Interview with Ovation’s Zack Oates about real-time guest feedback, creating loyalty through relationships, and digital storytelling that connects.
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00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:03 My name is Sean Walsh, founder of Cali BBQ
00:05 and Cali BBQ Media.
00:07 We are recording live from the National
00:10 Restaurant Association show.
00:12 Thank you guys for coming out, we appreciate it.
00:15 Is that perfect timing?
00:16 - That was good, that was good.
00:17 - That was perfect timing.
00:18 Well, first of all, we want to give a shout out to Toast,
00:20 our primary technology partner at our barbecue restaurants,
00:23 but more importantly for believing in this show,
00:25 for believing in the power of storytelling,
00:28 the power of what we call smartphone storytelling.
00:31 And there's pretty much no other founder I would want
00:36 out of 11 football fields than none other than Zach Oates.
00:41 So Zach Oates, the founder of Ovation.
00:44 And welcome to the show.
00:46 - Thanks man.
00:47 - Thanks for hosting us in your booth.
00:48 - Always good to hang out with you,
00:50 whether or not we're recording, we usually are.
00:52 - We're usually recording.
00:54 You have a podcast.
00:55 - I do.
00:56 - So let's start there.
00:57 Why, as someone that's supposed to be running
01:00 a tech company, hosting a podcast?
01:03 - Like what better way is there to get the message out
01:05 around like what's going on?
01:07 And actually it started off because one of our values
01:09 at Ovation is build value for each other,
01:13 for our customers, and for the industry.
01:16 Now when we talked about what does it mean
01:17 to build value for the industry,
01:19 I was having so many cool conversations
01:22 with industry thought leaders, with experts,
01:24 and I was like, this is unfair that I get
01:26 to have these conversations and no one else
01:28 gets to have them, and so I started the podcast
01:31 because I wanted to share this awesome knowledge.
01:35 And it's a great way to connect with people.
01:36 Like for any entrepreneur, if you're thinking about,
01:40 if you need to connect with someone, do a podcast.
01:45 If you get--
01:45 - Video podcast.
01:46 - Yes, a video podcast.
01:47 If you get 1,000 downloads per episode, awesome.
01:50 If you get them and their mom watching it, awesome.
01:54 'Cause the whole concept is you wanna connect with people.
01:57 Podcasting is today's networking.
02:00 - It's unbelievable.
02:01 So we're gonna start with our favorite random question,
02:03 which is where in the world is your favorite
02:05 stadium, stage, or venue?
02:07 - Stadium, stage, or venue?
02:10 Oh man, you know, okay, this is gonna be kinda weird,
02:13 but in Salt Lake City--
02:14 - You're gonna tell me something weird?
02:16 - I'm gonna tell you something weird.
02:17 You probably will never have another guest tell you this.
02:19 - Let's go.
02:20 - In Salt Lake City, the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
02:24 - Beautiful, we've been to the Tabernacle.
02:25 - We went there together, and just the acoustics in there,
02:29 the music in there, it's beautiful.
02:31 I love it in there.
02:32 - Okay, so we're gonna go to the Tabernacle.
02:34 I'm gonna talk to Toast, I'm gonna talk to Entrepreneur,
02:37 and we're gonna get a TEDx-style hospitality conference.
02:41 And I want Zach Oates to keynote this conference,
02:45 but I want you to tell me--
02:47 - How I do my hair?
02:48 - How you do your hair, one,
02:50 and then I want you to sell us on Ovation.
02:53 Where did the idea come from, and what do you guys do?
02:56 - Okay, so I grew up in restaurants.
02:58 - This is about your hair.
02:59 - This is about, oh, sorry, my hair?
03:00 - You didn't listen to the instructions.
03:02 - Oh, shoot.
03:02 - I said, "Tell us about your hair first,"
03:04 and then tell me the Ovation story.
03:06 - The hair product is an expensive blow dryer,
03:09 two products, and four minutes.
03:11 - This is on Entrepreneur, they're gonna love you.
03:13 - Okay, it is Aussie, I use Aussie hairspray,
03:17 mainly because it smells the best.
03:19 - Aussie hairspray, there you go.
03:19 - And then I use Got2B pomade.
03:23 - Got2B pomade, Aussie, you're welcome.
03:26 Zach Oates, right here, you can contact him,
03:28 he's an influencer.
03:29 - Influencer, let's go.
03:30 I influence my kids on what they eat for dinner.
03:33 Usually it's mac and cheese.
03:35 - Okay, fair enough, let's go.
03:36 Give me the Ovation story.
03:37 - Ovation, so I grew up in restaurants.
03:39 First job was at Friendly's,
03:41 awesome East Coast restaurant brand,
03:43 and the whole concept was everything that we do
03:46 in restaurants is for one thing.
