OpenTable is a rare tech industry survivor. The service, which matches diners with available restaurant reservations was founded in 1998, survived the dot-com bust of a decade ago and launched a successful IPO in 2009. Going public means, well, being public, so it’s public knowledge that the company had revenues of more than $34 million in the last quarter. They did it by placing 23 million diners in 16,000 restaurants.
Needless to say, OpenTable started out as a website only–there weren’t many mobile apps in 1998. But it has successfully invaded the smartphones of hungry people looking for a meal, and has generated more than $100 million in sales for participating restaurants via reservations on mobile devices.
The company’s advice for making the leap to mobile? For one, have enough staff to deal with the inevitable flood of support requests and feedback that follows a mobile launch. Also, plan your marketing to create brief bursts of sign-ups, rather than slow, steady growth.
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