Lessons from My First Startup

From the early days of building my first startup, I talked to 130+ restaurant owners, managers, and waiters by walking door-to-door in DC.

Some would think this is crazy, and maybe it was—but I wanted to get it right. I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could by gathering data from my potential customers.

By the end, I gathered so much information, like how mobile payments wouldn't be possible unless the restaurant had a system that improved their efficiency.

All those insights combined turned into the product we built—a platform that enabled restaurants to improve efficiency and, in turn, allowed consumers to transact easily, helping service workers earn more income. Think about why you now see that default 20% tip as the starting percentage when signing digital tabs. Service workers work incredibly hard and deserve good pay—the original gig economy!

Despite it all, we never could find backers to help us take it off the ground. As a foreigner, I later learned it was due to systemic racism (not something you want to hear, but it was true).

Nevertheless, I believe the U.S. is still the best country in the world to build innovative products and solve big problems.