What I told a room full of restaurant operators about the only questions that matter in back-office technology
Source: Cali BBQ Media Pitch The Tide with Shawn Walchef | Keegan Conrey, CEO
I got to sit down recently with Shawn Walchef on his Pitch The Tide show, in front of a live panel of restaurant operators.
- Kristin Corral from Tacotarian, who is building a national plant-based Mexican franchise.
- Harold Walters from Shoots, running five Hawaiian-Asian fusion locations in Southern California.
- Mehdi Zarhloul from Crazy Pita, coming up on 20 years in business.
- Mike Ungaro from San Pedro Fish Market, running restaurants with 2,000 and 3,000 seats and
- Troy Hooper from Pepper Lunch, who has never been shy about telling a technology vendor exactly what he thinks.
I had 10 minutes to explain what Decision Logic does and why it matters. And instead of running through a feature list, I told them about the two lenses we use to decide what to build.
Lens One: Does It Remove Work for the Manager?
Every feature, every update, literally every piece of the product has to answer this question first. Not “does it add a capability” or “does it look good in a demo.” Does it remove work?
I told the panel something I believe deeply: I am not interested in Decision Logic being social media for restaurant managers. I do not want them spending more time in our system. I want them to spend less. They should get in, see what matters; what happened yesterday, what is happening right now, decide what they need to do next then get back on the floor.
That is a different design philosophy than most restaurant technology companies will admit to. Most of them measure success by engagement. Time in the platform or sessions per day. We measure success by the time we give back. If a manager finishes their morning check-in in 90 seconds instead of 20 minutes, we have done our job.
Counting inventory should happen on a phone in the walk-in, not on a clipboard that gets re-entered at a desktop later (unless you just like paper and a clipboard – but that is user choice, not product design). Reviewing yesterday’s variance should be at-a- glance, not a report you have to build. Creating a schedule should start with what the data says you will need, not a blank page. Every workflow should be faster than the last version, and the goal is always the same: get the manager back to their team.
Lens Two: Does It Help Their Boss Ask Better Questions?
The second lens is for the operator, the above-store leader, the person who is responsible for 50 or 200 or 500 locations and cannot physically be in every kitchen every day. How do we give them the data they need in the way they actually want to see it?
This is where I think a lot of technology companies get it wrong. They assume every operator wants the same thing. They don’t. I told the panel: some groups aren’t diving into Claude and analyzing data with AI. They tell us, “Just give it to me in a CSV. I want the export. I will go work on it from there.” And that is fine. We give it to them that way.
Other groups want the AI chatbot. They want to ask a question in their natural language and get an answer. Great. That’s there, too. The point is not to force operators into our preferred workflow. It is to meet them where they are and give them what they need to make decisions without second-guessing.
And for the groups already living in AI tools, we’ve gone further. We’ve opened Decision Logic data so operators can pull it into Claude, ChatGPT, or whatever LLM they already trust, and just ask it questions. More on that soon
The New Manager Test
One of the things I brought up with the panel is a question I think every technology company should have to answer: how easy is it for a brand new manager who has never led a store before to open your software on day one and know exactly what they need to do?
Whether it is us or CrunchTime or Restaurant365 or anyone else, there are hundreds of reports you can pull. Dozens of dashboards. Configuration options that make an enterprise IT team happy. While that depth is valuable, it is also overwhelming for the person who just got promoted from shift lead to GM and has never managed food cost in their life.
Our answer to that is what we call shift flow. When you open Decision Logic, it tells you: here is what you do today. Here is what you should look at. If it is Sunday and that is when you build your schedule, we are going to guide you to the schedule. If it is Tuesday morning, we are going to show you yesterday’s sales, your labor position, and the three things that need your attention right now.
That’s our product philosophy. Not more options. More clarity. Not more data. More direction. The manager should never have to wonder what to do next.
What the Operators Told Me that I Already Knew
The best part of the conversation wasn’t my pitch. It was the feedback from the operators on the panel. And they were unanimous on one thing: stop talking and start asking.
Troy Hooper said he once sat through a pitch where the salesperson talked for 24 minutes straight before taking a breath. Half of what they said was irrelevant because they never asked what Troy actually needed. Harold Walters said tech companies come in acting like they already know his problems, and smaller brands feel invisible in those conversations. Mike Ungaro said every tech pitch is “here are all our solutions” without ever checking in to see what breakdown the operator is actually trying to fix.
I have seen it from the other side. I have had salespeople who worked for me at previous companies do exactly that. Talk for 20 minutes, show 15 features, and never ask the operator what keeps them up at night.
So here is what I told the panel, and it is something I believe applies to every technology vendor in this industry: do not assume that just because what you sell is important, it is their top priority right now. Ask them where the low-hanging fruit is. Ask what is the one thing they are trying to fix that will make the biggest impact. And if your product doesn’t land in their top three, tell them that. Stay in touch. Keep checking in. But don’t pretend you solve a problem they are trying to solve today.
Troy put it perfectly: it is rarely a no, it is usually a not now.
Why I Told Them We Are the Best-Kept Secret in Hospitality
I said something on the show that I think needed to be said out loud: Decision Logic has been doing this for 25 years, built by Applebee’s and IHOP operators in Nebraska, serving brands like Taco John’s and Golden Corral and GoTo Foods, and most people in the industry have never heard of us.
That is not a great thing. But it is about to change.
We are putting out content, pressing into conversations like this one with Shawn, showing up at events, and most importantly, building a product that earns its reputation through the operators who use it every day. My team and I have to say this, because it is genuinely true, my team cares more about our operators than any team I have ever worked with. They advocate for our clients. They pick up the phone. They give a damn.
That matters more than any feature on a roadmap. And if you’re an operator looking for a technology partner who will be honest with you about what they can and can’t do, who will ask what you need before telling you what they sell, and who will get your managers out of the back office and back on the floor where they belong – I would love to have that conversation.
Find me on LinkedIn. That is the only place I exist on social media. Or go to decisionlogic.io and see what we are building.
Earn it.
Keegan Conrey, CEO
Decision Logic
Check out the full pitch wherever you consume podcasts.
FAQ
Q: What is Decision Logic?
A: Decision Logic is a back-of-house operations platform for multi-unit restaurants, covering inventory management, food cost variance tracking, labor scheduling, and operational intelligence. Built 25 years ago by Applebee’s and IHOP operators, it serves brands ranging from 10 to over 1,000 locations including Taco John’s, Golden Corral, and GoTo Foods.
Q: How is Decision Logic different from CrunchTime or Restaurant365?
A: Decision Logic is designed around two principles: removing work from the store-level manager (less time in the system, more time on the floor) and giving above-store leaders the data they need in the format they prefer (CSV export, AI chatbot, or traditional dashboards). The platform emphasizes clarity over complexity, with a shift flow feature that tells new managers exactly what to focus on each day.
Q: What is shift flow in Decision Logic?
A: Shift flow is Decision Logic’s guided daily workflow for restaurant managers. Instead of presenting hundreds of reports and dashboards, it tells the manager what to do today based on the day of the week, their operational priorities, and what needs attention right now. It is designed so that a new manager on day one can open the software and immediately know what to focus on.