Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based CEO’ operating in the Restaurants space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Alvin Salehi
Founder, Co-CEO of Shef
Alvand “Alvin” Salehi is the co-founder of Shef.com. He previously served as a White House Technology Advisor under President Obama, where he founded Code.gov and led the development of the country’s first Federal Source Code Policy. Salehi also serves as a research affiliate at Harvard University and a Venture Partner at NextGen VP. He was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and World’s 100 Most Influential in 2018. Prior to joining the White House, Salehi helped lead the State Department’s efforts to expand Internet access to Africa and improve global market access for US technology companies. He also served at the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which invests in transformative, cutting-edge technologies on behalf of the federal government. Salehi was born and raised in Orange County, CA.
Follow Alvin Salehi:
About Harvard Law School, Shef: Shef is a homemade food marketplace that helps cooks make an income by cooking and selling food to their communities.
_______
Joey Grassia
Co-Founder, Co-CEO of Shef
Joey Grassia is a co-founder and co-CEO at Shef.
Follow Joey Grassia:
About KUTOA, Shef: Shef is a homemade food marketplace that helps cooks make an income by cooking and selling food to their communities.
Mary Biggins
Co-Founder and CEO of MealPal
Mary has over 10 years of marketing, product, and sales experience. She has a unique blend of experience creating marketing strategies for both big brands and micro businesses. She’s built marketing campaigns for big brands like the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and Disney. She’s also helped nearly a million small businesses grow as the manager of Vistaprint’s Canadian site. She has also operated two-sided marketplaces as the co-founder of ClassPass and MealPal.
Follow Mary Biggins:
About ClassPass, MealPal: MealPal is a subscription service that provides members with affordable daily lunch options from restaurants near where they live or work.
Rick Blatstein
Founder & CEO of OTG
Rick Blatstein, founder and CEO of OTG Management, found his calling putting gourmet cuisine, swanky design and high-tech integrations into the drab world of airport terminals. OTG’s innovative approach to creating an “experience” is delighting travelers and catching the attention of airlines and airport operators.
Follow Rick Blatstein:
About OTG: OTG Management is a operator of airport food and beverage concessions
Kimberlie Le
CEO and Co-Founder of Prime Roots
Follow Kimberlie Le:
About Prime Roots: Prime Roots is celebrating the culture of meat by reimagining protein itself.
Chris Kempczinski
President and CEO of McDonald’s
With an eye toward delivering a modern, progressive customer experience, Chris Kempczinski oversees strategy, planning and new concept innovation for McDonald’s. His role is to serve the business units and franchisees by identifying new ideas and best practices to accelerate their growth and grow the overall value of the system. Kempczinski has significant experience in strategy and operations with some of the world’s leading consumer companies, including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and most recently, Kraft Heinz. He has a proven track record of driving transformative change, which is invaluable as McDonald’s evolves its restaurant experience and business model to consistently deliver top-tier shareholder returns. Most recently, Kempczinski was Executive Vice President of Growth Initiatives and President of Kraft International, where he oversaw Kraft’s global corporate growth agenda and was responsible for driving the business in 80 countries outside of the United States, making up roughly $3 billion in net revenue. Kempczinski has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in public policy and economics from Duke University.
Follow Chris Kempczinski:
About McDonald’s: McDonald’s is a global foodservice retailer generating revenue through company-owned restaurants, franchise royalties, and licensing pacts.
Bastian Lehmann
Founder and CEO of Postmates
Bastian Lehmann Is The Founder & CEO At Postmates.
Follow Bastian Lehmann:
About Postmates: Postmates is an on-demand food delivery platform that gives customers access to restaurants and retailers.
Nabeel Alamgir
CEO & Co-founder of Lunchbox Technologies
CEO & Co-founder of Lunchbox, Former CMO of Bareburger.
Follow Nabeel Alamgir:
About Bareburger, Lunchbox Technologies, Tapt: Lunchbox Technologies offers digital marketing and ordering solutions for brick and mortar restaurants.
Eric Foss
President & CEO of Aramark
Eric is the chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), a $15 billion global provider of food, facilities and uniform services. Eric was named president and CEO in 2012 and chairman of the board in 2015. Since his appointment, Aramark has recorded consistent growth in sales, new business and adjusted net income and operating margins. He is also improving profitability by establishing a repeatable business model across the company. He most recently led Aramark’s successful return to the New York Stock Exchange in December 2013. Under Eric’s leadership, Aramark and its 270,000 employees are poised for sustainable growth through new business generation, geographic expansion and more efficient operations. Prior to joining Aramark, Eric served as chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG), the world’s largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola. He was named CEO and elected to the PBG Board of Directors in 2006 and elevated to chairman in 2008. He participated in the successful process of taking PBG public in 1999. Eric oversaw the acquisition of PBG by PepsiCo in 2010, which brought outstanding value to PBG shareholders, and then led the integration of the business within the corporation serving as CEO of PepsiCo’s Pepsi Beverages Company. Throughout his career with Aramark, PBG and PepsiCo, Eric Foss has established a strong track record of generating profitable growth through integrated strategies and consistent execution that meets or exceeds financial commitments. He has led global teams to successfully build leading brands through a frontline-first mindset while achieving broad-based productivity gains. Today he serves on the board of directors of Aramark, Cigna, Catalyst and the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts. Eric is also a member of the Business Roundtable and the Wall Street Journal CEO Council. Eric earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Ball State University and was honored with the Miller College of Business Award of Distinction in 2005.
Follow Eric Foss:
About Aramark: Aramark provides food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to healthcare institutions and more.
Bowie Cheung
Co-founder & CEO of Pepper
Bowie is the co-founder and CEO of Pepper, where he’s partnering with restaurant wholesalers across the country to build a more transparent, technology powered food supply chain. Before co-founding Pepper in 2019, Bowie was the first General Manager for Uber Eats and Director of US & Canada Operations at Uber Technologies, and prior to that a management consultant at Bain & Company. He holds degrees in engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business.
Follow Bowie Cheung:
About Pepper: Building the digital operating system for the food supply chain
Christine de Wendel
Co-Founder, CEO US of Sundayapp
Christine de Wendel is a Co-Founder & CEO US sunday.
Follow Christine de Wendel:
About Sundayapp: Sundayapp is a fully integrated solution built for restaurants, bars, pubs, cafés, and hotels customers to pay for their food via a QR code.