03:49 What is that?
03:50 I mean, besides profit, that's number two, right?
03:52 - For the guests.
03:53 - For the guests.
03:54 You wanna create an amazing guest experience.
03:55 - Yes.
03:56 - But let's talk about measuring that experience.
03:59 Hey, take this 75 question survey
04:02 and a half hour of your time
04:04 to get a dollar off your next sandwich,
04:06 like, no thanks, right?
04:07 Or you can go and leave a negative Yelp review,
04:09 or a negative Google review,
04:11 and restaurants, the thing that we hear oftentimes
04:14 is like, look, help us, don't Yelp us, right?
04:17 - Help us, don't Yelp, I like that, I haven't heard that.
04:19 - And so, because those solutions are so bad,
04:23 guests don't give feedback.
04:24 You miss out on over 99% of your guests' feedback
04:28 because you make it too hard to give that feedback.
04:30 So what we do at Ovation, it's a two question survey.
04:33 We have over 50 integrations
04:36 with online ordering, loyalty systems,
04:38 and different kinds of platforms that have customer data
04:41 to automate a text message to that guest
04:43 to say, how was everything?
04:45 Answer two questions for your chance
04:47 to win a $100 gift card.
04:48 Super simple, really easy,
04:50 and if they love it, which most guests do,
04:53 we invite them to do things that are gonna drive revenue
04:55 for that restaurant.
04:56 You know, buy gift cards, leave reviews,
04:59 schedule a catering order, buy merch.
05:01 If they don't love it,
05:02 then we have a powerful one-to-one chat tool
05:04 that you can communicate with that guest
05:06 and get that concern resolved in real time.
05:09 - Real time feedback. - Yes.
05:10 - Real time feedback.
05:11 - And then here's the powerful thing.
05:13 So, let's say that you are operating
05:15 a 50 location burrito shop.
05:17 - Yep.
05:18 - All of that unstructured data is helpful,
05:21 but how do you actually take the time to read all of that?
05:23 It's impossible, you can't do that, right?
05:25 - Data storytelling.
05:26 - So then what we do at Ovation is we give you
05:29 34 scores at every location
05:31 so you know exactly what do you need to fix where
05:33 just by analyzing the open-ended feedback.
05:36 No annoying surveys, not focusing on these negative reviews.
05:39 It just makes it so easy for the guest,
05:42 really simple for the manager to respond to that guest
05:44 'cause our app allows you to do it in two clicks,
05:47 and then corporate, get all that data
05:49 and the visibility to know what's going on.
05:51 So you can take a vacation and not worry,
05:53 is your Sheboygan location having issues
05:56 as Sheboygan is wont to do, you know what I mean?
05:59 - So, what we do on this show
06:01 is we talk to restaurant owners,
06:03 we talk to hospitality professionals,
06:05 people in sales, people in marketing, content creators,
06:08 and we talk about smartphone storytelling.
06:11 We talked about why you think it's important to podcast,
06:14 but why is it important as a founder
06:16 to create content and publish on the internet?
06:18 - Because that's how you get to know people.
06:21 At the end of the day, regardless of how much technology
06:24 is in between you and I, it's about that human connection.
06:29 We talk about this all the time,
06:30 where there's this ladder of true loyalty,
06:33 where the bottom rung is convenience.
06:37 You've gotta be good enough to get your guest in
06:41 that first couple times.
06:42 Then it's about consistency.
06:44 That's about, you gotta do the same thing over and over again.
06:47 You gotta have what you say you're gonna have
06:48 when you say you're gonna have it.
06:50 None of this close and early stuff, none of that.
06:52 But the highest rung is about connection.
06:56 And when you have that connection,
06:57 when you have a friendship with someone,
06:59 you're a lot more forgiving with them.
07:01 And that's why it's important to have this content,
07:04 because when people know who you are,
07:06 they're like, "Oh, maybe I wanna cancel this product,
07:08 "but before I cancel, let me call,
07:11 "because I wanna see, has Zach come out with something new?
07:15 "Is there something to solve that problem?"
07:16 And that's why nobody cancels Ovation.
07:19 Because it's about creating that content
07:21 and they feel like they know us.
07:24 It's a friendship, it's a connection,
07:26 it's not just a product.
07:28 And by putting a face, by putting a heart,
07:30 by putting a family of three and a half kids
07:33 behind the product, it makes it more real.
07:36 And it's something that I'm connected with,
07:39 not something that I'm just using.
07:42 - So for us, we always say social media
07:45 isn't someone else's job, it's your job.
07:48 You that are listening to the show,
07:50 you wouldn't be listening to the show if you weren't curious,
07:52 if you didn't wanna get involved,
07:53 and if you weren't willing to ask for help.
