Shane Murphy wasn’t looking to start a business. He was working at a restaurant operations software company when he realized something—small and mid-sized restaurant owners were being outgunned. While corporate chains had million-dollar marketing budgets and loyalty programs optimized to squeeze every cent from repeat customers, independent restaurants were left guessing. They’d print flyers, send mass emails, and rely on word-of-mouth, but nothing felt predictable.
At first, Shane envisioned a marketplace app for online ordering and loyalty programs. But like many early-stage startups, the idea quickly ran into a common roadblock: the classic “chicken and egg” problem. Without enough restaurants signed up, customers wouldn’t come—and without enough customers, restaurants wouldn’t sign up. The plan had to change.
After multiple pivots, testing different models, and refining his pitch after every validation interview, Shane landed on a new approach: direct online ordering for restaurants, combined with marketing tools to boost sales. That, too, would evolve—until eventually, Boostly became what it is today: a behavioral-based text marketing platform that drives restaurant revenue on autopilot.
