Meet Lucious McDaniel IV, the 24-year-old entrepreneur solving food delivery’s last mile woes. His new app, BiteSight, is already turning heads and turning the tide. Co-founded with fellow tech entrepreneur Zac Schulwolf, the app seeks to improve the way we discover what to eat next by incorporating social media findings into the mix. Launched in mid-May, BiteSight found an instant audience. It gained more than 100,000 new users in the process, shooting to second on the App Store’s Food and Beverage category.
McDaniel’s process started when he realized he’d gotten into a rut where he was just ordering takeout from the same three restaurants all the time. Among the frustrations he encountered when exploring exciting food finds through typical delivery services. To combat this, he began creating a spreadsheet tracking restaurants he found through Instagram and TikTok. This spreadsheet was full of real consumer complaints and critiques from friends, representing a shared pain point for countless consumers.
I would run into this wall of cookie cutter restaurants, with stock pictures, and somehow every restaurant was rated 4.6 stars,” explained McDaniel. This small yet profound recognition that he was not the only person experiencing his particular situation gave him the confidence and agency to act.
In June, McDaniel posted a viral TikTok video expressing his exasperation and experience with the food delivery environment. The creativity behind this post led to amazing engagement, hitting almost 4 million likes on TikTok. It won the hearts of a quarter of a million fans on Instagram! A mere fifteen minutes later after posting the video, McDaniel’s sister texted him to inform him that the video was going viral. That surprise uptick in demand served as the perfect lightning rod to jumpstart interest in BiteSight.
“What made our video stand out was that what we are building resonates,” he explained. He started actively campaigning on social media, highlighting the app’s potential. This strategy plugged him into a generation that is comfortable with social-based recommendations and has a passion for short-form video.
After more than a year building BiteSight, McDaniel and Schulwolf recently premiered an early version of the app to the public in mid-May. Their strategy, both before and directly after launch, involved heavy social media promotion on all platforms to draw in users. They have tapped AI technology to maximize efficiency and reduce overhead costs. This flexibility gave Metro the opportunity to pass those savings directly to small business owners and customers.
The utility McDaniel touted is that with AI we can bypass enormous capital and infrastructure expenditures. This gives us the opportunity to do more with less and pass that savings on to small business owners and the consumers who need it most while continuing to maintain robust margins. This strategy enriches the user experience because it allows for a variety of dining options—all great fit for urban multifunctional corridors.
BiteSight’s innovative platform is built around the way today’s consumers are finding food. “We’re trying to be the go-to app for the generation that discovers everything through social recommendations and short-form video,” said McDaniel. This pledge places BiteSight as a new alternative within an app-dominated space heavily filled with traditional delivery platforms.
BiteSight is getting attention quickly. It is further indication of a new trend, one that provides a more fun and personal way to learn about food. The app’s design is a smart reflection of modern consumer expectations. It’s something that particularly appeals to Gen Z users who are looking for these authentic, relatable experiences in their dining options.
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