FIVE FACTS THAT MAKE AN IMPACT:CEO Savneet Singh Takes Restaurant Tech Company from Bankruptcy to Billions
Savneet Singh has found success in everything from venture capitalism, fintech, entrepreneurship, precious metals and software. Currently, the president and CEO of PAR Technology Corp., a leading provider of software systems and service solutions for the restaurant industry, Singh joined Whitman Interim Dean Alex McKelvie on April 1 for a fireside chat as part of the Whitman School of Management’s IMPACT Speaker Series. The series brings in high profile business professionals to share their career experience and advice with students.
As early as his teens, Singh has been making business happen, selling baseball and basketball trading cards with his brother on eBay to earn money. Since graduating from Cornell University with a degree in applied economics and management, he has had a string of successes working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley; co-founding GBI, a financial software platform for trading and storing physical precious metals; and becoming a partner in CoVenture, a fintech-based asset management firm, just to name a few.
In 2018, however, he left a lucrative career to take on the role as CEO of PAR Technology Corp., headquartered in New Hartford, New York, when the 50-year-old company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Using his experience and business savvy, Singh turned the company into the $2.75 billion restaurant software company it is today.
Singh shared some of the wisdom he’s gathered as he pivoted from one role to the next in his multi-faceted career.
Here are some of the highlights he shared with Whitman students:
When your company is in acute pain, you have no choice but to make the hard decisions.
Initially, Singh joined PAR Technology as a board member of the former defense contractor that had invented the point of sale terminal used in restaurants, but the company was in decline. Soon, the former CFO was headed to prison and the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice were bearing down on the company. with cash running low, the concern was around survival. Singh rose to the challenge, becoming president and CEO with the intention of selling, but instead he decided to transform the company to focus on restaurant software solutions. To do so, however, he knew he had to change the company culture and make some difficult choices, including laying off 25% of its employees. “I had no playbook,” he says. ”I called everyone at the company in and told them we were in for some challenging changes, putting the blame on myself and other top executives to show employees the importance of management’s accountability,” he says. “Despite the pain it caused, I actually got a semi-standing ovation for being transparent.”
Focus on bringing the right people in the door.
As Singh transformed the company, he wasn’t about to settle for the status quo. “I wanted Hall of Fame results, and that meant finding people who could run the company and buy into its new culture,” says Singh, noting he was looking for those with authenticity, empathy and execution. “We started taking risks with our talent, bringing people in the door and making sure that, if they were a good fit, they never left. I wanted to hire people who made me say, ‘I can’t do their job better than they can.’ We became very strategic about making sure we had the right team in place.”
This too will pass; the world is not ending right now.
Even when times were tough, Singh focused on positivity. “My job is 100% dealing with problem after problem. But it’s important to stay positive because you only live once, and you have a choice to be successful now,” he says. “We know we’ll figure it out. The world is not ending right now. Humans self-correct really well, even though bad things happen. Every single month of my life, there is another challenge, but if you tell yourself to keep going, work harder and surround yourself with the best team, it tends to all work out.”
Take your parents advice.
As Singh’s father listened in the audience, the CEO told how at age 14, he wanted to excel at tennis but was too rational and logical about his chances of playing professionally, so he decided to focus on his studies and get into an Ivy League school. He had to break the news to his father, who he thought might be pleased with his academic ambitions. “My dad’s response was, ‘So, you’re a quitter? Remember how you feel today because you can’t be a quitter tomorrow,’ and I’ll always remember that,” says Singh. “This sports analogy remains true: Do you want to be a Kobe (Bryant) or just sit in the stands and watch Kobe? In business, I want to be Kobe, and I am blessed that I had parents that turned that moment when I gave up professional tennis aspirations into a lesson. While business and technology may change, the things your parents taught you will almost assuredly remain true.”
Be careful about getting comfortable.
While Singh had many lucrative career opportunities, he warns about getting too comfortable. “Being comfortable makes me UNcomfortable,” he says. “Never settle. We have to disrupt ourselves every day because someone or something is coming after us always. He notes that before joining PAR, he had a great job making a large salary in New York City. But something inside him thrives on uncomfortability. “What’s the point of being average?” says Singh, noting that the natural human tendency is stasis, and that doesn’t work for him. “You have to keep pushing through. Find an interest in something nascent and be as smart as you can about it. If you’re wrong, you’re wrong, but have an opinion, and that will take you far.”