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Mike Moritz doesn't get out of bed for less than a billion dollars - http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/28/mike-moritzs-midas-touch-gr... Looks like Instacart is on the right path to a massive IPO :) Good work guys!
“The one thing that we got extremely right about the Webvan investment was that there would be huge consumer demand for home delivery of groceries," he says. "It’s just taken time for technology to finally catch up." I don't understand this at all and would really appreciate any enlightenment. What has changed in technology in the past 12 years to enable home grocery delivery? Broadband? Cloud storage? HTML5? AJAX? F…
What has changed in technology in the past 12 years to
enable home grocery delivery?
“The one thing that we got extremely right about the Webvan investment was that there would be huge consumer demand for home delivery of groceries," he says. "It’s just taken time for technology to finally catch up." I don't understand this at all and would really appreciate any enlightenment. What has changed in technology in the past 12 years to enable home grocery delivery? Broadband? Cloud storage? HTML5? AJAX? F…
This is my attempt at a guess: -- For the user, it's easier than ever to place an order. Internet connection speeds are fast, smartphones have snappy native apps, 3G is everywhere -- so you can order groceries on the ride home. You can quickly download 100 images of products on the bus ride home and pick the ones you want (for example). -- For Instacart, processing those orders at scale is also easier than ever. EC2…
1. When did UPS revolutionize package shipping? 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or longer? 2. Couldn't someone who ran a delivery service (i.e. UPS, DHL, FedEx, etc) have been in place to do this sort of thing 10 years ago or even longer? I mean sure, it's easier and more accessible than ever now, but it doesn't look like a showstopper to me. The convenience of having someone else do your groceries for you is so convenient for most people. It's on the level of convenience of paying the neighbor's kid to mow your lawn.
“The one thing that we got extremely right about the Webvan investment was that there would be huge consumer demand for home delivery of groceries," he says. "It’s just taken time for technology to finally catch up." I don't understand this at all and would really appreciate any enlightenment. What has changed in technology in the past 12 years to enable home grocery delivery? Broadband? Cloud storage? HTML5? AJAX? F…
All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1%, and smartphones, which allow the customers or workers to send or receive requests at any time.
The 1% don't use Uber, TaskRabbit, or Instacart; they have actual personal drivers, servants, and chefs.
“The one thing that we got extremely right about the Webvan investment was that there would be huge consumer demand for home delivery of groceries," he says. "It’s just taken time for technology to finally catch up." I don't understand this at all and would really appreciate any enlightenment. What has changed in technology in the past 12 years to enable home grocery delivery? Broadband? Cloud storage? HTML5? AJAX? F…
All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1%, and smartphones, which allow the customers or workers to send or receive requests at any time.
On a positive note (for these companies), I don't see the middle class coming back any time soon.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1%, and smartphones, which allow the customers or workers to send or receive requests at any time.
> All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1% The 1% don't use Uber, TaskRabbit, or Instacart; they have actual personal drivers, servants, and chefs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is my attempt at a guess: -- For the user, it's easier than ever to place an order. Internet connection speeds are fast, smartphones have snappy native apps, 3G is everywhere -- so you can order groceries on the ride home. You can quickly download 100 images of products on the bus ride home and pick the ones you want (for example). -- For Instacart, processing those orders at scale is also easier than ever. EC2…
Hey, few questions that I'm asking in earnest. 1. When did UPS revolutionize package shipping? 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or longer? 2. Couldn't someone who ran a delivery service (i.e. UPS, DHL, FedEx, etc) have been in place to do this sort of thing 10 years ago or even longer? I mean sure, it's easier and more accessible than ever now, but it doesn't look like a showstopper to me. The convenience of having someone…
But it peaked in 2000: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/about/history/2007.html?WT....
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1% The 1% don't use Uber, TaskRabbit, or Instacart; they have actual personal drivers, servants, and chefs.
I'm using the word "1%" in the recently popularized figurative sense, the people who make enough money to outsource things like hailing a taxi or doing grocery shopping.
First: Congratulations all around. Very exciting to get that much support and validation. Second: As much as any of us can make comprehensive grocery lists, there's a serendipity to the grocery runs that I'm not ready to give up. Snap decisions can be enablers for future meals. "I need 1 lb. of chicken breast but, hey, wait… maybe I'll get 2 lb. and make double and freeze the rest for next week?" … "Oh shit… tomato p…
That's a good point but I personally hate spending 45 mins plus in the grocery store and would love to have someone bring it to my door. I find it to be a huge waste of time. If the ripeness of your avocado is that important to you then you'll still be one of those taking the trip to the store. One important advantage instacart has over the in-store experience is the filtering and sorting of goods. The amount of toil…
That's assuming you get what you ordered in the first place, and ripeness of an avocado is barely touching on these problems.
My boyfriend has been experimenting with ordering cat food from various sources in SF. Necessary backstory: regular Fancy Feast comes in two categories of textures: Classic which is a pâté style, and everything else (Flaked, Grilled, Sliced...) which is anything but. Our cat exclusively eats non-pâté food. So we order a 24 can box of flaked/grilled/sliced beef+poultry or seafood, and what shows up at the door? Instacart, Postmates, and Google Shopping Express all got it wrong (I bet AmazonFresh will too when it starts up here) - in fact, I can't think of a single time a person got the cat food order _right_ even though when we go shopping on our own knowing "not classic" we never have a problem reading the boxes clearly labeled as such... To their credit they all resolved the problem, but.. both of us and our roommate order from all three services all the time and something always gets screwed up like that.
If you can live with that, then awesome. We mostly do for convenience's sake, until we get key limes as a substitute for persian limes meant for margaritas.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm using the word "1%" in the recently popularized figurative sense, the people who make enough money to outsource things like hailing a taxi or doing grocery shopping.
That sort of makes your point an exercise in circular logic then: The recovery drove money to people who spend money on goods and services. Well yes, the people who work in fields that are doing well now are more likely to spend the money they get paid on new products.