07:55 For you at Ovation, how do you build
07:57 a culture of storytellers?
08:00 - I think it starts from the top down,
08:02 like a fish stinks from the head first, right?
08:04 And so as we are, first of all, forgiving of people who,
08:09 they might not make perfect content, but that's okay.
08:13 Like we have sales reps who are putting out content,
08:15 and every time that happens, we celebrate it.
08:17 - Of course.
08:18 - Because it's great that they're putting out content,
08:20 because again, it's not just like,
08:22 it can't be a connection to me,
08:24 it's gotta be a connection to them.
08:26 And everything is an extension of the brand.
08:30 And the more that we get our people to create content
08:33 and to be thought leaders, and to post on LinkedIn,
08:35 and to comment and engage with other people's content,
08:39 the more that we become connected with other people.
08:42 I think that's what it's all about.
08:43 - So we talk a lot about trade shows.
08:46 I know that out of all the companies that we do work with,
08:49 you spend probably more time than anybody else.
08:52 - Yeah.
08:53 - Boots on the ground.
08:54 Talk to me about the National Restaurant Association show,
08:57 Ovation's story arc of getting to here 2023.
09:00 - So our first year, we were way in the nosebleeds.
09:04 - In the nosebleeds.
09:05 - In the nosebleeds.
09:06 - Lakeside.
09:07 - We were so far away, and yet,
09:10 we got so many leads back there.
09:13 - Wow.
09:14 - Because we have a team that hustles, right?
09:16 The rule is, if you have an R on your badge,
09:19 meaning like you're a restaurant,
09:20 you don't walk by our booth.
09:21 - Yes.
09:22 - But then you can see, we have a really simple booth, right?
09:24 We get a floor, this floor is $200,
09:27 these tables are $70, these banners, we take--
09:30 - $70 a day?
09:32 - No, we buy it from Amazon and have it shipped
09:34 to our hotel, and then we bring it here,
09:36 and the entire backdrop and booth packs into one checked bag
09:41 because I wanna go to more shows.
09:43 How do you go to more shows?
09:44 You do it more cost-effectively.
09:46 And guess what?
09:46 All the pizzazz and the glitz and the glamor
09:48 of some of these huge booths, at the end of the day,
09:51 we're still able to get more leads than a lot of them
09:54 because it's, again, it's all about
09:56 how do we connect with these people?
09:58 And we don't do a ton of swag, we do,
10:00 here's our one swag item that we do, right?
10:03 It is a little, it looks like a pen, but it ain't no pen.
10:08 That is-- - What does it say?
10:10 - It says, "Stop getting--" - For those in the back.
10:12 - It says, "Stop getting screwed by online reviews."
10:14 - Oh, get it. - And it is a mini
10:17 screwdriver set, you ready?
10:20 So this is the only swag item that people--
10:23 - Oh, can I carry that on a plane?
10:25 - You can carry, not only can you carry one on a plane,
10:28 you can carry 347 of them on a plane.
10:31 (laughing)
10:31 Because I did that.
10:32 - That was the bulk order.
10:34 - Yeah, and so that's the nice thing is that
10:38 we go pretty simple on these, and so I highly recommend
10:41 to every entrepreneur that I meet,
10:43 if you're gonna do swag, do something useful,
10:45 do something unique, if you're gonna do a podcast,
10:48 don't be obsessed with getting it perfect.
10:51 Don't even buy a microphone.
10:53 Just start a podcast. - Correct, just go.
10:54 Start on Anchor. - With a trade show.
10:56 Oh my gosh, we don't have a perfect booth,
10:58 we can't do a two-story thing,
11:00 we can't have fire jugglers, that's okay.
11:03 - Where are your fire jugglers?
11:04 - Right, right here. - No fireworks?
11:06 - It's a bright shirt and goofy hair, that's it.
11:09 - Right here, it's this guy.
11:10 - But that's what it's all about, it's how do we just go,
11:13 just do it, and the more that you do it,
11:15 the better it gets.
11:16 For example, there's a professor,
11:18 have you heard the story about the professor
11:19 and the self-portrait? - No, tell me.
11:21 - So he has two classes, one he says,
11:24 you will be graded on your final drawing,
11:27 your final self-portrait, and the other class,
11:30 he says, you will be graded on how many
11:32 self-portraits you do. - Yes.
11:33 - Guess who had the better self-portraits
11:37 at the end of the semester? - The ones who did more.
11:39 - The ones who did more. - It's the answer to content.
11:41 - Just do it. - Just do it.
11:43 - Take out your phone, record a selfie, right?
11:46 Start typing something on LinkedIn,
11:48 and it doesn't need to be perfect,
11:50 put it out there and find something interesting,
11:53 because there's things that you're interested in,
11:55 there's things that I'm interested in.
