The 60 Second Podcast

Zack Oates, CEO of Ovation

• Matt McCoy

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Zack Oates is one of those rare entrepreneurs who mixes heart, hustle, and hilarity. From scooping ice cream at Friendly’s to ringing the NASDAQ bell as CEO of Ovation, Zack’s journey is a masterclass in customer experience innovation. In this lightning-round episode, he shares why feedback is broken in restaurants, how Ovation is using AI to fix it, and what actually drives guest loyalty (hint: it’s not the food).

You’ll want to hear his “faster than a tweet” explanation of how Ovation turns unhappy guests into loyal fans.

Host: What’s one thing you believe most people in your industry get wrong?
Zack: Most restaurants think reviews equal feedback. But reviews are too late and too public. Feedback should be real-time, private, and actionable.

Host: What’s a key insight or principle you live by in business?
Zack: Simplicity wins. We built Ovation around a 2-question survey because guests don’t want to fill out long forms, and operators don’t want to sift through noise.

Host: In one sentence, what does your company do?
Zack: Ovation is the easiest way for restaurants to get actionable feedback that actually drives revenue.

Host: How do you measure success?
Zack: When our customers save a guest from never coming back and turn them into a regular.

Host: One piece of advice for future leaders?
Zack: Go deep, not wide. You can’t solve everything, but you can solve one thing better than anyone else.