WISK white logo-> All episodes <-

April 17, 2024

S2E26 - PathSpot's mission to make 99.9% germ-free restaurants a reality

PathSpot revolutionizes food safety with its hand-scanning technology. Enhancing employee satisfaction and optimizing operations.

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WISK white logo-> All episodes <-

April 17, 2024

S2E26 - PathSpot's mission to make 99.9% germ-free restaurants a reality

PathSpot revolutionizes food safety with its hand-scanning technology. Enhancing employee satisfaction and optimizing operations.

Apple Podcast player linkSpotify Podcast player linkGoogle Podcasts player link

Show notes

Episode Note

PathSpot is a comprehensive health and safety operation system for the food service industry. Their flagship product is a hand scanner that detects invisible contaminants on hands after washing. PathSpot aims to optimize safety, reduce waste, and improve employee satisfaction. They have gained traction by focusing on customer feedback and building a scalable supply chain. The labor optimizations and data-driven insights provided by PathSpot have resulted in significant ROI for their clients. The company plans to expand internationally and empower consumers and employees to make decisions based on data. Christine Schindler, Co-Founder and CEO of PathSpot, encourages entrepreneurs to embrace the challenges and impact they can make.

Takeaways

  • PathSpot is a comprehensive health and safety operation system for the food service industry.
  • Their flagship product is a hand scanner that detects invisible contaminants on hands after washing.
  • PathSpot focuses on customer feedback and building a scalable supply chain to gain traction.
  • The labor optimizations and data-driven insights provided by PathSpot result in significant ROI for clients.
  • PathSpot plans to expand internationally and empower consumers and employees to make decisions based on data.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to PathSpot and their flagship product

02:48 Christine's journey from Biomedical Engineering to Co-Founding PathSpot

06:03 The problem PathSpot solves and their comprehensive health and safety operation system

09:46 The early days of PathSpot and how they gained traction

12:54 The ideal customer profile for PathSpot

15:11 The customer journey and how PathSpot works with clients

19:30 Wins and KPIs for restaurant clients

24:39 Future plans for PathSpot

27:21 Advice for entrepreneurs and those transitioning from the medical field

31:16 Plugs and contact information

Resources

Follow Christine Schindler on LinkedIn!

Follow PathSpot on Linkedin!

Learn more about PathSpot!

Transcript

Christine Schindler [00:00:00]:

Our flagship product that was in the Time magazine is the hand scanner, which is a device that mounts on the wall next to hand washing sinks. And right after people wash their hands, they can put them underneath, flip them over, and instantly see if they have invisible contaminant on their hands, which could make someone sick. It pops right up on the screen. Either green, you're all clear, you can go to work, or red, you need to rewash and rescan your hands to remove that potential contamination.

Angelo Esposito [00:00:31]:

Welcome to Wisking It All, with your host, Angelo Esposito, co founder of WISK.AI, a food and beverage intelligence platform. We're going to be interviewing hospitality professionals around the world to really understand how they do what they do. Welcome to another episode of Wisking It All. We're here today with Christine Schindler, co founder and CEO at Pathspot. Christine, thanks for being here.

Christine Schindler [00:01:01]:

Thanks for having me.

Angelo Esposito [00:01:03]:

Of course I'm excited. I think a good place to obviously start off is to learn a bit about what is pathspot. But maybe to kick things off, can you just tell people about your journey from studying biomedical engineering and global health at Duke University to co founding Pathspot?

Christine Schindler [00:01:23]:

Yeah, absolutely. It's always fun to think about how those building blocks get to where we are today. And I think for myself, I never saw myself ending up in the food service and health and hygiene avenue, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. And I'm so thrilled to be in this phenomenal industry. As you mentioned, I started my career in biomedical engineering and global health. I actually started on the research side of that world. And I spent time living and working in the developing world in the Kilimanjaro region, where I was building low cost medical tools and technologies, obviously for very resource constricted settings. A lot of the work there was focused on, how do I make medical equipment that might work for our hospital networks here domestically, work when there's not consistent power or wifi or ceilings in some situations.

Christine Schindler [00:02:26]:

And when I got back to the US, I was working full time in the healthcare space. But I just started to see these public health discrepancies here domestically with a totally different lens. It felt like there was also an opportunity to bring low cost medical grade tools. Unfortunately, we have access to those in most of our hospital networks, but into everyday life, where there were public health challenges or opportunities. And one of them at the time were these huge issues of foodborne illness. I mean, people were getting incredibly sick, hospitalizations, even deaths from these outbreaks that were all over the news. At the time. And meanwhile, it was making a big impact on businesses bottom line as well.

