How I Got Here: Zhong Xu

Why restaurants?​
I guess the fact that my dad was in the restaurant software business when I was growing up, that played a major part. I actually started helping my dad out as a kid in his Point-of-Sale (POS) business because of this. I was exposed to the industry at a young age, I was surrounded by restaurateurs, restaurant workers, tech and I learnt so much about the industry as a kid. It was also cool to see my dad be so passionate about his job. He worked so hard and was inspirational. All of those reasons lead me to where I am today. 

Tell us something you wish you had been told at the start of your career?​
There are multiple pieces of advice I would give myself. First being, speed beats perfection – don't force yourself to make the best product, but rather try to launch quicker than later to get feedback from customers. Another thing I learned through the years is that having the 'idea' is really not that important, it's all about execution, so focus on bringing that one thing to life with small steps. Finally, I would say to myself, enjoy the ride, it's all going to be okay.

What’s your favourite restaurant or group of restaurants? ​
I love some good Asian food, so groups such as Hakkasan or Ding Tai Fung are definitely on my list. I grew up in Shanghai, so my weaknesses are for sure juicy soup dumplings.

What motivates you?​
I like being outside of my comfort zone, so it means that I like the unknown and the challenging. If something seems impossible, I always want to take a crack at it and make the impossible possible. For the last 20 years I have been in the hospitality industry and have experienced first-hand what restaurants do for our society, and how they bind us. Our company mission is very much my personal mission, to help restaurants succeed in this ever-changing digital world.

What keeps you up at night?​
My superpower is that I can sleep anywhere and at any time. I think if I would not be able to do that, things would be a lot tougher. What keeps me up is trying to understand what the next wave of innovation is for our restaurants. Not to mention, I have two kids, so they tend to keep me up or wake me up early!

Which colleague, mentor or employer has had the biggest influence on your approach to the restaurant business?​
I have a few too many to mention! As cheesy as it sounds, everyone at Deliverect has such a huge influence on me. I really vibe off their energy. If I ever need inspiration, ideas or just good energy, all I need is to enter a room and chat with my co-workers. If I have to name one of the many mentors, Ingrid De Clercq is a huge inspiration of mine. She started off as our company culture coach and is now our Chief People Officer – she is an inspiring leader and mentor/coach.

Coffee or tea?​
Coffee – how can I not be a coffee person when I live in New York. There are the best coffee shops on every block.

How often do you check your email?​
Don’t judge me, but my emails are open on my browser all day, and if I am travelling then I’m checking my emails a lot. Most of my correspondence is through email so it is somewhat hard to ignore them. When I can, I try to set a time of day to check my emails, such as first thing in the morning, once after lunch and again before the end of my working day.

How do you let off steam?​
I'm a big car enthusiast, so I like to drive and take on road trips. Driving provides the rare moments where I can focus purely on one thing and nothing else. I'm probably the only person in the world that loves to sit in traffic jams. So, I don't like self-driving cars.

Do you prefer a night on the tiles or a night on the sofa?​ 
Currently I prefer a night on the tiles, but only on the weekends! New York has so much to offer and there’s so many awesome restaurants and bars with views of the city. During the weekdays, I prefer a night on the sofa and catching up with my family and kids.

Typical Sunday?​
Now that I am living in New York, my Sundays look slightly different from my previous life in Belgium. I’m spending time with my family exploring the area, eating out, and experiencing local activities. When we aren’t out in town then we’re probably enjoying a relaxing Sunday, slouched on the sofa enjoying a takeaway and a movie with the kids! As I love Dim Sum, it’s always good idea to for a Dim Sum brunch at the weekend!

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?​
Ha! Where do I start! I flew once from Belgium to New York just for one meeting and I was in the city for 12 hours. That meeting did pay off - 80% of the work is just showing up.

Favourite holiday destination?​
I went to South Africa earlier this year with my family. It was amazing and absolutely breath-taking. We actually booked the holiday before the pandemic so I had completely forgotten what we had planned. When we got there, we had a spa experience, safari drive and wine tasting. South Africa has so much to offer, I would go back at a heartbeat.

What are you currently reading?​
I like to read business books from other entrepreneurs. It always gives me ideas on how I can improve myself. Currently, I'm reading the book Amp it up by Frank Sloothman.

What boxset are you currently watching?​
I'm a big Stargate fan, so I'm rewatching the 10 seasons of Stargate and after that probably Stargate Atlantis.

What was your dream job growing up?​
Believe it or not, I wanted to be a bus driver. Growing up in Shanghai in the 80's, driving a bus was quite a privileged and respected job – and we all thought it was quite cool to be able to drive one as an adult! Given how much I enjoy driving today it’s clear the petrolhead streak has stuck with me at least.

What's been your best business decision?​
Starting POSIOS in 2010 was probably the best but also the riskiest and craziest decision. Jan, who is now our CTO, and I had absolutely no capital. I think the fact that so much was at stake, it was almost a necessity for us to succeed. We literally coded the whole software during our daily work commute in the traffic jam. At that time, I just had a kid and started a mortgage, so the timing was definitely not perfect personally. But sometimes you don't need to overthink it and you just have to do it. You should always just start and don't regret things in life as there are always reasons why you should not do it. But listen to that little voice that says, try it.

And the worst?​
I can't pinpoint or say that we have made any particular ‘bad business decision’. Some decisions require more time and effort but decisions are made every day. It is the only way we will learn to grow as a company. I also think failures are great part of learning, so I'm sure I made a ton of mistakes, but I hopefully learned from it. Maybe one thing I learned from my previous venture is that you need to invest in culture early on as that's very hard to correct afterwards. It's a time worn cliché, but culture eats strategy for breakfast without a doubt.

What piece of advice would you give to those looking to climb the rungs in the business?​
Just do it, be naïve and hungry. Don't overthink it and just take the first step, life is an adventure so wander and in hindsight the dots will connect and everything will make sense.

If you could change one thing about the restaurant industry today, what would it be?​
I would not change anything to this dynamic, constantly changing industry. Yes, it's challenging industry but also a lot of fun.