Ounce of Wisdom with Alonzo Cudd and Cijoy Olickal from GM Pilot
What happens when a stake holder in your potential market says, “Take My Money?” That was the aha moment for the Founders of GM PILOT in their journey to creating the right product for their niche.
Every entrepreneur dreams of the moment when a customer responds, I need this—right now. For Cijoy Olickal, that moment came in an unexpected way during a conversation with a CFO. What started as an idea to solve a pain point in restaurant operations quickly turned into a business opportunity when the response was immediate and emphatic: “Take my money and do this right now.”
In the latest episode of Ounce of Wisdom, we sit down with Cijoy and his co-founder Alonzo Cudd to unpack how they found product-market fit in one of the most competitive and complex industries: restaurants.
With 30 years of experience each—Cijoy in tech and transformation (including as CIO of Red Lobster), and Alonzo in restaurant marketing (14 years at Chipotle)—these two veterans didn’t just build a product. They built a solution that speaks directly to the needs of restaurant operators.
Their creation, GM PILOT™, is a back-office automation service that doesn’t require new software or training. It connects the dots between existing systems and takes over the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that bog down general managers. In their words, it’s like giving every GM a second-in-command who never sleeps and always focuses on improving the business.
But the road to that solution wasn’t straightforward. In the episode, they share how they had to let go of their original assumptions, listen deeply to customer feedback, and pivot toward what their users actually needed—even when it wasn’t what they expected.
“We were stubborn because we thought we had already solved the most important thing—but found out there was actually an even more important thing to solve first.” – Cijoy Olickal
They also talk about the importance of validating your market beyond your first client. After that initial aha moment, they took GM PILOT to industry conferences, tested the waters, and confirmed that they weren’t just solving a problem—they were solving the right problem, in a space that wasn’t already saturated.
“We realized that we had a really great available market… and there was a lot of excitement about what we were doing.” – Alonzo Cudd
This episode is a must-listen for anyone building a product, launching a startup, or trying to innovate from within an industry they know well. It’s a candid, insightful look at what it really takes to find product-market fit—and why listening, adapting, and staying close to your customer are the keys to getting there.
Listen now to hear the full story and take away actionable insights you can apply to your own business journey.