Christine Schindler [00:03:12]:

So I started diving into what is actually causing those illnesses. And when we see these outbreaks of E. Coli, or salmonella, or neurovirus or hepatitis A, oftentimes it's, well, the lettuce was infected or the cereal. But as a biomedical engineer, I knew lettuce doesn't spawn illness. So what's really causing this? And more importantly, what can we do to stop it? And that was really the inspiration that made me jump into pathspot.

Angelo Esposito [00:03:43]:

Wow. And so for people who don't know, can you give them maybe the couple sentence intro of, like, what is the problem? That, I mean, well, you spoke about the problem, but what does pathspot do?

Christine Schindler [00:03:53]:

So Pathspot is a comprehensive health and safety operations system for everything. Food service, from restaurants, packaging facilities, cafeterias, anywhere where food is handled, stored, or served. And essentially, when I looked into what the why was behind those different things, it was all different components. Temperatures not held at the appropriate levels, hand washing not being upheld to the right number of times or for a full 20 seconds in a really busy food service environment. Labeling and exploration management, other safety related tasks and components. And so what we've created at Pathspot is a digital system that covers all of these different components and then creates a method of tracking, rewarding, incentivizing, encouraging, and actually ensuring that all these things are done appropriately while saving team members time all along the way.

Angelo Esposito [00:04:48]:

It's really cool because I saw that, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was Time magazine 2019, something like the 100 best inventions of 2019. And you guys were featured in that invention. I was looking a bit, but I'd love for you to describe, because obviously you'll do a better job. What exactly is the, I guess, invention?

Christine Schindler [00:05:09]:

Yeah. So our flagship product that was in the Time magazine is the hand scanner, which is a device that mounts on the wall next to hand washing sinks. And right after people wash their hands, they can put them underneath, flip them over, and instantly see if they have invisible contaminant on their hands, which could make someone sick. It pops right up on the screen. Either green, you're all clear, you can go to work, or red, you need to rewash and rescan your hands to remove that potential contamination source.

Angelo Esposito [00:05:40]:

Wow.

Christine Schindler [00:05:41]:

And then we take all the data from those scans and we utilize AI and ML and some of these exciting features that have been talked about frequently on the news lately, to be able to create and understand trends as it comes to hand washing. Behavior. When are the biggest issues? Maybe it's during the lunch rush or at clock in. Where is contamination coming from? Is it coming from tablet straps or doorknob handles? Where are the biggest risk areas? And how can we update SOPs to make a big impact? So that was really our first expansion into the space. And since then we've added many other products and inventions alongside the hand scanner to be able to support other aspects of health and safety, including remote temperature sensing in refrigerators, or for food labeling and automatic processing of inventory to be able to ensure it hits the appropriate exploration components task and audit automation to ensure that those components are taken into effect. And it's really a combination of hardware and software solutions that once placed across an establishment, ensure that all these things that are so critical for upholding that level of safety are maintained, managed and appropriately handled.

Angelo Esposito [00:06:57]:

Wow, that's super interesting. And so when you first started, I always like to hear the entrepreneurial side as well. So obviously really cool to hear your background and then how you saw a clear problem and obviously came up with a really innovative solution. Now, in terms of the business side, how did you start kind of getting this into, whether it was restaurants or maybe other markets? Right? So clear problem, clear solution. You build this thing out with a team and whatnot, and now you're like, all right, cool, how do we get this into places? What does that look like?

Christine Schindler [00:07:29]:

Yeah, my background was in biomedical engineering, so I knew how to create the initial versions of the product, but I didn't know anyone in the restaurant industry. So honestly, in those early days, it was just going door to door, knocking on doors of restaurants and saying, hey, I've created this thing. And at the time, it was literally a bunch of wires taped to a dinner plate. I mean, people really had to use their imagination for where this might go.

Angelo Esposito [00:07:56]:

Right?

