Yu Taniguchi is the CEO of TableCheck, a restaurant booking and guest experience platform with more than 7,800 clients worldwide and 220+ Michelin-starred restaurants in its portfolio.

Their mission is to help restaurants and hospitality operators connect directly with diners while building guest loyalty and driving revenue.

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

I am the CEO and founder of TableCheck, a restaurant booking and guest experience platform. The company was founded in 2011 in Japan, and my role as a CEO is to steer the company to become the no 1 hospitality and restaurant reservation platform in the world. Our goal is to remain to have a top market share in Japan while expanding in global markets like China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, etc.

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

Recently, there’s been talk about the new CEO of Starbucks doing the front lines and working as a barista once a month. TableCheck is a growing business and – believe it or not – from day 1 until now (12 years later), I am still going out of my way to speak with our clients face-to-face to ensure that we understand their challenges in-depth to help them connect with their diners through our all-in-one solution technology.

It’s important for me to be on the front lines as much as I can to get in the pulse of the restaurant industry, a sector that’s really close to my heart. It’s important to know the ins and outs of the business in order to create products that will resonate and be a game-changer in hospitality.

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

The highlight of my career is establishing and growing our number of clients, from being a startup in Japan. Our mentor, former Sony CEO Idei Nobuyuki, had inspired us to go for our dream of world domination and not stay content with being number 1 in Japan.

Now we have 7800+ clients in 32 countries and regions and 220+ Michelin restaurants under our belt. We recently entered the Saudi Arabian market and Africa – I can’t wait for us to work with more clients in the future.

Since our inception in 2011, It’s been my mission to get more top-notch restaurants including premium venues in hotel properties in our TableCheck family.

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

AI. How we can utilize AI to increase efficiency/accuracy for our business.

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

I always say to upcoming founders – if you want to succeed in the business, make sure you are the smartest guy in the room. Know everything about your company, from financing to marketing, and product development. Later on, you can hire smart people to get your vision into reality but you need to first have a vision that’s viable and effective.

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

I am a real foodie myself so I am passionate about food and restaurants so I can talk about food and restaurants for hours. Even with my family, food has been a big part of our lives. It is a great connector.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

All the games Shohei Ohtani plays!

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

Chocolate