Upside’s Post

How DoorDash Started: The Beginning of a $60 Billion Journey In 2013, four founders - Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Andy Fang, and Evan Moore submitted a pivotal application video to Y Combinator marking the humble beginnings of what would become DoorDash, now valued at $60+ billion. Their concept was simple yet powerful: a platform that connected customers with local restaurants and provided delivery services. They saw a problem: many restaurants lacked the resources for delivery, limiting customer choice and convenience. DoorDash offered a solution by providing a seamless delivery system for restaurants, allowing them to reach more customers without the overhead of managing deliveries themselves. What started as a small idea has now transformed the way we order food, reshaping the delivery industry and proving the power of identifying unmet needs. This captures the essence of the company's origin story.

Wonder's acquisition of Grubhub for $650 million is a bold move that could significantly reshape the food delivery landscape. By combining Wonder's innovative "Fast Fine" dining concept with Grubhub's extensive network of 375,000 merchants and 200,000 delivery partners, the company is positioning itself as a formidable competitor to industry giants like Uber Eats. This merger creates a unique value proposition: a comprehensive platform offering both high-quality, chef-curated meals and a wide array of local restaurant options, all within a single app. Such integration could potentially give Wonder a competitive edge in terms of variety and customer experience. However, whether this acquisition will be truly game-changing remains to be seen. While the combined entity will have impressive resources and reach, established players like UberEats have significant market share and brand recognition. The success of Wonder's strategy will likely depend on its ability to seamlessly integrate Grubhub's operations, leverage the combined customer base, and deliver on its promise of a superior dining experience. If Wonder can effectively execute Marc Lore's vision of a "super app for mealtime," it could disrupt the market. But it will face stiff competition and the challenge of changing consumer habits in an already crowded space. #FoodDelivery #MergersAndAcquisitions #WonderGroup #Grubhub #UberEats #FoodTech #CompetitiveLandscape #DigitalDining #RestaurantIndustry #FoodInnovation

The lines are blurring even more in the restaurant space. Co-opetition, product overlap, and the continued "bundling cycle" keep expanding. In tougher economic times, the businesses that simplify their operations are the ones that make it. Restaurants are no different. They're trying to simplify their technology stacks. And on the technology side, AI is making it easier and easier to ship and manage code. I don't think we've reached the peak of this bundling cycle yet. More consolidation and more bundled solutions are on the way. Yes, this is in reference to DoorDash's recent announcement. It's not a surprise to me and this will continue... #Restaurants #Technology

Insights are the foundation that allow us to grasp not only the needs of our target group but also how our product can genuinely add value to their lives. Without insights, we risk making assumptions about what customers want. However, by listening to their behaviors, preferences, and challenges, we can better understand the gaps in the market and position our product as a solution. Whether it's solving a problem, fulfilling a desire, or improving an experience, insights help you discover exactly how your product can meet these needs. Remember, a product’s value is only fully realized when it addresses a real need. And that understanding begins with powerful insights into your market.

Perfect case study of Abundant Thinking in action: Instacart and Uber collaborating on restaurant deliveries. Rather than compete, grow the pie together. Congrats to the Instacart and Uber teams for making this partnership happen. Bravo Fidji Simo Daniel Danker and everyone involved! Dara, given that Uber is pushing into grocery and of course retail, why cross enemy lines? Fidji, why give them a foot in the door? “There are a lot of companies that compete in an area and collaborate in another. This is a good example where on the restaurant front we found a lot of alignment and we think this is going to be highly beneficial for Instacart customers.” Fidji Simo Mainstream thinking is at scarcity. Everything is a zero sum game. With Abundant Thinking we can imagine and create a better reality. #AbundantThinking #Collaboration #GrowthePie #Leadership #CEO

Happy Veterans Day to all! 🇺🇸 While things are quiet today, it was the perfect chance to binge-listen to Q3 earnings calls from some of our key partners and customers. It’s inspiring to see the restaurant industry thriving, and I'm proud to be part of this journey as both a partner and shareholder.   Here’s a snapshot:   Olo: Added 5,000 locations ahead of Q4 goals and announced the upcoming launch of a new menu integration with ezCater to streamline catering operations. Congrats to Noah Glass and the team! 📈 Portillo's: Successfully rolled out kiosks across all locations and is making strides with its “Restaurant of the Future” concept—a compact and efficient 6,200-square-foot design set to open in Q4 in Texas. With Michael Osanloo leading the charge, nothing says innovation like challenging the 'everything is bigger in Texas' mantra! 🤠 Toast: In their earnings call, Toast shared that they won Potbelly, highlighting strong momentum in the enterprise space, backed by continued investments in upmarket product capabilities. Congrats to Aman Narang and the Toasters! 🥂 Potbelly Sandwich Works: Celebrated record-breaking location growth with 8 new store openings and 32 additional franchise commitments in the third quarter. 👏 While Cartwheel isn’t a public company (at least not yet!), we wanted to share some exciting Q3 partnership highlights: Olo: Went live and expanded with several brands through Catering+ product Toast: Doubled growth QoQ, with especially strong momentum in catering deliveries. ezCater: A top catering-focused enterprise brand successfully piloted our integration and is already rolling it out more widely. DoorDash Drive: Onboarded a 30-location chain with #HybridDelivery and secured a new Last-Mile Order Fulfillment (LOF) expansion. Uber Direct: Announced delivery.com (12,000 businesses) as a mutual customer and collaborated on a blog post highlighting Hybrid Delivery with Mr. Jim's Pizza If you’re part of our partner companies or a brand interested in learning more about our delivery solution within our partnership ecosystem, feel free to send me an email—I’d love to connect! magdim@trycartwheel.com

