Who Comes First: The Employee or Guest? - Lauren Fernandez of Full Course

Get ready for a blockbuster episode that's been cooking up for years! We've got the incredible Bobby Yazdani, the mastermind behind Cota Capital and lead investor in Qu, joining the party on Restaurants Reinvented with Jen Kern.

Jen and Bobby take a  ride through the thrilling intersection of restaurant tech and investment, following Bobby's epic journey from Tehran to the tech capital of Silicon Valley and Oracle. 

Bobby delves into his investment playbook, sharing the criteria and principles that guide him, learned from over 200+ investments from Uber to Google and Dropbox. They unravel the maze of the restaurant tech ecosystem, from its complexities and emotional connections to the innovation opportunities available today.

Hear Bobby wax poetic about leaning into the future of restaurants by building a stable, scalable platform company and culture committed to innovating on behalf of the industry. 

Moments to listen for:

• Conditions needed to build a successful platform company; expectations and timelines.
• The Cognitive Age - today's new new market cycle.
• The innovation playground created by the constant "tug of war" between customer expectations and operational efficiency.
• The importance of abstract thinking in technology to turn complexity into simplification.
• What it means to be a responsible financial and morale steward in the restaurant tech market.
• We talk Pizza! Bobby's love for pizza and the simplicity of it.

Related Episodes:

• The Big POS Reframe
• Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu

Related Assets: 

• What is a Unified Commerce Platform and Why Does it Matter?
• Why 2023 is the “Year of Efficiency” for Restaurants

Connect with Bobby on LinkedIn

Get ready to hear all the juicy data and trends that came out of Technomic's "State of Foodservice Technology" report. Our guest, Richard Shank is the Sr. Principal & VP of Innovation at Technomic and he shares all the leading insights from the report with us.

We focus on three main pillars defining the future of restaurant tech: 
1) the kitchen as the nucleus of the restaurant
2) the role of AI/ML - separating hype from reality
3) the evolution of customer loyalty programs

• Richard  emphasizes that all systems, from front-of-house to back-of-house, must align with the kitchen for a smooth customer experience. 
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword; it's a tool that can revolutionize the restaurant industry
• Restaurants need to innovate in the loyalty space, focusing on personalization and strategic rewards to truly engage customers.

Related Episodes:

• The Big POS Reframe
• Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu
• AI Inside & Outside the Four Walls – Phil Crawford, CKE

• Why 2023 is the “Year of Efficiency” for Restaurants
• Technomic: Vital Insights for the Foodservice Industry

In the latest episode of Restaurants Reinvented, Jen Kern dives deep into the current frazzled, tenuous state of POS and tackles head-first the broad misconception that “POS is Dead.” 

Jen clarifies market confusion by clearly stating that POS isn’t dead but is instead going through a massive transformation and evolution.

POS is no longer the main dish, it’s the side dish.

POS is neither Hero nor Zero.

Jen articulates the current evolution of POS as simply one of many order channels stemming off a data-driven and unified foundational platform. At Qu, this is what we call the Unified Commerce Platform.

Moments to listen for:

• Why POS has become an old habit in the restaurant industry
• How POS has evolved from Main Dish to Side Dish
• Why it's critical we cease saying "POS is Dead" and instead ask "How should my POS evolve to best serve my employees and guest needs in the future?"
• How to reset your framing of POS so you and your employees can embrace it once again, for what it is now today
• What's a Data-First Commerce Platform got to do with it? 

Related Episodes:

• What Does it Mean to Go “Beyond POS” – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu (Part 3 of 3)
• How to Get Closer to Your Customer & What Does POS Have to Do with It? – Solomon Choi
• She’s a Game Changer – Kelly MacPherson

Related Articles: 

• 10 Components of a Unified Commerce Platform 
• The Big POS Reframe 
• POS is Dead, Right?

Connect with Jen on LinkedIn

In this celebratory episode,  Chelsea Madden, Marketing Director at Qu, turns the tables on your hostess Jen Kern, CMO of Qu.