Chris Stang
Co-Founder & CEO of The Infatuation
Chris Stang is the Co-Founder & CEO of The Infatuation,and also serves as CEO of Zagat. Since its inception in 2009, Stang has been the architect of The Infatuation’s editorial voice, creative vision, and marketing strategy. Today his role still encompasses all those things, but also includes pushing the company forward into new arenas, including the development of The Infatuation’s EEEEEATSCON food festival, and leading the company’s recent acquisition of Zagat from Google. He was nominated in 2015 for a James Beard Award for Humor Writing, and in 2019 the Financial Times called him “arguably the most influential restaurant reviewer in America.” Prior to taking on The Infatuation full time, Chris was the Vice President of Marketing at Atlantic Records, working closely with many of the label’s biggest acts including Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Skrillex, Gnarls Barkley, and the Panic! At The Disco.
Follow Chris Stang:
About The Infatuation, Zagat: The Infatuation is a website, app, newsletter, and recommendation platform that helps users find restaurants for every situation.
Binu Girija
Founder & CEO of Way
Mr. Binu Girija is the Founder and CEO at Way.com, Inc. Mr. Binu is responsible for building products that meet the changing demands of Way.com’s users and partners. Prior to Way.com, he was an Enterprise Architect at BEA Systems, Oracle Corp and Computer Sciences Corp., and led the Enterprise Infrastructure, ERP, CRM and Database team. He has started multiple successful software companies that continue to grow and thrive today. He has a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Computer Science.
Follow Binu Girija:
About Way: The No.1 Car Insuretech, Fintech Super App
Chris Baggott
Co-Founder and CEO of ClusterTruck
Over the course of his career, Chris Baggott has redefined what it means to be a marketer. After co-founding ExactTarget, one of the world’s most successful, publicly-traded email service providers, he saw an opportunity to branch out into content marketing. In 2007, Chris launched Compendium, the leading content marketing platform helping organizations capture and create original content in a branded hub for distribution to any marketing channel. As a marketing futurist, Chris is frequently quoted in national business and marketing trade magazines, and speaks regularly on the topic of digital marketing at hundreds of venues. He is recognized as one of the most influential marketers by Invesp Consulting and BtoB Magazine. His blog was voted “Best Online Marketing Blog” by MarketingSherpa readers and “Best of the Web” by Forbes.
Follow Chris Baggott:
About ClusterTruck, Tyner Pond Farm: ClusterTruck is a provider of online food delivery platform used to offer foods at the doorsteps of customers.
Adam Ahmad
Founder & CEO of kea
Adam Ahmad is the Co-Founder & CEO at kea since 2017.
Follow Adam Ahmad:
About kea: kea empowers restaurants to operate more intelligently and own their relationship with customers.
Frank Guidara
CEO of Uno Chicago Grill
Guidara was previously with Au Bon Pain for five years. Guidara led an extraordinary turnaround of the Au Bon Pain business through a chain-wide remodel program, expanded menu offerings and upgrades to the food and operational systems. The “new Au Bon Pain” harkens back to the concept’s French roots with an urban marketplace format, abundant displays of food, and sophisticated stylish décor. Guidara joined Au Bon Pain from the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, a national, multi-concept food service organization, where he served as President and CEO from 1996. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing the operations of both the restaurant and packaged food divisions of the company. Guidara successfully doubled the size of the chef-driven company during his tenure. In his ten years as President of the Restaurant Division of Restaurant Associates in New York, the post he held prior to joining the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, Guidara developed and managed a host of fine dining and foodservice concepts including Savories, The Sea Grill, Tropica and Café Centro. In addition, Guidara oversaw dining services for such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House and the United Nations, and for corporate clients that included Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Frank Guidara received a BS in Restaurant and Hotel Management in 1968 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Guidara serves as an advisor on the UMass HTM Board (Hospitality and Tourism Management), a trustee for the Boston Children’s Museum, a director for the National Restaurant Association, a director for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and a member of the Nutrition Roundtable for the Harvard School of Public Health.
Follow Frank Guidara:
About Au Bon Pain, Uno Chicago Grill: Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation (URHC) has a system of over 200 full-service company-owned and franchised Uno Chicago Grill restaurants.
Manish Rathi
Dreamer, Doer, Founder & CEO of JoyRun
Manish Rathi joined JoyRun as Dreamer, Doer, Founder, CEO in 2014.
Follow Manish Rathi:
About JoyRun: JoyRun is a community based delivery company.
Kevin Reddy
Chairman And CEO of Noodles & Company
Kevin Reddy has served as Chief Executive Officer since April 2006. He became a member of board of directors in May 2006, and Chairman of the Board in May 2008. Mr. Reddy was President and Chief Operating Officer from April 2005 to April 2006, continuing to serve as President until July 2012. Prior to joining Noodles & Company, he was the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Operations Officer and Restaurant Support Officer for Chipotle Mexican Grill. Mr. Reddy began his professional career with McDonald’s Corporation in 1983 as a regional controller and progressed into positions of escalating responsibility. Mr. Reddy has received a number of awards in connection with his role as Chief Executive Officer, including being named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Restaurant Business Magazine in 2009, “All-Star CEO” by Restaurant Finance Monitor in 2012 and was named to Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2014 “Builders List,” created to feature people who are taking restaurant brands to the next level. He currently serves on the executive advisory board to the Daniels School of Business at the University of Denver. He received a BS in Accounting from Duquesne University.
Follow Kevin Reddy:
About Boloco, Noodles & Company: Noodles & Company is a Customer Service company.
Bhavuk Kaul
Founder & CEO of Plate IQ
Co-Founder & CEO at Plate iQ.
Follow Bhavuk Kaul:
About Plate IQ: Plate IQ saves restaurants time and money by automating their invoice processing and accounts payable.
Earvin Johnson
Founder & CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises
Earvin “Magic” Johnson has become the most powerful African-American businessman in the world. He is a Major League Baseball owner, an NBA Legend, a 2-Time Hall of Famer, an Entrepreneur, a Philanthropist and a Motivational Speaker. The business mogul has successfully parlayed his skills and tenacity on the court into the business world, propelling his company to the status of #1 Brand in Urban America. He is Chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE), which provides high quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities through strategic alliances, investments, consulting and endorsements. The conglomerate is comprised of multiple business entities and partnerships that include Canyon Johnson, a $1 billion dollar real estate fund, Yucaipa Johnson, a $500 million dollar private equity fund, ASPIRE, a new African-American television network, SodexoMAGIC, Magic Airport Holdings, Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies, and Vibe Holdings, LLC – Johnson is the Chairman of the multi-cultural media company that houses the Vibe, Uptown, and Soul Train brands. Most noted for his unprecedented Starbucks partnership, which served as the catalyst for redevelopment in urban communities and is literally the blueprint for Corporate America’s engagement and success with urban consumers. In 2010, the savvy businessman divested his Starbucks and Los Angeles Lakers shares in excess $100 million dollars. However, he will continue to assist Starbucks with their community development initiatives and will remain Vice President of the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson has also teamed up with Tim Leiweke of AEG in an effort to build a new stadium and bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles as well as thousands of jobs to the city. The story of Johnson and Larry Bird’s inspiring friendship and rivalry was presented in a theater adaptation of Magic & Bird on Broadway in April 2012. Johnson also serves as Chairman and Founder of the Magic Johnson Foundation, where his unwavering commitment to transform Urban America continues through HIV/AIDS Awareness & Prevention Programs, Community Empowerment Centers, and the Taylor Michaels Scholarship Program. Celebrating over 20 years of success, the Magic Johnson Foundation has become one of the most recognizable philanthropic organizations around the world.
