This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital. We will discuss how DoorDash is working to build the infrastructure for local commerce; expanding its offering beyond restaurants, introducing a vertically owned convenience channel, ghost kitchens, and advertising to build a durable competitive advantage and work towards a sustainably profitable business model.

Our guest is Matt Newberg of HNGRY.tv.

Show Notes
[00:00:00] – Introduction
[00:02:52] – [First question] – The size and scale of DoorDash and the industry today
[00:04:35] – Early growth and business history
[00:08:33] – Unit economics of a DoorDash order
[00:11:37] – Creative ways DoorDash is maintaining margins and driving growth
[00:13:33] – Optimizing delivery operations to minimize overhead
[00:16:45] – White-labeling versus first-party logistics
[00:20:03] – How restaurants maintain their own margins and customers while using DoorDash
[00:23:04] – Overview of their recruitment and labor model for delivery drivers
[00:24:36] – Implications of new legislation treating delivery drivers as employees
[00:27:51] – Positive and negative impacts of DashMart, ghost kitchens, and automation
[00:30:53] – The importance of ghost kitchens and how they work
[00:36:23] – Automation and its role at DoorDash
[00:39:15] – Virtual brands in the restaurant industry
[00:43:18] – Advertising sales models on DoorDash and similar apps
[00:45:20] – What ads look like on these apps
[00:46:22] – How grocery store profits from slotting fees translate to delivery
[00:47:33] – Main takeaways from studying DoorDash as a business

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