Adam E.
5.0
Founder of $100M Brand | Expert in Scaling Startups | Brown U. Alum
Studied at Brown University
Worked at Dig
Available tomorrow at 3:00 PM UTC
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Adam’s Entrepreneurship Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Experience level: Executive
10+ people coached for Entrepreneurship
Good day! I'm Adam, a seasoned entrepreneur with over a decade of experience founding and leading Dig, a fast casual restaurant brand that I founded in 2011 and grew to $100mm in revenue. As the former CEO and now Executive Chairman, I've navigated the challenges of building and scaling a successful business from the ground up. My background also includes roles in private equity and investment banking, so I have a decent feel for the finance and capital side of things. I've coached and advised many entrepreneurs in the consumer space over the years, from helping them refine their high level business strategies, to getting super tactual to solve a specific problem, to being a trusted sounding board to work through challenges not just in business, but in life (in entrepreneurship it’s rare that you can separate the two!) The way I describe my approach is similar to that of improving a player’s batting average in baseball - as an entrepreneur, you are faced with 1000’s of small decisions every day/week/month/year, and I believe the sum and quality of those decisions drives you either closer to success, or failure. My goal is to share my experiences, big wins, mistakes and failures in a way that applies to your journey to help you improve your batting average. If you need help with any aspect of the 0-to-1 journey, please reach out.
Adam can help with:
Compensation Strategy
Hiring
Fundraising
Ideation
About Adam
Hi y'all - Adam here, quick background on me: I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Brown University where I majored in Business Economics and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2003. I started my career as an investment banking analyst at Merrill Lynch (pre-BofA!), then worked at a private equity firm based in Greenwich, CT, before founding fast-casual brand Dig in 2011. Over the course of a decade+ I grew the brand to north of 30 locations and $100mm in revenue, and recently transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman and Board Member. Over the years I have also invested in, advised and coached numerous brands in the consumer, CPG and restaurant space. Since leaving my day-to-day role at Dig, I have spent more time coaching and consulting founders building in the zero-to-one phase, and have found it to be incredibly rewarding. I now live in Westport, CT with my wife and 3 kids, and when I am not working or at the hockey rink, I like to do yoga, run by the beach and spend time with my wife. Building companies is hard and I am here to help.
Why do I coach?
I love it. And it's one of the way in which I can 'pay-it-forward': in building Dig over the years I made countless mistakes (despite having an incredible coach!), and I appreciate how much time, energy (and often-times capital) can be saved when you can avoid some of the land-mines that invariably pop up. Looking back on it, I also really struggled with trusting advice - knowing when to listen, and when to ignore all of the voices and just trust your gut. Sometimes, that just comes with experience, and now that I have a bit of it, I want to share it in a way that is genuine, candid and supportive.
Work Experience
Board Member
Dig
April 2023 - Present
I transitioned from CEO to an Executive Chairman role in 2023.
Founder, CEO
Dig
September 2011 - May 2023
Founder & CEO of DIG. Rebuilding the food system through growing, cooking and serving real, good food.
Private Equity Associate
Wexford Capital
November 2004 - December 2006
I worked as a Private Equity Associate, as well as the Assistant to the President of the Private Equity practice. It more closely resembled a chief-of-staff role as we know it today.
Investment Banking - Analyst
Merrill Lynch
June 2003 - October 2004
Education
Brown University
BA, Economics
1999 - 2003
Grade: Magna Cum Laude
9 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Adam has helped Leland clients get into Ggiata Delicatessen