Sterling Douglass is the Co-Founder & CEO of Chowly, a leading restaurant technology company helping restaurants optimize off-premise sales and operations.

Sterling began his career in data analytics as an actuary before founding Chowly. His entrepreneurial spirit drove him to make it simpler for small and mid-sized restaurants to leverage best-in-class technologies. Sterling currently serves on the President’s Club of FSTEC, Advisory Council of RTN, Venture Partner at Emerging Venture Capital, and is an active angel investor in early-stage restaurant technology startups. He’s also co-hosted and frequently appears on the Hospitality Hangout, Tech Chef, and Kitchen Obsessed podcasts. And was recently named one of QSR Magazine’s “21 Digital Disruptors Shaping Restaurants in 2022.”

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

What is the most important aspect of the guest experience nowadays?

“Building relationships with your customers without them being right in front of your face . . .

. . . this concept accelerated during Covid. It’s slowed down a little bit, but it’s still moving forward. It’s that a larger and larger percentage of restaurants interact with their patrons digitally.“

What are some successful tactics you’ve seen/tried?

“MOD Pizza will donate rewards to charity. Giving back is a huge part of MOD’s brand and so the loyalty points that you earn they will donate on your behalf to different charitable organizations and causes that are important to you, instead of just giving away free food. There’s all these little tactics and things on brand that I’m seeing in the digital space.“

Who deserves an Ovation?

Geoff Alexander, Wow Bao

“When he says he’s gonna do something it gets done . . .

. . .He has always been very helpful to me in the space, and and helped me when I was really young, and taught me some some important lessons.”