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Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some information about your background and you can also tell them a bit about Chop Store. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about nine years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent the majority of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and worked in corporate finance.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity bought the business. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and after that left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a drink component also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

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A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to add another store this year and at least 4 stores next year. So we will be 31 or two stores by the end of next year.

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I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading company of software application options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our customers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you speak to clients about Chop Store, they like the place. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex principle in regards to providing a fantastic experience for the client, and have the ability to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one shop, two shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into several states, and eventually national, even worldwide reach. But it's challenging, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock expenses remain high. It's not an easy time to drive success and development at the same time. We're grateful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The concerns are going to be really around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we discuss your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd enjoy to then say: well, look, how could innovation help? How can you use technology as a multiplier to replicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent teams? And lastly, AI.

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The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in expanding restaurants?

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, among the key things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brands I've been included with are special.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. Many brands today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food product. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something special that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

A lot of it begins with the brand. Does your brand have something unique that no one else is doing?

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The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. But if you provided me something that has all those elements in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous business where the numbers simply do not work.

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If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Yeah, perhaps both? Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial practicality. You have actually got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it just increases problems.

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Second, you need an engaging brand name or unique concept that resonates with customers. And third, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you might be expanding blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another essential lesson is about going into brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too many operators presume brand-new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That almost never ever takes place. And when the stores open slow, however you've signed leases and constructed a monetary model based upon greater volumes, you get overextended.