11:56 - But you don't know until you post it.
11:58 - Exactly, and the cool thing is
12:00 that when you get to do research,
12:02 so when you get to do research on something
12:04 and you write like a little mini paper,
12:06 that's how I look at like a LinkedIn post,
12:08 what can I do that I'm interested in enough
12:11 to do research sufficient to have a post that's adequate?
12:14 - That's adequate, that's interesting.
12:16 - Yes. - That's interesting,
12:17 that's shareable. - Exactly.
12:18 - That piques someone's interest, for sure.
12:20 So we talk about quantity, speed,
12:23 consistency equals quality.
12:26 It is always the thing that prevents,
12:27 everyone wants quality first.
12:29 The problem is it never comes first,
12:31 back to the portrait, it's always quantity,
12:34 speed, consistency, talk to me about speed.
12:37 - So my father played professional football, right?
12:41 And when you-- - So, what happened to you?
12:43 - What happened to me?
12:44 I get that, I get the same question
12:46 when I tell people that my mom was a model,
12:47 they're like, and, and I was like,
12:50 you ain't seen my legs yet!
12:51 (laughing)
12:53 They're long! - Can we show off his legs?
12:54 Let's see his legs.
12:56 Let's see those legs, there you go.
12:58 Look at those legs.
12:59 Those are entrepreneurial legs.
13:02 How about that? - Yeah, 'cause every day
13:03 is leg day. - Every day is leg day.
13:05 Huge news, Toast, our primary technology partner
13:08 at our barbecue restaurants in San Diego,
13:11 and the primary technology partner
13:13 of so many of the guests that we have on this show,
13:15 have announced they are expanding
13:18 their business offerings with Google.
13:21 So now, if you search on Google Maps
13:24 and you sign up for Toast Tables or Toast Waitlist,
13:27 you will have the opportunity
13:29 to improve the digital hospitality experience of the guest,
13:33 allow them to book through the maps
13:35 into the Toast reservation system.
13:38 One of the biggest difficulties that restaurant guests have
13:42 is when they search for your restaurant
13:44 and they want a table, they do not have an easy solution
13:47 to book a table or to get on a waitlist.
13:50 This is huge news for the restaurant industry,
13:52 huge news for guests,
13:54 and huge news for you, the restaurant owner.
13:57 Check out Toast Tables today
13:58 and find out the new integrated solution that they have.
14:02 This is something that we've wanted for a long time.
14:04 How do you integrate reservations, waitlists,
14:08 into your point of sale?
14:09 Toast has done it, check it out.
14:11 - So what were we talking about?
14:13 - We were talking about speed.
14:15 We got quantity down, but we need to talk about speed.
14:17 - So I remember going to, with my dad,
14:21 and we would go and we did,
14:22 and he would work out in the park in the off season.
14:26 And during the season,
14:28 still even on the weekends when he was off,
14:30 he was working out.
14:31 He built a gym in our basement so he could work out.
14:34 - Wow. - Right?
14:35 And everything was about how do we just do more?
14:37 - Yes.
14:38 - Because the more reps he got in
14:40 was every rep that he got in more than the next guy,
14:43 he was improving at a faster rate, right?
14:46 - Yep.
14:47 - And so when you talk about speed,
14:48 it's like you've got to learn the basics,
14:50 but at the end of the day,
14:51 as I talk to people who are sitting there
14:53 and they're researching, what do I do,
14:55 what do I do, what do I do?
14:57 If you want to be a good marksmith, you shoot a lot.
14:59 - Yes. - Right?
15:01 And yes, you hone your skill and you figure it out,
15:03 but you've got to go to the range, right?
15:05 My dad, he went to the gym all the time,
15:07 and he was not a very good athlete in high school.
15:10 Like, you know, he said that he would have quit football,
15:14 except for the fact that he was in Georgia
15:15 and summer camp was a four-hour drive away,
15:18 and so he had no ride home.
15:19 So he had this day. - Wow.
15:21 - And as a result, he stuck with it and went to the NFL,
15:24 got himself three Super Bowl rings,
15:26 five Pro Bowl appearances. - Impressive.
15:27 - Like, the guy's a baller,
15:29 but he is, because he put in the reps consistently.
15:33 Now, he did watch videos, he did analyze,
15:37 he did think about it,
15:38 but he didn't do that before he started putting in the reps.
15:43 He was doing it the whole time,
15:45 and that's, I think, what's so important
15:47 is that people always wonder, where do I start?
15:50 Like, you start here. - Today.
15:51 - You start right now. - Now, right now.
