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"Flowtab wasn’t saving you enough time or energy to make it a compelling experience." Serious question - was it ever going to? It always seemed like a backend-

"Flowtab wasn’t saving you enough time or energy to make it a compelling experience." Serious question - was it ever going to? It always seemed like a backend-heavy way to optimize for a trivial inconvenience. I have to say, It seems to me this was a failure because it was just plain a bad idea. That makes for a pretty short story, though, I guess.

mtt05001 13y ago
With 50,000 bars/nightclubs in the US, and witnessing the success of other mobile payments companies (Levelup, Kuapay, and Starbucks app) it seemed inevitable especially considering the poor ordering experience in many establishments. Mike T
- devindotcom 13y ago
  Is Levelup actually considered successful? I have seen it in several establishments around here (Seattle) but I have never seen it used, and the employees tell me it is not popular or easy (unlike, say, Square). I don't know Kuapay. Starbucks had something of a firm place from which to launch, so it's not really comparable. What's the poor ordering experience? Trying to get the bartender's attention? I would submit that a poor order experience is a consequence of the establishment, not the fundamentals of the ordering process. Personally, I like the bar experience, it's personal, it's immediate, you can get recommendations, and it's fairly equitable for everyone around (shovers will be ignored by a good bartender, though a good bartender is by no means guaranteed). On the other hand, a remote ordering situation turns every bar into a drink machine activated by an impersonal, drive-thru-like interface. If you prefer that to the existing system, perhaps you should patronize a better bar! I agree that there is probably some interesting way to leverage personal technology in this space, but it's not this. This app does not improve the "ordering experience," it eliminates it. That's a bad idea.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - timmm 13y ago
    It's in Boston a fair amount, I see people using it.
kaleazy 13y ago
I'm also one of the founders of Flowtab. When we started the company we made a lot of assumptions about the demand for our product and the ease in which we were going to change bar culture. The demand for the product was there (people used it, they often had a good experience) but it wasn't memorable or valuable enough to make them use it EVERY TIME. That was the hardest thing to do. Sure we were saving people time, and making the drink ordering experience more efficient (no cash, cards, open tabs and an easily-accessable drink menu), but what we learned is that people in bars are there primarily so socialize, and they don't always need maximum efficiency like you do when you need a ride home (enter Lyft, Uber) or want lunch delivered (Seamless, GrubHub). People in bars like the social friction, and we were offering them a solution that took the social aspect out of the drink ordering process. Hindsight 20/20. Hopefully other entrepreneurs read our story before dedicating valuable years of their life to a similar product in the space. Kyle H.
andrewfong 13y ago
There's a much simpler solution that solves 80% of the chaos at bars as well. If the bar ever gets crowded enough that you need at least two bartenders, put a sign that says "order here" at one end and "pick up here" at the other. Basically, make bars operate more like Starbucks.

mtt05001 13y ago

With 50,000 bars/nightclubs in the US, and witnessing the success of other mobile payments companies (Levelup, Kuapay, and Starbucks app) it seemed inevitable especially considering the poor ordering experience in many establishments. Mike T

devindotcom 13y ago
Is Levelup actually considered successful? I have seen it in several establishments around here (Seattle) but I have never seen it used, and the employees tell me it is not popular or easy (unlike, say, Square). I don't know Kuapay. Starbucks had something of a firm place from which to launch, so it's not really comparable. What's the poor ordering experience? Trying to get the bartender's attention? I would submit that a poor order experience is a consequence of the establishment, not the fundamentals of the ordering process. Personally, I like the bar experience, it's personal, it's immediate, you can get recommendations, and it's fairly equitable for everyone around (shovers will be ignored by a good bartender, though a good bartender is by no means guaranteed). On the other hand, a remote ordering situation turns every bar into a drink machine activated by an impersonal, drive-thru-like interface. If you prefer that to the existing system, perhaps you should patronize a better bar! I agree that there is probably some interesting way to leverage personal technology in this space, but it's not this. This app does not improve the "ordering experience," it eliminates it. That's a bad idea.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- timmm 13y ago
  It's in Boston a fair amount, I see people using it.

kaleazy 13y ago

I'm also one of the founders of Flowtab. When we started the company we made a lot of assumptions about the demand for our product and the ease in which we were going to change bar culture. The demand for the product was there (people used it, they often had a good experience) but it wasn't memorable or valuable enough to make them use it EVERY TIME. That was the hardest thing to do. Sure we were saving people time, and making the drink ordering experience more efficient (no cash, cards, open tabs and an easily-accessable drink menu), but what we learned is that people in bars are there primarily so socialize, and they don't always need maximum efficiency like you do when you need a ride home (enter Lyft, Uber) or want lunch delivered (Seamless, GrubHub). People in bars like the social friction, and we were offering them a solution that took the social aspect out of the drink ordering process. Hindsight 20/20. Hopefully other entrepreneurs read our story before dedicating valuable years of their life to a similar product in the space. Kyle H.

andrewfong 13y ago

There's a much simpler solution that solves 80% of the chaos at bars as well. If the bar ever gets crowded enough that you need at least two bartenders, put a sign that says "order here" at one end and "pick up here" at the other. Basically, make bars operate more like Starbucks.