How the Founder of Olo Built a $2 Billion Restaurant Tech Company from a Palm Pilot Idea | The Big Idea
Did you know 75% of all restaurant sales happen outside the dining room?
In this episode of The Big Idea from Yahoo Finance, Elizabeth Gore sits down with Noah Glass, Founder and CEO of Olo, the restaurant tech platform focused on online ordering, payments, and guest engagement.
Noah shares his incredible 20+ year journey:
The Palm Pilot to Billion-Dollar Idea: How being “sick of waiting in long lines for coffee” led to an early tech prototype built in South Africa and a solution to help customers “skip the line.”
The Biggest Mistake: Noah reveals the “dirty unicorn” moment when he was ready to sell Olo for $65 million in 2012, only for the deal to fall through—leading to an eventual sale for $2 Billion!
Advice for Restaurant Owners: Learn why you need to own the direct guest relationship and how to calculate the ROI of your own platform vs. expensive third-party marketplaces like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.
Spotting the Next Big Thing: Noah’s three essential tips for small business owners on how to predict market demand, find a guide, and leverage continuous customer feedback to drive innovation.
Plus, a segment from Block Advisors on a tax change that could help small business owners deduct car loan interest.
#TheBigIdea #YahooFinance #Olo #NoahGlass #RestaurantTech #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #TechFounder #BlockAdvisors
Chapters
00:00 – Intro
00:16 – Spotting demand before the market
00:40 – Introducing Noah Glass, CEO of Olo
01:30 – The Palm Pilot inspiration for Olo
03:04 – Quitting Harvard Business School for Olo
04:11 – The first text message order
06:37 – How to teach foresight to small businesses
07:53 – 75% of restaurant sales are off-premise
09:35 – ROI of tech vs. third-party marketplaces
15:22 – The $65 million deal that failed
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