15:53 - Why not? - You that are listening,
15:54 right now, hit pause on YouTube,
15:57 hit pause on Spotify, and start right now.
16:01 Start a video right now.
16:02 - Write a LinkedIn post. - Write a LinkedIn post.
16:06 - What's something you've been thinking about?
16:07 Everyone should keep, I think one of the things that I do
16:10 is I do a lot of writing. - Yes.
16:12 - I journal every single day.
16:14 Every single day, at the end of the day,
16:15 I write two ways that I saw the hand of God
16:17 in my life that day.
16:19 And the great thing about writing
16:20 is that you're able to help analyze what's happening.
16:24 So if there's a problem you have,
16:25 for example, one of my weaknesses was
16:28 I struggle sometimes giving really direct critical feedback
16:33 when like, if someone is doing something--
16:34 - Uncomfortable conversations?
16:36 - Yes, I call 'em, I've switched 'em to,
16:38 you know, they've been called crucial conversations,
16:40 difficult conversations, uncomfortable.
16:43 I've switched the context to call them kind conversations.
16:47 - Kind, necessary. - Because what I found
16:49 a lot of times, Sean, is that I was being too nice, right?
16:52 - Yes. - And by being nice,
16:54 I was softening the truth.
16:57 - The truth vibrates the fastest.
16:59 - And what happens if I'm not giving adequate feedback
17:03 that's-- - They can't improve.
17:04 - They can't improve. - Yeah.
17:05 - And so even by me trying to be nice,
17:08 in fact, I was being unkind.
17:10 - Yeah, it's true. - And so if I'm kind,
17:12 I'm gonna be direct, and I'm gonna say,
17:15 hey, Sean, I really don't like that hat,
17:16 I mean, I really like that-- - He loves the hat.
17:17 - I love the hat, I love the hat.
17:18 - He loves the hat. (laughs)
17:20 - But if we-- - Even though it's not
17:21 an ovation hat, I've asked him for one, I don't know.
17:23 I guess I gotta make my own ovation hats.
17:25 - Hey, wait, I need an ovation hat.
17:26 Can you write-- - Can we get an ovation hat?
17:27 - I need an ovation hat. - Yeah.
17:29 - Yeah, look, can we get, we'll get those, let's get those.
17:31 - Yeah, let's get that, we'll-- - I want one, too.
17:31 - We're gonna make that happen.
17:32 - Scott's gonna make that happen.
17:34 - Okay, perfect.
17:35 - So, but it's about, so that was something
17:38 that I've been researching a lot about,
17:41 and so I actually wrote up this whole thing
17:43 all about how does one give kind feedback?
17:47 - Yes. - And what's the framework
17:49 around that, how do you set the stage for the expectations
17:52 and for giving that feedback, and the framework
17:56 of the here are the facts, here's the impact
17:59 of what happened, and here are the actions
18:01 of where I wanna take it, the fact, impact, act framework.
18:04 Now, I'm turning this into a leadership handbook
18:08 at Ovation, so that way all leaders can improve together,
18:12 but I'm also turning that into a series
18:13 of LinkedIn posts, right? - Yes.
18:15 - So I can share things that I've been researching
18:18 that I'm interested in, that I'm passionate about,
18:21 that I know can help other people,
18:23 those are things that you can post online.
18:24 Shoot, or we did last year at NRA,
18:28 we did a dancing video here. - We did a dancing video,
18:30 dancing TikTok, first TikTok video for Ovation.
18:33 - And I posted that on LinkedIn, right?
18:35 - Yeah, we did, that was amazing, lot of engagement.
18:38 - A lot of engagement there, right?
18:39 - A lot of engagement, yes.
18:40 - And I think, again, it's just about,
18:42 it's not about perfection, it's about connection.
18:47 - So we have a lot of entrepreneurs that are thinking
18:50 about maybe opening up a restaurant,
18:52 maybe opening up a food business,
18:54 maybe starting their content business,
18:56 maybe starting a SaaS company.
18:58 What's the best lesson that you've ever learned
19:02 about raising capital?
19:03 - Oh, raising capital.
19:05 I would say, just know this,
19:09 and this is something like, this is more of like a mindset
19:11 as opposed to a tactic, but just know
19:15 that the backyard is always on fire.
19:18 And here's why that's important.
19:21 The job of the CEO is to make sure
19:23 that fire doesn't get to the house.
19:25 - Get to the front yard.
19:26 - Right? - Or get to the house
19:27 before the front yard. - Exactly.
19:28 So there's always gonna be fires,
19:30 but the problem is we're always comparing our backyard
19:33 with other people's front yards, right?
19:36 And it becomes very discouraging to think,
19:40 my company isn't good enough,
19:41 I'm not a good enough founder,
19:43 I'm not a good enough CEO.
