Kenny Lao and David Weber met in 2002 when they were both students at NYU's Stern School of Business. They joined forces to enter the Rickshaw concept in a business plan competition in 2004. (They placed second behind a scrap-booking company that was never heard from again, as far as they know.) The partners opened their first store in 2005. Soon after, they opened a second, which quickly proved to be too ambitious. "It was a really dark time," Lao says. "It almost bankrupted us," Weber adds. After they closed that location, they decided to try a food truck—and the success was almost immediate. Their trucks produced the steady cash flow that made a second go at brick-and-mortar expansion possible. The business has grown to 70 employees, and the partners hope to
double revenue this year.