Connect With Angry Customers Before They Yelp The app OwnerLists establishes a direct line of communication between business owners and their customers, allowing them to respond directly to negative reviews.

After 15 years of building companies such as Hotbar.com and SmartShopper.com, Oren Dobronsky checked out of technology and into ... hummus. Namely, Oren's Hummus Shop, his Israeli restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, Calif. As a small-business owner, he found himself driven nuts by negative comments on Yelp and other review sites, especially those posted on days when everything at the restaurant seemed to be going well.

Dobronsky figured there had to be a way for customers to reach out for help before they Yelped. So he teamed up with his MBA friend Adi Bittan to create OwnerListens, an iOS and Android app that establishes a direct line of communication between business owners and their customers. The app, launched in beta in summer 2012 following 10 months of testing at Oren's Hummus Shop, gives customers the chance to send feedback to business owners anonymously via text message or online.