19:44 Look at all these other people, right?
19:47 And-- - That's really good.
19:49 I might steal that.
19:49 - You may. - That's really good.
19:51 - Trademark. (laughing)
19:54 - So the backyard is always on fire.
19:57 - And not in like a barbecue, smoke,
19:59 good kind of way. - I get it, yeah.
20:01 Not like an old hickory kind of way.
20:02 - And that's okay, it's okay.
20:04 So as you go out there and you're thinking about this,
20:07 it's okay that your backyard's on fire.
20:09 It's just about managing it,
20:10 and again, it's all about storytelling, right?
20:13 Not lying. - Correct.
20:14 - Storytelling. - Correct.
20:16 - And when I can explain, hey,
20:18 here's how we're managing this,
20:20 'cause everyone knows, all savvy investors know
20:22 that there's gonna be issues in the company.
20:24 - Of course.
20:25 - But it's a matter of being upfront about it,
20:27 being like, hey, this is what's happening,
20:29 and here's how we're addressing it,
20:30 and then it gives the investor confidence to say,
20:33 yeah, that makes sense.
20:34 - So as you've raised capital,
20:35 do you find investors investing in the jockey or the horse?
20:39 - So there's the jockey, there's the horse,
20:42 and there's the race. - Okay.
20:44 - Now here's the interesting thing.
20:46 The jockey, you know, the horse--
20:47 - You're obviously, Zach's obviously the jockey.
20:50 - Yeah. - The good-looking jockey.
20:51 - I'm a jockey. - Ovation's the horse.
20:53 - A jockey, ovation's the horse.
20:55 Restaurant tech is the race. - Is the race, yes.
20:58 - So I'll get investors that tell me all the time,
21:01 love the horse, love the jockey, hate the race.
21:04 And I'm like, okay, but this is a really good industry.
21:07 Like, what do you hate about it?
21:08 And they're like, well, I hate that churn is so high.
21:11 I'm like, okay, well, what do you expect churn to be
21:14 of a company that does restaurant technology?
21:16 And they're like, 80% annually.
21:18 I was like, gross?
21:19 They're like, yeah.
21:20 I was like, okay, what if I told you that our churn is,
21:22 that our net revenue retention is 155%?
21:25 They're like, wow.
21:27 But I still don't like the race.
21:29 I'm like, okay, great.
21:30 It's okay that there's a lot of sheep mentality
21:35 in the investor community.
21:37 And some people are really, really good
21:39 at building up hype.
21:40 I'm not great at that.
21:42 I'm not great at pitting one investor against the other
21:45 and getting the valuation up.
21:47 That's not my style, which is why it took me
21:49 so many freaking dates to get married,
21:51 is because I'm so bad at playing the game.
21:54 But that's what it is, right?
21:56 It's a game where you've got to drum up that interest.
22:00 But the way that I look at it is,
22:02 when you're able to tell your story
22:04 and you're able to connect with that person,
22:05 it's like, you need one.
22:08 I don't need a thousand investors pulling over to,
22:11 like pulling over each other to get to ovation.
22:14 I got to find those people that believe in us
22:17 and that give us the latitude to try things.
22:20 Because every founder is a little bit unconventional
22:24 in their own way.
22:25 You can't be a founder unless you're unconventional.
22:27 - And you know, my style happens to be
22:29 a little bit less subtle than maybe others.
22:32 - The introvert?
22:33 (laughing)
22:34 - And that's--
22:35 - Have you been accused of being an introvert?
22:37 - In, say that?
22:38 (laughing)
22:40 - Not so much.
22:41 - Not so much.
22:42 But I think that that's been a really interesting thing
22:45 about raising money, is like,
22:46 remember that you need one.
22:49 - Yes.
22:50 - And it's okay if you're not having tons of term sheets
22:53 thrown at you, but go after it and be organized with it.
22:58 Like for example, to raise this last round that we did,
23:01 I had over 130 investor meetings.
23:04 - Wow.
23:04 - Right, I got so many people telling me no.
23:08 And I was used to it, right?
23:10 I mean like a thousand dates and one marriage,
23:13 I mean like, you get a lot of nos in there.
23:14 - You get a lot of nos.
23:15 - And so that's okay, right?
23:17 And I think that's the one thing that,
23:19 with an entrepreneur, I've only found one formula
23:23 that has held up to be universally true
23:26 in terms of what leads to success as a startup.
23:31 And that's this, you ready for this?
23:32 - I'm ready.
23:33 - Okay, and again, this is me,
23:35 I have talked to thousands of entrepreneurs
23:37 and I love getting the origin story
23:39 and like the success story, or the failure story, right?
23:43 And here's the three step formula.
23:46 You gotta stay alive and excited long enough to get lucky.
