OrderMark

Alex Cantree grew up around his family's legendary deli, Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, a business that has been operating since 1931 and passed down through four generations. By 2008-2009, his family started adding online ordering capabilities through multiple platforms like Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash, and GrubHub. Over a couple of years, managing these separate services became a logistical nightmare: "nine tablets, two laptops, and a fax machine" all processing incoming orders. Alex describes it as "a total train wreck." The staff was overwhelmed, and Alex wanted to create a simple solution.

In January 2017, Alex launched OrderMark as a SaaS platform with hardware component. Rather than compete with delivery platforms, OrderMark positioned itself as a connector—a single device and dashboard that aggregates orders from all relevant online ordering services and sends them directly to the kitchen via thermal printer in a format restaurant staff already understand. The pricing model was straightforward: $79/month for mom-and-pop restaurants plus a small per-order fee, though it evolved to closer to $100-150/month on average across the customer base, with enterprise clients on flexible pricing.

Alex's first restaurant was essentially his own family's deli, but the real growth story began in late 2017. By November 2017, the company had just 15 restaurants paying roughly $1,500/month in total revenue. The explosive growth came from word-of-mouth, press coverage, and targeted digital advertising. Alex noted that "restaurants are searching for solutions to this growing problem" as online ordering became fundamental to restaurant survival. By the time of this interview, OrderMark had reached 1,000 restaurants nationwide—all paying customers—generating approximately $100,000/month in revenue, a roughly 67x increase in just one year.

Several factors drove rapid growth. First, Alex's unique insider perspective as someone who actually ran a restaurant gave the product credibility; restaurants could identify with a founder who understood their pain firsthand. Second, the team (averaging 28-30 years old with Alex at 26) was very effective with digital marketing and PR outreach. They spent $20,000-$50,000 per month on digital ads targeting restaurant websites and social media, and generated significant organic press coverage without paying for PR. The company's customer acquisition cost was around $400 per customer with a four-month payback period, which was healthy given the $100/month average revenue per user. Most importantly, retention was exceptional: less than 2% logo churn per month, well below the restaurant industry average, because restaurants quickly realized online ordering was essential.

With a team of 60 people split between LA and Denver, OrderMark raised $12.6 million in total capital, including a $9.5 million Series A round in September 2018 (a couple months before this interview). Alex was targeting roughly two years of runway with the capital raise, though he was open to accelerating spend if it meant faster growth. Looking forward, the company planned to expand by integrating with existing restaurant technologies—point-of-sale systems, accounting platforms, and last-mile delivery logistics—to expand total addressable market and reach more cities.