Christine Schindler [00:07:57]:

As I was just talking to anyone I could in the industry, whether it was going door to door or sending out mass emails to friends and family, who knows someone in the restaurant industry they can introduce me to. I found that more and more individuals were telling me, I've waited ten years for something like this to exist. And that's what really inspired me to go all in on it and to really find and continue to bring this into the industry. And people really started to believe. I think then as soon as some people could wrap their heads around what this was and what the impact could be, they started referring us to others in the industry. One of my favorite things about being in this remarkable group of people that work in food service and have devoted their life to this aspect that is so critical for our day to day being as individuals, is that everyone's so open to helping each other. So even if it was competitors, they're calling them up and being like, hey, you got to check out this thing. It's really amazing.

Christine Schindler [00:08:58]:

It's really helping us keep our team and our employees and our customers safe. And so I found that it was a really natural way of building the business. And for me, it's always been about, how am I solving a problem that matters? And I think in the entrepreneurial world in general, that's the key. And when that is at the core, the rest starts to pull itself, right?

Angelo Esposito [00:09:21]:

No. And well said. Obviously, in any industry, referrals are great. But I find, to your point, in the restaurant industry, because it's such a tight knit community, it goes a long way. So when people like a product or a service, it's like they're not shy to talk about it. And I think there's also, like a lot of staff that naturally evolve and maybe move from one venue to another. And so you kind of have this natural growth that also happens with having a good product, providing a good service. And that alone creates this kind of network effect where people are more than happy to recommend you, which is, I think, an awesome way to grow.

Angelo Esposito [00:09:58]:

What I'd love to know from you is we have a lot of entrepreneurs on the show, and they talk about typical things of growing pains and whatnot. So it sounds like for you, early days, knocking on doors, getting in, what was that evolution like? Did you then raise capital? What did it look like to go from idea to inception and then getting those first few customers? But what did that maybe next big step look like from handful of clients to turning this into a full time business?

Christine Schindler [00:10:28]:

Let's say it was an absolute whirlwind and it always is. Right? Each stage of the business and building something completely from scratch is an absolute whirlwind. And it's fun to look back on those stages when there was so much uncertainty, how am I going to create this? And for us, we knew that because we were building a physical product, we needed to be able to raise capital so that we could support that at scale and set up manufacturing. And those early first users, I was building the products myself by hand with a 3d printer and superglue. But quickly we realized that with the momentum we were getting in the market, we needed to be able to set up a supply chain, and capital was definitely going to be a part of that. And we decided to raise both from venture capital funds as well as from people in the industry who were using the product. A lot of our early investors were customers, founders of restaurant chains, people working in food manufacturing, individuals who were experiencing the problem themselves and wanted to invest in a solution and be a part of that solution, which was really impactful and also supported the work we were doing with venture capitalists as well. They definitely understood the buy in of individuals who were choosing to put capital into something because they believed in it so much, that were actual end users of the product.

Christine Schindler [00:11:56]:

And so that's kind of how we got our first tranche of capital and then really focused on how do we build a scalable and sustainable supply chain, and how do we access the data component that can help build these different phases and expansion elements. And after that, every growth phase really came from customer demand and request. I always try to take time to sit with the people that are using the product at every layer within an organization, whether that's people that are on the line and using it in the environment itself, all the way up to an executive that's impacted by these challenges in different ways, or franchisee owners and operators in those types of systems. And so really listening and understanding how is the product working for you? How could it be more impactful? What do you wish it did? What do you wish came with it? That's been how we've chosen to grow, is responding to the problem and the challenges that these individuals are facing.

Angelo Esposito [00:12:56]:

That's really cool. And I know for me at least, and I think maybe for a lot of entrepreneurs, in the beginning, you're a bit less strict with the type of clients you take on, because you're just trying to get customers right. You're not as picky. And then over time, you start kind of refining your ideal customer profile and realize, okay, these are the best type of customers that we can really help. So just for people listening, right, we have a lot of restaurant operators listening, who is the best type of customer? Right? Like, people are listening and this might resonate and be like, oh, this is actually something I've struggled with. Looking for a solution. Yeah, I'd love for you to share your ICP.

Christine Schindler [00:13:30]:

Basically, yes. It's a great question, and it's something that we focus on a lot, because as you can imagine, this type of tool is really necessary across the industry. And so our customer base is pretty broad. Everything from food manufacturing facilities to large five star hotels, to quick service restaurants that are totally franchisee operated, to sit down dining and different scale and size of operation in that front to cafeteria settings, both in universities and office spaces. And it really is something where we see the impact in so many different facets of the industry. And I actually find that to be incredibly motivating because safety is something that we can all get behind, actually across the entire value chain. It's so critically important because if it's not upheld in every single stage, then it actually poses a risk to the industry as a whole and to the trust that the consumers have in that end goal. And so we find it to be something that everyone can really rally behind if we're supporting everyone from the food manufacturer themselves and then the end grocery store on the retail side or restaurants that food is going to.

