Build Your Empire

Can you believe we didn’t really discover vitamin C until the 1930’s? Well, Nile Foster, knew what to do with it. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [Handyside Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here alongside Stephen Semple. And Steven has just told me what today’s topic is and made the assumption that it’s probably something from my childhood and sort of… We were more Tang kids than Hi-C. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: So Hi-C is the topic and I’m probably a little old maybe because it was the little Hawaiian guy, right? Their TV- Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: … commercials were the little Hawaiian guy with the pow or something like he’d come and I remember what he would do, saki or something, but he was kind of an obnoxious little mascot. But this is a orange drink or a fruit drink for kids that had some vitamin C in it, which made it a health food. Stephen Semple: Basically. Dave Young: Yeah. But I was the Apollo generation, so the fact that the astronauts drank Tang- Stephen Semple: Yeah, that was the- Dave Young: … all I really wanted was some Tang. Stephen Semple:

In 1972, Andrew Cherng’s father had the Panda Inn. It was Andrew that started Panda Express and it now has over 2,500 locations. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [AirVangtage Heating & Cooling Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here, Stephen Semple is here as well and he just whispered the name of today’s subject into my ear as the countdown timer was going down and I’m stalling because all I got is orange chicken. Stephen Semple: Hold that thought. We are going to come- Dave Young: Orange chicken. Stephen Semple: We are going to come back to orange chicken. Yeah, absolutely. Hold that thought. Dave Young: So we’re talking about Panda Express today and really all I know about it is I don’t mind eating there. It’s like, oh shoot, there’s a Panda Express. Maybe that’s where we should go. Or you’re in the mall and hey, there’s the Panda… It’s like, yeah, it’s an innocuous, nice middle ground choice. Stephen Semple: Yeah. That’s- Dave Young: And it’s been a really good choice, like even during not just pandemic, but now everybody does a lot more Uber Eats and that kind of stuff. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave

300 hundred restaurants in 22 countries might not sound like a billion dollar empire, but you would be wrong. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick

Starbucks was having a students going home issue and needed to keep selling coffee, so they copied and perfected as Seattle treat. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller.

From feeling ripped off to inspired to Germany and then buying a manufacturing plant to stop the competitor. Wow, Harry’s was ready to fight. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a