Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer · Sep 30, 2026
With Danny Meyer, Founder and Executive Chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group
Shake Shack had one location when Danny Meyer wrote his first book. It now has more than 700, and Meyer said one of its biggest lessons came from a French fry he changed because of a New York Times critic.
Most restaurant founders open a book with their wins. Meyer's new one opens with the first restaurant he ever closed, after his first book boasted that he had never closed one in 25 years.
"What I really try to do is to try to scale a feeling and let that be the fuel for what scales culture and then let that be the reason that enterprise value gets created."
Danny Meyer, founder and executive chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group, on Mad Money, founded Shake Shack and is the restaurateur behind Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Manhatta and The Modern, which holds two Michelin stars. Jim Cramer spoke to him earlier in the week about his new book, "What Could Possibly Go Right?", at Ci Siamo, Meyer's Italian restaurant in Manhattan West.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 8 lessons that matter.
Key Takeaways
Meyer tries to scale a feeling, and lets that build the culture that creates enterprise value
The no-tipping experiment failed because guests like to tip and servers like to receive tips
He hires for 51% hospitality skills and 49% technical skills
He kept Tabla open too long, mostly out of fear of laying people off for the first time
Food inflation would get "very little" space if he wrote the book today
Shake Shack retrofitted 35 locations to cut fresh fries, then went back to frozen crinkle cuts
1. Scaling a Feeling
Cramer called Meyer's first book, "Setting the Table," the best business book that was not labeled one, and asked how he learned to run a company.
"By making mistakes, learning from them, and then hopefully teaching from them as well." — Danny Meyer
Meyer said the companies Cramer covers know more about scaling than he ever will.
"What I really try to do is to try to scale a feeling and let that be the fuel for what scales culture and then let that be the reason that enterprise value gets created." — Danny Meyer
