10 things hospitality founders can learn from other industries

For the third and final panel event in CODE Founders Series 2026, powered by Toast, we brought together four hospitality founders who took unconventional routes into the industry. John Devitt of KOYA was a City trader; Pophams’ Ollie Gold worked in Formula 1; Rambutan’s Cynthia Shanmugalingam was an economist at the Treasury; and Ria Morgan-Ratcliffe of Ria’s worked in health tech. They spoke about transferable skills, lessons learned and how their previous careers have shaped the businesses they run today. Here are ten takeaways.

Test. Iterate. Learn.

“We wanted to do things differently. The big learning from my tech background is test, iterate, learn. We were learning continuously when we started Ria’s. We were never afraid to put something out, see if it works. We’re very much generalists, we’ve learned a lot as we’ve gone along. I’ve always been in start-ups. I’ve seen the chaos of that.” Ria

The best football managers didn’t always play football

“I don’t really watch any sport but I love the stories of sport. Someone told me the best football managers didn’t always play football. I feel that could apply to me. I have an outsider’s perspective. I’ll ask dumb questions and say “why can’t we do it this way?” Cynthia

Every little detail matters

“When we started Pophams, our focus was on pastry because it was the innovative product that was going to get people talking. Precision was a massive thing in Formula 1. I was really lucky to work with Mercedes for three years. I’ll always remember how that organisation prepped you for excellence and prepped you for every single minute detail being as important as the next. Formula 1 is the biggest, most creative, innovative motorsport there is. I had that fuel behind me to make it work.” Ollie

If something’s not working, cut your losses

“In the City, if it doesn’t work, whether that’s a trade or a contract, you leave very, very quickly. Don’t hold on to it. Don’t get emotionally attached, don’t let emotional attachment guide you.” John

Know your numbers. Know what’s happening every day.

“[From my background in economics] I’m never fazed by the numbers ever. Know your numbers. Know what’s happening every day. I’m also good at quite boring things like doing PowerPoint presentations which comes in handy, for example when you’re pitching for sites.” Cynthia

Cutting corners has a domino effect

“Never compromise on quality and excellence. Once you compromise, cut that corner, there’s a domino effect. It might seem a tiny thing at the time but you can see it run through the business.” Ollie

Being an outsider can be a competitive advantage

“Coming from another industry, I’ll ask “Why does it happen this way? Why can’t we do it this way?”. That’s the bliss of naivety. We did things differently, whether that’s even just annoying tech that our team has to onboard because it makes our life easier.” Ria

If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.

“That’s something I learned in my previous job and is now very much my approach. When you’re hiring, you can train a skill but you can’t train attitude, ambition, work ethic.” Ria

Getting things wrong is a master’s degree in how to get it right eventually

“Before Koya, I had a gastropub where any mistake I could have made, I generally made. From day one, I tried to work out how things move, how people move in a room, how air moves, how plates move, how everything moves, and I got it all wrong. When we finally got to Koya, having learned so much from getting it wrong, we kind of didn’t mess it up. It was a long education – a master’s degree in how to eventually get there and get it slightly right.” John

You’d be crazy not to ask for help.

“There’s a lot to get wrong and the stakes are really high. In hospitality, everybody really wants to help and is so kind and so generous with their time. You can’t ask people whether your idea’s any good because they don’t know but what people can help with are the really specific things, like lease negotiations and fire risk assessments.” Cynthia

Toast is the all-in-one POS platform built for hospitality. Trusted by more than 180,000 locations, Toast connects orders, payments and operations in one platform, with reliable technology designed to keep service moving.

Toast is proud to partner with CODE for the third year of the Founders Series, supporting honest conversations and practical advice from the people building and leading hospitality businesses.

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