Startup Exits Podcast with Patrick O’Donnell, founder of Urbanspoon
The $50 million sale to Zomato: how Patrick started, ran and sold Urbanspoon

Patrick O'Donnell
Founder of Urbanspoon
Launched on the day the App Store opened, Urbanspoon was one of the most iconic apps created in the early iPhone era. Having been through a few exits already, Patrick co-founded and helped to grow Urbanspoon to millions of users and a successful acquisition by IAC and Zomato.
We chat with Patrick about
- Disrupting education
- Early days of Urbanspoon
- Startups & family: work-life balance
- How Urbanspoon was featured in Apple’s commercial
- Innovative UX or gimmick?
- Scaling a product in a paradigm shift
- Acquisition transition: founder vs employee experience
- Patrick’s new company, FreshChalk
- How do you productize personal recommendations?
- The future of word-of-mouth
Patrick is currently taking on Yelp with his new friend recommendation startup, Fresh Chalk.