HUNGRY.

Fixing Restaurants, Behavioural Science, Working With Marco Pierre White - Eat Club co-founder, Pan Koutlakis

Sep 29, 2025
Pan Koutlakis, the founder of Eat Club, shares insights from his journey in hospitality and tech. He discusses transforming restaurant profitability through dynamic pricing strategies to maximize seating. The duo emphasizes the urgent need for innovative solutions to prevent restaurant closures amid challenging times. They explore market fit lessons from COVID, the importance of consumer engagement, and how tech can streamline operations. Pan also highlights Marco Pierre White's pivotal role in Eat Club and the significance of filling tables over mere cost-cutting.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

From Café Kid To Nightclub GM

  • Pan started in cafes at 11 and became general manager of a bar/nightclub by 19, learning hands-on tactics to create atmosphere.
  • He manually recruited early-night guests and free functions to seed vibe and double nightly revenue through social proof.
INSIGHT

Volume Trumps Early Margin Tricks

  • Volume drives profitability because fixed costs spread over more covers lowers per-unit cost and raises total margin.
  • Prioritize growing revenue and capacity before over-optimizing margins to avoid stunting service and growth.
ADVICE

Use Dynamic Pricing To Fill Seats

  • Use dynamic pricing to offer the right price at the right time and fill otherwise-empty tables in real time.
  • Let venues create granular, time-limited offers and leverage machine learning to recommend optimal discounts.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app