Reminisce with Jen & Chelsea as we look back on the past 3 years of the podcast.

3 years, 70 episodes, and thousands of reinventions later, these two marketing mavens muse over the collective beauty and struggle we’ve all experienced in restaurants and technology.

The Best News Yet … >> From deep in the pandemic to today’s challenges around labor, supply chain, and efficiency - the American Dream is still alive and well in restaurants! We’ve heard this loud and clear from every brilliant guest who has been on our podcast.

Thank you to all our gracious listeners for all your support these past 3 years. We could not have done it without all the generous and caring people in restaurants who exude hospitality from their core.

We love and cherish each and every one of you!

Your support and enthusiasm have continued to fuel our passion and commitment to this cause, empowering us to keep forging ahead with fresh perspectives and new-found inspiration.

Related Episodes:

Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu (Part 2 of 3)
How to Support Restaurant Employees in Need – Sheila Bennett, CORE
Labor Series: We’re In The People Business – Amir Mostafavi

Connect with Jen and Chelsea  on LinkedIn

Join our special guest Kelly MacPherson, from the mega-James Beard award winning Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). More than a trailblazer, she's been a Game Changer for her entire career.  

Kelly shares her remarkable journey in hospitality and retail, from configuring her first POS network to becoming one of the early female CTOs -- and she continues to revolutionize how restaurants operate.

Despite plans for retirement, she canceled them to join USHG and lead their Technology and Supply Chain division, driven by the brand's core pillars of "Enlightened Hospitality," a term coined by their famous founder, Danny Meyer. 

Moments to listen for:

• Kelly’s mission to change how we deliver Reporting & Analytics.
• Her quest to use data for powerful storytelling.
• Building exceptional Employee-First Experiences with a mobile-first strategy.
• The Connected Restaurant. What it is and how USHG is delivering it.
• The timeless tech question: Best in Class or All-in-One Solutions?
• Importance of partnerships and open collaboration among tech companies.
• The journey to CTO and what convinced Kelly to come out of retirement.
• The path to achieving “Enlightened Hospitality,” and how USHG does it.

Related Episodes:

•     The Future of Data Starts Here – Darien Bates   
•      AI Inside & Outside the Four Walls – Phil Crawford, CKE
•      Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu

Related Assets: 

•     Article: How Software Architecture Impacts Restaurant Performance 
•     White Paper: What is a Unified Commerce Platform? 

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn
Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality, by Danny Meyer 

Two-time authors, Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn, join Restaurants Reinvented for the second time!

Hear their predictions about the next big restaurant concept > the digitally native restaurant and key snips from their new book “The Path to Digital Maturity.” 

Moments to listen for:

• The key phases in the path to digital maturity
• How to better drive first-party data ownership
• The next new concept category to hit restaurants 
• SVB's influence on the startup tech scene
• Improving efficiency through AI
• Innovative approaches to off-prem dining through ghost kitchens

Related Episodes:

• Delivering the Digital Restaurant – Meredith Sandland & Carl Orsbourn
• Mastering the Digital Dance – Michael Chachula, CIO, Fat Brands
• AI Inside & Outside the Four Walls – Phil Crawford, CKE

Related Assets:

• 8 Digital Trends Shaping 2023
• The Path to Digital Maturity

Connect with Meredith & Carl on LinkedIn

In this episode of Restaurants Reinvented, host Jen Kern from Qu invites Andrew Glantz, the founder of GiftAMeal, and Dan Sokolik, Vice President of Marketing at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, to discuss their partnership that aims to fight hunger and support local communities. 

GiftAMeal is a mobile app that enables users to provide meals to those in need by simply taking a photo of what they're eating at participating restaurants. The app has already facilitated the donation of 1.3 million meals and continues to expand its reach.

