This food startup was bootstrapped for $900, now it just sold for ‘close’ to $1 billion

For nearly a decade, we’ve been covering founders building the next wave of innovation, mostly in tech. But some of the most jaw-dropping startup stories come from places people tend to overlook: food stands, delivery counters, parking lot pop-ups.

Today’s story doesn’t involve AI, SaaS, or venture funding. But it does involve a $900 investment, a fryer, and a fried chicken empire that just sold for nearly $1 billion.

It’s the story of three founders who went from $900 to $1B—no VCs, no rules.

This wasn’t a Silicon Valley rocketship with pitch decks. No accelerators. Just late nights, borrowed tables, and chicken that hit hard.

Sometimes, spreadsheets don’t tell the story. Because all it really takes is a stubborn idea, a parking lot, and a little pickle juice.

In 2017, Arman Oganesyan was 24, broke, and doing stand-up comedy for $50 a night. No business background. No restaurant experience. But he had an idea: sell Nashville hot chicken in Los Angeles.

His friend Dave Kopushyan, a chef trained at The French Laundry, wasn’t exactly thrilled.

“Chicken? First of all, I don’t even like chicken,” he told Oganesyan.

Eventually, he came around. So did their third co-founder, Tommy Rubenyan. Together, they scraped $900 in savings, borrowed tables from their parents, bought a $150 fryer, and launched a barebones chicken stand in an East Hollywood parking lot, according to CNBC, which first shared the story.

They called it Dave’s Hot Chicken.

Night one? They made $40 from four meals, one of which went to Oganesyan’s girlfriend. But five days later, a local food critic stopped by. The next night, the line started forming. Within weeks, they were selling out nightly. Within two months, each founder took home $10,000 in cash.

“It was the most money I’d ever seen in my life,” Oganesyan said.

The Secret Recipe? Chaos and Pickle Juice

Their process wasn’t glamorous. They studied fried chicken documentaries, taste-tested competitors like Howlin’ Ray’s, and brainstormed flavor combinations in Kopushyan’s kitchen.

One idea—adding gummy bears to the chicken—was quickly scrapped. But another, discovered by accident, stuck: pickle juice in the brine. It happened when someone tossed leftover chicken into a nearly empty pickle jar. The flavor worked.

“A lot of belief with a lot of doubt,” is how Oganesyan described the early days.

The simplicity became the brand: spicy chicken tenders, fries, coleslaw, and a piece of toast. No fluff. Just heat.

The Right People Took Notice

A year in, they brought in Gary Rubenyan (Tommy’s brother) to help open their first storefront. Then, in 2019, the tipping point hit: a group of celebrity investors joined the mix.

The new roster included Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Strahan, Red Sox owner Tom Werner, movie producer John Davis, and Bill Phelps, who had co-founded Wetzel’s Pretzels.

Franchising followed. And then, global expansion.

From Pop-Up to Powerhouse

Under CEO Bill Phelps, Dave’s Hot Chicken grew fast. Locations opened across the U.S., Canada, the UK, and the Middle East.

In 2023, the brand reported more than $600 million in systemwide sales, up 57% from the previous year. This year, they’re projecting $1.2 billion.

The company is “extremely” profitable at both the franchise and corporate level, according to COO Jim Bitticks.

Then Came The Billion-Dollar Moment

This week, private equity firm Roark Capital, the same firm behind Dunkin’, Subway, and Arby’s, acquired a majority stake in Dave’s Hot Chicken.

While the exact financial terms weren’t disclosed, CEO Phelps told CNBC the deal was “pretty close” to $1 billion.

Oganesyan, Kopushyan, the Rubenyan brothers, and Phelps will all stay on as minority owners and continue in their current roles.

“It’s insane what we did,” Phelps told CNBC. “Arman Oganesyan was the founder. A high school dropout, but a marketing genius. He created all of this in his head.”

No Decks, No VCs, No Problem

This isn’t your usual founder playbook. There was no app. No angel round. No billion-dollar TAM slides. Just a few friends, a fryer, and enough boldness to stand outside with hot chicken and no backup plan.

Sometimes the biggest exits don’t come from tech. Sometimes they come from an idea most people laughed at—and a recipe most people didn’t see coming.