Tim Wekezer is the co-founder and CEO of Waitrr, a mobile ordering and payments platform for the hospitality industry that lets restaurant guests order and pay using their own phones. They're already available in six countries!

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

We build software that helps restaurants reduce pressure on their wait staff by automating non-value-adding tasks like order-taking and bill payment.

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

You get to try lots of amazing food when providing solutions to restaurants. Many "sales" meetings turn into food-tasting sessions, which is a great perk of the job.

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

End of 2018, we ran out of money, and my co-founder and I sat down and debated whether we should continue or close down. We decided to give it one last shot and re-designed the whole experience from scratch resulting in a very successful turnaround.

After our pivot, our unit economics were great, and we started to make a profit on every transaction. This was perfect timing just ahead of COVID, as during the pandemic, we experienced exponential growth, which contributed to our road to profitability.

We're now five months away from break even, which wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't pivoted back in 2018.

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

I am impressed by the continuous improvement of no-code tools, and this year, in particular, the inclusion of highly user-friendly AI tools has made it simpler than ever to launch new projects, prototypes and MVPs.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

Have restaurant operations experience or partner (co-found) with someone who does. It's a tough industry, and the customers (restaurant owners) respect someone so much more who has been in the trenches.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

How the restaurant experience of the future will look like

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

My all-time favorite movie is Barry Lyndon. Apart from stunning cinematography, the main character's pursuit of a better life is quite the entrepreneurial journey itself.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Coconut