Menumal’s Growth Hack: Market Repositioning – Redefining the Value of Digital Menus
Founders Espresso: Inspiring Stories, Key Lessons, and Practical Tips from Hidden Champion Founders to Boost Your Entrepreneurial Journey.
Espresso Shots ☕
🚀 Startup Growth Hack: Menumal redefined digital menus by prioritizing user experience, aesthetics, and functionality, transforming a declining trend into a competitive advantage.
💡 Founder Spotlight: Leopoldo Angelini, CEO and Co-founder Menumal: Building a Winning Team by Breaking the Rules.
🗝️ Founder Tips: “Don’t Chase Ideas—Immerse Yourself in a Sector”
🛠️ Startup Tools: Implementing tools like Airtable to streamline lead management and CRM early on.
☕ Cup of Founders Wisdom: The Strategic Decision to Bootstrap.
🔋 Boost of Inspiration: Leopoldo Angelini’s Why—His passion for entrepreneurship started with a desire to turn complex problems into structured business models.
🚀Startup Growth Hack
Market Repositioning: Redefining the Value of Digital Menus
Leopoldo and his team transformed a post-pandemic decline in digital menus into an opportunity for innovation. While many restaurants abandoned QR-code-based menus due to negative user perception, Menumal redefined them as a premium solution, focusing on user experience, aesthetics, and operational efficiency.
Rather than just creating a digital menu, Menumal reimagined the entire concept by introducing features like real-time customization, allergen management, and translations into over 100 languages. Their growth hack was to position their solution as a high-quality, visually appealing digital menu that not only delivers superior functionality but also redefines the role of digital menus as cool, innovative enhancements to the dining experience—rather than fallback options.
This narrative shift, combined with a strong emphasis on aesthetics and user experience, enabled Menumal to reposition digital menus as the future standard, not a relic of pandemic constraints.
Leopoldo’s authentic and relatable pitch—starting with, “I know, I make digital menus, but hear me out”—disarms initial skepticism, captures attention, and turns perceived shortcomings into competitive advantages. By embracing the stigma and showcasing how it can be turned into a strength, Menumal successfully differentiated itself and reestablished digital menus as a must-have tool for modern restaurants.
💡 Founder Spotlight
Leopoldo Angelini, Co-Founder of Menumal: Building a Winning Team by Breaking the Rules
Leopoldo’s approach to building Menumal wasn’t about hiring top-tier talent from day one, “You can't expect an Amazon senior Exec to join a pre-seed startup”. Instead, he focused on finding passionate junior profiles, often straight from internships. By offering a compelling experience and a strong sense of belonging, he’s created a loyal, motivated team that’s deeply invested in Menumal’s success.
His unconventional strategy—hiring young talent and nurturing them through hands-on learning—allowed Menumal to scale quickly without the need for an expensive senior team.
Leopoldo believes that a successful founder should have at least these 3 core traits:
The ability to inspire trust
A relentless focus on execution,
The talent to sell the vision both internally and externally
“The CEO needs to be the ultimate salesperson, not just to clients but also to inspire and sell the vision internally.”
Hello there, I'm Andrea Marino, founder of Founders Espresso.
🗝️Founder Tips
Leopoldo Angelini’s Tip of the Week:
Don’t Chase Ideas—Immerse Yourself in a Sector
Leopoldo’s advice to aspiring founders is simple: don’t expect to solve big problems straight out of university. “When you’re 19, you don’t yet understand the real, complex challenges out there. Most obvious problems have already been solved,” he explains. For those struggling to find a startup idea, his suggestion is to start working in a sector that interests you. “Get hands-on experience, and within a few months, you’ll start seeing inefficiencies and gaps everywhere.”
The key is to immerse yourself in the industry. “If you’re not already a prodigy or living in a context that exposes you to hidden problems, you need to dive into a field and let the issues reveal themselves.”
🛠️Startup Tools
Menumal started with Airtable as their primary CRM and lead management system. It allowed them to keep track of performance and build a clear structure without incurring costs, making it an excellent tool for early-stage startups.
(Below, you'll find other valuable alternatives highlighted in the picture)
☕Cup of Founders Wisdom
Menumal: The Strategic Decision to Bootstrap
In the early days of Menumal, Leopoldo Angelini’s initial plan was to fundraise. With €10,000 of initial capital and a financial consultant on board, he focused on getting their finances in order and identifying available grants.
Within the first month, Menumal generated €8,000 in revenue, providing a financial cushion to support initial operations without the need for external investment. Mentorship played a key role in shaping their fundraising strategy. A pivotal conversation with a seasoned entrepreneur convinced Leopoldo that they didn’t need to raise funds just yet.
Instead, they chose to grow their customer base and prove product-market fit first. Today, with a team of 15 people and over 350 restaurants onboarded, Menumal is thriving without having diluted equity, positioning itself as a premium player in the digital menu space.
🔋Boost of Inspiration
Leopoldo Angelini’s Why
Leopoldo’s passion for entrepreneurship has its origin in his passion for tackling complex problems and transforming them into structured business models. “I want to build great companies and have a big impact, but I also want to have the freedom to enjoy my family in the future”. For Leopoldo, Menumal represents more than just a business—it’s his calling card in the tech world and his ticket to creating a lasting impact.
Stay tuned for more founders’ stories and updates in the next edition of Founders Espresso!
Sip up and Scale up together.
Andrea Marino - Founders Espresso
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