Chris Kohn, President of Restaurant.com joins us to talk about how his company grew into the largest provider of restaurant savings nationwide – and the challenges it faces today. It may surprise you to learn that Restaurant.com offers consumers 50.000 daily gift certificate options. With nearly 20,000 restaurants nationwide, the Chicago-area company has more restaurant partners than all other daily deal businesses combined.
Restaurant.com was founded in 1999 to promote restaurants online to a consumer audience. The organization went through several unsuccessful transformations, struggling to find a business model that could scale profitably. But in 2004, the business found its entrepreneurial sweet spot and established the foundation for Restaurant.com that is still in operation today.
What distinguishes Restaurant.com from all other companies in its space is that the site has more restaurant partners than all other daily deal businesses combined. Because of this unparalleled breadth, the company filled more than 5.5 million tables in 2011, generating nearly $400 million in revenue for the restaurant industry. In turn, Restaurant.com has saved customers nearly $2 billion since inception.
Christopher Krohn is President and Chief Marketing Officer of Restaurant.com. His career to date has encompassed roles in technology, marketing, and finance, with experience in a wide range of entrepreneurial environments and turnaround situations (startup, IPO, private equity, LBO). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he also formerly served as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Marketing.