 67.8%27:00 · Guy 32.2% · guest 67.8%30:00 · Guy 11.6% · guest 88.4%30:00 · Guy 11.6% · guest 88.4%33:00 · Guy 61.8% · guest 38.2%33:00 · Guy 61.8% · guest 38.2%36:00 · Guy 62.2% · guest 37.8%36:00 · Guy 62.2% · guest 37.8%39:00 · Guy 39.6% · guest 60.4%39:00 · Guy 39.6% · guest 60.4%42:00 · Guy 100% · guest 0%42:00 · Guy 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 2:02 Steve Ells reframes Kernel's performance

Ells politely rejects Raz's characterization that his restaurant concept Kernel simply failed, clarifying that it was operational but not the viral rocket ship he sought.

 Hardest push from Guy ▶ 34:15 Guy Raz reframes promotional newsletter approach

Raz steers Rarick away from standard brand self-promotion, arguing that newsletters fail when treated as brochures rather than informative, value-first resources.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 25:40 Sri Halima explains smart sensor efficiency

Halima educates Ells on MatZero's proprietary engineering after Ells assumes the user must constantly toggle power levels to avoid draining the battery.

 Guy holds their own ▶ 34:45 Guy Raz outlines multi-channel brand building

Raz lays out concrete, sophisticated go-to-market advice spanning regional storytelling, athlete seeding programs, and cultural trend adaptations like BookTok.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicGuy as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementGuy pushing backWhy
Advising Streaky Bay Distillers on Brand Differentiation 6412 Guy Raz and Steve Ells advise Rebecca Smith on narrowing her product line to focus on what makes her brand unique. Raz draws parallels to Islay single malts, while Smith educates the hosts on native Australian botanicals like saltbush and coastal daisy.
Advising MatZero on Multi-Market Focus and Purpose 6511 Sri Halima seeks guidance on balancing humanitarian aid with commercial outdoor markets. When Ells suggests adjusting temperature manually to conserve battery life, Halima corrects him by explaining their automated sensor feedback loop.
Advising Cantina di Rosina on Cultivating Younger Wine Consumers 8303 Guy Raz demonstrates strong marketing and media expertise, advising John Rarick on value-first newsletter strategies, celebrity athlete gifting, and experiential marketing to counter macro wine industry headwinds.

Statements from this episode (6)

Disclosure
Steve Ells shut down both Kernel restaurants after less than a year
“So we closed down the two Kernel restaurants after less than a year spent a couple of months you know, retooling, and opened counter service”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 2:10
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Steve Ells: Robots will not displace restaurant cooking anytime soon
“And so the, your question, will robots displace that? I mean, maybe someday, but certainly not Not anywhere in the near future.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 4:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Ells: Chipotle succeeded by ignoring industry demands for broader menus
“In the early days of Chipotle, when I presented the offerings, people said, well, Steve, you just, you're not offering enough to people. They want more variety. And I said, no, no, no, people can make all different kinds of combinations of the base ingredients…”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 12:17
Assertion Supported
Sri Halima: MatZero has personal heating mats deployed at Everest Base Camp
“We've actually got mats at Everest Base Camp at the moment keeping That exact audience warm.”
Sri Halima Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 22:42
Assertion Supported
Steve Ells: Chipotle served over one million customers daily upon his retirement
“By the time I retired, 27 years later, I think we had well over a million customers a day.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 33:22
What-if
Steve Ells believes Chipotle might have grown larger with better work-life balance
“Maybe it could have been even bigger had I been more balanced.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 40:29
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