Today we’d like to introduce you to Touradj Barman.
Hi Touradj, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Having lived in Downtown San Diego for a long time and dining out with friends multiple times per week, I was constantly finding myself at the end of a meal figuring out how to split the check fairly. Given that I tend to drink less than my friends, splitting checks in half, thirds, etc. almost never ended-up equitable for me. I knew I wasn’t alone, and that there had to be a better way to split the check with friends!
Since I’d spent most of my career in technology, including software design and development, and had over 20 patents to my name, I wanted to solve this problem myself. I connected with a colleague and friend, Scott Webber, who is a software engineer and we set out to make this a reality. All we needed was… a first restaurant to use our creation.
Right around that time I met and quickly became good friends with Matt Hoyt, the original proprietor of Starlite San Diego. I shared my idea with him and he was onboard to support our development of Up ‘n go with his restaurant as the testbed.
With his relationships, we quickly got Up ‘n go into about ten local restaurants the first year. We’ve been growing ever since and are now in over 1,000 restaurants nationally and over 1,000,000 people every month pay their restaurant checks with Up ‘n go.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Rarely is starting a new company a smooth road, but having been through startups before, I had an initial recipe for success that I believe started us off pretty well. Having said that, there were certainly some challenges to overcome. The first challenge was getting our first restaurant, but with that solved with Starlite, the next thing we needed was access to integrate with Starlite’s POS, aka point of sale system.
At the time, Starlite used Aloha as their POS and getting Aloha to open up access was nearly unheard of. It took a lot of prodding and a fateful call to one of their C-Level executives on a Sunday night when things came together. The very next day, I received an agreement from NCR (Aloha’s parent company) in my email and we were off to the races.
A POS, though, is not as simple of an integration as other technology. Our software had to mediate multiple people on their phones trying to pay parts of a check, plus the server potentially adding or removing items to the check, plus the POS acting sometimes unpredictably. We had to build technology to wrangle all these factors in real-time to make sure every check was paid in full, not a penny more or a penny less. Little things you’d never even think about became big problems to solve, like who pays the last penny when you split a check that’s not an even amount.
On top of solving the technology piece, we had to solve the business piece and learn how to market our solution to restaurants and expand the Up ‘n go restaurant network. One challenge of our sales process is that you’re not selling directly to the person ultimately using our product. Our product is designed to be used by restaurant guests, who love paying with Up ‘n go, but then you have to communicate to restaurants why they should pay for it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Up ‘n go?
Up ‘n go is a pay-at-the-table solution for restaurants and the customers who dine in restaurants. Our solution prints a QR code on restaurant checks that guests can scan and pay using their phones. We make it quicker, easier, and more fair for restaurant guests to split and pay their checks.
Bringing this technology to life is much more complicated than it seems on the surface. What may seem like a very simple user experience has tremendous complexity under the hood. We have succeeded in making this very complex technology extremely accessible. People of all ages can easily scan a QR code and pay their check with credit card, or digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay using Up ‘n go.
We like to celebrate our restaurant partners and make the payment experience intuitive and easy to use, and I believe we have done a good job of that. In some cases, our brand has not been as obvious to the user because we put the restaurant’s brand front and center in the delightful payment experience we provide.
Over $1.8 billion has been paid with Up ‘n go and over 1 million restaurant guests every month pay their restaurant checks with Up ‘n go!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I have never been a schmoozer. If I go to a networking event and talk to one person, I feel like I’ve really worked the room! So generally, I tend to avoid networking events because while I appreciate how valuable they are, I’ve historically not been the person who goes up and talks to anyone.
My experience has taught me that if you identify who you need to meet, you can do it without a networking event. I recommend identifying people who you think can most benefit your business or goals, and reaching out to them directly with a clear and concise communication of why you want to talk to them and what’s in it for everyone.
Ironically, I’ve found that reaching out to people in a non-networking context where they aren’t bombarded with new people wanting to meet them for all sorts of reasons can be more effective.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone cold, whether it’s by email or phone, or even a letter or in person. If you can get an introduction, that works also, but if your cold connection works, I believe it results in an even stronger connection once established with that person. You did it on your own, and that counts for a lot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://upngo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upngopay
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upngopay/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbarman/
- Twitter: https://x.com/upngopay
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXl9KL5g9ov_RD43jS6M74w
- Other: https://g.co/kgs/36aVFop
Image Credits
Photos by Jesus Martinez: https://jesusmartinezcreates.com/
