About Us

Popcorn is the GTM agency you hire to deliver sales & marketing horsepower.

Restaurant tech is bursting at the seems and the competition is cut-throat. With thousands of players in the field, there's always someone claiming to do it better, faster, and cheaper. Just sitting on your SaaS won't move the chains forward. It's time to make it pop - or die trying.

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About us

Break into the "center stage" with a better GTM.

You're in a seriously crowded marketplace. The number of restaurant technology companies worldwide is growing faster every year. With Gen-AI and new GPTs being built, the number will rise even faster.

Estimates are between 1,500 and 5,000 serious companies that provide restaurant technology solutions. This landscape includes everything from POS systems, staffing, inventory, labor secluding, reservation and ordering platforms, to more specialized tech like AI for menu optimization, dynamic pricing, loyalty, customer analytics tools, and beyond.

In this industry, breaking through and being recognized in the "center stage" is critical to win enterprise business.

REACH OUT

Paul Molinari - Co-founder, CMO

Proven hospitality industry marketing strategist, thought leader, and content creator

For a quarter-century, Paul has been a creative pulse behind some of the world's most esteemed brands—Thomson, Tweeter, Digitas, General Motors, AstraZeneca, CrunchTime, and Immuta. It’s not just the diversity of industries—ranging from data security and hospitality to automotive and consumer retail—that sets him apart, but the impact he’s had. From launching GM's critically acclaimed online Owner Center and embedding AstraZeneca Rx sample ordering for doctors across the internet to lighting up the entire Las Vegas Strip with an intense brand campaign launch for Immuta, he's orchestrated marketing programs that generated a stunning $100 million+ in program-attributed revenue.

Guided by an insatiable curiosity and a knack for strategic thinking, he completed his undergraduate studies in upstate New York at Marist College before going on to earn his MBA from Northeastern University in Boston. His academic credentials aren't mere badges but rather vital frameworks that allow him to dissect and address complex marketing challenges for his business and his clients.

Now, you might think all work and no play would make Paul a dull boy—far from it! Music isn’t just a hobby; it’s a second language for him. He’s a musician, and his creative faculties also extend to graphic design and copywriting, and even authored a book about brand storytelling called, Heroes, Jedi's, and Dudes. As for his competitive streak? You'll find it alive and well on the beer league softball field where he’s known for his crafty pitching and always coming through with a curated selection of IPAs for the team.

At the end of the day, he’s most proud of his team at home. Based in Boston's south shore, he shares his life with his incredibly supportive and patient wife, three teenagers who never cease to amaze him, and a pair of crazies, Maverick & Rooster, who keep everyone on their toes.

Connect on LinkedIn

Boston, MA

Michael Beck - Co-founder, CRO

Proven enterprise sales practitioner, strategic planner, and champion of process

Michael Beck has been brokering deals with iconic brands for over 30 years. His commitment to sales mastery, team building, process and strategy are the driving forces behind his exceptional track record.  He is a proven enterprise sales practitioner, strategic planner, and champion of culture. 

Michael has been fortunate to gain experience across diverse industries, having worked with companies like ParTech, Restaurant Magic Data Central, Savi Solutions, CBS, Xpient, Altametrics, and ZippyApp. While he's honored to have achieved over $25 million in Annual Recurring Revenue and $200 million in Customer Lifetime Value, he believes these milestones were reached through collective team effort and the trust of his clients. With over 16,000 units sold, Michael is always seeking to learn and adapt, emphasizing the importance of consultative enterprise-centric sales methodologies that resonate with his client’s needs. He is passionate about Business Development, Social Selling, Revenue Enhancement, Sales Operations, Team Building, and Process Transformation, always aiming to do better than yesterday.

Service to his country in the US Army was a humbling and life-changing experience for Michael. He values community involvement and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute as a board member for "All Heroes Wear Masks" and to offer his perspective as an advisory board member for "Soup Kitchen, Inc."

Michael earned a BA from the University of Maryland and a culinary arts degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, Oregon. Learning, for Michael, is a continuous path. He's enriched his sales toolkit using methodologies from Miller Heiman, Dale Carnegie, the Sandler Selling System, the Challenger Sale approach, and Franklin Covey's leadership insights. These credentials reflect his genuine passion for sales and business development, ensuring he's well-equipped to understand and address diverse challenges for his business and his clientele.

Connect on LinkedIn

Tampa, FL

Chad Horn - VP, Partnerships

Proven restaurant technology partnership builder, category creator, and skilled sales enabler

Chad has been forging partnerships in restaurant technology for over 15 years with a focus on linking business strategy to integration and reseller partnership execution. He has proven experience as a restaurant technology partnership builder, category creator, and skilled sales enabler.

