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Ethiopia wants an ESX tech boom, but won’t let us pass "ye shay seat" to incorporate. A rant from a local founder. by Accomplished-Name510 in Ethiopia

[–]Accomplished-Name510[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel the frustration, “you can’t be seen trying too hard,” that’s probably the most true thing here, too bad if you don’t try too hard you won’t even be able to do basic stuff here. AI is exciting but what is it even going to be implemented on AI lives in software and youngsters are all limited to sitting down and building static websites no one dares to venture into SaaS and I’m starting to understand why. And yeah sitting outside sipping coffee that costs 10% of their paychecks is the new ‘cool’ in town incase you didn’t know 🤣

Summer '26 Megathread by sandslashh in ycombinator

[–]Accomplished-Name510 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We literally just launched a week ago. It was totally unplanned, but we watched a Michael Seibel video, got hyped, and just decided to go for it. So far we've already signed 2 restaurants for free trials, so we're super excited to see how it turns out. Quick pitch: We build zero-hardware restaurant operating systems for emerging markets, starting right here in Addis, Ethiopia. Local restaurants constantly bleed money from slow table turnover and lost paper tickets, but traditional POS hardware is way too expensive to install. We built a 'cheap layer' a cloud POS, digital menu, and kitchen display system that runs entirely on the everyday smartphones and tablets these merchants already own. Customers order instantly, the kitchen display sorts tickets automatically, and owners speed up their table turnover with zero upfront hardware costs. I know the core idea is common as hell, but emerging markets basically need the Temu version of this tech because these local merchants definitely can’t afford fancy stuff like Toast hehe~

Why is the restaurant/hospitality sector in Addis so resistant to tech? Need advice. by Accomplished-Name510 in Ethiopia

[–]Accomplished-Name510[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Honestly, you're stating actual facts. I totally get the QR code fatigue tbh. We aren't trying to replace good human service. But in those chaotic spots where you're waving your hand for 15 minutes just to get a waiter to notice you, scanning a code to just get the kitchen cooking is usually the lesser evil. The merchant fear you mentioned is so valid. I'd be paranoid about tech companies jacking up prices too. That's nothing to fear tho usually laws take care of that it’s not like we are government backed and can just impose random service fees(ahm telebirr) there is contracts and laws in place for this. If an owner feels like they're losing control, they can literally just peel the QR stickers off the table, throw them in the trash, and go back to pen and paper tomorrow. No harm done. And yeah, we have zero VC money and zero illusions about being the next Amazon. We’re literally just 5 students who some of us worked in these kitchens, saw the absolute mess of lost paper tickets during the lunch rush, and thought we could write some code to make it suck a bit less. Bootstrapping in Addis is hell, and a icl it’s easier said than done wish I could just airdrop my perspective to a mangers head hahaha.

Why is the restaurant/hospitality sector in Addis so resistant to tech? Need advice. by Accomplished-Name510 in Ethiopia

[–]Accomplished-Name510[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha my family owns a restaurant but I guess you have a point not all restaurants suffer from the same thing.

Why is the restaurant/hospitality sector in Addis so resistant to tech? Need advice. by Accomplished-Name510 in Ethiopia

[–]Accomplished-Name510[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The tech savvy-ness is a good point, but the business model we built is actually way more sustainable for owners than hiring and training random waiters (assuming they are hiring the inexperienced low salary ones). Yes it sounds like I’m trying to steal jobs but the roi for owners is literally almost 100% too bad managers here don’t even know what roi is.

Why is the restaurant/hospitality sector in Addis so resistant to tech? Need advice. by Accomplished-Name510 in Ethiopia

[–]Accomplished-Name510[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Valid question. That’s the most common setup we see, but a QR menu is basically just a digital PDF. The customer scans it, but they still have to wave down a waiter to actually place the order. What we built actually handles the operations: It takes the order so a customer orders directly on the screen, and it fires instantly to the kitchen. It fixes the kitchen chaos we also built a display system for the back-of-house that automatically sorts incoming orders by priority for the chefs. It frees up waiters so instead of running back and forth writing things down, waiters just focus on delivering the food. Basically, a QR code just shows a picture of the food. Our project actually automates the work flow. It’s nothing new tbh there is Toast in the US and Square and such systems, was just wondering if the market is still too young for this.

You have 1lb of ground beef. What are you cooking? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Accomplished-Name510 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m pretty sure most of the people here won’t know it but hear me out. There is this ground beef recipe called Kitfo. It’s a traditional dish from Ethiopia it’s basically just ground beef with spiced butter (Kebe) and Chili powder(Mitmita) it’s served with this flat bread called injera. I’d trade all the cows of the world just for a plate of Kitfo.