Weekly Sync — February 23, 2026¶
Participants: Stephen, Can
Duration: ~30 min
Cadence: Weekly Mondays (starting now)
Summary¶
Product is nearly ready for soft launch. Can compared PoutineAI against Plooto and Apron and prefers PoutineAI's simplicity. Two feature gaps identified as soft-launch blockers: payment method tracking and expense classification. Outbound supplier payments confirmed as the long-term competitive moat. Agreed on free tier strategy for first customers and weekly Monday sync cadence.
Key Decisions¶
| # | Decision |
|---|---|
| 1 | Soft launch: mid-March to mid-May 2026 — Can sees product as nearly ready |
| 2 | Weekly Monday syncs — ~30 min, good start to the week |
| 3 | Free for first 5-6+ customers — marginal cost is near zero; feedback > revenue |
| 4 | Payments = the moat — AI agents can replicate invoice OCR, but moving money is the defensibility layer |
| 5 | Credit card payments first — easiest to implement, then Interac, then deeper bank integration |
| 6 | Desktop-first — restaurants mostly use computers; mobile responsive is nice-to-have |
| 7 | Niche, niche, niche — restaurants only for now; resist feature creep |
| 8 | QuickBooks App Store — target for distribution (not Xero, since Quebec-first) |
| 9 | Multi-vertical rebrand later — same product, different branding: restaurants → vets → dentists → UK |
| 10 | UK = Xero App Store — accountants as channel partners, affiliate model |
Product Validation¶
"I would use it at this point. And I would use it over Plooto. I would use it over Apron." — Can
"If they can see their food cost in 2-3 clicks, this is a huge benefit for the restaurant." — Can
"Honestly I prefer PoutineAI. It's very simple. My guys don't need the complicated stuff." — Can
Feature Requests (Soft-Launch Blockers)¶
1. Payment Method on "Mark as Paid"¶
When marking an invoice as paid, capture how it was paid: - Credit card (last 4 digits) - Bank account (last 4 digits) - Cash - Cheque
Pre-configured in Settings. Critical for accounting accuracy.
2. AI Expense Classification¶
Auto-classify invoices into broad categories: - COGS — Food - COGS — Alcohol - Services - Utilities - Supplies - Other
AI classifies automatically from line items. Dashboard shows food cost breakdown — the #1 metric restaurants care about.
3. In-App AI Chatbot (Post-Launch)¶
Embedded help agent that: - Answers "how do I..." questions in French - Collects feature requests automatically - Flags UX confusion points (if users ask too many questions, the UI needs work)
The Payments Moat¶
Both founders aligned: payment processing is the competitive moat.
| What AI agents can replicate | What they can't |
|---|---|
| Invoice OCR | FINTRAC MSB registration |
| Data extraction | Banking partnerships |
| Expense classification | PAD agreements with restaurants |
| Dashboard UI | Trust to debit bank accounts |
| Supplier payment network |
Phased approach: 1. Credit card (Stripe) — 2-3 weeks 2. EFT/PAD (VoPay) — 4-8 weeks 3. Interac — via VoPay 4. Real-Time Rail — Q3 2026 ($0.05/txn)
Full research: Payments Moat Analysis
Go-To-Market Strategy¶
Outreach¶
- Channels: Instagram + Facebook (where Quebec restaurants live), LinkedIn (already scraped), cold email
- Language: French-first
- Framework: Pain point → Credibility (Can's restaurant/wine import background) → Solution (Loom demo) → CTA (free trial)
- Async working well: Loom videos for bug reports and feature discussion
Distribution Roadmap¶
- Now: Direct outreach to Can's network
- Soft launch: Free tier, 5-6 restaurants
- Quebec: Instagram/Facebook scraping, cold email with French Loom demo
- Canada: QuickBooks App Store listing
- UK: Xero App Store, accountant channel partners
Technical Updates¶
- WhatsApp bug fixed — separate production + testing phone numbers being wired in
- Multi-tenancy added — super users, restaurant owners, delegated staff/accountants
- End-to-end testing — automated tests for WhatsApp, upload, and email paths
- Onboarding UX — ongoing investment in making it as smooth as possible
- Billing (Stripe) — already set up, just needs enabling
Action Items¶
| Owner | Action | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen | Wire in production + testing WhatsApp numbers | 🔴 This week |
| Stephen | Build payment method tracking (spec 026) | 🔴 Pre-launch |
| Stephen | Build expense classification (spec 027) | 🔴 Pre-launch |
| Stephen | Test mobile responsiveness | 🟡 Pre-launch |
| Stephen | Scrape Instagram + Facebook for Quebec restaurant leads | 🟡 |
| Stephen | Build cold email outreach pipeline | 🟡 |
| Stephen | Start Stripe Connect integration (spec 029) | 🟢 Post-launch |
| Can | Record French Loom demo | 🔴 Pre-launch |
| Can | Send Loom video with remaining issues/bugs | 🔴 This week |
| Can | Ask soft launch customers about pricing expectations | 🟡 During launch |
| Can | Compare with Plooto/Apron — list any missing features | 🟡 |
| Both | Weekly Monday sync | ✅ Recurring |
Next sync: Monday, March 2, 2026