David Overton set aside his dreams of becoming a professional drummer in the 1970s to help his parents with their struggling wholesale cheesecake business.
By the end of the decade, Mr. Overton decided to open a restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif., with his parents’ cheesecake as the highlight of a full-course menu. Without any marketing or even a grand opening, customers began pouring in, he says. Today, Cheesecake Factory Inc. is a publicly traded company with $1.6 billion in annual revenue, 32,000 employees, three restaurant brands and a bakery. It is also in the process of expanding overseas, with 22 locations slated to open up over the next five years in cities throughout the Middle East. Read the interview here.