OpenTable

News Byte

NoWait Hires New CEO; Founder Will Become Chief Product Officer

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 3 at 6:00 am PT

Pittsburgh-based NoWait, which is trying to become the OpenTable for restaurants that don’t take reservations, has hired a new CEO. Ware Sykes will replace NoWait founder Robb Myer, who will stay on as president and chief product officer. Sykes was previously VP of Sales & Services at TheLadders, a career advice site. The company, which raised $2 million in August, has seated more than six million diners at places like Texas Roadhouse, Red Robin and T.G.I. Friday’s.

News Byte

NoWait Lines Up $2 Million in Funding for Restaurant Seating App

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on August 28, 2012 at 5:00 am PT

NoWait has raised $2 million in a first round of funding, to become the OpenTable for restaurants that don’t take reservations. The round was led by Birchmere Ventures, with Sand Hill Angels and other investors also participating. The Pittsburgh company, which helps would-be diners find out wait times in advance and get text messages when a table is ready, claims to have seated more than four million patrons in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

News Byte

OpenTable Hires eHarmony’s Joseph Essas as CTO

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on July 10, 2012 at 7:50 am PT

OpenTable, which helps restaurants take reservations online, has appointed Joseph Essas to the position of CTO, effective July 18. Previously, Essas was CTO at eHarmony; before that, he served as VP of Engineering of Yahoo’s search-marketing division. In March, OpenTable announced it was on a hunt for a new executive, after it said Charles McCullough, who was the SVP of Engineering, was leaving the company.