The backstory:
It’s been almost ten years since I launched my first restaurant technology newsletter. The first edition, sent in March 2013, covered reservation no-shows, kale, and moving restaurant reviews behind a paywall at the San Francisco Chronicle. I sent it to 12 friends.
In the decade since, I managed to sell Chefs+Tech to a media company, launching an unparalleled industry website with a focus on the future of restaurant hospitality. Tens of thousands of subscribers received the newsletter. Then, its parent company shut it down mid-2019. It stung; I lost many, many readers to the shutdown, but remained undeterred (if slightly bruised). Expedite launched in the fall of 2019 and introduced its current logo and design shortly after.
“Why do you keep going back to media?” my well-intentioned husband recently asked. The answer has two parts: 1. I’m good at my job, and, 2. There’s a need for the kind of information and critical analysis Expedite provides. There was a time when I was among the only people covering the innovation and change happening in restaurant tech with regularity. That list is longer now, introducing a lot of noise. (This is not noise.)
The new story:
After completing a three-month intensive with Substack, Expedite’s current host, I had ideas. Specifically, I knew that my little newsletter-that-could needed to level up in order to stay relevant and provide me with the resources I need to keep going. With Substack’s help, I created a brand new logo. This is it:
The new Expedite is not just a new design.
I’m upping the publishing cadence to twice weekly. I’m introducing weekly paid-subscriber-only columns that will cover topics like the inner workings of awesome restaurants and thoughts from top women in restaurant tech (!!!), a point of particular interest and pride for me. There will be Q&As with top industry execs, and even more of the news and analysis you’ve come to expect from me and from this brand. I am incredibly pumped about this.
But: I need to grow my paid subscription list in order to continue.
If this feels like a final push to build Expedite into a self-sustaining business, that’s because it is. For the month of September, I’m offering 20% off the price of an annual subscription to celebrate these changes. To my friends (I mean sources readers) at restaurant tech companies, I also offer group subscriptions — get in touch for details.
Expedite is a reader-supported publication and this monetary support is critical to its future growth. I am grateful for your readership.
Onward!
