Ep. 6: Yuni Sameshima, CEO and Co-Founder, Chicory

Yuni Sameshima co-founded Chicory with Joey Petracca while they were both students at Colgate University. Yuni and Joey met their freshman year and now, 10 years later, they are running a company of 36 employees. In 2019 Chicory facilitated $25 Million in grocery orders and generated $6 Million in revenue. Yuni and Joey were recently named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

During our discussion, Yuni shared key moments from his life as well as some of her guiding principles. Listen to the podcast, watch the full-length video or highlight videos on YouTube for key takeaways:  

• Chicory connects digital recipes with online grocery stores. They make recipes across the internet shoppable.
  
  
• Family dinners were important to Yuni and Joey growing up.
  
  
• Yuni grew up with his mother cooking Japanese food. He now loves to experiment with making her recipes.
  
  
• Yuni and Joey’s first business idea to connect event producers and event participants didn’t work out. But the research was helpful as they launched their next business.
  
  
• Their second business idea was to deliver ingredients to consumers so that they could make meals. This was before Blue Apron and other meal-delivery kits became well-known. The logistics proved to be too challenging in their student environment.
  
  
• That second business idea evolved into Recipe Into Reality, now known as Chicory.
  
  
• Chicory was launched as part of Colgate University’s Thought Into Action (TIA) entrepreneurship program and Yuni continues to be involved with TIA as a mentor.
  
  
• Leading up to college graduation, Yuni and Joey were finalists in a New York State business plan competition.
  
  
• After graduating, Yuni chose to grow his own business rather than accept a job with a venture capital fund in Tokyo.
  
  
• Just before graduating Yuni attended the TIA Entrepreneur’s Weekend at Colgate, attended by alumni and other entrepreneurs. During a luncheon, he took the opportunity to grab a microphone and ask participants for funding. This led to $30k in funding.
  
  
• After graduation, Yuni and Joey continued to develop their business at Colgate’s incubator space in Hamilton, NY with a grant from the Entrepreneurs of NY Fund.
  
  
• It’s helpful to split duties with a co-founder. Joey and Yuni documented their roles and division of labor.
  
  
• Chicory’s first hire was a technology specialist.
  
  
• Company growth accelerated when Amazon acquired Whole Foods and Chicory launched their advertising products.
  
  
• Entrepreneurs should consider many types of capital when they need funding.
  
  
• Yuni first hired an Executive Coach during a period of high stress when the business was struggling. Yuni credits his coach, Nick Herinckx, with helping them to shift their mindset to growth and opportunity rather than fear and anxiety.
  
  
• Being named to Forbes 30 under 30 has been a great honor and has led to greater exposure and speaking engagements for Yuni and Joey.
  
  
• Yuni and Joey have purposefully created the Chicory culture and that has been a key factor in their success.

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Learn more about Chicory on their website.

Check out Yuni and Joey on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

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