Chris Meaux

Chairman of the Board | Mallard Bay Outdoors
Profiled: February 2018

⏮ REWIND

In January 2015, Estherwood, Louisiana native Chris Meaux introduced an on-demand food delivery restaurant platform that allowed anyone to order food from local restaurants online, or from any iPhone or Android device, and have it delivered. The app was free for users, who just paid a flat delivery fee for their food, but restaurants paid to be included.

In the three years since the launch of Waitr in Lake Charles, Waitr grew its presence to 150 cities and six states.

“We grew 390% between 2016 and 2017,” said Meaux. “We’ll do close to 9 million orders this year and all of it started in this notebook as an idea.”

Waitr’s operations center was in Lafayette, and its headquarters in Lake Charles. Total employment nationwide included 246 corporate employees and over 2,800 driver employees.

The company even attracted the attention of the then-New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, who led one of Waitr’s funding rounds in 2017. At the time, Waitr had raised $26 million in funding, almost all from Louisiana investors, and Meaux was looking at expanding into alcohol delivery, helping diners at fast casual restaurants avoid standing in line, and a grocery delivery pilot in Lake Charles.

⏭ FAST-FORWARD

Unfortunately, the Waitr story does not have a happy ending.

After going public in December 2018, it was acquired for $308 million by Texas billionaire and Landry’s Inc. CEO Tilman Fertitta’s Landcadia Holdings. Not long after, the company made a big move.

“In July 2019, the Waitr board decided they were going in a different direction and not so kindly asked me to leave,” said Meaux. “I agreed and left, and they brought in someone who they thought was the CEO of the future. It turned out he almost bankrupt the company in about six months.”

By December 2019, Waitr’s stock had fallen to under $1 per share for more than 30 days, resulting in a delisting warning from Nasdaq. Multiple losses followed, including a trademark lawsuit that forced the company to rebrand to ASAP in 2022. On April 2, 2024, ASAP filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to liquidate its assets.

“I was listening to a talk by Airbnb founder Brian Chesky and he talked about companies going from founder mode to manager mode,” said Meaux. “That’s exactly what happened. When a company is growing, sometimes the thought is it needs to go from founder mode to manager mode but Waitr was an example of a company that wasn’t ready to go to manager mode.”

A serial entrepreneur, Meaux has moved on. While he was still with Waitr, Meaux helped his son start a company called Mallard Bay Outdoors, a booking platform that connects sportsmen with hunting and fishing outfitters across the country. The company recently completed a $4.6 million series A funding round.

Meaux said the company has followed the Waitr playbook, benefiting from the knowledge Meaux has gained over the years. It is knowledge he is looking to share with others, first through a two-day bootcamp called “Napkin to Nasdaq” that Meaux is hosting in conjunction with Nexus Louisiana in Baton Rouge Oct. 28 and 29.

“It’s a two-day, drink-from-a-firehouse event that’s going to take startups from idea to exit,” explained Meaux. “I want to take my experience and bring that knowledge to other startup founders. After the bootcamp, our goal is to provide them with a roadmap to programs that are available to them and mentor and coach them along the way.”

Meaux said a book and an app will also be forthcoming, all under the umbrella of his new venture, Frameworxs, which he plans to launch before the end of the year.