Interview: Waitr CEO on Failure, Persistence and Delivery

It’s 11 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and Waitr CEO Christopher Meaux is in tears. Meaux traveled to New York City from Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Waitr is headquartered, to ring the Nasdaq opening bell and commemorate Waitr’s new chapter as the second publicly traded food delivery company in the U.S. (Waitr began trading under the symbol WTRH on November 16). His family—wife, parents, kids, in-laws, siblings, nieces, and nephews—stood beside him for the big moment, as well as his co-founders, early investors, and dozens of Waitr employees, some of whom had paid their own way to be there. We sat down with Meaux at a café around the block from the Nasdaq building later that morning. (He brought his son, Logan, a 20-year-old sophomore at Louisiana State University, to the interview as well.) Meaux was still choked up from the day’s events. A serial entrepreneur, he’s more used to failure than success in his ventures and Waitr represents, by far, the most success he’s ever seen. The three-year-old delivery service was acquired earlier this year for $308 million by Landcadia Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company run by hospitality industry billionaire Tilman Fertitta. “My family had to go through hell because of my past failures,” Meaux said, pausing to collect himself. “We went from having everything to having nothing to having to build it all again.” Skift Table spoke with Meaux about his past failures and how that informed Waitr’s success, how the company has built its restaurant partnerships, its funding path, and how he is gearing up to lead a public company in a way that will continue to warrant tears of joy this time next year. Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Skift Table: What was this morning like for you? Christopher Meaux: It was unbelievable. If you'd asked me five years ago if we'd have been here, I wouldn't have believed it. Ringing the bell and having my family, the co-founders, all of our team there. It was just unbelievable. ST: Can you talk a bit about your background? This isn't the first time you've started a company. Meaux: It's funny, I posted