Seth Gerber joined a Boston restaurant group as co-owner and restaurant director and promised not to play it safe. He became personally invested in Mida’s success and helped develop its concept with the founders. The restaurant opened with extremely challenging first six months and nearly failed due to rapid cash burn and the need for additional capital. Gerber identified a conceptual mismatch between the avant-garde small plates and the brand he envisioned, describing the style as too chic and lacking warmth. He adjusted the approach by drawing inspiration from Italian neighborhoods to create a friendlier, more approachable atmosphere while maintaining quality and values. He later expanded Mida into multiple locations and became a hospitality professor at Boston University, teaching hospitality inside a real restaurant.
"To be honest with you, when we first opened MIDA, it did not go well. Our first six months of operation were extremely challenging. We actually almost failed. The restaurant burned through cash quickly and needed additional capital just to survive. Gerber says the team was "on sort of like the last legs" of figuring out whether the concept could work at all."
"But beneath the numbers and customer headcounts lay a fundamental issue Gerber needed to address. Mida served avant-garde small plates, and it just didn't conceptually fit what Gerber imagined the brand could be. It was too chic and needed more warmth, so he switched up the approach, drawing inspiration from Italian neighborhoods to bring in a friendlier, more approachable style while still upholding Mida's quality and values."
"He learned more from almost failing than from any business plan. He sees hospitality as something deeply tied to how people connect, celebrate and support one another. Now he teaches hospitality the only way he thinks it can be taught: inside a real restaurant."
Read at Entrepreneur
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