Follow Earvin Johnson:
About JLC Infrastructure, Magic Johnson Enterprises, Magic Johnson Foundation: Magic Johnson Enterprises is a company owned by retired NBA Hall of Fame legend Magic Johnson.
Will Pacio
Co-Founder and CEO of Pared
A veteran in the restaurant industry. Will started as a cook at Per Se in New York and went on to run IT for Thomas Keller’s restaurants. He was founder and CEO of Spice Kit, a popular fast-casual concept. Studied at Stanford. Trained at the French Culinary Institute.
Follow Will Pacio:
About Pared: Pared is a market network for hospitality professionals.
Collin Wallace
CEO and Co-Founder of ZeroStorefront
Collin Wallace is the CEO and co-founder at ZeroStorefront.
Follow Collin Wallace:
About ZeroStorefront: ZeroStorefront connects local business applications to drive more orders and better customer experiences.
Kevin Tan
Founder & CEO of Snackpass
Kevin Tan is a co-founder and CEO at Snackpass.
Follow Kevin Tan:
About Celena Software & Design Consultancy, ChinaDaily, Snackpass, Yale School of Management (SOM): Snackpass is a social commerce platform that focuses on mobile order pickup at local restaurants.
Taylor Katzman
Founder & CEO of Provi
Taylor Katzman is the Founder and CEO of Provi.
Follow Taylor Katzman:
About Provi: Provi is a communication platform that simplifies the operations for bars, restaurants, and retailers in ordering booze.
Adam Eskin
Founder & CEO of Dig Inn
Adam Eskin is the Founder & CEO at Dig Inn.
Follow Adam Eskin:
About Dig Inn: We serve real food—mostly vegetables—that’s grown by farmers, cooked by chefs, and inspired by the seasons. 🥕
Bill Morrow
CEO of Acumera
Follow Bill Morrow:
About Acumera, Quarri Technologies: Acumera builds and manages PCI compliant networks for multi-location retailers and restauraunts.
Pat Vihtelic
Founder and CEO of Home Chef
Follow Pat Vihtelic:
About Home Chef: Home Chef is a provider of subscription-based meal kit delivery services to help people to save time while enjoying home cooking.
Todd Penegor
President & Chief Executive Officer of Wendy’s
Todd Penegor joined the Company in June 2013 and was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in May 2016. Mr. Penegor previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company from September 2013 to May 2016. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Penegor worked at Kellogg Company, a global leader in food products, from 2000 to 2013, where he held several key leadership positions, including Vice President of Kellogg Company and President of U.S. Snacks from 2009 to June 2013, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kellogg Europe from 2007 to 2009, and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kellogg USA and Kellogg Snacks from 2002 to 2007. Prior to joining Kellogg Company, Mr. Penegor worked for 12 years at Ford Motor Company in various positions, including strategy, mergers and acquisitions, the controller’s office and treasury.
Follow Todd Penegor:
About Wendy’s: Wendy’s is a worldwide franchise of fast food.
Aaron Sherman
Co-Founder & CEO of SevenFifty
Aaron Sherman is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of SevenFifty. With over a decade in the industry and extensive experience as a sommelier, beverage manager and industry consultant, Sherman brings a breadth of knowledge and passion to his position. As CEO of SevenFifty, Sherman plays the executive lead and oversees overall company vision and growth. Prior to co-founding SevenFifty, Sherman worked as a sommelier and beverage manager for New York restaurants WD-50 and L’Artusi. He was also the beverage director at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for running the beverage programs of their multi-outlet venue, including Jose Andres’ restaurant The Bazaar. Sherman holds a Diploma of Wine and Spirits from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Follow Aaron Sherman:
About SevenFifty: SevenFifty helps importers, producers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in a modern world.
Ali Sabeti
CEO of ZeroCater
As Chief Executive Officer, Ali is responsible for scaling and expanding ZeroCater nationally to achieve the company’s vision of becoming the #1 food company serving the workforce. He is focused on building and enabling a world class executive team to lead the company to the next stage of growth and profitability. ZeroCater has a unique opportunity to disrupt a $202B+ industry, and Ali is excited to lead the company’s operational and financial health in capitalizing on that opportunity. Over his career Ali has held a variety of roles and led functions across operations, sales, marketing, product, and finance. He has built and led global teams across companies of all stages from startups to the Fortune 500. Ali is a California native and graduated from the University of California Irvine with a degree in Economics and Accounting.
Follow Ali Sabeti:
About ZeroCater: ZeroCater is a provider of office meals and snacks, bringing employees together to build culture and foster community.
Joshua Stern
Co-founder, CEO of Wine n Dine
Joshua Stern is co-founder and CEO of Wine n Dine. Prior to Wine n Dine, Joshua founded I Know The Chef, the first restaurant concierge app.
Follow Joshua Stern:
About Wine n Dine: Wine n Dine is a Visual Menu company that helps restaurants create & distribute menus online with our many in house tech solutions – SaaS
Berke Bakay
President & CEO of Kona Grill
Berke Bakay has served as our Chief Executive Officer and President since January 2012 and as a director of our company since October 2009. Mr. Bakay is the founder and managing member of BBS Capital Management, LP, a Texas limited partnership that serves as the investment manager to the BBS Capital Fund, LP. BBS Capital Fund, LP is currently the largest stockholder of Kona Grill, Inc. Mr. Bakay also serves as a director of Arabella Exploration Inc. (NYSE: AXPLF).
Follow Berke Bakay:
About Kona Grill: Kona Grill provides an exotic escape from the everyday.
Eugenia Kuyda
Co-Founder & CEO of Luka (dba Replika)
Eugenia Kuyda, co-founder of the AI startup Luka, memorial bots are ‘the future.’
Follow Eugenia Kuyda:
About Luka (dba Replika): Luka is a software development company based in San Francisco, California
Eugene I. Lee, Jr
President & Chief Executive Officer of Darden Restaurants
Follow Eugene I. Lee, Jr:
About Darden Restaurants: Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a full service restaurant company.