🚀 Restaurant Tech Market Is Heating Up as We Close Out 2024 🔥 The restaurant technology sector is seeing significant growth, with stocks rising and an uptick in acquisitions and funding rounds. 💰 Publicly traded tech companies like Toast and Olo are leading the charge, benefiting from the ongoing digital transformation of the industry. 📈 🔹 Tech Spending Surge Over 75% of restaurants plan to increase tech spending this year, reflecting their growing appetite for digital solutions that improve operations and customer experience. According to Toast’s industry report, the demand for operational solutions continues to drive this change. 🔹 Key Players and Growth - Olo recently added 3,000 new restaurant locations, driving 24% revenue growth. 💡 - Toast also saw a 28% increase in revenue and raised its outlook for the year. - PAR, another leading tech supplier, reported a 41% revenue increase. Meanwhile, third-party delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats are seeing robust growth, with order volumes increasing by 20% and 16%, respectively. 📲 🔹 M&A and Investment Surge 2024 has seen a resurgence in M&A activity, including high-profile deals: - American Express acquired reservations platform Tock for $400 million. 💳 - Shift4 bought POS provider Revel Systems for $250 million. - Wonder acquired Grubhub for $650 million. - Paytronix, a leader in customer loyalty and engagement, was recently acquired by The Access Group from the U.K., adding significant value to the growing customer experience technology market. 💬 Private tech companies are also catching investor attention, with nearly $1.5 billion in funding deals this year. 💡 🔹 Looking Ahead to 2025 As restaurant tech continues to evolve, the landscape remains ripe for consolidation. With falling interest rates and a stable economy, the market is poised for even more growth heading into 2025. 🔮 With these changes, it’s clear that technology is reshaping the future of the restaurant industry. 🔧🍽️ What's your take on the growing role of tech in the restaurant space? 💬 #RestaurantTech #DigitalTransformation #Investments #MergersAndAcquisitions #TechGrowth #RestaurantIndustry #Innovation #2025Trends #Paytronix #LoyaltyTech #CustomerEngagement

🚨 Industry Update: Major Shift in Food Delivery Services! 🚨 Toast has made a significant strategic move by transitioning from DoorDash Drive to Uber Direct for all merchants utilizing Toast Delivery Services. This transition marks the end of DoorDash as the default delivery provider for Toast restaurants, a shift that could have enormous implications for the restaurant tech landscape. As DoorDash increasingly integrates its services into restaurant operations, it poses a growing challenge to Toast's payment processing and SaaS revenue streams. In contrast, Uber has opted to focus on enhancing its delivery services and advertising revenues, steering clear of first-party (1P) ordering solutions. This evolution has set $TOST and $DASH on a potential collision course, which raises many questions about future partnerships and the competitive dynamics within the food delivery sector. What are your thoughts on this strategic shift? How do you think it will impact restaurant operations and delivery services in the long run? #Droidor #ExploreTECH #FoodDelivery #Toast #Uber #DoorDash #RestaurantTech #BusinessStrategy #Innovation

DoorDash pulled off one of the stealthiest market share takeovers in recent history. 🤯 In just three years, they skyrocketed from 16% to 53% of the not competition free U.S. delivery app market. Dominating Uber Eats, GrubHub, and Postmates. DoorDash focused on untapped opportunities focusing on non-delivery restaurants, providing valuable data insights, and targeting higher value suburban areas. During COVID, they stood out by supporting restaurants and drivers with financial aid, fuelling loyalty and driving rapid growth. Play where others didn’t. 👌 DoorDash

Take notes…last mile delivery start-ups! There are a whole army of would be loyal delivery partners with cargo vans/box trucks in suburban and rural areas that would forever be grateful and provide the highest quality service for local delivery routes outside of major cities. Target mid-size cities with universities, rural areas with retail stores within a specified radius. Rural + larger size packages = $. Pay per stop with mileage + quality incentives and watch how competitors marvel, and customers rave, about your high quality and cost savings in reattempts, returns, and refunds! Onboard small delivery service providers with proper equipment + insurance (that they are already paying for) and start winning with high quality, professional service from local entrepreneurs with skin in the game. PR dream, helping small businesses deliver for large/medium sized businesses, making an impact in local communities…use your community engagement budget to actually sponsors their kid’s baseball team (we’ve all seen the memes.) We’re all fighting over the same volume and using outdated models to onboard delivery partners. Doing the same thing and expecting different results…well you know. There is only so much “tech” updates and advancements can do, sometimes it’s all about the people who we often overlook. The people aren’t going away in last/final mile any time soon!