Investor Connect Podcast

In this episode, Hall welcomes Anurag Ahuja of TakeOut7. Anurag is a serial entrepreneur, founder, and CEO with over 20 years in the SaaS platform, internet marketing, retail, eCommerce, and data & analytics.

TakeOut7 is an AI-based platform that handles ordering and traditional/digital marketing for independent restaurants. By using TakeOut7’s solutions, restaurants get their online orders directly to their kitchen printers avoiding the painstaking process of manual order entry. TakeOut7’s automated, personalized promotions help restaurants increase their overall revenue by greater than 10% in less than 1 year - all this at no cost to the restaurant via a minimal pass-through business model to the consumer.

Anurag talks about what brought him to the tech space, to begin with, and how he came to the restaurant technology sector. He advises investors to look for companies that can leverage AI and data to help automate tasks for independent customers. Anurag discusses the evolution of the restaurant tech space, and how consolidations and mergers will affect the sector landscape. He also highlights some of the challenges in the space, from the budgetary constraints of independent restaurants, to customers unfamiliar with or unprepared for digital commerce and online ordering. Finally, Anurag talks about TakeOut7's business model and how they are leveraging data and AI to address needs in the space.

Direct download: Anurag_Ahuja_of_TakeOut7.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:19pm CDT

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Startups make many of the mistakes.  Here are two common ones to avoid:

Thinking you must have the perfect product before you talk with anyone - including customers.  
Many startups go into development mode until they have their first product, and then launch it to the world. Often with a thud.
Instead, involve customers at every step of the process. In fact, customers should come before the product and not after. 

Hiring the wrong people
Many startups hire people they know rather than people with skill. Some hire with the notion that the candidate “needs a job” rather than ”they have the skill.”
Other hiring mistakes include
a. Hiring B people instead of A people. 
b. Hiring someone to fill a specific position without fit to culture of the company.
c. Hiring someone for work that is not yet defined or funded.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Common_Startup_Mistakes.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:25pm CDT

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