Chris Comparato
CEO of Toast
Chris Comparato is the CEO of Toast. He has an extensive background in leading high growth SaaS, software, and consulting companies with a focus on customer success and building strong teams. Prior to Toast, he led all customer success functions at Acquia (named Inc. 500 #1 fastest growing company) and Endeca (acquired by Oracle in 2011). He previously held roles at consulting firms Keane and Cambridge Technology Partners, where his track record of delivering innovative business technology to diverse industries started. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College.
Follow Chris Comparato:
About Toast: Toast is an all-in-one point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for businesses in the food service and hospitality space.
Alex Canter
Chief Executive Officer of Ordermark
Alex is a restaurant industry innovator, in-demand speaker, and passionate advocate for restaurant operators and workers. He was raised in the kitchen of the world-famous Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles, where he and his team invented Ordermark. A fourth-generation restaurateur, the restaurant business has been in Alex’s blood for over 85 years. In addition to being the visionary and leader of Ordermark, Alex is active with the Techstars network and enjoys mentoring and investing in other restaurant technology entrepreneurs. A 2019 recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30, Alex has previously led several technology ventures.
Follow Alex Canter:
About Ordermark: Nextbite is an online ordering management system for restaurants.
Kirk Ruoff
Founder & CEO of The Turning Point
Kirk Ruoff’s restaurant experience started in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was trained by Michael Hurst, past President of the National Restaurant Association and Professor with the Hospitality Management School at Florida International University, at his award winning 15th Street Fisheries Restaurant. Kirk Ruoff received a football scholarship to Boston College where he played for Tom Coughlin. He graduated from Boston College with a business degree in entrepreneurial studies in 1992. After completing college, Kirk Ruoff spent a brief time away from the restaurant industry where his focus was dealer consultant for Toyota Motor Sales. Kirk Ruoff returned to his passion following Toyota and received multi-unit restaurant management experience with Brinker International’s Chili’s Bar and Grill in Holmdel, NJ. While in Holmdel, he led the restaurant to achieve the highest unit level performance in the Chili’s system. After two years, he left to attain his personal goal of creating an upscale breakfast and lunch restaurant. In 1998 Kirk Ruoff purchased a failing lunch and dinner restaurant in Little Silver, NJ and the “Turning Point” concept was born.
Follow Kirk Ruoff:
About The Turning Point: Turning Point Restaurants provides breakfast brunch, lunch and fresh food items.
Mitesh Gala
CEO of Altametrics
Mitesh Gala is the Chief Executive Officer of Altametrics.
Follow Mitesh Gala:
About Altametrics: Altametrics is a provider of web-based enterprise solutions specifically for the restaurant industry.
Yaniv Tal
CEO of TapSavvy
Follow Yaniv Tal:
About TapSavvy: TapSavvy
Michael Minkevich
Tech CEO of Unfurl
Michael is a seasoned technology executive with 20+ years of building and operating large scale geographically distributed multinational project-driven organizations under the belt
Follow Michael Minkevich:
About GTSaaS, Unfurl: Unfurl is the Netflix of the restaurant industry
Chris Tara-Browne
Human CEO & Co-Founder of Unfurl
Chris Tara-Browne currently works as the CEO, Co-Founder, and Board member for Unfurl. He previously worked at Bauman College as a Board Member.
Follow Chris Tara-Browne:
About Unfurl: Unfurl is the Netflix of the restaurant industry
Massimo Noja De Marco
CEO and Co-Founder of Piestro
Follow Massimo Noja De Marco:
About Kitchen United, Piestro: Piestro operates a robotic pizza system and dispenser designed to deliver high-quality artisanal pizzas.
Ben Hertz
Co-Founder and CEO of Penny’s
Hertz already brought the world colored shoelaces from Benjo’s and U.S.-made sheets and pillowcases from Cama. He does real estate deals through his Westwood Hills Partners holding company and has been instrumental in restaurant projects including Martina in Minneapolis’ Linden Hills neighborhood. In his latest venture, Hertz, 33, is co-founder and CEO of Penny’s Coffee with partners Dean Phillips and Adam Roozen. Penny’s Coffee is more cafe than coffee shop, offering sweet and savory crêpes, bakery items and hard-to-find treats. Hertz said Penny’s is set to expand from its downtown Washington Square and year-old Linden Hills locations to a handful of spots in the coming months.
Follow Ben Hertz:
About Penny’s: Penny’s offers welcoming and unpretentious cafes focused on providing excellent guest experience and design.
Nick Wernimont
CEO/Founder & Chief Health & Wellness Strategist of Factor_
Follow Nick Wernimont:
About Factor_, Factor_: Factor is a subscription-based prepared meal delivery service that delivers dietitian-designed, chef-crafted meals.
Vaibhav Verma
CEO and Co-Founder of Simmer
Vaibhav Verma is the CEO of Simmer.
Follow Vaibhav Verma:
About Simmer: Simmer is a food review app that aims to bring high quality reviews for every dish on the menu.
Sam Vakhidov
CEO, Co-Founder of Eat Fit Go
Follow Sam Vakhidov:
About Eat Fit Go: Provides a simple and easy solution for eating healthy on the go!
Myra Norton
President & CEO of Arena Analytics
Follow Myra Norton:
About Arena Analytics: Arena Analytics applies predictive analytics and machine learning to talent acquisition challenges.
Stas Matviyenko
Founder & CEO of Allset
Founder of Allset.
Follow Stas Matviyenko:
About Allset: Marketplace for restaurants and local diners. Online ordering and contactless solutions to serve customers commission-free.
Jonathan Kaplan
Founder & CEO of THE MELT
Jonathan Kaplan, also known as Jon, is the Founder of THE MELT and serves as its Chairman of the Board. Mr. Kaplan serves as a Director of Euclid Analytics, Inc.
Follow Jonathan Kaplan:
About THE MELT: THE MELT is an American restaurant serving made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches.
Travis Grillo
Co-Founder and CEO of Grillo’s Pickles
Travis Grillo is the CEO and founder of Grillo’s Pickles, an all-natural pickle company based in Cambridge, MA. He started Grillo’s in 2008 by taking the 100 year old family pickle recipe and packing jars to sell out of the trunk of his car. In just five short years, Travis has grown the business from a pickle cart in Boston Common to a fully distributed pickled food company that is stocked in over 50 whole foods stores and its own specialty retail space in Cambridge, MA.
Follow Travis Grillo:
About Grillo’s Pickles: Grillo’s Pickles is a pickle store.
Vishal Agarwal
Founder & CEO of ItsaCheckmate
Vishal Agarwal serves as a Founder & CEO at ItsaCheckmate.
Follow Vishal Agarwal:
About Forbes Technology Council, ItsaCheckmate: ItsaCheckmate is a leading service in integrating 3rd party delivery platforms directly into POS systems.
