Mark Alves (Barcelona, 1983) is the CEO and co-founder of Fork, a company born in 2006 with the aim of helping restaurants face the digitization of their reservation processes. Soon, TheFork’s online booking website became very popular, and began to enter multiple markets: an accelerated expansion that made the giants of the digital sector take notice of it.
Finally, in 2014, in a move that would eventually serve to consolidate the growth of the company, in which Marcos Alves has continued to play a fundamental role.
Currently, Marcos combines his managerial role in the company with a prolific activity as private investor in new projects, as well as outstanding teaching work, making its knowledge available to entrepreneurs who dream of creating the next TheFork. Precisely, to learn a little more about the history of this company and its vision of the sector in Spain, we have spoken with Marcos Alves.
Interview with Marcos Alves, CEO and Founder of ElTenedor
It’s been 12 years since you created TheFork. At that time, eCommerce was something very residual, social networks were beginning to become popular and mobile phones… could hardly be called “smartphones”. How do you remember that time before the birth of TheFork? Why did you decide to create the company?
When we decided to launch this project, the Internet was revolutionizing all sectors and we realized that restoration also had to adapt to these new times. Many restaurants with which we had a relationship had problems managing their reservations and many difficulties to adapt to the online world, there was a need in the market. That is why our goal was to solve this problem and help them manage their reservations and gain visibility on the Internet.
Definitely, We promote the digitization of the world of restoration: creating our reservation management software what to them It allows manage your reservations efficiently and in parallel with the booking website, eltenedor.esto give restaurants visibility on the Internet and to provide a service to users allowing them to make their restaurant reservations quickly, free and online (as was already done with hotels or flights).
Once it was launched, how were the first months? Was there a moment when you thought that TheFork was not going to succeed?
One of the main obstacles that we met at our beginning was the traditional mentality of the restaurant sector and the need to change the habits of users.
Many restaurants rejected our project simply because it was online and they didn’t trust it. Little by little we changed this mentality, earning the trust of our customers and showing them that tools like ours help them grow and optimize the management of their business.
The same thing happened to us with the users, they were used to booking a hotel or a plane ticket online but not a restaurant, which they always used to book by calling. We had to work to change that habit and ensure that the user not only saw the usefulness of the service, but that he considered it almost essential to go to restaurants.
Obviously there were difficult moments, but quitting was never an option. An entrepreneur always believes in his project and fights for it until the end and we did so with TheFork.
The illusion, the desire to grow, to advance and to conquer the world often pushes you to want to cover too much, but this is not always possible, either due to lack of resources or simply because it is not the time.
In practice you have to prioritize, give up certain projects to focus on those that are really essential for the evolution of your business and this entails decisions that are not always easy.
In 2014, TheFork became part of Tripadvisor, although you have continued to be a fundamental part of its management. How did you experience this change in role? What would you say has been the main change in the company since then?
TripAdvisor was looking to strengthen its division dedicated to restaurants and noticed us as leaders of online reservations. The synergies between the two companies are so many and so interesting that the agreement was not long in coming. Both companies share the same entrepreneurial and customer-focused culture, which allowed for joint evolution. Thanks to the support, experience and support of TripAdvisor we will be able to continue growing and reach new countries.
Personally, I lived the change of role with great enthusiasmsince the resources and experience that TripAdvisor provided allowed us to carry out projects that we always dreamed of.
Now TheFork has a presence in multiple markets. How is the profile of your users? What are the main differences between users from different countries?
What really defines our users is the taste for gastronomy and for going out of restaurants. To give you some information, our users are 56% men and 44% women. Regarding age, 50% of them are between 30 and 50 years and they usually choose restaurants of Mediterranean and modern style cuisine and with an average price between 25-30 euros.
The differences between users in the different countries in which we operate are not that great. It usually focuses on small differences in the type of cuisine most consumed, the time in advance with which they make the reservation or the device they use (mobile or desktop).
Despite your experience, you work in a sector where there is a lot of competition. What would you say is TheFork’s main competitive advantage? What do you do better than the others?
