I think the interesting thing here is the tech development angle; online / mobile ordering and delivery service. I'm sure that it's agreed at Sequoia that the restaurant chain idea is just a hard testing ground for the technology.
The tech is what will be worth the money; the rest of this is just sort of the press being slow.
That said, I do really like the idea of a mobile-integrated ordering and delivery system for the restaurant industry, and of course, fast-concept food is the right place to test it.
the rest of this is just sort of the press being slow.
Or just the press doing exactly what Sequoia wants 'em to. "Sequoia invests in yet another startup doing mobile payments for restaurants" = boring story. "Sequouia invests in grilled cheese" = exciting story.
And here we are, we're part of it, helping out by talking about it. But I don't mind, as long as the grilled cheeses are good.
Presumably, franchises or private equity. Building a new restaurant and IT concept MIGHT be a VC investment, but scaling out to a bunch of physical retail locations is either PE or IPO or a big debt (bond) issue (if corp owned, like Starbucks), or a bunch of franchises (e.g. McDonalds).
That's plenty of funding to set up a franchise system. Franchises are typically how fast food companies get funding; they pull it from want-to-be owners.
If this really is a technology play it makes little sense to start with the restaurant, because the restaurants requires much more capital ( physical buildings, marketing and promotions, staff, cost of goods, concept, branding.. etc) than building the software and trying to partner up with existing chains or small to local restaurants.
I don't understand why I'd need to online ordering component when they say it only takes 1 minute to make one. Skipping payment is nice I guess, but lots of places already let you do this with fax ahead orders.
The tech is what will be worth the money; the rest of this is just sort of the press being slow.
That said, I do really like the idea of a mobile-integrated ordering and delivery system for the restaurant industry, and of course, fast-concept food is the right place to test it.