Christine Schindler [00:14:47]:

That said, right now we're really focused on the food service industry. So as you can imagine, we get requests all the time from hospitals or nursing homes, airports, individuals for at home use, saying, I need this tool. We really optimized it to be specialized for supporting the illnesses and outbreaks and operational components of food service world. And so that's where we're focusing our time right now, although definitely have exciting plans for our future expansion.

Angelo Esposito [00:15:17]:

Got it. I'd love to hear more about that for people listening. Right. They're interested. It sounds like this might be something they could use. What's the best way? What does the customer journey look like? They like what they hear. Maybe walk them through a typical customer journey of how they discover Pathspot and what the typical steps look like.

Christine Schindler [00:15:36]:

Well, hopefully they're hearing about it on this podcast.

Angelo Esposito [00:15:39]:

Yeah, exactly.

Christine Schindler [00:15:40]:

They can obviously get in contact with us through our website, pathspot.com, and all of our contact info is on there, but more so once someone gets in contact with us. I think that safety and operations are really personal in an organization similar to HR and recruiting. It's the backbone of so much of what happens in the industry. And so we really focus on sitting down with a potential customer and understanding what's going on in their operations now, what's their throughput, what's taking the most time, how can we support labor savings or other components of that space? I think when you look at a food service environment, at the end of the day, there has to be significant ROI to be able to invest in something because there is so many different components coming across individuals plates. So we really try to focus on what are the challenges you're facing? What does that look like in your day to day as an operator, and how can our solutions fit into that component. And we really offer our services as a modular type of setup. So if one area is the core challenge that you're struggling with, we can start there. Some groups come and say, actually, we're building from the ground up and we want to set up an entire safety system all at once.

Christine Schindler [00:16:54]:

We're happy to implement in that way as well. Others have a solution that's working in one facet and needs support in another. So a lot of it is really listening, understanding the ultimate goals, and then building a pretty custom platform with the tools that we've created.

Angelo Esposito [00:17:09]:

Awesome. And I always like to share maybe some anecdotes or stories, so it might be hard for you to remember, but any that come to mind of any success stories that you're like, this one always marked me or this client did, x and y, like kind of a before and after. Anything you can share on that front?

Christine Schindler [00:17:26]:

I mean, I still feel that way about every client. Even now. We're scaled at 10,000 locations across the globe. And when a new customer comes through, it's just so energizing. One of the things that our team loves to do, because it's all food oriented, is to order the food of a client that has joined with the organization.

Angelo Esposito [00:17:50]:

That's cool.

Christine Schindler [00:17:51]:

And to really celebrate by experiencing their product as well, and to continue that throughout our days, whether that's staying in a hotel chain that's recently started working with us or ordering takeout from an organization. So that's one thing that's really fun. But I think at every stage, it's also been about the growth in our team. And so the enthusiasm also from being able to recruit and work with incredible talents across the industry that I've respected and admired that then decide, hey, I'd really love to work within your organization. That's also been just such a rewarding element. And then of know, being on this. Right, like, that's one of those moments that you're like, oh, I'm talking to Angelo, I've made it. Awesome.

Angelo Esposito [00:18:41]:

No, it's good. Listen, I heard your story. I saw you were also, correct me wrong, but I think Forbes 30 under 30, I was looking at all the press around what you're doing, and I thought it was really cool. You're solving a real problem. It seems like you're really solid entrepreneur. You know what you're doing. You just mentioned 10,000 locations. So I love that.

Angelo Esposito [00:19:01]:

I love seeing entrepreneurs thrive because I know how hard it is of an uphill battle. So for me at least, to go from nothing to something is such an exciting thing. Like an idea to actually something tangible and then to see that tangible thing actually then be used and people benefit from it is even more exciting. So, no, thank you for joining us. And I love hearing your story. And then I think a question that comes to mind is, what are some of the wins? Like a typical restaurant client, let's take restaurants for a second, or restaurant hotels. But a food service client can get so love, obviously everything going around the safety and the hand machine and all these kind of crazy things. But when they look back, I don't know, a couple of months in, what are some typical, I guess, wins or KPIs they can get from being like, ever since we implemented passport, we were able to x, Y and Z.

