Connecting People

Josh Rossmeisl has over 25 years in the hospitality industry working in all sectors from upscale dining to casual theme restaurants.   Josh began his career in the industry as a dishwasher and worked his way up over the years without forgetting where he started.   Most recently he worked as Chief Operating Officer with Kings Dining & Entertainment where for over 15 years he successfully grew 11 high volume, boutique “Eatertainment” venues across 10 cities & 5 states. There, he was recognized by Nations Restaurant News as a "Top Influential Leader" in 2020 and had a 96% approval rating and 4.5/5 employee rating on Glassdoor.  Josh is a passionate leader with a core belief in building culture around a shared purpose, mission and values.  Among his primary strengths are scaling brands, new store development, process implementation and refinement, people development, menu innovation, and maximizing sales-building opportunities.

The Problem

In today’s world, people tend to be more disconnected than ever.  Pervasive technology is slowly replacing genuine human interaction, phones are becoming the lens through which we experience reality and “social” networks often distance us more than uniting us.  Our mission is to provide an environment built on unique, “analog” experiences that create and elevate human connection and provides catharsis from digital exhaustion while simultaneously slowing time down to allow genuine connections to be made. 

The Project

We plan to achieve this by launching a hospitality brand that marries engaging, low tech gaming and unique entertainment with inherently shareable tapas-style food and inventive beverages to create experiences packed with laughs, interaction and meaningful firsts.

Elevating Humanity

In doing this, we believe we can make guests happier by slowing their perception of time, as an extension, creating powerful, lasting experiences and memories that enrich their relationships to other humans.

Those authentic, sometimes awkward connecting moments in relationships that bond people through vulnerability have been replaced by reaching for cell phones to open up apps and see what other people are doing rather than “connect” with the humans sitting next to them. The scale of this problem is nearly universal and, as it becomes more normalized daily, threatens to become one of the most pervasive, but least talked about social issues we face.

It has become so mainstream that the act of ignoring a friend or partner in favor of a screen has received its own dictionary term, “phubbing”.  A 2016 study showed that 70% of couples studied said that cell phones interfered with their interactions with their partners.  A 2019 study in Psychological Reports showed “phubbing” to predict anxiety, depression, hostility, and somatization.

Our goal is to provide a fun, social environment that encourages people to unplug from their devices and string together moments of laughter, shared experiences, and unique memories.  The more we remind people the value of this human connection, the more we can chip away at a global problem.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes..even you”  - Anne Lamott

In a world where “time flies”, our goal is to slow it down by creating “firsts” for people.  The key to making the perception of time slows down is to create new experiences and stimulate people’s minds.  Fresh and new experiences, actually stretch our mind’s perception of time.  The way to activate the “reminiscence bump” is through novelty, evolving experiences that we offer between food, drinks, and entertainment, thereby changing the neural mechanisms that process interval timing.  When you have to think about something that is both new, novelty, and exciting, your brain perceives time differently and carefully captures images and makes memories.  Studies have proven that when you are experiencing lots of new stimuli, and everything is new—time actually seems to be passing more slowly. When in habit formed routines, the production of mental images slows, giving the sense that time passes more rapidly.  This is accomplished by offering a reprieve from technology by offering low tech experiences that center around connections and not technology, so our goal is to have most, if not all of our experiences be with head to head with little technology, which takes up the majority of peoples time and attention these days.

Our Team:  Each location will employ 75-120 team members with the goal of fostering the autonomy, mastery, and purpose that will enrich their lives, develop their careers, open doors and create a special culture. Ultimately, our goal is to be the employer of choice by taking care of our team and creating a special, meritocratic culture different than most places where the best ideas win.  We pride ourselves on fostering a community of creativity, inclusion and opportunity. We build teams and create positions around people, rather than the other way around and love letting individual talents shine. We are constantly learning, but we believe in holistic training and investing time and sweat equity in bettering ourselves and each other.

Our Guests: We provide a service to our community and the surrounding communities that foster deep connections with our guests improving morale and deepening relationships.

Our Community: One of the 4 lines of our new company mission statement is to “Share with the community as we grow”, which will always be part of our decision-making process to serve outside of our four walls those who are able to use our business for good.  

People are growing further apart from each other, while “Connected” (Our brand) literally brings people together in a fun and safe environment designed to bridge the gap between our desire to be social creatures and the disconnect caused by devices and technologies that erode the quality of our interactions.  Studies show that people are increasingly seeking out “experiences” more than fungible goods due to the lack of connectedness they feel with other humans.  We are reshaping the experience revolution to begin healing our society that was dominated by materialistic patterns that were forced on humans who are wired for interconnectedness.

