Episode 1262

Nick Kokonas of Tock & Alinea, flipping the low-margin restaurant model | E1262

Aug 10, 20211:30:14Watch on YouTube

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00:00 Nick Kokonas, CEO at Tock (acq. Squarespace) & Co-Owner of Alinea Restaurant Group

00:54 How Nick got into restaurants & met his co-founder Grant Achatz

09:30 Nick’s Angel investments

10:50 Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist

12:14 What OpenTable got wrong

18:05 Tock’s ticketing innovation

23:20 Benefits of having pre-paid reservations

25:00 Pipe - Start trading for free for 12 months at https://pipe.com/twist

26:40 Dynamic pricing in restaurants

28:55 Nick critiques Jason’s techniques to get a reservation

35:32 Why some Maître d's hate Tock

38:22 Drata - Get 15% off SOC 2 and other audit at https://drata.com/twist

39:41 Digital checkouts at restaurant tables

44:50 Why tipping should be eliminated & what obstacles stand in the way

50:54 Will high-end restaurants keep doing delivery?

56:16 Hospitality labor supply

1:00:27 Inflation

1:02:42 How Alinea is handling vaccinations & employee health

1:07:18 Alinea's signature desert

1:12:10 Nick's core lessons as an entrepreneur

1:20:45 Mock meats

Check out Tock: https://www.exploretock.com

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Nick: https://twitter.com/nickkokonas

Thanks to our partners:

Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist

Pipe - Start trading for free for 12 months at https://pipe.com/twist

Drata - Get 15% off SOC 2 and other audit at https://drata.com/twist

Listen here:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-startups-audio/id315114957

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULQ0ewYf5zmsDgBchlkr9

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes315114957/this-week-in-startups-audio