Insight
Founders should reference-check VCs by calling their failed portfolio companies
“I would ask for examples of founders and entrepreneurs who perhaps did not make it in their portfolio and ask to, you know, call three or four of them. And then you'll get a pretty good triangulation in speaking with, you know, the founders of the company, esp…”
Assertion Partly supported
DoorDash was the largest delivery service for 60% of Americans in 2018
“We've been the fastest growing service in the space for the past year, and we're actually the biggest service in about 60% of the population in the U.S.”
Insight
Finding a single end-to-end leader limits project expansion, regardless of capital
“What I've tended to find with projects at any company, no matter how much resources or capital you have what tends to be the rate limiter is do you have a great single leader lead? It doesn't have to, you know, manage a large team or anything who can actually …”
Insight
Founders waiting to feel fully ready to expand are probably too late
“The final thing I would say, I think if you're feeling fully ready, you're probably too late so there should absolutely be some element of risk, but I do think you can manage the risks if you can disentangle the problem.”
Assertion Supported
Only 5% of restaurant orders occurred online as of 2018
“When you look at the, our current industry, the restaurant industry, it is not yet even online. 95% of orders still happen through a phone call or an in-person visit. Only five percent occurs through an internet connection.”
Assertion Supported
DoorDash now operates in over 35 countries worldwide
“We now operate in over 35 countries.”
Assertion Supported
Only 10% to 15% of restaurants offered their own delivery in 2013
“You know, in 2013, only about 10 to 15% of restaurants offered their own delivery.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tony Xu: The COVID-19 Restaurant Halt Was Unprecedented in Three Decades
“In the three decades I've been observing the restaurant industry, I don't think I've ever seen something like this where business effectively just halted to a stop.”
Assertion Supported
Tony Xu: Michelin-Starred Restaurants Pivoted to Accessible Family Takeout Meals
“I see Michelin star restaurants changing their menus, which used to be exclusively for in-store, very high end kinds of experiences, and they're making now more approachable, accessible family meals that can, ah, really service both comfort and as a way for th…”
Assertion Supported
Tony Xu: DoorDash Invested Tens of Millions in Merchant Marketing
“And that's actually why we invest tens of millions of dollars in marketing for them so that they can get as close as they can to the sales that they once were seeing before this pandemic in the forms of marketing.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tony Xu: DoorDash Provided Free Delivery to Healthcare Workers
“Giving free deliveries to all healthcare workers nationwide, you know, to the largest hospital systems, hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers daily.”
Assertion Supported
Tony Xu: Consumers Resumed Restaurant Delivery Two Weeks After Lockdowns
“Right after the shelter in place announcements were made in, in, in a city, the first thing that would happen is, you know, consumers would actually go and stockpile on groceries. And I think this is where you may have read about some of the stories of stores …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tony Xu: NYC Delivery Volume Dropped Due to Reduced Commuter Population
“New York was a bit of an exception to that in the sense that New York has a lot of people who commute into the city, typically when all the businesses are open to work during the day, and then they may leave after hours as the workday closes. Because of the sh…”
Assertion Supported
Outside New York City, 85% of restaurants in America do not deliver
“And yet, outside of New York City just about no one does delivery. 85% of restaurants in America don't deliver.”
Disclosure
DoorDash founders worked as Domino's and FedEx delivery drivers for research
“So on the first piece we would, you know, do deliveries for services like Domino's or FedEx, and we would learn, well, how, how does deliveries actually work?”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DoorDash received its first customer order 45 minutes after launching
“We got our first order 45 minutes actually after launching.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
All initial early restaurant partners agreed to pay DoorDash commissions
“Yeah, all of them actually.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DoorDash bought DoorDash.com domain for $9.95
“So for nine dollars and 95 cents, we were able to purchase DoorDash.com.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DoorDash founders and early employees did all deliveries for a year
“It was my co-founders and me, and the early employees at DoorDash. We did all of the deliveries for the first Almost the first year.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Xu personally went door-to-door to sign DoorDash's first 50 restaurants
“I went door to door to door to sign up our first 50 restaurants, and later on we evolved into phone calls and other, other ways of reaching the restaurants.”
Disclosure
Every DoorDash employee must complete delivery shifts once a month
“Every single person did deliveries and customer support every single day for the first year. And actually we still do this today. We do this, you know, once a month instead of, you know, every day every single person in the company.”
Assertion Contradicted
Local brick-and-mortar businesses produce 60% of jobs in every city
“The businesses on the streets, even in Silicon Valley, produce 60% of the jobs inside every city”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tony Xu: Restaurants Donated Meals to DoorDash Drivers During the Pandemic
“I see this also in the restaurant community where restaurant owners are not just trying to bring positivity in the form of say, donating meals to those who really need them. They're doing that also with the dashers”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tony Xu changed his name at five, inspired by Tony Danza
“And as I was learning English, watching lots of TV to do it, I saw many episodes of Who's the Boss starring Tony Danza. And so pretty much at the age of five, I walked with my dad to the immigration office and legally changed my name.”
Tony Xu