From Eater to Blackbird: Ben Leventhal on Restaurants, Loyalty, and Rebuilding Payments

Restaurants generated more than a trillion dollars in sales last year — but they don’t control the payment rails those dollars flow through.In this episode, Ben Leventhal (founder of Eater, Resy, and now Blackbird) joins Robert Hackett to explain why that’s a problem, how loyalty and payments have failed independent restaurants, and where crypto fits into fixing it.Ben breaks down:Why most restaurant tech misses the pointHow Blackbird uses crypto without making restaurants think about cryptoWhat “restaurant-first” really means in payments and loyaltyWhy decentralization only makes sense at scaleLessons from building multiple companies in hospitalityWhy we’re living in the golden age of restaurantsPlus: favorite NYC spots, founder productivity hacks, and the smallest hill he’ll die on.This is a grounded conversation about technology, ownership, and the future of restaurants — from someone who’s been building in the space for over a decade. Follow a16z crypto for more...X: https://x.com/a16zcryptoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pMZvsNXEnb0CYcPiDQywEApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/web3-with-a16z-crypto/id1622312549Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/🎙️ Like, subscribe, comment, share the show: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/***As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.