Name: Adam Folta aka Pizza Dude
Grade Level: Sophomore
Major: Urban Studies
Her Campus: What inspired you to start Pizza Dude?
Adam Folta: When I was at an entrepreneurship summit at Wabash last spring. The CEO of Zappos spoke and said when he was in college he bought pizza and sold it by the slice. I wanted to do my own thing similar to that so I began by buying and selling pizza to make some money. After a while I wanted to do my own thing and I teamed up with Rob Weidner and we created recipes of our own. The pizza is very different from anything else you can get in Greencastle. It’s very Italian-like with the thin crust and a good combination of toppings.
HC: Did you expect it to grow into an actual business?
AF: Forming a business wasn’t my original intentions, but after questioning myself about starting a business made me realize how much fun it could be. I figured starting up a small business would be a good way to learn about entrepreneurships and a way for me to get something personal out of it. Rob also had a big impact on my decision because of his go-getter attitude.
HC: Do you create the pizzas yourself? Where does the inspiration come from?
AF: A lot of international food experience has helped Rob and me to create ideas for the pizzas. I lived in Italy for 2 summers and Rob knows a lot about food from traveling, so I’d say we are pretty well rounded in that area. We believe that food is art and should be crafted in that way.
HC: Who helps you run the business to make it the success that it is? What all has to be done for it to run smoothly?
AF: The Beta advisor Adam Cohen has done a lot for us. He was the one who gave us the permission to use the kitchen at Beta, which really opened up the business to make it larger. Everyone at Beta is also really helpful and understanding of what we do. They have a huge interest in Pizza Dude and they’ve helped spread the word around campus by word of mouth. As for running the business smoothly, I would say the most important thing is adequate prep time. I need to start prepping at 8pm and have the dough ready. We have 3-4 guys deliver at night and they help to roll out about 60-70 rolls of dough for the night. Our POS system (Point of Sale) is another crucial part of the business. It helps us record the orders on our system and it prints the order out on a receipt. There is a system for taking orders on the spot and another one for phone orders. The Internet connection has been a problem and we always try to update that. Having good chemistry between all the workers is also important.
HC: What’s the most fun part about Pizza Dude?
AF: Just seeing people happy when they eat pizza. I think Pizza Dude is something we’ve built that soon enough I can step back and let others take over, which is pretty cool.
HC: What’s the most challenging part about Pizza Dude?
AF: Time! Definitely time. Being a student and running a business doesn’t enable me to always tweak the little things that need to get done and don’t always have “me” time.
HC: What’s your favorite pizza from Pizza Dude?
AF: I would say the vibe master. It has a basil pesto base with sausage and cheese. The pesto sauce just makes it!
HC: Do you ever do large orders for events?
AF: Yes definitely. The only issue is we cannot due lunches. We can do anything after 8 PM during the week or anything on the weekend.
HC: Would you take recommendations for a type of pizza from the students? AF: Absolutely. A Pizza of the month may be in the works and we are always looking to try new things to tweak a recipe or create new ones.
HC: Do you intend for Pizza Dude to continue once you graduate?
AF: Yes, I plan on keeping it operating and probably handing it down to another person I trust.
Make sure to check out Pizza Dude, Thursdays from 10 PM to 2 AM and Saturdays from 5-7 PM and 10 PM to 2 AM. Thank you for talking with us, Adam!