The food: Veggie Duck: pressed shiitake mushrooms, tofu skin, onions, and assorted vegetables with special light sauce
Where to find it: Garden Fresh, Palo Alto, California
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Welcome to another edition of #FoodEntrepreneur Friday, where I serve up an order of international food with a side of insight for entrepreneurs.
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Last #FoodEntrepreneur Friday I asked you to take a quick, three-question survey (which is still open for responses) about the future of my Friday blog posts. You voiced your opinion, and it looks like you still love reading entrepreneurial insight mixed in with a generous offering of food photography (aka food p0rn). Well, my food-loving friends, this week I’ll deliver your order. I’m offering a family-sized meal of food photography from a Chinese vegan restaurant, and advising every entrepreneur to ‘show don’t tell’ when it comes to all stages of their company’s growth.
The old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is so very true in every situation. For example when the originators of plant-based meat alternatives like seitan or tempeh first conceived of creating foods that substituted (and also tasted a bit like) meat, they could have described the concept to thousands of people (i.e. early investors). This method, especially for new, innovative products, could have possibly taken forever—endless meetings. Rather than wasting their time with pitch meetings describing, at the moment, an imaginary product, smart entrepreneurs get back into the test kitchen.
Smart entrepreneurs focus on creating products that they can show. And show not only potential investors, but also customers: the end goal.
Think of this: a food entrepreneur could march into an investor pitch meeting and describe the dishes pictured below verbally. Or she could slap down several photos, like the ones you see below, showing off innovative, meatless ‘meat’ products and say next to nothing.
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Orange Veggie Chicken: deep fried homemade shiitake-mushroom-chicken in orange sauce
Grilled Veggie Salmon: tofu skin wrapped in seaweed, sautéed with bamboo shoots, jicama and carrots, in Chef’s special sauce
General’s Veggie Chicken: crispy-fried soy chicken, sautéed with bell peppers and carrots in spicy sweet and sour sauce
Veggie Duck: pressed shiitake mushrooms, tofu skin, onions, and assorted vegetables with special light sauce
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Now I’ll ask you: if you were a potential investor what would convince you more to invest? Words or pictures? An imaginary product explained through words or a real product displayed through photographic proof? Tell or show?