The Turnaround That Needs A Turnaround
The industry is running a legion of turnarounds because almost no one runs a continuous read. Drift builds up unread, and every socio-economic shock is just the day the bill comes due.
A System! A System! My Kingdom For A System!
The Systems Club sells operators the fourth Fundamental as the first. Every system it sells writes down an operation nobody designed, because a system can only execute a decision and nobody has made the decisions yet.
McDonald’s Using AI To Price Transactions Should Shock No One
A transactional business engineering its transactional prices with a transactional tool is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Whether a man in an office runs the math or an engine does, nothing about the design moves.
If I Only Had Another $20 Million
True Food Kitchen did not run out of money. It ran out of tomorrow to mortgage. The company's own filings trace a $100 million equity round, owner loans at 15 percent, future delivery and card receipts, $7.2 million of meals...
McDonald’s Only Had To Deny The AI
McDonald's denied the AI story because it was the only part of the reporting it could deny. The coverage that made it an AI story let every franchisor walk away from the one that matters.
McDonald’s Optimal Price Is Optimal For McDonald’s
McDonald's pricing engine calculates the optimal price for the party that earns on revenue. McDonald's own documents put every consequence of that price on the franchisee, who earns on margin.
5 Money Leaks I Found Opening A Jar Of Peanut Butter
Every ad in the feed says your restaurant is leaking money. The leak is the most comfortable diagnosis anyone can sell you, because it tells you the pipe is sound. In most restaurants, the pipe is what's broken.
The Quagmire of Franchising
A bog has no author, and that is the only part of the metaphor that does not apply. Seventeen franchisee bankruptcy filings landed in 2026, from 314 restaurants down to one. Every one states a different cause because cost structures...
An Open Letter To Wendy’s Part 2: Dear Meritage
This is one of three letters. Part 1: Dear Ohio argues what a franchisor owes an operator it recruited — https://hacksterism.jeffreysummers.com/an-open-letter-to-wendys-part-1-dear-ohio/. Part 2: Dear Meritage reads out what the franchisee chose and what those choices cost — https://hacksterism.jeffreysummers.com/an-open-letter-to-wendys-part-2-dear-meritage/. Part 3:...
An Open Letter To Wendy’s Part 1: Dear Ohio
This is one of three letters. Part 1: Dear Ohio argues what a franchisor owes an operator it recruited — https://hacksterism.jeffreysummers.com/an-open-letter-to-wendys-part-1-dear-ohio/. Part 2: Dear Meritage reads out what the franchisee chose and what those choices cost — https://hacksterism.jeffreysummers.com/an-open-letter-to-wendys-part-2-dear-meritage/. Part 3:...