Peter Corrao
CEO, Co-founder, President & Executive Chairman of Takeout7
Peter is chair of the board of directors. In addition he oversees the day to day operations and delivery process. He is a technology, advertising and marketing executive with experience and a successful track record of turnarounds and exits at private and public companies. Peter has held positions as CEO and Director at several worldwide, online focused companies. Peter’s early business focus was in advertising & marketing strategies. Peter is originally from San Diego, CA and was educated at Miramar College and Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.
Follow Peter Corrao:
About Takeout7: Takeout7 is a cloud based technology platform with turnkey solutions for independent restaurants.
Anurag Ahuja
Co-Founder & CEO of Takeout7
Anurag leads TakeOut7’s strategy and direction. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with extensive experience in creating and scaling cloud-based solutions for B2B and B2C clients. He has held various C-level and advisory roles at tech start-ups and has consulted on a broad range of business needs for Global 1000 companies in Retail, Technology, Financial Services and Manufacturing. Anurag holds a BS in Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Follow Anurag Ahuja:
About MarketGoal Digital Solution Pvt Ltd, Notify Nearby, Takeout7: Takeout7 is a cloud based technology platform with turnkey solutions for independent restaurants.
Krystle Mobayeni
Founder & CEO of BentoBox
Krystle Mobayeni, CEO and Founder of BentoBox, knows that today, the restaurant experience starts online. With BentoBox, she helps restaurants engage with their customers online, serving as a real partner and embodying the idea of hospitality every step of the way.
Follow Krystle Mobayeni:
About BentoBox: BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits, and relationships, directly through their website.
Puneet Talwar
Founder, CEO & Director of Munch Ado
Founder, CEO & Director at Munch Ado.
Follow Puneet Talwar:
About AY Digital, Bravvura, Bravvura Ventures, Munch Ado: Munch Ado is a fully-managed marketing / e-commerce growth platform for restaurants.
Orazio Buzza
Founder & CEO of Fooda
Orazio Buzza is a Co-Founder at Fooda, Inc. He served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), from May 2005 until August 2010. From October 2003 to May 2005, he was the CFO and COO of InnerWorkings, Inc. (Nasdaq: INWK). From July 2001 to September 2003, Orazio was Vice President of Finance and Operations at Bus Bank, an online provider of charter bus services. He received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Supply Chain Management from the University of Illinois, and he is also a CPA.
Follow Orazio Buzza:
About Fooda: Fooda is a food technology platform that connects restaurants to people while at work.
Joel Montaniel
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of SevenRooms
Joel Montaniel is the CEO and Co-Founder of SevenRooms, a Front-of-House (FOH) and Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform for the hospitality, dining and nightlife industry. Founded in 2011 in New York, SevenRooms provides operators with intelligent FOH capabilities, multi-channel inventory distribution, an open API platform and powerful CRM to track and capture F&B data. Prior to founding SevenRooms, Montaniel served as Chief of Staff at LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN), reporting directly to the CEO and leading strategic, operational and cultural initiatives for the company. Montaniel started his career at Credit Suisse working on the financing and securitization of commercial mortgages totaling over $15bn for the Real Estate Finance and Securitization Group. He received his B.A. (Hons) from Georgetown University.
Follow Joel Montaniel:
About SevenRooms: SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry.
Mike Wior
CEO & Co-Founder of Omnivore
Responsible for the overall vision of Omnivore. Expert in cloud solutions, technology and business initiatives, with career successes at Wells Fargo Bank and company-critical consulting projects for clients including Adobe, Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Google, and Intel.
Follow Mike Wior:
About Omnivore: Omnivore offers a point-of-sale integration API allowing uniform access to the POS systems.
Victor Chapela
Co-founder & CEO of Suggestic
Victor Chapela has over 25 years of IT experience and entrepreneurship. During this time, he has founded and led 6 technology companies in the United States and Mexico. As the founder and CEO of these companies he has mainly been involved in the design and development of software products and specialized services for the financial industry and large corporations. His latest companies: Sm4rt Security Services and Sm4rt Predictive Systems were both acquired in 2014. Mr. Chapela is an active angel investor and mentor in the Silicon Valley area. His main expertise lies within the area of information security, risk modeling, predictive analytics and machine learning. He is co-author and contributor of courseware, study material and papers for SANS, OWASP, ISACA, Springer and several other organizations and media companies. He is a frequent speaker at international events and is frequently featured in business and trade magazines, television and radio.
Follow Victor Chapela:
About Suggestic: Suggestic operates as a personalized nutrition platform that utilizes AI to deliver food recommendations.
Vinay Shukla
CEO of ConverseNow
Vinay Shukla is a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at ConverseNow.
Follow Vinay Shukla:
About ConverseNow: Shaping the future of artificial intelligence with best-in-class voice AI, serving the world’s leading restaurant brands
Brett Schulman
CEO of Cava Group
Brett Schulman is the founder and CEO of Rockville, Maryland-based Cava, a Mediterranean restaurant chain.
Follow Brett Schulman:
About Cava Group: Cava Group is a Mediterranean culinary brand that offers chef-crafted dips and spreads.
Rajat Suri
Founder & CEO of Presto
Rajat ‘Raj’ Suri is the Founder and CEO of E la Carte. Suri, a Ph.D. student at MIT, got the idea in 2008 to build the Presto while trying to split a bill with his fellow graduate students from MIT and Harvard. To understand the restaurant industry more clearly, he decided to abandon his Ph.D. and spent a year as a waiter, testing the first prototype of the Presto with guests. Previously, he was a Co-Founder of Zimride, now called Lyft, the popular ride-sharing company. While attending university Raj served on the Board of Directors of FedS, the corporation representing the interests of the students of the University of Waterloo. Earlier, he was the Founder and President of the Forum for Independent Thought, Canada’s first student think tank. Raj holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering and economics from the University of Waterloo. He also attended a Ph.D. / MBA program at MIT. He enjoys playing tennis and soccer, and is an avid film buff.
Follow Rajat Suri:
About Presto: Presto is the leading provider of customer experience and labor productivity software to restaurant enterprises.
Luke Saunders
Founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge
Luke Saunders is the founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge.
Follow Luke Saunders:
About Farmer’s Fridge, Food Foundry: Farmer’s Fridge provides an automated smart fridge that serves salads, bowls, snacks, and more.
Christopher Webb
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ChowNow
Chris Webb, Co-Founder & CEO of ChowNow, an online ordering system and marketing platform for restaurants.
Follow Christopher Webb:
About ChowNow, HuffPost: ChowNow helps branded online ordering systems for independent restaurants through the restaurants’ own websites.