Christine Schindler [00:19:55]:

That's a great question. And honestly, it matters a ton because of course, optimizing for safety, creating a healthy work environment that's important to everyone. But what else is beneficial? And how do you start to see those ROI components instantly after installing the solution? That's something we really focus on because we know that that's also of critical importance for a restaurant environment. So I think one of the biggest components is definitely labor optimizations. When I'm in these locations, oftentimes the number of forms they have to fill out throughout the course of a day to keep up with safety requirements or operational checklists, it's like this big, right? These binders are insane. Working with some of the organizations, it takes us across a larger property or restaurant environment, up to 8 hours a day, to fill out all of this. That's time that can be redirected to culinary or guest experience, or spending time with other team members. There's so many things that are so important.

Christine Schindler [00:20:56]:

And we know that team members in the back of house are nothing but busy, right? So being able to take some of this off their plate and make sure it's done appropriately is critical. And then you start to see the downstream effects of that. Not only in operational throughput and increased revenue coming in, but also in other aspects. Because when it's something that's taking a lot of time, oftentimes it just quite frankly, wasn't done appropriately. Like pencil whipping is real because there is a line that's wrapped six times around your building and you've got to get that line through and you don't have time to do your checks. So then we actually figure out, okay, wow. By automating some of these different components, we're then seeing reduction in waste because we're not having situations where things go out of appropriate temperature or a door is accidentally left open and you walk in in the morning and all your ICE cream is melted and realize that you're in a really challenging position. So reduction in waste, reduction in food spoilage, optimization of being able to send the right field ops teams to the right restaurants and stores at the right time.

Christine Schindler [00:22:01]:

Because we're collecting all this data, one of the things that we used to see is that team members would say, all right, well, I'm going every week to check every single store. Why every week? Well, I just check in, make sure everything's going well. By actually utilizing the data, they're able to see, okay, that store is doing great. All their pieces are in good place, all their equipment is functioning appropriately. I'm going to send them a quick email and say, awesome job, and I'm going to go twice to this other location that's struggling to keep up with things or maybe needs additional trainings. And trainings is another huge one. We see the frequency and requirement of trainings to be way more effective when you're going off of data. So I can go into a store until I'm blue in the face and say, wash your hands once an hour for 20 seconds and everyone's going to nod and move on.

Christine Schindler [00:22:43]:

But if I go into a store and say, hey, team, last week I checked out your hand washing data. Listen, we're missing hand washes at 10:00 we've got to make sure we hit that hour and look like rings, they're causing contaminant. We got to make sure we take off our rings or wash around our ring fingers. Okay, everyone, what do you see next week? Hand washes go up. Ten o'clock's met. We can create actionable components from this data and information. And so we really see all of that make a huge impact. And one of my favorite things that we're able to showcase, I could talk about these forever.

Christine Schindler [00:23:12]:

So I'll end.

Angelo Esposito [00:23:13]:

This is great.

Christine Schindler [00:23:14]:

I love this is definitely when team members feel really valued by this solution. When you see customer, but also employee satisfactions being impacted by installing something like this, especially in a manager setting, oftentimes they'll say, this is my co manager. I don't have time to keep track of all of this. It was really stressful for me to keep up with, I want to work here because I'm invested in or from a team member standpoint, I feel appreciative that this brand is taking my health and safety into account, that I feel safe coming to work, that I know that I'm protected by these different components, as well as protecting the people that I'm servicing. It's a high risk environment and people are more educated than ever on the downstream effects and our personal accountability to health and wellness. And so seeing that impact is one of the most powerful pieces to me.

Angelo Esposito [00:24:09]:

That's really cool. And it's funny because I was thinking in my head, like, you being able to see all that data, you must be able to prioritize where you want to eat, right? You got a list of awesome restaurants. You could see who's really adamant, and on top of hand washing and all that. So you can even almost order your restaurant outings, your personal restaurant outings on these high ratings, which is super neat. That's awesome. And so I'd love to know, where do you see Pathspot going next? It sounds like we kind of went through the journey of your background in biomedical engineering to solving this kind of problem. Starting off with that hand scanner, but then evolving into full software and different types of hardware. Getting to 10,000 locations, no easy feat there.

Angelo Esposito [00:24:58]:

What's next for you guys?

