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DoorDash from Application to IPO

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#271

Post by jdgoesmarching »

cody3222 wrote: post #186
jonas21 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternately, you could look at this as a dichotomy between local restaurants shuttering in record numbers due to inadequate government support for small businesses during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, and tech like this providing some of them with a lifeline to stay open (while also making the founding team and investors rich). A small case study in how the world is not necessarily a zero-sum game?

This is such a healthy perspective in a world where it has become fashionable to hate on wealth creation.

This is the most insane comment I’ve ever seen on this site. Imagine the kind of insulated you have to be to think that “hating on wealth creation” is the problem at one of the highest points of wealth inequality and economic devastation.

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#272

Post by toby »

AlexandrB wrote: post #153
SMAAART wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A small case study on how inequality .. Can you please explain this to me? Inequality of ... what? Opportunity or outcome?

Seems to me that it's both. I don't see VCs pouring billions in investments into new restaurants.

Off the top of my head, Sequoia did back The Melt, there was a time a few years ago when VCs did dabble in restaurants.

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#273

Post by stefanmichael »

stefanmichael wrote: post #183
standardUser wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had several bad experiences with ghost kitchens (low quality food) and now I look up ay restaurant before I order from them to make sure it has a storefront. Though usually you can tell by the absurd names most ghost kitchen places use.

interestingly there's a local startup here in Boise that is trying to pre-empt your experience. They are a ghost kitchen that also owns the logistics (delivery) the ordering software, and have hired chefs to build menus specifically targeted at being delivered and still being good. https://www.cravedelivery.com/ I'm actually going to order dinner from them now as a first time user (i've been signed up for a while but…

Reporting back: It was fine, no better or worse than ordering from anywhere downtown but probably 20% more expensive.

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#274

Post by wenc »

moxdahfox8 wrote: post #196
jonas21 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternately, you could look at this as a dichotomy between local restaurants shuttering in record numbers due to inadequate government support for small businesses during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, and tech like this providing some of them with a lifeline to stay open (while also making the founding team and investors rich). A small case study in how the world is not necessarily a zero-sum game?

It would be a lifeline if restaurants made money from Doordash orders. Some do and for them it's been a lifeline. But many restaurants don't make any profit after the 25% cut. Pre-covid you could write it off as a marketing expense but when in-person dining disappears you're faced with option to close or keep open and make a loss or no money on every DD you get. This is partly why 110,000 restaurants have closed sinc…

I'm not a fan of delivery apps (I prefer calling in my order and picking up), but I thought I'd investigate the oft-repeated refrain that restaurants either make no money or a loss. I think it depends.

From my back of the envelope calculations, it seems that the conditions necessary for a restaurant to break even or make a tiny profit with delivery apps that take a 30% cut exist but are narrow. For the restaurant to cover that fee, it would have to increase its online prices by 1/(1-0.7) - 1 = 43%, which would make it less competitive to a segment of its consumer base.

On the other hand, if the app's fee was 15% (which it is in Chicago, due to a city-wide cap), a restaurant only has to increase its prices 1/(1-0.15) - 1 = 18%, which is more palatable and less noticeable.

It does also create cash flow, and there are various things you can do with cash flow.

If you can increase sales velocity, the increased returns might be able to help profitability (though the counterfactual is hard to prove -- if you didn't have the apps, would velocity have been lower? Hard to measure).

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#275

Post by benlivengood »

strombofulous wrote: post #159
benlivengood wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drivers can easily put in consistent overtime which is harder to do at a traditional job. Removing some of the friction of overworking themselves while giving the illusion of choice. Migrant workers consistently show up at farms too; it doesn't mean they're paid well.

The reason migrant workers pick ("pick") farms is because they legally can't work anywhere else. Uber/DD/Postmates/... all do citizen verification checks.

That conflates undocumented workers with migrant workers when there is more like a ~50% overlap (at farms).

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#276

Post by nmfisher »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #257
nmfisher wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I relocated to Singapore earlier in the year, and I have to say that the hawker centres here are amazing. I know the economics require a bit of government intervention (and it only really works in a dense urban environment), but I would love to see more governments embrace this model. That being said, I also expect that implementing this somewhere like Australia would also require a lot more security to deal with dru…

> and it only really works in a dense urban environment I wouldn't consider Georgetown (Penang, Malaysia) as a dense urban environment. Despite this food courts there are numerous, immensely popular and fantastic to get a cheap, ultra-delicious meal.

> I wouldn't consider Georgetown (Penang, Malaysia) as a dense urban environment.

I can't say I'm familiar with Georgetown (unfortunately due to COVID, I haven't been able to travel through Malaysia just yet). Interesting that they also manage to work in the less-populated areas though. Look forward to seeing it first-hand (hopefully 2021).

Re: DoorDash from Application to IPO

#277

Post by cody3222 »

jdgoesmarching wrote: post #271
cody3222 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a healthy perspective in a world where it has become fashionable to hate on wealth creation.

This is the most insane comment I’ve ever seen on this site. Imagine the kind of insulated you have to be to think that “hating on wealth creation” is the problem at one of the highest points of wealth inequality and economic devastation.

Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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