211: How a Restaurant's Predicament led to a Tech-Based Solution w/ $12M+ in ARR (Tim McLaughlin of GoTab)

211: How a Restaurant's Predicament led to a Tech-Based Solution w/ $12M+ in ARR (Tim McLaughlin of GoTab)

Background on Tim McLaughlin of GoTab:

Tim McLaughlin is the CEO and Co-Founder of GoTab, a leading contactless ordering and payment platform serving full-service food & beverage establishments in almost thirty states and still growing. GoTab launched in 2016 as a code on the receipt for mobile payment of restaurant tabs. In 2018 it became a QR code. The idea started in 2015 when Tim co-opened his first restaurant and brewery, Caboose Brewing Co., an upscale brewery based in Fairfax, Virginia. It had been a passion project in the works for many years and many of GoTab’s most important features were incubated at Caboose.

Tim had spent the previous 15 years growing and successfully exiting a thriving e-commerce technology agency. He immediately saw areas where his new restaurant could improve operationally. At the same time, he saw they could maintain high-quality standards and service. His agency clients included many high-touch service businesses such as Mandarin Oriental Hotels, Goldman Sachs, Sotheby’s Auction, and similar. Tim was very familiar with bespoke service.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[2:35] Tim McLaughlin is the Co-Founder of GoTab, which started as a payments company and focuses on restaurants and hospitality businesses.
[4:07] In 2017, Tim started with his ordering product and rolled it out the next year. It’s a QR code-based ordering process in restaurants.
[6:15] For restaurant owners who are interested in GoTab, Tim offers the details on how to get in touch with them.
[7:27] The first payments product that Tim introduced was not a complete success.
[9:49] Austin and Tim talks about NFTs. Tim doesn’t know much about NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens because he doesn’t read the news, especially when he is zoned in to his business.
[16:10] As a kid, Tim always tried different ways to earn money.
[22:11] After quitting his job, he joined a new consulting company called Siteworx.
[25:37] 2002 was not a great year for technology companies, according to Tim.
[29:15] Tim worked with a blind person whom he considers as an amazing employee in the office.
[32:07] He shares his story of how he bought his business partner’s company equity.
[37:56] Being in the office from 6 am to 11 pm, his wife kept on supporting him.
[39:31] When Tim sold the company, Siteworx, for $50 million, he did not even think of retiring.
[43:38] The guy who bought an NFT artwork for $69.3 million dollars was the same person that Austin interviewed: Vignesh Sundaresan on Episode 19.
[46:42] The restaurant brewery that Tim opened started out because of a joke from one of his friends.
[53:48] There were different lessons that he learned when he was running the brewery restaurant.
[56:21] The idea of GoTab was originally conceived because people couldn’t get a table at Tim’s restaurant.
[1:03:35] Many restaurants and businesses thought that his QR Code transaction was dumb and has no future.
[1:10:08] Tim offers an example of what GoTab is all about.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖📚 Favorite Books? The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Sprouted Pecans
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Postgres
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Getting more mature operators to even take a demo.