Sandra Cochran
President & Chief Executive Officer of Cracker Barrel
Sandra Cochran became President and Chief Executive Officer on September 12, 2011 following her service as Cracker Barrel’s President and Chief Operating Officer, a post she assumed in November 2010. She joined Cracker Barrel in April, 2009 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. She was previously CEO at the nation’s 3rd largest book retailer, Books-A-Million, Inc. for the prior five years. She also served as that company’s president from 1999 and its chief financial officer from 1993 to 1999. As Vice President, Finance at Books-A-Million, Sandra Cochran was part of the leadership team that took the company public in 1992 and completed a secondary offering in 1993.
Follow Sandra Cochran:
About Cracker Barrel: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme.
Doug Leeds
CEO of EAT Club
Follow Doug Leeds:
About EAT Club: EAT Club is a food technology company allowing offices to order and get food delivered from local restaurants via the web or mobile devices.
Robert Thompson
Chief Executive Officer of Angevin & Co.
Robert Thompson, Founder and CEO of Punch Bowl Social, was raised in Mississippi and Colorado, surrounded by the southern hospitality that now permeates his award-winning “eatertainment” concept where elevated, scratch-made diner eats and crafted cocktails combine with old school games and Dirty-Modern décor to create an unusually dynamic, social, authentic experience. In 1997 at age 25, Thompson began his career as a restaurateur in Nashville where he blended his passions for restaurants, real estate and design. Seeing an opportunity, Robert signed an ambitious 22,000 Sft. lease on prime real estate next to the honky-tonks and new commercial realities of downtown Nashville. Thompson wrote a business plan, opened a highly successful business and was forever hooked as a restaurateur. Before developing his “crown jewel,” Punch Bowl Social, Robert opened eight other restaurant concepts, earned dozens of awards – including four Best New Restaurant honors in Denver and Nashville. Each of those experiences helped him perfect his vision of combining high-integrity food with social bar experiences in a way that had not been seen before Punch Bowl Social. Thompson opened the first Punch Bowl Social on South Broadway in Denver in 2012. From its beginnings as a single restaurant and bar, the innovative Punch Bowl Social concept immediately established a profound connection with guests who embraced the upscale diner-inspired menu, vintage games and fun, fresh bar offerings. Interior design creativity is cornerstone of the Punch Bowl Social brand and is evident through the Victorian furnishings, Colorado mountain lodge warmth, industrial spaces, modern appointments and dozens of other eye-catching design elements that make Punch Bowl Social so special. The concept was so popular that developers in other states took notice and began courting Thompson to open Punch Bowl Social locations outside of Colorado. Since 2012, Thompson has opened Punch Bowl Social locations in Austin, TX, Portland, OR and Detroit, MI, will put locations in Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL in 2015, and in Denver’s Stapleton community in early 2016. Given the freedom to dream up the best in innovative eats, drinks, service, ambiance and architecture, Robert Thompson has found great success in developing restaurants that guests wholeheartedly embrace. When Robert is not working, Thompson loves distance running the Colorado high-country and spends every spare moment in the company of his wife and young son.
Follow Robert Thompson:
About Angevin & Co.: Angevin & Co. provides consultation solutions to improve business from the hotel and restaurants industry.
Daniel Estrada
Co-Founder and CEO of 86 Repairs
Daniel Estrada is the co-founder and CEO of 86 Repairs, the repair and maintenance management platform built for the restaurant industry. He has over 20 years of experience in technical and leadership roles, including as a software engineer, project manager, consultant to startups and Fortune 500 companies, and as the practice head in a global digital consultancy. Daniel is a first generation American, multi-citizen, and speaks 3 languages.
Follow Daniel Estrada:
About 86 Repairs: 86 Repairs is a subscription service that optimizes and manages end-to-end equipment repair and maintenance for restaurant groups.
Andy Lin
Founder and CEO of YO-KAI EXPRESS
Andy is the Founder and CEO of Yo-Kai Express, the future autonomous restaurant. Andy has been working on this project since 2015. Prior to this, Andy developed a last mile community delivery app back to 2013. Andy is an energetic entrepreneur and he loves to explore different technologies. Andy earned his Electrical Engineering Master degree in UC Irvine and has worked in Semiconductor industry more than 12 years. Andy not only focus on developing autonomous restaurant to serve people 24/7 anytime anywhere but also trying to reduce the food waste by ordering as needed. In the meantime, Andy also put lots of effort to develop the green energy to support the future power shortage. He and his team are working on reusable power storage and try to provide zero emission and zero noise power solution to public.
Follow Andy Lin:
About YO-KAI EXPRESS: YO-KAI EXPRESS is the tech company that innovates the future autonomous restaurant solution delivering gourmet food B2B and B2C
Wyman T. Roberts
CEO & President of Brinker International
Mr. Wyman T. Roberts is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Brinker International Inc. and President – Chili’s Grill & Bar of Brinker International Inc., effective January 1, 2013. Wyman T. Roberts, 54, is Chief Executive Officer, President of Brinker International, Inc. and President of Chili’s Grill & Bar, having been appointed to this position in January 2013, having previously served as President of Chili’s Grill & Bar since November 2009, as Senior Vice President, Maggiano’s Little Italy President, and Chief Marketing Officer since March 2009, and Senior Vice President and Maggiano’s Little Italy President since August 2005. Mr. Roberts previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for NBC’s Universal Parks & Resorts from December 2000 until August 2005. Mr. Roberts was previously employed by Darden Restaurants, Inc. for 16 years where he most recently served as Executive Vice President, Marketing. Mr. Roberts has served on the Board of Directors since February 2013. Mr. Roberts brings over twenty-nine years of hands-on experience in the casual dining and entertainment industries serving in various senior leadership roles in both industries. He provides knowledge and understanding of the industry as well as the leadership ability to continue executing on the Company’s strategic vision and drive continued success.
Follow Wyman T. Roberts:
About Brinker International: Brinker International is dining restaurant companies.
Alex Backer
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of QLess
A National Champion of Informatics, Alex holds a degree in Biology and Economics from MIT, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computation and Neural Systems and Biology from the California Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the Dean’s award for ‘great contributions and outstanding qualities of Leadership and Responsibility’. He has held positions at McKinsey & Co., the Center for Computation, Computers, Information and Mathematics of Sandia National Labs, and Caltech. Alex conceived QLess while standing in line. Prior to starting QLess, Alex was also the founder of a pioneer of search engine marketing technology that has boosted the reach of search engine marketing campaigns by up to 580% while simultaneously reducing their cost per action by up to 78%, the invention factory, a semantic people search engine with machine vision which beat Google and every other search engine tested 3 to 1 or more in results relevance in a blind people search comparison, and the first resume- or file-based search engine. Alex was appointed by the President to serve in the California Institute of Technology’s Information Sciences and Technology Board of Advisors. In 2013, Alex was named the Gold Stevie Winner of IT Executive of the Year and Silver Stevie Winner of Innovator of the Year by the International Business Awards. In 2011, Alex was honored as the keynote speaker at LA County’s Tech Week, an honor that was previously accorded a Nobel Prize winner, the CEO of Cisco, the CEO of Adobe, the Chairman of Deloitte, and an astronaut. In 2010, Alex was honored as one of “40 under 40″ for the inaugural 40 Under 40 M&A Advisor Recognition Awards. Alex’s research on neural coding and artificial intelligence has been published in the world’s leading publications such as Nature and Neural Computation.