Christine Schindler [00:25:01]:

Our goal right now is really focused on how do we meet these ever changing needs going on in the food service world and how do we continue to expand our products and our use cases to be able to support these environments at a time that's really critical. So right now, we're pretty heads down on that. As you know, there's a lot more than 10,000 locations in the world for us to tackle. And we've also been expanding internationally very frequently right now as well into different markets and working with different organizations that we had been working with in the US in those areas, and expanding our team there as well. And then I think there's a real world, as you kind of mentioned, with the data that we're able to see. How do we also empower consumers and employees to make decisions off of this data, and how do we utilize that in effect with other industry or government regulations and components to help support and empower the power of data at scale? I think that's something that everyone's talking about right now as the impact of AI and these different features that everyone's starting to get a sense of. So that's a big focus area for us as well. And then I think there are a ton of different industries that can also benefit from low cost solutions like this.

Christine Schindler [00:26:21]:

If we can't detect, we can't prevent. And so by being able to use all of these different sensors and platforms to detect for situations before they arise, we're not reactive as a world anymore. But we're proactive. We're getting ahead of these different pieces. We know what's going to hit us before it comes. And so that applies obviously to the work we're continuing to do within the restaurant industry as well as the other industries we hope to expand to in the coming years.

Angelo Esposito [00:26:47]:

Really cool. And as an entrepreneur, obviously, I think sometimes looking back, you can identify maybe areas that things you would have done differently. So I like to always maybe share a little nugget or have the guest share a little nugget, because we have a lot, like I said, a lot of entrepreneurial listeners as well, restauranteurs. And so what's maybe a mistake or a learning? I'm sure there's many, but something that comes to mind when you look back and you're like, I would have told my younger self when starting this XYZ, something that comes to mind, oh, my.

Christine Schindler [00:27:20]:

Goodness, I feel like I have a new one of these every day. Right?

Angelo Esposito [00:27:23]:

Yeah.

Christine Schindler [00:27:24]:

Entrepreneurial of entrepreneurship is you're always learning and you're creating something brand new. Right. I tell our team, every single member of our team is an inventor. Every single one. Because we're inventing, it's not just the inventors on the engineering side, creating different platforms, but it's also we're inventing how to customer support a hand scanner. We're inventing how to install a hand scanner. We're inventing how to create and utilize this data in impactful ways. We're inventing the sales cycle for these different pieces.

Christine Schindler [00:27:52]:

Whatever role you're in, it's all creation every day. And so a lot of it is, there's a ton of things we've learned. But I think the biggest component that I always come back to and that I also share with other entrepreneurs is ensuring that you're really in touch with the customer and ensuring that you're really. Anytime we've made a mistake, it's because we tried to figure it out by ourselves. And anyone can go into a black box and make a dream product, but it's not going to be right unless it works. And even if it feels like it's too early to install something or try something or get feedback on something, I found that it almost never is. The earlier you get it out there, even if it's a dinner plate with a bunch of wires taped to it. And the earlier you can start getting feedback, the better you're going to be able to solve a real problem.

Christine Schindler [00:28:40]:

And that's so critical for the scalability.

Angelo Esposito [00:28:43]:

I love that. I love that. Well said. I think the shorter the feedback loop, that makes a ton of sense and we've seen that too. But the shorter the feedback loop, the better. The better you can. There's an analogy something like if you're middle of the ocean, you're lost and you check your compass or whatever, maybe once a month versus kind of like checking it once an hour. Right? Who is more likely to be kind of on target and end up at the right destination? And it's kind of like what you're saying is the more feedback loops you can get, I think the better it is.

Angelo Esposito [00:29:15]:

So there's definitely a lesson there. So I guess lastly, is just your journey pretty interesting? I think one of the things that's especially interesting about you is you came from the medical world. So any piece of advice, maybe to slowly wrap up any piece of advice for people that may be on the medical side and kind of jumping into the entrepreneurship side could be a bit scary. It's like really two different worlds. So any light you want to shed there?

Christine Schindler [00:29:47]:

I mean, it's terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying. It's terrifying every day, but it's also the most exhilarating and to be able to see the impact that you're able to make. And in earnest, I give this advice both to people who are interested in starting an entrepreneurial career or who are interested in joining a really small, passionate company, because I think that also can be really terrifying. And to make that leap to be one of the first ten or 1st 20 employees at a small company is also so critical. But I think my feedback is really, if you have that itch and you can do it, my recommendation is to try because you can also see the insane impact that you as an individual can be able to help support and drive. Every person who joins our team and did in those early days made such a huge difference. And so I think the world needs people who have ideas or who are excited to support early ideas, jumping in and creating them.

