Startup Stories: Making Ordering Easier

To mark the 10-year anniversary of Yale SOM’s Program on Entrepreneurship, we’re checking in with alums who benefitted from the program’s resources when launching their ventures.

When Jeff Hong ’15 left his job in marketing to earn an MBA at Yale SOM, he thought he would return to that field or try consulting after graduation. But an epiphany he had while dining at a ramen shop put him on a different path.

He and a friend, Stas Nikiforov, “knew exactly what we wanted” to eat, Hong explains. But there was a long wait just to order. As they got hungrier, they began to wonder if the restaurant industry was due for a digital makeover and if they could play a role.

“We thought, ‘Let’s jump in and see what’s available at Yale,’” he says.

Hong sought out the Program on Entrepreneurship, where Director Kyle Jensen and Associate Director Jennifer McFadden recommended he take some initial steps to familiarize himself with the restaurant business and basic technology skills such as coding.

“You had to prove yourself a little,” he says. “They want to make sure you have the heart and soul and grit to go through the program.”

Hong and Nikiforov—who had been an early engineer at Hulu—founded their company, Bite, in 2015, and tested their initial digital ordering technology at the New Haven restaurant Da Legna. Today, Bite’s core product is a self-service kiosk system that can be found in many restaurant chains, including Krispy Kreme, Carl’s Jr., Charley’s Cheesesteaks, and Sprinkles Cupcakes. The company, which has more than 30 employees and recently completed a $9 million Series A funding round, also works with gas stations, stadiums, airports, universities, and other places where people order food.

In 2019, Hong, who had been serving as chief executive officer, promoted the company’s then-chief operating officer to that role. Hong is now vice president of strategy.

“Founder-CEOs have such a strong presence,” he says. “You can lose the ability to debate and drive for good ideas or change. If somebody has great experience, I’m willing to step aside to maximize our success.”

Hong says he regularly draws on lessons he learned at SOM, including from a negotiations class with Barry Nalebuff and Daylian Cain.

“I learned infinite lessons from them—how you can optimize a negotiation so it’s not always a zero-sum game,” he says.

He also credits his success to a tight-knit community of peers that he feels comfortable calling on for advice.

“Even if they didn’t start companies, I can call them and say, ‘I need help,’” he says. “SOM is an incredibly friendly community.”