The food: Ramly Burger

Where to find it: Gadong Night Market, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

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Welcome to another edition of #FoodEntrepreneur Friday, where I serve up an order of international food with a side of guidance for entrepreneurs.

Pardon me as I take my foot out of my mouth before we devour today’s #FoodFriday. I have to apologize to you. I’m a damn liar. Yes, I may have recommended to sip up a shot or two of coffee espresso during last week’s #FoodEntrepreneur Friday entrepreneurial advice pow-wow. But, as one of my mentors used to say: “Free advice is only as good as what you pay for.” Asking for coffee sometimes just won’t cut it when you’re finding startup mentors or meetings with people whom you deeply respect. Maybe consider a burger instead?

In fact, not just any burger, but a burger that will make it hard for this mentor to refuse: a Ramly Burger. The Malaysians near Brunei created a burger that covers all meals of the day. Here, two sesame seed buns cradle your usual burger fare—beef or chicken patty, margarine, onions, cabbage, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce. And then they toss in an egg so that people can enjoy the sandwich as a morning meal. On top of that, they sprinkle in a little Maggi Seasoning to add a bit of zest.

Now, I’m not recommending to take your soon-to-be-mentor to McDonalds; the Ramly Burger only stands as a metaphor. The burger owns many of the qualities necessary to arrange a meeting, according to my good friend and master startup networker, Ryan Krebs.

1. The burger is convenient. People in startup world don’t have a lot of time to spare, especially mentor-type people. So make it easy for the mentor to meet you. Just like in Brunei, there’s plenty of lunch spots that sell (Ramly) burgers and even the most high-worth people love a good burger now and then.¹ 

2. Find something in common with them to kick off an intro or conversation. What’s more common than the love of a good burger?

3. Don’t “ask for coffee”, that line is overused, just google it and you’ll see a lot of criticism about it. You want to use as little of their time as possible, so have something (interesting) to offer them. Perhaps something with a little Maggi Seasoning zest?

4. Be sure to follow up! Like fries with a (Ramly) Burger, a follow up message, email, letter, etc. should come with the package of finding startup mentors.

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¹ In fact, billionaire Warren Buffett famously chooses hamburgers over Hors d’œurves any day.
² I’ve been using these tricks of the trade while creating my documentary series, TASTE with Kevin Longa. When I’m finding startup mentors I’ve been doing everything from lunches to offering rides to the airport. Again, be as valuable as you can when finding startup mentors.