Five Lessons in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Veggie Grill

By Cheechee Lin

T.K. Pillan (’96), co-founder of Veggie Grill, is passionate about the future of food. A successful Web 1.0 entrepreneur-slash-vegan, he is now on his third venture. 

After exiting a successful business in e-commerce post graduation, Pillan started reading about the state of health and wellness in the United States (or rather, lack thereof). The dependency on pharmaceuticals to address these issues was shockingly high and Pillan had a strong belief there was a better way to address health issues and set out to start a business to help the country move forward in the right direction. 

The general premise behind Pillan’s inspiration was the lack of delicious, convenient healthy dining options. Using planning frameworks and market research methodologies he had learned at Anderson, Pillan set out to understand the healthy food options available. Although he wasn’t vegan at the time, Pillan found himself finding plant based food oddly satisfying after eating at every healthy restaurant he could find.

The health benefits of Pillan’s diet change soon became apparent, as he lost twenty pounds and lowered his cholesterol levels from 204 (borderline high) to 140 (optimal). Through the course of his research, Pillan became a plant-based eater and came to see the ethical value in eating green.

However, Pillan identified a stigma: non-vegetarians were reluctant to enter a vegetarian branded restaurant. “This tastes great, but it feels like I have to be vegetarian to come in to eat” was the general consensus among Pillan’s friends. Pillan set out to package this flavorful food in a fun way— and to promote plant-based-food consumption. 

Nearly a decade later, Veggie Grill has grown from a single Irvine, California location to 29 restaurants in three states. Pillan now sits on the board of Veggie Grill and has gone on to co-found a venture fund focused on the plant based, natural product movement. Pillan sat down with Professor Bhagwan Chowdhry and Bhavna Sivanand (’14) at our recent High Impact Tea Speaker Series to share his perspectives on successful entrepreneurship. 

1. The key to forging forward even with critics on the sidelines is a belief in your passion.

The transition from tech to the food industry was tough for Pillan. There were many naysayers who doubted his idea, but Pillan had a strong belief in the improvements to his health he had witnessed in his six-month transition to a vegan. 

Alongside a passionate partner, Pillan built this business from the ground up, focusing his energy on the menu, marketing approach and platform. They held the strong belief that their business would meet market demand, and cross over from niche to mainstream. Countless iterations later to Veggie Grill, their instincts paid off, as Veggie Grill now has a customer base of 70% non-vegetarians.

2. Bootstrapping a business can help prepare you for the big leagues.

Bootstrapping a business, or starting a business without external help or capital, allowed Pillan to get funded when the time was right. Pillan stresses the importance of “doing everything within your power to move the minimum viable product forward” before getting funded. For Veggie Grill, that was determining what worked on their test menu. 

Veggie Grill was very different from Pillan’s previous venture: it was a capital-intense restaurant business that did not have as much flexibility for iterations as in technology. “You have to be ready for launch before you launch,” Pillan says about the restaurant business. 

Pillan also attributes his success to bringing on a good restaurant partner who had worked in the restaurant business for years, and had the necessary operational expertise to make Veggie Grill successful.

3. Startups are the ultimate business challenge — be willing to make the sacrifices.

“Young, single, not in debt,” is how Pillan describes his personal situation when he started on his first venture. For Veggie Grill, a lot more was at stake: he had a house and a family. A failed entrepreneurial undertaking would take away his Manhattan Beach lifestyle and entail a relocation to Irvine to help out with the very first Veggie Grill restaurant. “If you’re willing to live with that worst case scenario (where the undertaking doesn’t work out) given the upside, then that is a risk worth taking,” Pillan says. 

4. A well thought-out growth strategy is important.

Investing in the right franchising is important for Veggie Grill. Pillan cites Subway as the most successful franchise, yet recognizes the difficulty in training restaurant staff in preparing plant-based foods. Veggie Grill has focused expansion on the West Coast, predominantly in California, where there is a real demand for health-conscious food. “Different regions have different psychographics,” Pillan says. Veggie Grill has adopted a slow-growth strategy, carefully plotting out the next steps in expansion.

5. Every business that has created long-term impact has social impact.

“The nice thing about creating a business that has a social impact is that it is easy to get people to rally around your cause,” Pillan says. “When your employees and team members believe in what you are doing they will support you. At the end of the day, you need a product that has a value proposition that can stand on its own.” Veggie Grill exemplifies Pillan’s philosophy and continues to change America through its health-conscious lifestyle.