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Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

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Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#11

Post by buildawesome »

jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

opinions: 1. instacart gives companies besides amzn/wf a logistics platform to ship out retail goods. It makes these other companies more competitive. This is why you see a company like Target acquire Shipt. 2. it won't be a premium if self-driving cars exist. it might be a waiting game for investors, just like how uber and lyft are floated right now.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#12

Post by jimmy1 »

spiderPig wrote: post #2

Wow, so they've raised close to $1bn so far! Wonder how many of these delivery services like Doordash, Postmates, Grubhub, Caviar, Uber eats etc will survive the next economic downturn.

As a former restaurateur, I would like to tell you, contrary to popular opinion, during the last major economic downturn in 2008 (2009 for me since I was in a southern state, and the downturn hit us a bit later than most), spending money out to eat actually went up.

The theory goes a little something like this -- people actually spend more money on themselves to cheer themselves up when life gets shittier. So folks, too depressed to cook, would go out and at least try to eat, drink, and be merry.

Now how this correlates to these dining services has yet to be determined.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#13

Post by Judgmentality »

jxub wrote: post #10

Another valueless "disruption" being injected play money to destabilise the semblance of healthy capitalism we had on a macro level. Venture capital enables subsidies to speculative companies in hope of a small probability of profit, which destroys perfectly good small companies [0] , and acts as a libertarian version of socialism [1]. This exposes the fabric of a normal economy to small stressors, a couple of which…

Even though I agree with you, it would make for a much better conversation if you provided some evidence yourself instead of insisting the onus is on others to prove you wrong.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#14

Post by clay_the_ripper »

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to the store anyway.

Not to mention the shady fees. The last time I used instacart, there was a box checked called “service fee”, I clicked on it to see what it was and it said “this $10 charge is optional and helps us keep running instacart”. Meanwhile the tip for your driver box is not checked. I bet a large number of people assume the service fee is the tip, and leave tip blank. Blatant tip stealing.

Plus they mark up everything you buy, and obfuscate this so it’s impossible to really know how much extra instacart is skimming off the top.

Amazing prime now on the other hand has never messed up an order. They always deliver on time. The prices are actually cheaper in some cases than in store.

I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#15

Post by cryptoz »

jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

> 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

I'm not sure about the data and large trends for this, but here's my anecdote: Right now Instacart is the cheapest way for me to get groceries. Someone with a gun took my driver's license from me a few months ago, my bike was dismantled by thiefs, and I don't live within walking distance of a grocery store.

Lyft/Uber there and back is $20. Bus there and back is $6 (but with added time and stress). Instacart is $5-6.

Yes, eventually, it will be easier for me to bike there or to drive there, but not right now. Right now the cheapest way for me to get a large grocery trip done is Instacart.

So maybe they could survive. Not everyone is in my position, but someone who works two jobs, doesn't have a car and lives far from the store...that could describe a lot of people in the near future.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#16

Post by roymurdock »

jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

I assume instacart has a liquidity event (IPO) lined up for the near future (next 12 months), and a few late stage and previous investors are laying down a cash runway to get the company there. Notably this round ($200m) was less than their last round 1 year ago ($400m) so it seems growth has slowed and its time for an exit.

So its not a bet, its a holdover cash infusion until the IPO, and is not exactly risky given how mature and well-capitalized the company is at this point.

The only real bet is that they'll be able to IPO before a market downturn, which seems pretty safe, I have yet to see anyone put forth and truly plausible triggers for another large global recession - there are no debt and enforcement chains I can see that would drag the system under again. But I'm not a financial expert, just an armchair economist, and if I knew what would trigger the next recession I wouldn't be posting here ;)

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#17

Post by ftoo »

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

The service fee thing sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. Lawyers, start your engines...

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#18

Post by jxub »

Judgmentality wrote: post #13
jxub wrote: post #10

Another valueless "disruption" being injected play money to destabilise the semblance of healthy capitalism we had on a macro level. Venture capital enables subsidies to speculative companies in hope of a small probability of profit, which destroys perfectly good small companies [0] , and acts as a libertarian version of socialism [1]. This exposes the fabric of a normal economy to small stressors, a couple of which…

Even though I agree with you, it would make for a much better conversation if you provided some evidence yourself instead of insisting the onus is on others to prove you wrong.

You're right, I sound like a prick even though I hadn't meant it.

I'll grab some data later on to construct a more compelling case against this type of funding.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#19

Post by Xyik »

jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

competition is a good thing, it encourages all competing parties to strive for a better product.

from an investment point of view, its a bit similar to Lyft vs Uber ... pretty much the exact same business, but there is always room to eat market share.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#20

Post by jotm »

cryptoz wrote: post #15
jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

> 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium? I'm not sure about the data and large trends for this, but here's my anecdote: Right now Instacart is the cheapest way for me to get groceries. Someone with a gun took my driver's license from me a few months ago, my bike was dismantled by thiefs, and I don't live within walking distance of a grocery store. Lyft/Uber there and back is $20. Bus th…

Might be time you move elsewhere, I think...
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