ElTenedor was a pioneer in the market and from the beginning we focus on the restaurant sector. All our efforts are aimed, on the one hand, at increasing the visibility and growth of restaurants and, on the other, at helping Internet users find the perfect restaurant for every occasion. We are authentic experts in restoration and trends.
From TheFork we have always innovated, listening to our customers and adapting to the market. We currently have a leading appuseful and intuitive, and initiatives such as the first living guide to the best restaurants of the moment that is constantly updated.
All members of the digital community wait (and fear) for the moment when a giant like Google, Facebook or Amazon enters their market niche. How do you assess this in your case?
That a player like Google enters the sector allows the digital transformation of the market to accelerate and that is something very positive for the industry, it allows the restoration to continue evolving. Yes indeed, is viewed with respect.
Your professional career is not limited to TheFork: you have developed a remarkable job as a speaker, investor, mentor… If you could only give one piece of advice to someone who thinks they have a great idea and is dreaming of creating their own startup, what would it be?
My advice, believe in yourself and in what you do, trust and delegate to your team and learn from your mistakes. No one can guarantee the success of your project, to undertake is to assume the market risk and lose the fear of failure. In these times, innovation is needed, ideas needed and professionals capable of carrying it out.
You have been in the digital/eCommerce sector for many years. Without a doubt, you are one of the references in this field in Spain. Looking back, how do you assess these years of the sector in our country? Did you imagine that it would evolve as it has?
New technologies and the Internet began to change the sector for more than 10 years. At first, the restaurants did not trust and were very reluctant to change. Its traditional mentality and its way of doing things underwent a great revolution with the arrival of the Internet and services such as and its software . Little by little they saw how these new technologies made their day-to-day life easier and helped them reach their customers who were no longer in the usual channels, and who were now on the Internet.
10 years later, the sector is still beginning to digitize. Let’s say that restaurants have been digitizing from doors out, that is, most have a website, … but not so many have digitized their internal managementthe day-to-day in the dining room, its reservation book, the management of suppliers… This is where the challenge of restoration today lies, in an internal digitization.
Just What has surprised me the most about this evolution is the importance that has been given to external digitization and especially to social networks from the restaurants, forgetting in many cases that internal digitization, of its own management, essential to continue growing.
Imagine that you could travel back in time: what advice would you give to Marcos from 2006?
None, because you have to learn from your mistakes to get here. It is precisely the mistakes that make you learn and evolve.
Let’s do a bit of futurology: what headline would you like to read in Marketing4eCommerce in a year?
Restaurants no longer use paper reservation books, they now manage their customers with TheFork
And a little more difficult: imagine that we jump forward in time: how do you imagine TheFork in 2023?
Our goal is, without a doubt, to revolutionize restoration worldwide. To be present in more countries, more cities…in short, to be the world reference app for online restaurant reservations. That users always get the plan they want right on TheFork and that we are the essential tool for restaurants to manage their day-to-day activities and improve their business.
Quick quiz: Marcos Alves
- What is the first social network you open in the day? Twitter
- iOS or Android? iOS
- App or website?apps
- In which eCommerce and how long ago did you make your last online purchase? a firm of super original and practical neoprene bags
- And it was? CI bought a bag for my wife, who is a fan of the brand.
- Last book read? I am reading the . If I’m honest, right now the readings in which I am an expert are the children’s stories that I read to my son Mateo and my daughter Carlota.
- Recommend us a fiction series Game of Thrones
- What website have you come across lately that has surprised you for the better?
- What is your favorite thing to do that has nothing to do with digital? Being with the family and playing paddle tennis
- He recommended that we interview you. What do you think of his work these years at Antevenio and the role he can play in the new stage that is now beginning? I consider that both Fernando and his partner Joshua are cracks, and they have shown it with their work and the sale of the company. Regarding his new role, perhaps you should better ask him that, but given his experience, his role will undoubtedly be key.
- Let’s spin a magic chain: Which acquaintance of yours (from another company) do you think we should interview? Why? Ander Michelena (), I am passionate about his business vision and his…
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