Our team has been together for about 15+ years where we previously worked for owners and a company that was destroyed by Covid19 paired with traditional corporate greed.  We made the choice to band together, risk it all and do what we knew we could and formed a company.  Our commitment as a team is to better each other, to grow through consistent education and hard work, and to do right by the people we serve... our Team Members, incredible guests, and our community.

We are committed to proving that a company doesn’t have to be built on corporate greed and distrust for the team of people who run it.  We want to prove that trust is the highest form of human motivation and that a small group of dedicated people can change the world through a shared belief system that autonomy, mastery, and purpose reigns over the traditional “carrots and sticks” way of thinking that so many companies believe in.  We believe this is the cultural foundation that allows our diverse team to achieve the goal of enriching people’s lives; both our guests and our team.  

Our company is built and with some support we can make anything happen. 

What we do, outside of the guest experience is we give purpose to our people.  Lost and disengaged souls who travel this planet with hidden talents that traditional corporate America doesn’t recognize or tap into.   This was the secret sauce of how we grew our last brand and this is how we will grow our new company bigger and smarter than before.  We operate with the philosophy of servant leadership and we know that a superior guest experience begins by taking care of our team first. From here, we are able to achieve the theory of interconnectedness through unique and analog experiences help enrich our guests’ lives.  We will use this same passionate process to continue to seek out other ways to unite people in ways that our industry has never achieved before on a large scale.  

What we’ve already accomplished in a short time since we started this journey has been an inspiration.  Our project is about to “tip” and we will prove how important culture is to a successful company.  

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”  -Margaret Mead

We have a team of over 100 of the greatest leaders in the industry and hundreds of years of combined experience and passion  to do the job.  Our team of “volunteers” are earning no money, and doing what they are doing because they believe.
Previously, we grew “Kings Dining and Entertainment” from a seedling of an idea to an 11-unit, powerhouse eatertainment brand with millions of passionate guests and the most cohesive management “families” we can imagine. We’re committed to continuously learning about what we do and have been working seven days a week since the pandemic started to build this new company.   We are excited to bring our planning to reality and create a purpose-driven company.  The culture and foundation we have is our most powerful weapon.  We have a concept that will help to improve the quality of life of people in our world, which will help a society that is starved for the interconnectedness we are wired for.

The hardest thing to build in a company is a culture built on sincere values that have emerged through adversity.  We have this in spades and this is what allows us to evolve and pivot the way we do and will help us accomplish our goal as well as the long term “BHAG’s” we have as a team.  An idea is just a dream without an action-oriented, diverse team that is adaptable and willing to work collaboratively on the constant evolution that often leads a team to greatness and flow.

Most recently during the pandemic, our cultural foundation was tested by corporate greed.  When the company we grew and ran for 15 years’ operations halted, we were faced with tremendous challenges both inside and outside the company we built together and loved.  Ultimately we were forced from the company by the owners in a way that would shock people if they knew the story, and rather than feel sorry for ourselves and focus on the negative forces that had monetary control during the Covid19 situation, we quickly formed our own company and vow to do right by our team and not sell out our values.

Instead of “Carrot and Sticks” most companies choose, we vow to create a culture built around rewarding our team with Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose and becoming 1% better each day - hence our parent company name, AMPUp1 Hospitality.  We grew through adversity and always learned by evolving and being in control of our egos. As terrible as this situation was and as angry as many of us were in the way the “owners” treated the team that grew and protected their company - it never derailed us from protecting the values that we believed in.

I started over 25 years ago in the hospitality industry as a dishwasher.  I was given an opportunity to become a leader early on and have appreciated the responsibility this role entails.  In doing so, I’ve committed to growing those around me who are in the company, rather than seeking out easy solutions and hiring leaders from the outside who’s only talent is writing good resumes and interviewing well.  

In the last company that I ran for 15 years, the vast majority of the “senior leadership” team started in hourly roles and were nurtured into positions based on their actions, virtues, and grit.  Over 85% of our over 125+ managers started in hourly roles including 4 out of 11 General Managers who started as busboys.  I believe in planting seeds and allowing people to grow with time and a commitment to growing those around me.  I create an environment where our leaders are not scared to train their replacement, rather see value in giving people opportunities. It’s not who the person is today that matters- but what they can be if you believe in them.  Mistakes don’t define you, but how you choose to respond to a situation does.  

