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How Rejection Fueled Raising Cane's Founder to Build a Billion-Dollar Chicken Empire

MarketDash Editorial Team
13 days ago
Todd Graves got laughed out of his college business class for wanting to sell only chicken fingers. Banks rejected his loan applications. Now Raising Cane's is the third-largest chicken chain in America, proving that sometimes the best business advice is to ignore the advice.

Here's a fun fact about building a restaurant empire: sometimes the worst grade you ever received becomes your best business decision.

Todd Graves, founder and co-CEO of Raising Cane's, recently opened up about how rejection shaped his journey from college failure to fast-food success. Speaking on the YouTube talk show "Hustle Meals," Graves explained how every door that closed in his face just made him push harder.

"Every one of those nos fired me up that much more," he said.

The concept that everyone hated? A restaurant serving only chicken fingers, French fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast. When Graves pitched this idea in his college business class, his professor shut it down immediately. The limited menu, the professor argued, made him vulnerable to the "veto vote" when groups decide where to eat. Add more items, the professor insisted.

Graves wasn't buying it.

The Man Who Wrote the Chicken Finger Bible

"The professor just lost the fact that people love craveable food," Graves said. "Serving craveable food that you can execute on a great level every day is always going to be a success."

This wasn't some half-baked college project either. Graves had done his homework, down to the operational minutiae that most students would never consider.

"I knew what aprons would cost to get cleaned," he said. "I wrote the Bible on chicken fingers."

Despite this thoroughness, Graves received the worst grade in the class. The professor simply didn't believe a limited menu could work. But Graves didn't let it deflate him.

"That first no, it just fired me and I used it as fuel," he said.

He took his business plan to several banks, hoping to secure a loan for his first location. The bankers echoed his professor's skepticism almost word for word: "You want to serve just chicken fingers?"

Alaska, Oil Refineries, and True Believers

Not everyone doubted the concept, though. Graves managed to convince a landlord near the north gates of Louisiana State University to hold a space for a year while he scraped together funding.

"I just knew I needed to make as much money as I could," Graves said.

Without bank financing, Graves got creative. He worked as a boilermaker in oil refineries and on Alaskan fishing boats, doing whatever it took to raise capital. The people he worked alongside became some of his earliest supporters, both emotionally and financially. They told him the restaurant would succeed and backed up their confidence with small investments.

From Single Location to National Chain

Those small investments from coworkers and friends proved instrumental. In 1996, Graves opened the first Raising Cane's location.

Initially, he had no plans for expansion. But when he opened his second restaurant, something shifted. He noticed people beyond the college student demographic becoming regular customers.

"That's when I got the fire to really grow it," he said.

The growth has been substantial. Raising Cane's now operates nearly 1,000 locations worldwide and has expanded to all but four U.S. states. According to industry publication QSR Magazine, the chain ranks as the third highest-selling chicken restaurant in the country, trailing only Popeyes and Chick-fil-A.

It turns out that Graves' desire to prove his doubters wrong paid off spectacularly. The professor who gave him the failing grade? He was wrong about the veto vote. Sometimes people don't want endless options. Sometimes they just want really good chicken fingers, executed perfectly, every single time.

Back to News

How Rejection Fueled Raising Cane's Founder to Build a Billion-Dollar Chicken Empire

MarketDash Editorial Team
13 days ago
Todd Graves got laughed out of his college business class for wanting to sell only chicken fingers. Banks rejected his loan applications. Now Raising Cane's is the third-largest chicken chain in America, proving that sometimes the best business advice is to ignore the advice.

Here's a fun fact about building a restaurant empire: sometimes the worst grade you ever received becomes your best business decision.

Todd Graves, founder and co-CEO of Raising Cane's, recently opened up about how rejection shaped his journey from college failure to fast-food success. Speaking on the YouTube talk show "Hustle Meals," Graves explained how every door that closed in his face just made him push harder.

"Every one of those nos fired me up that much more," he said.

The concept that everyone hated? A restaurant serving only chicken fingers, French fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast. When Graves pitched this idea in his college business class, his professor shut it down immediately. The limited menu, the professor argued, made him vulnerable to the "veto vote" when groups decide where to eat. Add more items, the professor insisted.

Graves wasn't buying it.

The Man Who Wrote the Chicken Finger Bible

"The professor just lost the fact that people love craveable food," Graves said. "Serving craveable food that you can execute on a great level every day is always going to be a success."

This wasn't some half-baked college project either. Graves had done his homework, down to the operational minutiae that most students would never consider.

"I knew what aprons would cost to get cleaned," he said. "I wrote the Bible on chicken fingers."

Despite this thoroughness, Graves received the worst grade in the class. The professor simply didn't believe a limited menu could work. But Graves didn't let it deflate him.

"That first no, it just fired me and I used it as fuel," he said.

He took his business plan to several banks, hoping to secure a loan for his first location. The bankers echoed his professor's skepticism almost word for word: "You want to serve just chicken fingers?"

Alaska, Oil Refineries, and True Believers

Not everyone doubted the concept, though. Graves managed to convince a landlord near the north gates of Louisiana State University to hold a space for a year while he scraped together funding.

"I just knew I needed to make as much money as I could," Graves said.

Without bank financing, Graves got creative. He worked as a boilermaker in oil refineries and on Alaskan fishing boats, doing whatever it took to raise capital. The people he worked alongside became some of his earliest supporters, both emotionally and financially. They told him the restaurant would succeed and backed up their confidence with small investments.

From Single Location to National Chain

Those small investments from coworkers and friends proved instrumental. In 1996, Graves opened the first Raising Cane's location.

Initially, he had no plans for expansion. But when he opened his second restaurant, something shifted. He noticed people beyond the college student demographic becoming regular customers.

"That's when I got the fire to really grow it," he said.

The growth has been substantial. Raising Cane's now operates nearly 1,000 locations worldwide and has expanded to all but four U.S. states. According to industry publication QSR Magazine, the chain ranks as the third highest-selling chicken restaurant in the country, trailing only Popeyes and Chick-fil-A.

It turns out that Graves' desire to prove his doubters wrong paid off spectacularly. The professor who gave him the failing grade? He was wrong about the veto vote. Sometimes people don't want endless options. Sometimes they just want really good chicken fingers, executed perfectly, every single time.