Follow Alex Backer:
About abInventio, Confidential (In stealth mode), Office of Science and Technology Austria, QLess: QLess is a platform that provides mobile, remote and interactive queueing; analytics; real-time CRM; and marketing.
Caitlin Hayes
Chief Executive Officer of Vegan Fast, Inc
Follow Caitlin Hayes:
About Etheralabs, Vegan Fast, Inc: Agriculture Harvesting & Distribution to Wholesale, Commercial & Direct to Consumer
Mark S. Mednansky
CEO and Acting Chairman of Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group
Mr. Mednansky has served as Chief Executive Officer since March 2007. Prior to becoming our Chief Executive Officer, he served in senior management roles with Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc. From 2005 until March 2007, Mr. Mednansky was the Chief Operating Officer of several Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon restaurant concepts, including Del Frisco’s and Sullivan’s. He also served as Vice President of Operations of the Del Frisco’s and Sullivan’s concepts from 2000 to 2005 and President of the Texas Land & Cattle concept from 2003 to 2006. Mr. Mednansky has over 35 years of restaurant industry experience and 25 years of experience as a senior operations manager. Prior to joining Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc., he was Director of Operations for Big Four Restaurants from 1997 to 1998, Director of Culinary Services for Dial Corp. from 1990 to 1997 and Area Manager for Big Four Restaurants from 1985 to 1990.
Follow Mark S. Mednansky:
About Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group: DFRG owns and operates three contemporary, high-end, complementary restaurant concepts.
Mike Little
CEO and Founder of BYTE
Follow Mike Little:
About BYTE: BYTE is changing the way restaurants understand and connect with their customers.
Daniel Meth
Chief Executive Officer of Ingest.ai
Follow Daniel Meth:
About Ingest.ai: Ingest.ai is the central nervous system for restaurants.
Fedele Bauccio
Co-founder and CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company
Fedele Bauccio is Co-founder and CEO at Bon Appétit Management Co. Prior to this, Fedele was divisional president at Saga. His career in food service began as a dishwasher with Saga Corporation and later on held different positions such as Divisional President, President of Saga’s Specialty Foodservices Group. He also became president of the Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus Cattle Company restaurant chain. He holds a degree in economics and masters degree in business administration at University of Portland.
Follow Fedele Bauccio:
About Bon Appétit Management Company: Bon Appétit Management Company is an on-site restaurant company that offers full food-service management to clients.
Nick Kokonas
CEO of Tock
Follow Nick Kokonas:
About Alinea Restaurant, Tock: Tock is a cloud-based platform with flexible data structures that provide comprehensive restaurant and event booking services.
Ian Crystal
Co-Founder, CEO of Evolution Spirits
Follow Ian Crystal:
About Evolution Spirits: The bottler of Monkey Rum-a new spiced and coconut rum from Zane Lamprey.
Jennifer Wyatt
CEO of GigWrks
An entrepreneur for over 20 yrs. She has been An Area Developer with a national tax franchise since 2003 And just recently sold her territory. Jennifer has also been an Area developer for a national Hair Salon from 2007 to the present. Jennifer has been dedicated to helping her franchise grow with strong marketing, guerrilla marketing, BBB, coldcalling in closing sales.
Follow Jennifer Wyatt:
About GigWrks: We are working in all industries, B2B, B2C, and C2C TM,,,, Matchmaker for the Gig Economy
Jacob Jaber
Co-Founder + CEO of Philz Coffee
Follow Jacob Jaber:
About Philz Coffee: Philz is a third wave coffee shop chain with locations primarily in the Bay Area.
Danijel Markotic
CEO & Founder of Restaro
Dan is a serial entrepreneur he was the very first Furniture online seller worldwide (2002) growing this business till 2011 after selling it to a Multi-National Furniture producer. Dan knows how to built a company from scratch. He used to run Furniture factories in China and Poland with up to 450 employees. Dan has every day new idea´s how to change the world and the way people are living…. “Through my 17 year of experience as Entrepreneur and global business engagements, I have the ability, experience and spirit to bring concepts to a profitable company.”
Follow Danijel Markotic:
About Restaro: Restaro.com is a diners club platform where members getting discounts up to 50 % on their food bill at participating restaurants.
Nick Anastasiades
Co-Founder, CEO of 2ndKitchen
Nick is a management consultant, graphic designer, and creative strategist in San Francisco, CA. Nick has works at the Strategy and Operations arm of Deloitte Consulting and is the founder and chief designer of LLOBE Design, one of the fastest growing design agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nick also founded Side/Project/SF, a community that links ambitious entrepreneurs through groundbreaking side-projects.
Follow Nick Anastasiades:
About 2ndKitchen, LLOBE: 2ndKitchen enables businesses without a kitchen to serve food seamlessly using a custom menu from nearby restaurants.
Billy Hwang
CEO of PopPay
He worked for SK telecom, mobile device team for 15 years and led to commercialize the world first mobile game and VOD service in 2000,2001. He has Yonsei Univ. Ph.D in Machine Learning field
Follow Billy Hwang:
About PopPay: PopPay is Simple, Secure, and Fast. It’s more than a payment solution. Get check on your smartphone at your table and pay with PopPay
Jag Bath
Chief Executive Officer & President of Favor
Jag Bath is the CEO & President of Favor. In less than four years, under his leadership,Favor has launched in over 100 Texas cities with more than 50,000 Runners on its platform, who have completed over 15 million deliveries to-date. In 2018 Favor generated over $100 million in incremental sales to Texas businesses. Jag also led Favor to become the first U.S. on-demand delivery company to achieve profitability, and in February of 2018 he led the sale of Favor to H-E-B – one the country’s largest privately held companies – making Favor the first business to be acquired by H-E-B in its 113-year history. Today, he is also the Chief Digital Officer at H-E-B. Jag has a 20-year track record of scaling startups from early stage to successful mature companies, with a focus on product innovation and revenue creation. His previous companies include RetailMeNot, Gilt and WeightWatchers.com.
Follow Jag Bath:
About Favor: Favor is a developer of a mobile-based food delivery application used to deliver restaurant-based food.
Seth Priebatsch
Founder and CEO of LevelUp
Seth Priebatsch is the Founder and CEO of LevelUp and the Chief Strategy Officer at Grubhub.