With Connected, we see an opportunity to solve for human needs and do so in an inventive and important way that is unique from our industry peers.  By starting from scratch with experience, perspective and without debt, we are building our business with our “North Star” guiding us and our unique offerings are dictated by the purpose, mission and values of that North Star.  These offerings start with a membership-driven model where our guests are welcomed into our community several times a month, rather than once a year as is the industry standard.  This allows them to form a relationship with our space, our team and each other that is unique to any other “eatertainment” venue.  Rather than focusing on the shiniest new VR games or loudest and brightest arcade cabinets, we are intently focused on the low tech and experiential.  We’ve found that a few cut up 2x4’s in the form of a giant Jenga tower engages, captivates and connects our guests far more profoundly than entering yet another virtual reality world they are immersed in. 
As laws allow, we’ll enthusiastically offer Cannabis and CBD as we feel they will further enhance our guests’ ability to explore, connect and experience in a novel fashion and introduce an alternative to alcohol consumption for our guests.  Our tapas style food offerings will focus on quality, shareability and exploration.  In our experience, a “small plates” meal drums up socialization, discovery and satisfaction.  Sharing food has proven to bring groups closer together.

The Problem: A broad swath of our society is addicted to technology to the point where it is negatively affecting their interpersonal relationships, their overall fulfillment and happiness.

Activity - Provide welcoming, attractive eatertainment environment that encourages and enhances interpersonal interaction and an outlet to “unplug”.

Output - Guests are educated and reminded of the value of these interactions as they experience connection, dialogue, laughter that are reinforced by a hit of Dopamine.

Short Term Outcome - Guests return, as encouraged externally our membership program, and internally by their most salient memories of their previous visit.  They choose different social experiences that stimulate continued positive biological and societal reinforcers of their behaviors.

Long Term Outcome -  Guests make the causal link between choosing “analog”/non-tech, experiential, social behaviors and their desired outcomes of connection, happiness and fulfillment.

Desired State: A world in which our guests are re-awakened to the importance of human interaction, play and dialogue to strengthen relationships and increase happiness and connectedness.  

Right now, we have a team of 20 people working with us.  As we emerge, our venues will serve about 300 thousand guests a year.  

Our goal is to grow our brand to 10 venues within 5 years touching approximately 2.5 million guests annually.  

Our impact goal is to elevate humanity by connecting individuals in a real and impactful way.  In our first year, we intend to offer an incredible experience for our guests that will do just this.  We will also begin planting seeds within our community so we can grow strong roots and study how we can have a measurable impact inside and outside of our four walls.  From day one, we will calibrate, observe and evolve our concept, our offerings and our beliefs to ensure we are hitting the mark and staying aligned with our North Star.  As we prove our concept to ourselves and the masses, we plan to seize the next five years to begin growing across the country and learning along the way.  Ultimately, our aim is to bring levity to an ever-increasingly stressful and confusing world by creating experiences and moments for our guests that enrich their lives and stand out in the timeline of their lives.  We have a deeply rooted commitment to share with our community as we grow.

First year barriers:

1. Funding/Raising Capital - As a startup with an approximate buildout cost of $7mm, our most immediate barrier is raising funding to open our first location, pay our team and execute our growth strategy.  Having funding to allow us to invest in foundational technology that will enable us to focus on sustainable growth is key in the early phase.

2. COVID-19 Concerns - With the current uncertainty surrounding COVID 19 and the foundation of our business being built on human connection, we must weather the storm until a vaccine, treatment or cure are widely available.

   3.  Legal Support-  There are many legal challenges in the start up phase that we need assistance with that help us protect our team and our brand.

Long term barriers include:

1. Increasing Competition - the market is ripe for the growth of “eatertainment” brands and we will no doubt see an increase of competitors and innovation in the space.

2. Raising Capital - As we begin to grow, the financial needs of the company will shift from “proof of concept” to “growth mode” and with it will bring a new set of goals that will require different levels of funding challenges.

3. Selecting Great Sites - As we grow and our segment grows, A+ locations will be more challenging to find.

Short Term Barriers:

1. Raising Capital - we have already begun addressing this barrier head-on by networking, pitching and creatively structuring deals with developers and friends and family that will set the stage for our first two locations.  

2. COVID-19 Concerns - In some ways, it's a waiting game as we count on the world’s top researchers and scientists to quickly develop solutions to a global issues.  Internally, we’ve planned the concept with the “new normal” guest mentality in mind with innovative safety and sanitation practices including the end of bowling shoes and UV technology to clean individual bowling balls.

Long Term Barriers:

1. Increasing Competition - while we study and respect the competition in the field, we don’t engage in reactive business behaviors.  We’ve found that staying true to our North Star and studying, listening and evolving with our guests are strategies that allow us to stand the test of time.  We commit to staying adaptable.

