How to Build a Billion Dollar Brand: Dave's Hot Chicken Founder's Journey


$900. A parking lot. Four childhood friends. One vision.

In 2017, Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, and Tommy Rubenyan pooled their last dollars and started selling Nashville-style hot chicken out of a parking lot in East Hollywood. No investors. No restaurant experience. No safety net. Just a bold idea and the audacity to go for it.

Eight years later, Dave's Hot Chicken sold to Roark Capital for $1 billion—with the founders still at the helm.

This is the story of how a pop-up became a phenomenon. How four friends attracted celebrity investors like Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Strahan. How viral execution and relentless focus on brand and culture transformed a cult concept into a global empire with 300+ locations.

Founders will gain billion-dollar insights:

  • How to build a brand that creates obsession, not just customers 
  • The decisions that accelerated their trajectory from pop-up to powerhouse 
  • How to attract the right partners and investors at the right time 
  • Why brand and culture became their ultimate competitive advantage 
  • The mindset it takes to bet on yourself when no one else will

This is how legends are built. This is how you close the Founderology Growth Summit.

Presenters
Jim Bitticks
President & CEO
Dave's Hot Chicken
Jim Bitticks is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Dave’s Hot Chicken. He oversees the day-to-day operation of the company with direct oversight over operations, training, procurement, construction, marketing, and technology. Jim joined the Dave’s team when there were just four restaurants open and has helped grow the brand to nearly 300 locations across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Middle East. In addition, Jim is a franchisee of Dave’s Hot Chicken with four locations currently open in the Inland Empire of Southern California. Prior to his current role, Jim was the Chief Restaurant Officer and EVP of Operations, Training, and Construction for Blaze Pizza, and oversaw the successful growth of that brand from two restaurants to three hundred seventy-two restaurants before making the move to Dave’s in 2020.
Arman Oganesyan
Co-Founder & CBO
Dave's Hot Chicken