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Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

venturebeat.com

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Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#11

Post by wccrawford »

hugh3 wrote: post #7
wccrawford wrote: post #4

All the restaurant-related startups and announcements lately are an almost-daily reminder for me that when you have a good idea, jump on it. Ah well. I didn't have the contacts to pull it off, and it was only half an idea. :)

If you ask me, screw the grilled cheese restaurant. A grilled cheese van would be a licence to print money, second only to a cupcake van.

I meant the other, customer-centric ideas expressed, but it's true.

In fact, Orlando FL has quite a few food vans that occasionally all park in the same area for a mini food fair and attract a lot of people. They've become quite popular in the last year or 2. (I'm sure it happens other places, but Orlando is what I know.)

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#12

Post by ktsmith »

hugh3 wrote: post #6

Well, I do like grilled cheese, and I'm happy to have five more opening in the SF Bay Area (please be Berkeley, please be Berkeley) but... really? Sequoia Capital funds grilled cheese restaurants nowadays? I mean, apart from anything else it's going to make 'em look especially silly if it fails. I can see the annual report now. "This year we made $50 billion from five IPOs in the computer-aided drug discovery, comput…

It's certainly possible that the deployment of five restaurants are just so that the developers have 100% control over the proving ground for their new software. It certainly sounds like this is a technology company to me anyway.

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#13

Post by cpeterso »

hugh3 wrote: post #7
wccrawford wrote: post #4

All the restaurant-related startups and announcements lately are an almost-daily reminder for me that when you have a good idea, jump on it. Ah well. I didn't have the contacts to pull it off, and it was only half an idea. :)

If you ask me, screw the grilled cheese restaurant. A grilled cheese van would be a licence to print money, second only to a cupcake van.

Will Y Combinator invest in my grilled cheese van? :)

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#16

Post by patio11 »

hugh3 wrote: post #6

Well, I do like grilled cheese, and I'm happy to have five more opening in the SF Bay Area (please be Berkeley, please be Berkeley) but... really? Sequoia Capital funds grilled cheese restaurants nowadays? I mean, apart from anything else it's going to make 'em look especially silly if it fails. I can see the annual report now. "This year we made $50 billion from five IPOs in the computer-aided drug discovery, comput…

"We also paid a trifling sum of money for an option on participation in whatever the next thing the Flip creator does after he gets the grilled cheese thing out of his system."

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#17

Post by fkcek »

davidw wrote: post #8

I make a pretty mean sandwich, with oven-fresh bread, mozzarella, tomatoes, and prosciutto, with a bit of salt and pepper for seasoning. Anyone care to fund me? I'll name my shop "Panini Veri" (non quelle schifezze spacciate per panini italiani!)

Serve with a good glass of wine and it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#18

Post by DanielStraight »

I don't mean to be dense... but why would I want to order food on my phone? I'm reminded of Paul Graham's office hours video on TC. He asked one of the founders if his product solved the biggest problem in his life. I don't think there's a single person on Earth whose biggest problem in life is, "I have to tell the cashier what I want to eat before I can get fast food."

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#19

Post by khafra »

wccrawford wrote: post #11
hugh3 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you ask me, screw the grilled cheese restaurant. A grilled cheese van would be a licence to print money, second only to a cupcake van.

I meant the other, customer-centric ideas expressed, but it's true. In fact, Orlando FL has quite a few food vans that occasionally all park in the same area for a mini food fair and attract a lot of people. They've become quite popular in the last year or 2. (I'm sure it happens other places, but Orlando is what I know.)

Tampa only has stationary taco busses, except the food truck on MacDill AFB, but Seattle has had the mobile variety for years.

Re: Flip creator gets into the grilled cheese business, Sequoia invests

#20

Post by MatthewPhillips »

DanielStraight wrote: post #18

I don't mean to be dense... but why would I want to order food on my phone? I'm reminded of Paul Graham's office hours video on TC. He asked one of the founders if his product solved the biggest problem in his life. I don't think there's a single person on Earth whose biggest problem in life is, "I have to tell the cashier what I want to eat before I can get fast food."

I don't think The Melt is doing this right, but it could be useful. Let's say you ordered it from an app that sends the restaurant your GPS coordinates at the time of the order. It then continues to send your coordinates as you travel to the restaurant.

On their end their software computes an estimated arrival time allowing them to precisely time cooking to be fresh and ready for you to eat when you arrive.

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