2. Raising Capital - We realize the importance of “nailing it” with our first location.  This will serve as the model of success which will open doors to larger growth conversations with our current and potential future investment partners.

3. Selecting Great Sites - while this can be equal parts science and art, we have learned a lot about what makes for a successful site for our business beyond standard demographics.  We are committed to continuing to develop our “SWOT” and strengthening the algorithm and carefully select sites that we’ve fully vetted based on our unique criteria.  

Most benefits are outlined above and I also have a very comprehensive pitch deck that breaks down the business model in great detail with charts and graphs that really illustrate the viability of the brand and model.  I would love to present this to the committee for review of our project!

A few notes:
Beyond taxes we pay that will help benefit the community- Each location will employ between 75 to 120 team members and leaders.  We don’t view this as simply employing people.  Our culture focuses on growing them into great leaders and business associates in our industry and beyond.  We take being employers seriously and love transforming raw talent into great leaders.  Instead of giving people “jobs”, we focus on developing “careers”.

Our venues will commit to opening its doors to the community to allow the venue to serve as an outlet to raise funds and awareness of causes that are important to the community.  There is a specific amount of time each month that we commit to these important fundraisers and community based events.  We are also committing a portion of our “membership” sales to specific community organizations voted on by our guests.  Our mission is to “share with the community as we grow” as we will never forget this and never sell out.  Corporate social responsibility is encoded in our DNA.  

We have a highly successful business model that we have spent 15 years perfecting in our last company.  Adversity taught us a lot.  

Our new model is stronger than ever with incredible margins that will ensure sustainability.  We put systems, controls and processes in place that ensure our success and study trends before they become irreversible and adjust as needed to protect the business.  We solve problems and don’t cover them up or make excuses.  

We manage our business from the top line and not bottom line. We put smart people in place and give them the tools and space to do the job.  The money flows to the bottom line naturally and we don’t have to sell out and impact our model and guests by focusing solely on profits. 

In my 25+ years in this industry, I’ve learned that having leaders who are empowered that have phycological safety are 10X more likely to protect and build the business no matter the technology.  Those working for a paycheck, get just that.  Those who have a meaningful purpose, operate like owners.

Sources of funds are from developers who are extremely excited to partner with “Connected”, friends and family who support the objectives of “Connected” and some debt from lenders who have bought into our financial model.  The business model provides free cash flow to support future Connected brand openings.

I have a very detailed financial model I would love to review with the committee if given the opportunity.  

None yet. 

We are seeking $6mm to $7mm to open two “Connected” brand locations, this would represent ~35% of the total investment.  The remaining 65% would come from bank debt and developer\landlord lease contributions.

Right now we are using our personal money and borrowing money from family as well as remortgaging my house and selling my car to support our work on building our company.  We are “bootstrapping” and conserving in every way we can to enter into our business model with no debt.  

2020 expenses are minimal start-up costs, which we anticipate a maximum of $250k-$300k in start up costs that will assist smart growth.

Early 2021 is when we anticipate our construction would begin and expect to spend $14MM in 2021.  

(We have a full business pro forma worked out that outline in detail our anticipated expenses.)

We are truly on the brink of a “tipping point”.  

We have locations, a team and a fully developed concept that we’ve been working on for months.  Our team is putting sweat equity into the company we are building.  We lack funding that will give us the start we need to take our dream to fruition.  The hard part is done and the prize would be the ultimate icing on the cake.  

The Elevate prize could help us engage a few professional roles that we need to move our project forward.

The Elevate prize would literally help support my team that is working on zero pay right now to help keep fueling the fire that is burning strong.  None of them know I am submitting this.  I can’t explain what it means to me that they have locked arms and stood behind me to take this dream to reality.  I would do anything to support this crew.

We would also use the money to invest in some much needed technology that would accelerate our momentum by giving us a few important tools that could support the departments.  

As we launch our brand, we are focused on starting small, thinking big and scaling appropriately.  We are great operators and passionate, hard working leaders, but there are areas in legal, real estate, construction and finance that would help us scale and grow safer to allow our focuses to be on protecting the culture and brand.  We want to learn how to become better at these areas we’ve had little exposure to and would sincerely relish the opportunity to learn from experts and continue to grow and refine our skill set.  

Not specific names, but specific areas:

• New business legal assistance 
• Human Resources/Employment legal assistance 
• Design and construction assistance 
• Construction management 
• Real estate selection and Lease negotiation
• Financial assistance - specific to funding and equity
• Graphic design support