Christine Schindler [00:30:50]:

There's so many challenges ahead of us. And I think the thing that is a silver lining to me when I think about the challenges we've been through over the last few years, the challenges that we're going into is looking at what people are doing, what people are creating, how people are responding to those challenges. And that innovative nature, I think is going to propel us forward. And so my recommendation is do it, love it.

Angelo Esposito [00:31:16]:

And last but not least, I always like to give a chance for our guests, kind of just plug any of their social or their sources. So I know you mentioned website pathspot.com. What other plugs you want to give any social media handles? Any other media you want to share? Like the floor is yours?

Christine Schindler [00:31:36]:

Absolutely. Please look us up. You can search Pathspot and our handle on all is at Pathspot to find us, follow us, ask us a question, share feedback from what you heard today. We want to learn from anyone listening to this podcast. So anyone with any ideas or anyone who is desiring to jump in and start something or who maybe wants to join our team, reach out.

Angelo Esposito [00:32:01]:

I love that. Well, you heard it here guys. Christine Schindler, co founder and CEO of pathspot on the Wisking It All podcast, thank you for being here today.

Christine Schindler [00:32:11]:

Thank you. Talk to you soon.

Angelo Esposito [00:32:13]:

Feel free to check out WISK.AI for more resources and schedule a demo with one of our product specialists to see if it's a fit for.

Meet Your Host & Guest

Christine Schindler, Co-Founder and CEO of PathSpot

Christine Schindler, Co-Founder & CEO of PathSpot, is deeply committed to purpose-driven innovation and recognizes the pivotal role technology plays in driving focused, rapid development, and adoption of change. Her academic background in biomedical engineering and global health from Duke University equipped her with the skills and knowledge to research and design innovations aimed at addressing healthcare challenges in resource-constrained settings. As a result, her drive to create a noticeable difference inspired her to redirect her attention to the urgent matter of foodborne illnesses.

ANGELO ESPOSITO, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF WISK.AI

Meet Angelo Esposito, the Co-Founder and CEO of WISK.ai, Angelo's vision is to revolutionize the hospitality industry by creating an inventory software that allows bar and restaurant owners to streamline their operations, improve their margins and sales, and minimize waste. With over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry, Angelo deeply understands the challenges faced by bar and restaurant owners. From managing inventory to tracking sales to forecasting demand, Angelo has seen it all firsthand. This gave him the insight he needed to create WISK.ai.

Recent Episodes

S2E26 - PathSpot's mission to make 99.9% germ-free restaurants a reality

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Show notes

Episode Note

PathSpot is a comprehensive health and safety operation system for the food service industry. Their flagship product is a hand scanner that detects invisible contaminants on hands after washing. PathSpot aims to optimize safety, reduce waste, and improve employee satisfaction. They have gained traction by focusing on customer feedback and building a scalable supply chain. The labor optimizations and data-driven insights provided by PathSpot have resulted in significant ROI for their clients. The company plans to expand internationally and empower consumers and employees to make decisions based on data. Christine Schindler, Co-Founder and CEO of PathSpot, encourages entrepreneurs to embrace the challenges and impact they can make.

Takeaways

  • PathSpot is a comprehensive health and safety operation system for the food service industry.
  • Their flagship product is a hand scanner that detects invisible contaminants on hands after washing.
  • PathSpot focuses on customer feedback and building a scalable supply chain to gain traction.
  • The labor optimizations and data-driven insights provided by PathSpot result in significant ROI for clients.
  • PathSpot plans to expand internationally and empower consumers and employees to make decisions based on data.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to PathSpot and their flagship product

02:48 Christine's journey from Biomedical Engineering to Co-Founding PathSpot

06:03 The problem PathSpot solves and their comprehensive health and safety operation system

09:46 The early days of PathSpot and how they gained traction

12:54 The ideal customer profile for PathSpot

15:11 The customer journey and how PathSpot works with clients

19:30 Wins and KPIs for restaurant clients

24:39 Future plans for PathSpot

27:21 Advice for entrepreneurs and those transitioning from the medical field

31:16 Plugs and contact information

Resources

Follow Christine Schindler on LinkedIn!

Follow PathSpot on Linkedin!

Learn more about PathSpot!