Chad has deep technology and reseller partnership experience with ParTech, Lightspeed, and ItsaCheckmate. He is also the co-founder of Devour, a category-creating restaurant web3 technology company.

Over the course of his career, Chad has developed and contracted over 400 partnerships. As a champion of partnership sales and influence attribution impact, his key strengths lie in partnership strategy, value discovery, and building.

Chad holds an MBA from Babson College's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He also has a B.S. in Psychology from Oregon State University.

Boston, MA

Molinari & Beck: A #NoBlur Story

In early 2013, Paul Molinari took the helm as the head of marketing at CrunchTime, a 15-year old tech startup founded by industry legend, Bill Bellissimo. Over the course of almost nine years at CrunchTime, he helped grow the company into the world-wide restaurant back office leader with over 40,000 locations under contract. Over the years, industry events like FSTEC, MURTEC, and the National Restaurant Show became a familiar setting where Paul would often cross paths with Michael Beck, a sales maven and skilled competitor from Restaurant Magic and later at Par - two legendary tech brands.

Despite being on opposite sides of the competitive landscape, a sense of mutual respect was palpable between the two after clocking in at so many competitive venues. After a while they started referring themselves to "Sam and Ralph" the competitive sheep dog and coyote made famous by those old Looney Tunes cartoon. So. they exchanged business cards, shared some laughs over trade show mishaps, and stayed in touch. morning-good-morning

Fast forward to the pandemic era, a time when Zoom calls became the new conference rooms and blurred backgrounds the new norm. Paul, ever the promoter with an eye for detail, saw this as a missed opportunity. He took to LinkedIn with a #NoBlur post, advocating for the importance of keeping backgrounds clear during virtual meetings. The idea was simple yet profound: a clear background could serve as a window into one's world, fostering deeper connections in a time of isolation -- especially amongst team members.

Beck, scrolling through his LinkedIn feed, stumbled upon Paul's #NoBlur post and found himself nodding in agreement. He soon reached out to Paul, and what started as a conversation about virtual backgrounds quickly evolved into discussions about restaurant market trends, Simon Sinek books, EOS business philosophies, and the future of restaurant technology.

As the conversations grew richer, Paul and Michael realized they were not just industry acquaintances but kindred spirits with a shared vision. The mutual respect they had nurtured over the years had laid the groundwork for something bigger. It was time to combine their unique skill sets and industry know-how for the greater good of the crowded restaurant technology space.

And so, Popcorn GTM was born — creating a unique blend of real-world sales and marketing expertise with a proven track record of significant success. With Paul's marketing acumen and Michael's sales strategies, Popcorn is set to revolutionize how restaurant technology companies go to market.

🍿 The Popcorn GTM brand is a fusion of rebellion and revelry, challenging the status quo while embracing the joy of the journey. Our ethos is fully planted in #noblur.

🍿 We believe that both marketing and sales, while intrinsically connected, doesn't have to be a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we infuse both with collaboration and creativity, making work a fun and engaging experience that resonates with our clients.

🍿 We're not afraid to take risks or think outside the box by bringing in experts in our industry. In fact, these experts are our Blackbox full of intellect and specialized expertise, but we do so with a sense of responsibility and strategic intelligence.

🍿 We are here for the restaurant and hospitality tech founders and CEOs who are driven, committed, and ready to invest in a winning future.

🍿 We are not here for the indecisive or those unwilling to embrace the value of strategic marketing and selling.

🍿 Our approach is tailored, not templated; innovative, not imitative.

🍿 We see the challenges in the restaurant hospitality SaaS industry not as barriers but as opportunities to explore, experiment, and excel.

🍿 We invite our clients to join us in this adventurous ride, where marketing becomes a playful art, and sales success is a shared celebration.

🍿 We're here to make waves, spark smiles, and create lasting connections.

🍿 Our attitude is not just about doing things differently; it's about doing them with purpose, passion, and a pinch of wit.

🍿 Michael Beck is a proven enterprise sales practitioner, strategic planner, and champion of process with 30-years of sales leadership and excellence. His relentless sales pursuit at companies like ParTech, Restaurant Magic Data Central, Savi Solutions, CBS, Xpient, Altametrics, and ZippyApp has amassed over $25 million in ARR / $200 million in CLTV, and 16,000+ units sold.

🍿 Paul Molinari has more than 25-years of top brand marketing leadership and strategy experience across many brands, like Digitas, General Motors, AstraZeneca, and Thomson. In hospitality tech, as the head of marketing for CrunchTime (2013-2021) Paul was the primary brand steward, marketing strategist, and content creator. He trend-set the GTM approach for the nascent BOH segment, spurring dozens of competitors. His programs attributed tens of $ millions in ARR and helped position the company for acquisition by Battery Ventures.