4 ms·

This is one of those companies which makes me wish I was an accredited investor, because the first time I heard their per-table numbers I thought "They're going

by patio11 15y ago

This is one of those companies which makes me wish I was an accredited investor, because the first time I heard their per-table numbers I thought "They're going to be an unstoppable juggernaut." Seriously, in a low margin business they're transformative. I don't mean at the table/waitress level (sucks to be the server, by the way), I mean they literally move entire classes/areas/niches/locations of restaurants into economic viability. (Bad restaurants have -5% margins and close. Good restaurants have 8% margins and stay open. Some of the stats suggest just using this gives +N% with N sufficient to make businesses viable.) Seriously, I think restaurants will take to this like accountants took to spreadsheets. Or they'll simply die.

georgieporgie 15y ago
The first time I saw a touch-screen ordering system was in an izakaya Japan in 2006, and I'm sure you've experienced them, too. However, since then, I haven't really seen it pick in most Japanese restaurants. I have to assume that there is a significant percentage of the population that actively wants the experience of ordering from a human.
- gdilla 15y ago
  They've been instated in at least a couple of national chain restaurants in japan. My last trip, just a few months ago, I visited a shabu-shabu restaurant and kaiten sushi (rotating sushi bar) that had touch screen tablets at every table. They weren't ipads - that's about all I could tell. In the case of the rotating sushi, it even alerted you to the fact that the dish you ordered was coming on the conveyer belt in a few seconds. Edit: I just posted a video of it. My nephew and niece in law (?) loved to order for us: http://youtu.be/LxQpJk52Sbc http://youtu.be/LxQpJk52Sbc
- einhverfr 15y ago
  I was thinking two things: 1) This is an incremental change since it largely replaces what the waiter/waitress is doing with the machine the waiter/waitress is using and 2) The tradeoff is a question of customer service for lower costs. I think to make it work you'd have to take the extra savings and spend it towards further improving customer service. It's not a clear win unless executed very well.
rdl 15y ago
I suspect you could meet the assets test if you valued your business correctly. I've talked to some lawyers, and shares in a non-public corporation at whatever reasonable valuation count. Thus, it's not too hard for an entrepreneur to be an accredited investor after a round or two of financing. (Ultimately it comes down to the portfolio companies trusting that you won't turn this into an issue later with the SEC, if things go south.) The problem of not actually having the cash to invest, though, is harder. You also clearly add value being your cash, so you could probably make investments on that basis (as consulting services partially paid in equity, etc.), which don't fall under the accredited investor requirement, since it's not a solicitation to the public.
- patio11 15y ago
  That was mostly a conversational opener (totally true though, haven't had a startup idea click for me so loudly since Twilio) but thank you for the advice. I'm tying a string around my finger about it. (I don't do all that much work for startups, or at least not paid work for startups on the VC trajectory, but I'll keep that in mind as an option. It's not something I've pursued much. The biggest reason is my near-term thinking has been dominated by my upcoming marriage and none of the vendors/moving company/tax offices/etc are sending invoices denominated in shares.)
  - rdl 15y ago
    Congratulations and best wishes!

by patio11 15y ago

georgieporgie 15y ago

The first time I saw a touch-screen ordering system was in an izakaya Japan in 2006, and I'm sure you've experienced them, too. However, since then, I haven't really seen it pick in most Japanese restaurants. I have to assume that there is a significant percentage of the population that actively wants the experience of ordering from a human.

gdilla 15y ago
They've been instated in at least a couple of national chain restaurants in japan. My last trip, just a few months ago, I visited a shabu-shabu restaurant and kaiten sushi (rotating sushi bar) that had touch screen tablets at every table. They weren't ipads - that's about all I could tell. In the case of the rotating sushi, it even alerted you to the fact that the dish you ordered was coming on the conveyer belt in a few seconds. Edit: I just posted a video of it. My nephew and niece in law (?) loved to order for us: http://youtu.be/LxQpJk52Sbc http://youtu.be/LxQpJk52Sbc
einhverfr 15y ago
I was thinking two things: 1) This is an incremental change since it largely replaces what the waiter/waitress is doing with the machine the waiter/waitress is using and 2) The tradeoff is a question of customer service for lower costs. I think to make it work you'd have to take the extra savings and spend it towards further improving customer service. It's not a clear win unless executed very well.

rdl 15y ago

I suspect you could meet the assets test if you valued your business correctly. I've talked to some lawyers, and shares in a non-public corporation at whatever reasonable valuation count. Thus, it's not too hard for an entrepreneur to be an accredited investor after a round or two of financing. (Ultimately it comes down to the portfolio companies trusting that you won't turn this into an issue later with the SEC, if things go south.) The problem of not actually having the cash to invest, though, is harder. You also clearly add value being your cash, so you could probably make investments on that basis (as consulting services partially paid in equity, etc.), which don't fall under the accredited investor requirement, since it's not a solicitation to the public.

patio11 15y ago
That was mostly a conversational opener (totally true though, haven't had a startup idea click for me so loudly since Twilio) but thank you for the advice. I'm tying a string around my finger about it. (I don't do all that much work for startups, or at least not paid work for startups on the VC trajectory, but I'll keep that in mind as an option. It's not something I've pursued much. The biggest reason is my near-term thinking has been dominated by my upcoming marriage and none of the vendors/moving company/tax offices/etc are sending invoices denominated in shares.)
- rdl 15y ago
  Congratulations and best wishes!