
Ditch the Storefront: Michael Russo on Going Where Customers Are, Failing with Discipline, and Building a Franchise That Scales
From FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution by Josh Kopel
May 19, 2026 · 34 min · Season 15 · Episode 194
About this episode
Michael Russo discusses the advantages of mobile business models and customer engagement strategies.
What if the biggest mistake in your business model is having a fixed address? Most operators spend their careers fighting for foot traffic. Michael Russo went the other direction. As the Chief Growth Officer of Wild Bill’s, he bought a veteran-founded craft soda brand and scaled it into a 60-wagon franchise popping up at over 500 events a year nationwide. In this conversation, we get into why going where your customers already are is more scalable than trying to attract them, how to fail with discipline instead of just failing fast, and why direct customer conversations will teach you more than any analytics dashboard. If you're rethinking your revenue model or looking for a smarter path to scale, this one is worth your time. To learn more about Wild Bill’s and their franchise opportunities, visit drinkwildbills.com . _________________________________________________________ Today's episode was brought to you by Square. If you want restaurant tech that actually supports how you run your restaurant, find out how Square can help at square.com/goodstuff . Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and…
People in this episode
Host: Josh Kopel
Guest: Michael Russo
Topics covered
- business model
- franchise
- customer engagement
- scalability
- failure management
Keywords
- franchise
- craft soda
- customer conversations
- business growth
- restaurant marketing
Sponsors
Square
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Wild Bill’s, drinkwildbills.com, restaurantbusinessschool.com
More episodes of FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution
- Kim Alter: Control Is the Growth Strategy · June 12, 2026 · 34 min
- How to Build a Restaurant That Can Survive: Dan Simons of Founding Farmers · June 9, 2026 · 42 min
- Peter Wright: Stop Chasing New Customers · June 5, 2026 · 35 min
- How to Build a Restaurant People Actually Want: Josh Halpern, Big Chicken & Craveworthy Brands · June 2, 2026 · 29 min
- No Classics, No Apologies: Jenn Saesue & Chat Suansilphong on the Identity-First Strategy That Built Their Empire · May 29, 2026 · 39 min
- How to Build a Restaurant People Can Remember: Scott Snyder, Badass Coffee of Hawaii · May 26, 2026 · 43 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution podcast page.