Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Great software companies often come from understanding pain points at a very deep level.

On Grit, Aman Narang shares how Toast built trust with 171,000+ restaurant operators by helping restaurants manage everything from payments and online orders to staff scheduling and daily operations.

He also reflects on lessons around product-market fit and scaling a company before it’s fully ready.

Guest: Aman Narang, co-founder and CEO, Toast

Connect with Aman Narang
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aman-narang-155628

Connect with Toast
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/toast-inc
Instagram: instagram.com/toasttab
X: https://x.com/ToastTab?lang=en

Connect with Joubin:
X: https://x.com/Joubinmir
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com

Follow on LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/kpgrit

Follow on X:
https://x.com/KPGrit

​Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com

(00:00) Trailer
(00:40) Introduction
(01:22) Is it okay to start a company for money
(09:26) Meeting co-founder
(18:07) Discovering restaurants needed a full platform
(27:02) Extreme frugality in the early days
(37:33) Bringing in a CEO to scale
(52:12) Taking over as CEO of a $20 billion company
(01:03:30) The walk-out payment experience
(01:11:37) AI strategy for restaurants
(01:15:44) Who Toast is hiring
(01:16:02) What grit means to Aman
(01:16:40) Outro