RTN Member Spotlight: Matthew Brown
What unique problem does your company solve for restaurants?
With the fast-paced environment and rapid changes that occur in the restaurant ecosystem, Solink aggregates various components of data (POS, Drive-Thru, Audio, Labor information, and more) and adds context to this data being one of the most user-friendly video solutions on the market. Solink allows teams to be alerted to what’s happening, who’s doing it, where it happened when it happened, and most importantly, why did it occur?
Solink is a subscription-based solution that connects your restaurant data with security video to create an operations and security tool structured around contextual analytics. Solink is used by restaurant teams to reduce losses and increase productivity. By leveraging existing investments in security surveillance, data systems, and IT infrastructure, Solink is able to dramatically increase the output of current teams and systems.
Why did your company join RTN?
The restaurant industry moves incredibly fast and it’s important to stay ahead of trends and what's having the most impact in the industry. Customer centricity is incredibly important to Solink and the products we develop have an impactful result. As a customer success professional, I must be aware of changes, trends and workflows that Solink can provide solutions for and act as a conduit between the restaurant industry and our product teams. The RTN allows us to connect with leaders in the restaurant technology space.
What’s your favorite personal pastime?
I’m a big advocate for living an active and healthy lifestyle. To help ease the stress of the workday, an active lifestyle has allowed me to be my best in the workplace. Combined with a love for outdoors, in the summer I’m often found spending time on weekends biking, golfing, camping or spending time on a lake. I also have a love for traveling and exploring new places. I find it fascinating to experience and gain a perspective for other cultures, foods & traditions.
What three words would you use to describe what’s happening in the restaurant industry right now?
Multichannel Service Investments
What’s your most-used restaurant app?
As a technology partner, I’m biased and have to say Solink. As a consumer, however, it's Uber Eats - connecting me with some of the best dining options in the area. I’m still more of an advocate for dine-in and opt into that option whenever possible!
Restaurateur you most admire and why?
I respect anyone taking a risk in the food and hospitality space - it’s incredibly difficult to start and even harder to sustain success. I’m an avid listener of the podcast ‘How I Built This’ and have enjoyed listening to the founders of iconic brands. It’s helped me understand and gain so much respect for a number of founders and restauranteurs such as Danny Meyer, Steve Ells, Luke Holden, José Andrés, Jerry Murrell, Howard Schultz by understanding their stories a little deeper.
What technology are you most excited about for the future of restaurants?
I'm excited about anything that creates a connected environment using data and analytics. The interoperability of technology platforms to provide insight into everything from customer experience to managing food costs, supply chain & labor management. Automation is an exciting space as well, but the idea of connecting and understanding how that automation may affect other parts of the ‘system’ is just as important. As technology vendors, we need to provide restauranteurs with the ability to have a place for all their data to come together and work together to deliver that value through something that's actionable.