Follow Seth Priebatsch:
About Grubhub, LevelUp: LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company that connects diners with local takeout restaurants.
Marshall Miller
Owner, Founder, President & CEO of EmaginePOS
Marshall Miller is the Owner at EmaginePOS
Follow Marshall Miller:
About EmaginePOS, GearSprout: Powerful Web-based Point-of-Sale for Restaurants and Retail Locations.
Mark Ramadan
Chief Executive Officer of Hu Kitchen
Mark Ramadan is the CEO at Hu Kitchen.
Follow Mark Ramadan:
About Hu Kitchen: Paleo-inspired, high quality, low processed, clean food restaurants.
Donald N. Smith
CEO of Friendly Ice Cream
Follow Donald N. Smith:
About Friendly Ice Cream: Founded on ice cream. Built around families.
Konstantin Zvereff
Chief Executive Officer of BlueCart
Konstantin Zvereff is the Chief Executive Officer at BlueCart .
Follow Konstantin Zvereff:
About BinWise, BlueCart: BlueCart is a web and mobile platform built to modernize the eCommerce and wholesale procurement process for buyers and sellers.
Kerry Song
CEO & Founder of Abbot’s Butcher
Follow Kerry Song:
About Abbot’s Butcher: The Abbot’s Butcher crafts premium plant-based meats.
Zack Oates
Founder & CEO of Ovation
Zack Oates is the Founder & CEO at Ovation.
Follow Zack Oates:
About Bowl of Oates, Ovation: Ovation is live chat for physical businesses. It collects customer data in real time, retains the happy, and wins back the unhappy.
Mani Kulasooriya
CEO of BuzzTable
A serial technology entrepreneur, Mani’s last decade has been at the cross-section of food, restaurants and technology. He started his career in Fintech building payment systems at Citibank and Yahoo. This training laid the groundwork for Mani to conceive and design complex, scalable, transaction based businesses with a payments element. Mani co-founded CAKE, a restaurant technology startup, which was acquired by Sysco (SYY). While at Sysco, Mani helped create a brand new technology organization, Sysco Labs, which he helped grow to a 400+ strong team. At Cut+Dry, Mani’s mission is to more seamlessly connect the people that make the food with the people who consume it.
Follow Mani Kulasooriya:
About BuzzTable, Codify, Cut+Dry: BuzzTable is the first guest management platform to have a mobile wait list and connected guest engagement app that work together.
Devin Baptiste
Founder and CEO of GroupRaise
Devin is currently Founder and CEO of GroupRaise.com, a site that connects local groups with restaurants who care. Devin has a background of co-founding, Baptiste & Allan Consulting, a Houston based consulting firm focused on organizational development and technology implementation for businesses and nonprofits. He is Founder and Executive Director of Reach Out, a non-profit focused on youth executive education hosting fundraising events in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and development efforts in Africa.
Follow Devin Baptiste:
About GroupRaise: Making restaurant fundraising and changing the world less daunting and more deliciously social!
Saed Mohseni
Director, President and CEO of Bravo Brio Restaurant Group
Saed Mohseni joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer in February 2007 and assumed the additional role of President in September 2009. Mr. Mohseni has also served as a director of the Company since June 2006. Prior to joining us, Mr. Mohseni was the Chief Executive Officer (January 2000-February 2007) and a director (2004-2007) of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants, Inc. Mr. Mohseni joined McCormick & Schmick’s in 1986 as a general manager. During his time at McCormick & Schmick’s, he also held the positions of senior manager (1988-1993), Vice President of Operations-California (1993-1997), and Senior Vice President of Operations (1997-1999). Mr. Mohseni attended Portland State University and Oregon State University. Mr. Mohseni is currently serving on the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee for Chuy’s Holding, Inc. Mr. Mohseni’s qualifications to serve on our Board of Directors include his knowledge of our company and the restaurant industry and his years of leadership at our company.
Follow Saed Mohseni:
About Bravo Brio Restaurant Group: BRIO Restaurant Group strive to be the Best Italian Restaurant company in America
Andrew Robbins
CEO & Co-Founder of Paytronix Systems
Andrew Robbins is the CEO and Co-Founder of Paytronix Systems.
Follow Andrew Robbins:
About Paytronix Systems: Paytronix helps restaurants and retail drive incremental sales by creating guest loyalty.
Matt Howard
CEO & Co-founder of EatStreet
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Matt has led the business side from the onset, including operations and sales. That originally included a major component of EatStreet’s early success: signing local restaurants to the service. He has also spearheaded numerous acquisitions for EatStreet, including delivery startup Zoomer in February of 2017. He graduated from UW-Madison in 2011 with degrees in economics and political science. Outside of EatStreet, he’s active in the Wisconsin start-up community, mentoring young entrepreneurs and advising on business decisions for regional companies.
Follow Matt Howard:
About EatStreet: EatStreet is an online and mobile food ordering service that streamlines commerce between 15,000 restaurants and hungry diners nationwide.
Richard Sikes
Founder and CEO of Hazlnut
Follow Richard Sikes:
About Hazlnut: Hazlnut works seamlessly with most PoS systems; and integrates mobile ordering, loyalty and push marketing for small-medium restaurants
Satish Varma Srivatsavaya
Founder, CEO & CMO of Clorder
Follow Satish Varma Srivatsavaya:
About Clorder: Digital Ordering & Marketing Platform for Restaurants
Seenu Kasturi
Founder, Chairman/CEO of ARC Group, Inc
Follow Seenu Kasturi:
About ARC Group, Inc: ARC Group, Inc is a restaurant holding company of Dick’s Wings & Grill, Tilted Kilt and Fat Patty’s.
Andrew J. Lansing
President and Chief Executive Officer of Levy Restaurants
Andy Lansing is President and Chief Executive Officer of Levy. Under his leadership, Levy has topped over 200 locations in North America and around the world, with more than 35,000 team members delivering Levy’s signature hospitality to guests. Andy began his career with Levy in 1988 as Vice President and General Counsel, overseeing and directing legal affairs for the Company. He was promoted to Executive Vice President for Levy in 1991, and President and Chief Operating Officer in 1995. In his tenure, Andy has directed, managed and actively recruited the industry’s top specialists to become part of Levy’s team and foster the Company’s strategic growth. In 2004, Andy was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer.
Follow Andrew J. Lansing:
About Levy Restaurants: Levy Restaurants is a hospitality company that runs restaurants and vending machines in entertainment and sporting venues.
Luke Hutchison
Founder & CEO of Perfect Venue
Luke is the founder of Perfect Venue
Follow Luke Hutchison:
About Perfect Venue: Easily manage events with the best event management software for independent venues and hospitality groups.