23:51 And that's it, right?
23:53 - Wow.
23:54 - So if you keep innovating and you keep trying
23:56 and you keep going to the shows
23:58 and you keep doing the podcast
23:59 and you keep posting on LinkedIn
24:01 even when people aren't liking it,
24:03 like just keep doing the things
24:05 that are ringing true to you.
24:08 Do what the best version of you would do,
24:10 the best version of your company would do,
24:13 and good things are gonna happen
24:14 if you're focused on building value for others.
24:17 - It's amazing, it's amazing advice.
24:18 And for those that are listening,
24:20 we want you to tell your story,
24:23 we want you to get involved.
24:25 Every single Wednesday and Friday
24:27 on the social audio app Clubhouse, 10 a.m. Pacific time,
24:30 you can find Zach Oates.
24:32 Sometimes we're fortunate for Zach
24:33 to pop in on our conversations,
24:35 but we have digital hospitality leaders
24:37 from all over the globe.
24:39 Sales, marketing, restaurant owners, caterers,
24:41 content creators, come on the app,
24:43 come sit, tell us your story, get on stage.
24:46 What kind of advice do you have
24:48 for someone that's listening to the show?
24:50 One of the things I tell all people that are in sales,
24:53 all people that are in marketing,
24:54 that you're in both sales and marketing,
24:56 and you're in content, and your story matters.
24:59 Social media isn't someone else's job.
25:01 What advice do you have to somebody
25:03 that wants to start sharing their voice?
25:07 - I would say it's all around building value,
25:09 especially like you're talking about sales,
25:10 we're all in sales.
25:11 What is sales?
25:12 Like why did you buy that hat?
25:15 - Why did I buy this hat?
25:16 Because I like how it fits.
25:17 - You like how it fits?
25:18 - I like how it looks.
25:19 - Right? - Yeah.
25:20 - And for you, it fills that need, right?
25:24 - Makes me comfortable.
25:25 - It makes you comfortable.
25:26 - Have you seen me without a hat?
25:27 - I-- - Like once?
25:28 (laughing)
25:29 - I'm trying to think, I don't think so, no.
25:31 Ah, you have hair! - There you go, I have hair.
25:33 - Normally people wear hats 'cause they're bald, right?
25:35 - I have hair, I have a lot of hair, actually.
25:36 - You do? - Yeah.
25:38 - But the thing is like,
25:39 if you're focused on building value for others,
25:42 and that is the prime direction
25:44 of everything that you're doing with your content,
25:46 with your marketing, with your messaging,
25:48 and it's all around what value do you need
25:51 and how can we fill that,
25:53 that's what it comes down to.
25:55 And you know, like with us building out Ovation,
25:58 you know, this team, we are so obsessed
26:00 with building value for our customers
26:03 that people talk about it.
26:04 And they say, this was something
26:06 that I didn't even know was out there,
26:08 and so that's where I feel like you really focus,
26:13 and eventually it will click.
26:15 If you stay excited and alive long enough to get lucky,
26:19 that excited part is all around iterating
26:21 around building value.
26:23 How do I build more value in easier ways for my people?
26:27 - I love it.
26:28 So every week we give a social shout out.
26:30 This week's social shout out's going to Rising Tides Creative
26:34 who's ignoring me now,
26:35 but they have been an absolute treasure to work with
26:38 over the last four years,
26:39 what we're doing here
26:40 at the National Restaurant Association show.
26:42 I couldn't do it without Aaron, Mishawn, Tony,
26:45 Andrew who was here last year,
26:46 we're grateful for you guys.
26:48 You need to shout someone out,
26:49 and you can't do the whole Ovation team
26:50 even though I just did.
26:51 The whole Rising Tides Creative,
26:53 I need one person, Zach,
26:54 I need one person that's going to get shouted out
26:56 on entrepreneur.com.
26:57 - Okay, the one person would be two people.
27:00 (laughing)
27:02 - Like a true founder story teller.
27:04 - I've got, I've got just my two partners in life.
27:07 One is my partner of my spouse.
27:09 - Yes.
27:10 - I am, last year I did 42 trips
27:13 and we've got three kids at home,
27:15 she's pregnant.
27:16 Like I get a chance to go out here
27:19 and do all this work because she is a rockstar.
27:22 And then my other partner is my co-founder, Derek Morgan,
27:26 who is just such a stud, really amazing.
27:30 And even though he's got all of his responsibilities,
27:33 he still is here at the show with us
27:34 and he's getting stuff done for the product,
27:37 for our customers while being here
27:39 and it's great.
27:40 He's the kind of partner that you want to look for.
27:41 Someone who has innovation, communication,
27:44 and dependability-ation,
27:46 which are the three things I look for in a good partner.
