Ben Leventhal: From Eater to Resy Empire

This topic helps with finding PMF by highlighting how personal passion can drive startup success.

"I come at this from the perspective that restaurants are magic...part of the fascination and part of the reason to fight for them."

• Let your passion guide you in identifying opportunities.
• Deep industry understanding can lead to innovative solutions.
• Commitment to a vision helps sustain effort through challenges.

This topic helps with distribution/marketing by showing how loyalty programs can drive customer engagement and growth.

"We want consumers to feel our enthusiasm for restaurants...and in that way, create a whole new restaurant economy."

• Use loyalty programs to incentivize repeat business.
• Create a shared value system between businesses to enhance customer experience.
• Leverage technology to implement scalable loyalty solutions.

This topic helps with building product by illustrating innovation in traditional industries with new tech.

"We started to slowly paint the strokes of Blackbird...We want to create a global currency for restaurants."

• Identify pain points in existing industries and develop tech solutions.
• Leverage emerging technologies to create innovative products.
• Think big and aim to transform industry practices.

This topic helps with fundraising and exit strategies by showing how to prepare for acquisition.

"We were in sight of profitability when we sold it to Amex...I stayed on for a year and a half."

• Focus on building a valuable product that attracts industry leaders.
• Demonstrate growth and potential profitability to appeal to acquirers.
• Strategic acquisitions can benefit from timing and industry trends.

This topic helps with distribution/marketing by demonstrating how strategic partnerships can drive growth.

"Airbnb was thinking about how do we incorporate restaurants into our offering...They came to us...we convinced them that we were the right partner for them."

• Identify potential partners whose offerings complement yours.
• Demonstrate value to secure mutually beneficial partnerships.
• Leverage partnerships to expand reach and access new markets.

This topic helps with hiring/team building by showing the importance of assembling a strong founding team.

"Gary had some money to play around with and was looking for ideas...Gary agreed, the two of you agreed to work together...and Mike Montero, who would become the CTO of Resi."

• Collaborate with partners who bring complementary skills and resources.
• Leverage existing networks to find capable co-founders and team members.
• A strong team is crucial for navigating early startup challenges.

This topic helps with fundraising by illustrating how to secure initial capital and allocate resources effectively.

"We had raised this $2 million seed round...our first two hires were engineers. One for iOS, one for web, and Mike was doing backend work and that was the team."

• Build relationships with investors who understand your vision.
• Use seed funding strategically to hire essential team members.
• Focus on building a minimal viable product to demonstrate potential.

This topic helps with finding PMF by emphasizing the importance of customer feedback in product development.

"We got over and over again this same feedback in different ways, but the feedback was always you just should build out reservations...and that's how we crossed the chasm into what would become Resi."

• Actively seek and listen to customer feedback to inform product decisions.
• Be willing to pivot your business model based on market needs.
• Customer insights can lead to discovering your true product-market fit.

This topic helps with distribution/marketing by showing how unique content and voice can build an audience.

"We loved restaurants. We were obsessed with restaurants. I think about my career as a hype man for restaurants and Eater was the start of that...we were just so...it was just all energy. And that often showed up as snark."

• Leverage your passion to create compelling content that resonates with your audience.
• Differentiating with a unique voice can set your brand apart in crowded markets.
• Consistent, energetic engagement attracts and retains users.

This topic helps with finding PMF by showing how to pivot based on customer feedback.

"We thought that the choke point was that there was no variable pricing in restaurants...but at the end of the day, all of that didn't amount to a real business...We couldn't see it through to the other side and build a big business around that."

• Be open to changing your business model when initial assumptions prove incorrect.
• Listen to customer feedback and adapt your product accordingly.
• Pivot quickly to meet market demands and find product-market fit.