Advice Line with Todd Graves of Raising Cane's

December 25, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: This call-in advice podcast blends host-expert banter on business success stories with real-time problem-solving for entrepreneurs, centered on scaling challenges in food ventures. Practical and supportive.
The Format: A structured call-in show featuring a host and expert guest fielding listener questions.
The Key Players:
- Guy Raz: Charismatic host of How I Built This, guiding conversations with probing questions and relatable insights.
- Todd Graves: Founder of Raising Cane's, a chicken finger chain that recently surpassed KFC as the #3 U.S. quick-service chicken brand; returns for his energetic, no-nonsense advice drawn from bootstrapping to 1,000+ locations.

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What you'll learn

1 `(00:00)` **🎙️ Introduction: Todd Graves**
2 `(03:24)` **Raising Cane's Recent Success**
3 `(05:06)` **Franchise vs. Corporate Ownership Strategy**
4 `(06:43)` **Doubling Down on Simple Menu & Consistency**
5 `(11:39)` **Caller 1: Evan Sledge, Whiskey Morning Coffee (Tolar, TX)**
6 `(24:36)` **Post-Call: Franchise Power Dynamics**
7 `(30:15)` **Caller 2: David Burmeister, Midwest Pasta Company (St. Louis, MO)**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves joins Guy on the Advice Line to answer questions from three early-stage founders who are each considering a big, next step to grow their businesses.

First, Evan in Texas wants to know if he should franchise drive-thrus for his coffee business. Then, David in St. Louis is trying to get around dents in his financial history to secure financing for his pasta company. And finally, Shane in Los Angeles is weighing the pros and cons of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant for his focaccia sandwich retail and catering concept.

Thank you to the founders of Whiskey Morning Coffee, Midwest Pasta Company, and Vesti for being a part of our show.

If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to [email protected] or call 1-800-433-1298.

And be sure to listen to the founding story of Raising Cane’s as told by Todd on the show in 2022.

This episode was produced by Alex Cheng with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Andrea Bruce. Our audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.

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