27:48 And he's got them in spades.
27:49 - Okay, so now I'm going to put you
27:50 through the smartphone storytelling test.
27:52 - Okay.
27:53 - You ready?
27:54 Are you ready?
27:55 - Ready.
27:56 - Okay.
27:57 iPhone or Android?
27:58 - iPhone.
27:58 - Which version?
28:00 - 14.
28:01 - Apple, music, or Spotify?
28:04 - Spotify.
28:05 - Text or email?
28:07 - Text.
28:10 - Email or Slack?
28:12 - Slack.
28:13 - Text or phone call?
28:14 - Text.
28:15 - Favorite app?
28:17 - Chest.com.
28:21 - What is it?
28:22 - Chest.com.
28:23 - Chest?
28:23 - No.
28:24 (laughing)
28:25 - Chest.com.
28:26 (laughing)
28:28 - No, no.
28:29 - Is that C-H-E-S-S?
28:31 - Chest, chest.
28:33 Chest.com and Family Tree.
28:36 Those are my two favorite.
28:37 If I had to choose one app, those are my two favorite ones.
28:39 - Okay, your least favorite app?
28:41 - Oh, can I say this?
28:44 - Yeah.
28:45 - Yelp.
28:46 - Oh, that's okay.
28:47 - Yeah.
28:48 - Yeah, that's okay.
28:49 Least favorite app?
28:50 You work with restaurant owners all the time, right?
28:52 - Either Yelp or American Airlines app.
28:54 - American Airlines.
28:55 What notifications do you dislike the most?
28:59 - Oh man, maybe when my wife Venmo requests me for money.
29:05 (laughing)
29:06 - Which she randomly does.
29:07 - Venmo requests for money.
29:09 That's fantastic.
29:10 - Sometimes she'll just Venmo request me for $100
29:12 and I'm like, you have access to our bank,
29:14 just pull it out.
29:15 She's like, it's the principle.
29:16 I want you to pay me this money.
29:18 - Oh my gosh.
29:19 - Every time I go on a trip, I pay her.
29:22 So that's like--
29:24 - I like it.
29:24 - She gets like a little--
29:25 - That's smart.
29:26 - Yeah, $100 shopping spree, you know, why not?
29:27 - I like that, I like that, that's good.
29:29 So if you guys wanna follow me,
29:30 it's @SeanPWalchef, S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
29:35 I wanna hear about your restaurant,
29:37 I wanna hear about your content creation journey.
29:39 If you're in sales, marketing,
29:40 no matter where you are on earth,
29:41 it's important to build community.
29:43 - Amen.
29:44 - That's why we do the things that we do.
29:46 How can people connect with you, Zach?
29:47 - You can find me on LinkedIn, Zach Oates,
29:49 Zach with a C-K, Z-A-C-K-O-A-T-E-S.
29:52 Or on Instagram, shoot, if you wanna see my cute family,
29:55 they're really adorable, @ZachOates.
29:57 And Ovation Up, check us out,
29:59 would love to help you out if you're a restaurant,
30:01 would be happy to chat about podcasts, trade shows.
30:04 Hit me up on LinkedIn and find me out,
30:06 Zach Oates and Ovation is OvationUp.com.
30:10 - And a special shout out to Toast.
30:11 Toast integrates with Ovation, absolutely incredible.
30:14 So if you're a Toast customer, check out Ovation.
30:17 If you're not a Toast customer,
30:18 Ovation integrates with how many point of sale companies?
30:19 - Over 50.
30:20 - Over 50 point of sale companies.
30:23 There you are, National Restaurant Association show.
30:25 This is Zach Oates, you have to follow him.
30:27 Follow Ovation and we'll catch you guys next week.
30:30 - And I was told we can clap, right?
30:32 - We can clap.
30:32 That's a wrap.
30:34 There it is, that's an Ovation, a standing Ovation.
30:35 - A standing Ovation.
30:36 - Standing Ovation.
30:37 (laughing)
30:39 That's it.
30:40 Thank you for listening to Restaurant Influencers.
30:42 The best way that you can help us with the show
30:45 is to subscribe and write a review.
30:47 We love the opportunity to connect with you,
30:50 no matter where you are on the globe,
30:52 no matter what restaurant you are running.
30:54 Please send us a DM on social @SeanPWalcheff.
30:59 If you are interested in Toast,
31:00 if you wanna improve your digital hospitality,
31:03 please send me a DM.
31:04 I will get you in touch with a local Toast representative.
31:08 We appreciate you listening to this show.
31:10 The best way that you can help the show
31:11 is share it with a friend
31:13 and we will catch you all next week
31:15 or we will see you on one of the digital playgrounds
31:18 that we call social media.