Bobby Hashemi: Coffee Republic, Pizza Union, and the case for going slow
Challenger Chats is back with a vengeance๐ฅ! Trust us when we say, this one is a cracker (or more like a spicy diavolo)... as we sit down with
Bobby Hashemi, founder of
Pizza Union, one of London's most-loved pizza brands ๐ and co-founder of Coffee Republic โ, the brand that helped kickstart the UK's coffee shop revolution in the 90s..
From leaving Lehman Brothers to co-founding and subsequently floating Coffee Republic, then crossing over to private equity, Bobby has been there, done that, and has got the t-shirt. Now, twelve years into building Pizza Union, his philosophy has shifted - he's convinced that slowness, not speed, is the real founder superpower.
Bobby shares his journey - the highs, the hard-won lessons, and why doing it in a more considered way the second time round means doing it better.
Guest: Bobby Hashemi, Founder, Pizza Union
Host: Adam Spencer, Tamweel Capital
๐ Key takeaways
๐ข Slow is a superpower. Bobby's single biggest lesson from doing this twice: the ability to say no, and to grow only as fast as the business needs to, beats chasing scale for its own sake.
๐ Simplicity is the moat. Pizza Union sells 15 pizzas and three salads โ full stop. That focus is what lets it undercut the market on price without cutting quality.
๐งโ๐ผ Founders aren't always managers. Bobby's candid on this: the skills that build a business aren't the same skills that run one, and that's fine.
๐ Site selection is the real risk. Not financing, not marketing โ it's picking the right four walls. Bobby's rule of thumb: could the site plausibly do 10x its annual rent in sales?
๐ค AI is a thought partner, not (yet) an operator. Useful for a lean, founder-led business like his; he's happy to let bigger players test kiosks and AI ordering first.
โค๏ธ Success looks different at 55 than at 35. Financial milestones gave way to a simpler measure: health, honesty, and doing work he loves.
โฑ๏ธ Chapter timestamps
01:14 | ๐ฎ๐ท Growing up in Iran, and a smuggled Big Mac
04:56 | ๐ก The real "lightbulb moment" โ and starting Coffee Republic
07:31 | โ The first site nearly flops (and a lucky break next to Vogue House)
08:40 | ๐ซ Building the business with his sister, Sahar
12:23 | ๐ธ Fame, scrutiny, and life as a public-company founder
15:21 | ๐ Crossing over to private equity with Luke Johnson
19:32 | ๐ฏ Advice for founders considering private equity
21:15 | ๐ Where the idea for Pizza Union came from
25:14 | โ Why pizza, and why now
26:15 | ๐ฐ Keeping prices low without cutting quality
27:58 | ๐๏ธ The case for counter service
29:30 | ๐ Doing it again: more cautious, or more confident?
31:56 | ๐ Growth discipline vs. speed โ the In-N-Out Burger playbook
36:38 | ๐บ๏ธ Site selection: the real make-or-break decision
40:48 | ๐ The KPIs Bobby actually watches
44:24 | ๐ค Where AI fits into the business today
49:43 | ๐
The hardest part of being a founder-CEO
52:44 | ๐ฎ Will Pizza Union still look the same in 20 years?
54:56 | ๐งญ The long-term plan for Pizza Union
56:12 | ๐ What keeps him up at night
57:37 | ๐ข The best advice he's been given: "slowness is a superpower"
59:04 | โก Quick-fire round
1:03:09 | ๐ Has his definition of success changed?
1:04:08 | ๐ What's next for Bobby and Pizza Union
Links:
Pizza Union: https://www.pizzaunion.com/
Bobby Hashemi: http://www.unionven.com/people.html
What is Challenger Chats?
Welcome to Challenger Chats. A series of no holds barred conversations with business leaders and the Founders of some of the UK's hottest consumer facing brands, where weโll pop the hood and look under the bonnet to see what makes them tick.
Weโll get them to open up and speak from the heart, telling us about the road blocks theyโve encountered, what causes them to lose sleep at night and what they love, and hate, about todayโs consumer.
Challenger Chats is powered by Tamweel, an M&A and Private Equity deal doing business that specialises in advising the UKโs best and brightest Challenger Brands.