137: Bringing Tech to Restaurants with Saleem Khatri of Lavu (the Original iPad Point of Sale System)

Background on Saleem Khatri of Lavu:

Saleem S. Khatri is CEO of Lavu Inc, a global mobile point of sale software and payments platform. Before joining Lavu, Mr. Khatri was Co-Founder and CEO of Instavest, Inc., a technology focused investment manager backed by Y Combinator. Prior thereto, Mr. Khatri was an executive member of the Office of Financial Stability at the United States Department of the Treasury. His primary leadership and investment responsibilities for the $79 billion Automotive Industry Financing Program include Ally Financial, Citigroup, General Motors, and a host of regional banks.

Prior to joining the Treasury, Mr. Khatri co-founded and subsequently sold his first start-up, His Black Box, a men’s subscription sampling service and customer analytics platform for premium consumer brands. Mr. Khatri also worked at Goldman Sachs and Oaktree Capital Management, both in principal investment capacities. While at the Treasury, Mr. Khatri also served as a Board Observer for CommunityOne Bank and Community First Bank & Trust on behalf of the U.S. taxpayer.

Mr. Khatri earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.B.A. from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor with Distinction.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[2:05] Saleem Khatri is the CEO of Lavu, which is a global mobile point of sale and Payments Company for restaurants. They do business in over 93 countries with thousands of customers worldwide.
[4:17] Saleem differentiates a Founder from a CEO. The founder is like an evangelist that focuses on building the product, while a CEO focuses on the execution of the existing strategy.
[9:29] Being a CEO, Saleem has to show that he really cares for the people in the company by being there and talking to them in person.
[10:36] After graduating from Harvard Business School in 2009, Saleem had a couple of jobs, including an employment in Sears Holdings and stint with startups.
[18:23] Saleem tells the story of how he managed to get hooked up with the right person who can push his career forward.
[19:56] Being proactive and widening connections with people can help you get better job or business opportunities. According to Saleem, people are inherently good and want to help other people but it’s up to you to make the first move.
[21:58] When Saleem joined a startup company that wants to introduce tablet devices, Steve Jobs announced that Apple was coming up with the iPad.
[24:42] After working for the startup company Kno, Saleem decided to put up his own business called His Blackbox.
[29:02] Saleem applied for a government job at the US Department of Treasury. It was an amazing experience for him and he worked there for 3 years.
[31:51] After working in the government, Saleem decided to create another startup company.
[34:50] According to Saleem, it is very important that your spouse or partner has to understand your job and be with you in your entrepreneurial journey.
[40:48] Saleem shares some insights on expenditures and saving money when running a startup company.
[47:07] He joined Lavu in 2018 to assist in the financial side of the company. Eventually, Saleem was offered the CEO position.
[48:27] Doing hard work, being proactive, and putting yourself out there are some of the key elements needed to move towards success.
[56:12] Saleem shares his last words of wisdom regarding growth, learning, and self-improvement.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? The High Growth Handbook by Elad Gill
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? How to Become CEO by Jeffrey Fox
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Virtual Assistant
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? We are growing — fast — the biggest challenge is in a high growth company, things are breaking, new people are joining — to solve this you need to build consistent, repeatable, scalable processes.

Key Point from the Interview:

“The original idea that a startup has, is 99% sure it’s not going to be the same idea that they end up running with at the end of the day. It always morphs, and the founders pivot based on what they learn.”

Resources Mentioned:

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