Maggie Tang (Magic / Loyalist)

Founder & CEO of Magic (magic.company). Building Loyalist, an agentic CRM for restaurant personalization. Closest competitor to Guild’s thesis, different vertical.

Background

  • Bain & Company — Private Equity Group (2021)
  • Eleven Madison Park — dining room operations (2019)
  • Atelier Crenn — kitchen stage (2018)
  • Momofuku — strategy (2021–2022)
  • Gourmand — co-founder, food podcast & creative studio featured in NYT, Eater, Food & Wine (2020–2023)
  • Loyalist — founded Jun 2023
  • Magic — rebranded/expanded 2025

Key intel

  • Raised $10M seed (Oct 2025) led by Lerer Hippeau, with Major Food Group, VCR Group (Gary Vee), Bling Capital, Floodgate
  • Non-technical founder — needed to raise to hire engineers
  • Deep NYC fine dining network (EMP, Momofuku, Atelier Crenn)
  • Strategy/consulting background (Bain) — knows how to pitch
  • Started Loyalist in 2023, was in stealth ~1 year before raising

Domain comparison

Her strength is high-end hospitality. She’s worked front of house at two of the best restaurants in the world. She understands the guest experience from the operator side.

Gap: no technical background, no retail/hotel/hospital experience, no supply chain thesis. Loyalist is a single-business CRM, not a network play.

Relationship

  • No contact yet
  • Worth grabbing coffee when Guild has more traction — peer founder conversation, not competitive
  • Based in NYC