Moments to Listen for: 

• A unique solution to food insecurity
• The role of technology in GiftAMeal's success
• Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken embraces GiftAMeal
• Building the GiftAMeal advisory board and team
• The benefits and impact of the partnership on Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken > increased loyalty and social media reach.

Related Episodes: 

• How to Support Restaurant Employees in Need – Sheila Bennett, CORE
• AI Inside & Outside the Four Walls – Phil Crawford, CKE
• Accelerating Digital Transformation – Andy Rebhun, El Pollo Loco

Related Assets:

• GiftAMeal
• Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn 

Join the man, the myth, the legend - Phil Crawford, CTO of CKE Restaurants, on how he’s using AI to drive better efficiencies for his brand and what he thinks “the store of the future” will operate like.

Moments to Listen for: 

• Harnessing technology more efficiently to save time (labor efficiency), extract data easier (personalization efficiency), and please guests (revenue efficiency)
• How CKE is using new AI technologies at the drive-thru
• How CKE is using AI on the back end to build proactive algorithms
• Kitchen efficiency and optimization strategies 
• The next generation - what they’ll expect 
• True contextual personalization
• Two critical components of a healthy franchisor-franchisee relationship
• Giving back through GiftAMeal
• About the Star Wars figurines 

Related Episodes: 

• Savory’s Growth Formula Starts with Data Ownership – Josh Boshard 
•  The Future of Data Starts Here – Darien Bates 
•  Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu (Part 2 of 3) 

Related Assets:

•  2023 State of Digital for Enterprise Brands 
• GiftAMeal
  
  

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn 

Josh Boshard, the COO of Savory, leads the Operations & Technology teams for their 10-brand portfolio. Since their first location in 2008, Josh + Savory have amassed a wealth of best practices that he shares openly in this episode. 

Key Moments to Listen for: 

• A solid foundation of data ownership & APIs 
• Integrating systems to drive local store performance 
• Partners must share the data 
• A/B testing best-of-breed systems 
• Growth playbooks, benchmarks, and KPIs 
• Restaurants must continually innovate and right now it’s all about AI
• State-of-the-art technology has no value without the right people
• Stick-to-it-iveness makes things happen
• Putting owners’ goals & values first

Related Episode: 

• The Future of Data Starts Here – Darien Bates
• Burn it Down & Fail Forward Fast – Justin Keenen 
• What Does it Mean to Go “Beyond POS” – Amir Hudda

Connect with Josh on LinkedIn

Learn more about Savory 

If you’re wondering how to make sense of that ocean of data your restaurant is trying to wrangle, Darien has answers!

Formerly the CTO at &Pizza, Darien’s new company, Fourtop Solutions, is all about helping restaurants organize and activate their data -- while encouraging humans to do the discovery of data and using technology to automate that discovery.

Top Moments to Listen For: 

• Technology is not a pre-packaged meal, it’s a set of ingredients with overlapping capabilities and core components
• Start by centralizing your data, or you’ll constantly be back-tracking
• Dashboards are where data goes to die - they don’t make good use of data - humans do
• “There are no bad systems, only bad architectures”
• Data is like water and you have an ocean that needs structures and flows
• Let robots be robots (automation) and humans be human (discoverers)
• The value of POS has been largely overlooked; it needs to be a hub to pull in centralized data 
• Hart House is using Fourtop Solutions to deploy its employee-first operations 
• Technology is not a purpose -- it’s a tool to accomplish something; start with your business objectives and then find the right-fit systems to support that. 
• The future of automation and ChatGPT

Related Episodes: 

• Burn it Down & Fail Forward Fast – Justin Keenen of Hart House
• Mastering the Digital Dance – Michael Chachula, CIO, Fat Brands
• Here’s What Innovation Looks Like – Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu
• Trailblazin’ CTO Completes Full Tech Refresh in Under 1 Year – Dawn Gillis Freebirds World Burrito

Resources:

• “Dashboards is where data goes to die” by Darien Bates

Connect with Darien on LinkedIn