DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile • Hacker News Board

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#21

Post by berberous » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 10:27 PM UTC

bootload wrote: post #2

"Tony Xu is ready to do some Dashing. He’s wearing his bright red DoorDash T shirt. His water bottle is full. He’s got the Dasher app loaded on his iPhone." Can you spot the difference b/w this scenario and Kosmo [0] who attempted this in 2000? [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozmo.com [1] hint: phone & market size.

Kozmo did not charge delivery fees and I believe had their own warehouses/inventory. I'm not sure what I think about the economics of these delivery companies, but those are two pretty fundamental distinctions.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#22

Post by prawn » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 10:44 PM UTC

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #3

The big question for all of the companies that want to be the last mile: can they run sufficiently profitable businesses without classifying their workers as 1099 employees? Mark my words: most of the "on-demand" startups that are relying on contract workers are not going to be able to defeat the misclassification lawsuits they're facing. Some might have the funds to delay the inevitable by strategically settling the…

I think they're all playing musical chairs to see who's left with a seat when the employees can be realistically replaced with automated delivery. Whether that's van, scooter, drone, etc.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#23

Post by snaily » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:04 PM UTC

rogerbinns wrote: post #16

robk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But cars don't work in many dense cities like in Europe and in NYC. You need cycles or scooters.

What stops them being self driving? Dedicated delivery vehicles don't need to be designed around human comfort constraints.

Like Starship, who made the rounds last week: https://www.starship.xyz

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#24

Post by malandrew » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:11 PM UTC

This seems like a huge liability waiting to happen. By donning the jersey and working at least once a month as a participant in their marketplace they blur the distinction between employee and market participant, thereby opening themselves up to having those that participate in the market more than 40 hours a week claiming that they are full time employees and are entitled to things like benefits.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#25

Post by erispoe » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:11 PM UTC

apapli wrote: post #14

aggie wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tip is made in advance, when placing the order.

So you're tipping for what you expect will be good service?

Tip is actually hardly related to quality of service. Michael Lynn's[1] research shows that people reveal their prejudices through tipping more than anything else. Being a young busty blonde female gets you way more in tips than being a middle aged black male, regardless of the actual quality of service.

In regards to that, I don't think tipping is a good system unless what you want is pushing discrimination in the workplace even further. Service should just be included in the price. But at least, the blind tipping model of these apps eliminates that bias. If you don't know who will deliver, you are less likely to tip the busty blonde girl more than the black man.

[1] https://sha.cornell.edu/about/directory/instructors/wml3

edit: grammar and typos

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#26

Post by malandrew » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:19 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #13

It does seem like any business that relies on labor being its one and only way accomplish its business better be able to answer the question if it has employees or contractors. I do not like the idea of the future where no business has employees and everyone is a contractor. Something seems wrong there.

That's most likely a temporary worry. The future will be largely businesses tasked reduced to processes that have been automated via robots/drones/etc.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#27

Post by SilasX » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:51 PM UTC

apapli wrote: post #14

aggie wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tip is made in advance, when placing the order.

So you're tipping for what you expect will be good service?

I don't think the decision of which roles are tipped (vs paid a piecework/wage) ever had any actual incentive-aligning logic behind it.

Super Duper Burgers, for example, has zero table service, and you're expected to bus your tray. They still have tip jars and a tip field on the credit card slip.

Convenience stores now have tip jars too.

Don't try to reason with it, just follow established practice as best you can.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#28

Post by condescendence » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 11:58 PM UTC

I wanted this to become something much more. I think their sights are too low in terms of the ability of their product.

For example, I would turn this into a deliver anything platform that would eventually be integrated with stores/restaurants...etc. Instantaneous shipping. A mix between Peapod (for those who haven't used peapod its a grocery delivery service), and Homejoy except with delivery drivers.

There's many more routes they could take, oh and the employee/marketing associate discrepancy is a little messed up.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#29

Post by thrill » Tue, Nov 10, 2015, 12:35 AM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #13

It does seem like any business that relies on labor being its one and only way accomplish its business better be able to answer the question if it has employees or contractors. I do not like the idea of the future where no business has employees and everyone is a contractor. Something seems wrong there.

Everyone being a contractor is the most honest economy I can imagine.

Re: DoorDash Wants to Own the Last Mile

#30

Post by fasdf3asdf » Tue, Nov 10, 2015, 12:54 AM UTC

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #3

The big question for all of the companies that want to be the last mile: can they run sufficiently profitable businesses without classifying their workers as 1099 employees? Mark my words: most of the "on-demand" startups that are relying on contract workers are not going to be able to defeat the misclassification lawsuits they're facing. Some might have the funds to delay the inevitable by strategically settling the…

Most of the players in the industry are loudly (Uber) or quietly (everyone else) planning on eventually using fully automated delivery systems such as self-driving cars or UAVs, making the question moot.