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by jwu711 5666 days ago
I am still waiting for the day someone takes down opentable. I'm at an incubator right now, and one of the partners had suggested we compete with them head-on because they operate so traditionally, especially with their equipment and high fees. There is definitely room for someone to take them on with a new software based model, but I think most start-ups are probably afraid of the sales effort and skills they'll need.

I'm invested in the hospitality industry right now and their profit margins are razor thin at 3-8% for those that survive. Of course on top of high sales it's not too bad, but most say that they were better off before opentable.