logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2023
57m 25s

928: Strategy Between the Slices | Stev...

The Future of Finance is Listening
About this episode

Perhaps it would be fair to speculate that were it not for the changing dietary habits of Americans and surprise arrival of a global pandemic, Steven Cirulis would likely not be occupying the CFO office at Potbelly Sandwich Shop.

The pursuit of new alternative proteins inside the land of agtech has in recent years led more than few venture capital firms to seek out the advice of strategy executives familiar with the mathematics behind the evolving menus of fast dining establishments.

Having held a succession of top strategy roles with the likes of McDonald’s and Panera, Steven Cirulis found his budding popularity within the VC community to be little more than a rewarding satisfaction—that is, until late 2019, when he decided to put some of his VC-related activities aside to accommodate an advisory gig with publicly-held sandwich shop Potbelly.  


“They had been looking for a CFO at the time, but I was really enjoying my work on the venture capital side of things,” recalls Cirulis, who adds that the arrival of the pandemic changed everything.


“I ostensibly became the person whom they turned to and asked, ‘Okay, what do we do here?,’” continues Cirulis.


Within the next several weeks, he busily implemented a list of cash preservation edicts, triggered the renegotiation of bank covenants, and—along with Potbelly management—announced a pay cut, instituted an employee furlough, and applied for a PPP loan.


Along the way—perhaps not more than a month into the pandemic—Potbelly proposed to Cirulis that he join the company as CFO and chief strategy officer.


“Why would you join a restaurant business at the start of a pandemic?,” rhetorically reflects Cirulis, in highlighting but one of the queries that crossed his mind at the time.


Nevertheless, Cirulis tells us, “I jumped at it.”  


Three years later, with the virus now in the rearview mirror, Cirulis makes it clear that the pandemic will never fully escape his view: “Getting forgiveness on that PPP loan was a great day in my career as a CFO.” –Jack Sweeney

Up next
May 28
1101: Turning Home Equity into a Platform, Not a Product | Tom Egan, CFO, Hometap
When Tom Egan walks a homeowner through the math—“If your house is worth a million dollars and you owe five hundred thousand,” he says—the traditional options surface quickly: load the balance sheet with a costly home‑equity loan or sell and hope you can find somewhere new to liv ... Show More
59m 32s
May 25
1100: Lines, Not Dots: Turning Optionality into Outcomes | Chad Gold, CFO, Fullstory
Imagine an accounts‑receivable clerk clicking through four different systems just to finish one routine task. Chad Gold sees that bottleneck instantly. Fullstory’s newly launched Workforce product maps every mouse‑stroke of such employee journeys, then surfaces friction points so ... Show More
50m 22s
May 23
ON LOCATION: AI on the Frontlines - Live Insights from Planful Perform25
Broadcasting from Planful’s Perform 25 conference in Miami, CFO Thought Leader presents frontline finance insights in an on‑location special. CEO Grant Halloran rejects the narrative that generative AI replaces people; instead he calls it the only viable antidote to a looming thr ... Show More
54m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
Fast Casual Food Pioneer Ron Shaich Explains How to Find a Niche — and then Scale
The restaurant business is notoriously competitive and often propelled by passing fads. But, first at the helm of Au Bon Pain, and then as the founder of Panera Bread, Ron Shaich managed to create an entirely new category of dining between fast food and table service and then dom ... Show More
30m 12s
Oct 2017
Chipotle: Steve Ells
In 1992, Steve Ells was a classically trained chef working in a high-end restaurant in San Francisco. But after eating a burrito at a local taqueria, he got an idea: to sell burritos and earn enough money to open his own gourmet restaurant. The first Chipotle opened in Denver the ... Show More
50m 46s
Dec 2023
Restaurant Owner Was Burnt Out Until She Signed Up for Restaurant Coaching
Jesi Cline is a restaurant owner who started her business as a bakery specializing in cupcakes and custom wedding cakes. While she found success, she was working endless hours to keep up with orders and had no time to be strategic with her business. When COVID hit, she needed to ... Show More
48m 6s
Jul 2022
Can the Foodservice Distribution Industry Recover from the Pandemic?
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, US Foods struggled, as restaurant and school closures reduced demand for foodservice distribution. The situation improved after the return of indoor dining and in-person learning, but an industry-wide shortage of truck drivers and warehouse ... Show More
17m 53s
Apr 2021
Chipotle: Simplicity as the Recipe for Success - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 02]
Today we will be diving into Chipotle, the fast-casual food chain known for its burritos. It was started in 1993 by Steve Els, an entrepreneur who is actually a classically trained chef and dreamed of opening a fine dining restaurant. He started Chipotle to earn cash for that dre ... Show More
47m 59s
Jan 2021
Chipotle: Steve Ells (2017)
In 1992, Steve Ells was a classically trained chef working in a high-end restaurant in San Francisco. But after eating a burrito at a local taqueria, he got an idea: to sell burritos and earn enough money to open his own gourmet restaurant. The first Chipotle opened in Denver the ... Show More
46m 20s
May 2020
What next for restaurants?
Lockdowns around the world have seen many restaurants close overnight, but how many will be able to re-open once restrictions are lifted? And if so, what will they look like? Graihagh Jackson hears from a top New York chef and a London food writer how an existing culture of high ... Show More
27m 8s
Apr 2024
Why Restaurant Owners Must Embrace Change to Succeed in the Restaurant Industry
Four years after the pandemic, I’m working with restaurant owners who are still suffering whiplash and struggling to find a path forward for their restaurants. I don’t have to tell you, but it was an intense time. Restaurant owners went from a complete shutdown of their restauran ... Show More
15m 26s
May 2022
Insolvency and the pandemic
During the coronavirus pandemic governments around the world pumped billions into their economies. Propping up businesses and trying to make sure people stayed in work. Sam Fenwick looks into what actually happened to all that money and whether it really did help keep businesses ... Show More
18m 46s