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SpoonRocket shuts down

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Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#51

Post by ska »

EwanToo wrote: post #4
tptacek wrote: post #2

The company had actually reached contribution margin positive — it was selling meals for more than it cost to cook them. But due to other costs and the frosty fundraising climate, wasn’t able to get the money it needed to continue operating. Am I reading this correctly, and the business metric this company managed to achieve is simply "selling food above cost", like every deli and diner in the country does? Or is the…

I'm pretty sure you are, that's serious bubble talk "But due to other costs" < aka paying for people, the website, the delivery, marketing, etc?

No, it is pretty bog-standard analysis.

Over the long term, this is necessary but not sufficient to build a business line that makes sense. You also have to control all the other costs... which can be difficult if your business model requires large scale growth.

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#52

Post by PanosJee »

minimaxir wrote: post #30
nemo44x wrote: post #15

Cheap meals with low quality ingredients sitting in a warm box being driven around all day in some random persons car didn't appeal to people?

No, that's not it. As mentioned in the article, Sprig is still making sales. How long it can survive at current unit economics is a different story.

Let's chat again about it when oil reaches $100 again

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#53

Post by tommynicholas »

One of the non-breakout members of the on demand food delivery space dies as capital consolidates towards winners and we're in for an apocalypse? We VERY well may be in for one but I don't think this is a strong sign of that.

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#54

Post by autotune »

azinman2 wrote: post #42
autotune wrote: post #3

SpoonRocket actually had the most decent meals I'd seen out of any of the healthy food delivery apps and the most options. Just discovered it a week or two ago and this news is incredibly dissapointing.

They had essentially the same stuff everyday, all of it super heavy and NOT healthy. What other competitors are you even referencing?

Sprig (pricey + limited selection), Bento (very limited selection), HealthyOut (super generic and not enough relavent results), Thistle (very limited selection).

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#55

Post by azinman2 »

ams6110 wrote: post #50
azinman2 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not legal to do so. You have to be a licensed commercial kitchen to do this stuff.

Just like you need to be a licensed hotel operator to rent out rooms?

I don't believe that there's anything like the FDA that mandates something equivalent to food safety for room rentals.

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#56

Post by morgante »

raverbashing wrote: post #44
morgante wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The ROI on that life decision is also ridiculously low. How are you figuring the ROI? If you're not factoring in opportunity cost, then you're not even considering it as an investment. I make well over $100/hr doing contracting work. I can get a good meal delivered for $15. I highly doubt I could cook a decent meal in 9 minutes, and that's assuming ingredients and training are free (time and cost-wise).

$100 pre-tax right? Also, it may take 10 min but it won't require 10 minutes of unbound attention On a personal note cooking dinner is just relaxing, it's good to get off the screen sometimes

> $100 pre-tax right?

Yes, but that's just a baseline. Even if you knock it down to $60, that doesn't change the overall result, especially when you consider the additional cost of groceries.

If you derive utility from cooking dinner, that's fine! I totally respect making individual choices which increase your utility. It's just the attitude that those of us who don't cook (and don't like cooking) are being economically irrational that annoys me.

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#57

Post by joshrotenberg »

willchen wrote: post #38
joshrotenberg wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Lastly, what I'm hoping for is the "Airbnb" of food, where regular people could cook meals and sell them to neighbors on a marketplace with reviews, pictures, etc This is already happening here: https://josephine.com/

That's cool! Have you ever tried them before? I looked at them once before, and there's nothing super close to where I live (would need to drive to pick it up), but I'd definitely consider using it if there was someone who cooked within walking distance of me.

A friend of mine participates, so I tried some of his pretzels/granola and they were fantastic (and I'm not just saying that because he's a friend). I haven't tried anything else yet, but I've talked to him about the service and he's had a positive experience thus far.

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#58

Post by azinman2 »

autotune wrote: post #54
azinman2 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had essentially the same stuff everyday, all of it super heavy and NOT healthy. What other competitors are you even referencing?

Sprig (pricey + limited selection), Bento (very limited selection), HealthyOut (super generic and not enough relavent results), Thistle (very limited selection).

Sprig's food is way better than spoonrocket, so at least their cost is justified. For SF, it's pretty normal pricing. Bento is meh, but munchery probably is the highest quality (and most expensive) of all.

Hadn't heard of healthyout or thistle until now, but they don't seem to be on-demand food services?

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#59

Post by [deleted] »

eldavido wrote: post #47
untog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"contribution margin positive" ought to win a creative writing award.

Actually, this is standard finance terminology for "if I add X revenue to the business, how much flows to free cash flow" - what we can reinvest/pay back to shareholders. I, for one, am surprised they shut it down if they in fact had achieved positive contribution margin. Probably just couldn't tell a good enough story for how they'd grow, and demonstrate good upside, for new money in, given all the preferences/dilut…

[deleted]

Re: SpoonRocket shuts down

#60

Post by tptacek »

eldavido wrote: post #47
untog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"contribution margin positive" ought to win a creative writing award.

Actually, this is standard finance terminology for "if I add X revenue to the business, how much flows to free cash flow" - what we can reinvest/pay back to shareholders. I, for one, am surprised they shut it down if they in fact had achieved positive contribution margin. Probably just couldn't tell a good enough story for how they'd grow, and demonstrate good upside, for new money in, given all the preferences/dilut…

Are you suggesting that my read was incorrect, and that they are cash flow positive after not just food costs but logistics as well?
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