We have two products that will continue to grow both in terms of directions and magnitude. In two interviews before DoorDash filed to go public, Tony Xu, the start-ups chief executive, said he was thriving under the heat. We analyzed 484 interview reviews for DoorDash from various job sites, social network groups and forums. Joy Huang: Thats a really good mental model to have. Last question: in just one sentence, what would be your word of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs at the GSB? If so, youll want to prepare to answer some common interview questions. Many candidates will begin formulating their answers as soon as the interviewer begins asking the question. And whether thats up variance or down variance, you should be prepared. To ensure that you're up for the . Mom and dad really came here to make a better life for me and for dad that meant going to school, getting his PhD and working a job actually at a restaurant on campus at the University of Illinois. It also has its share of enemies: Regulators who have poked holes in the start-ups pricing and employment practices. Moreover, proper communication with customers and restaurants is crucial to resolve any issues. Offering more payment options and discounts for customers. So weve ordered from from about 1,100 places so far in the Bay Area. This list does not include technical or factual questions. But cities have been one of the most enduring, I guess organizations that have ever made it through the history of time, far more enduring than businesses have. At DoorDash, designers are highly encouraged to bring a strong opinion and challenge the cross-functional partners. And so youve mentioned a little bit about the future of work, about sort of changing regulatory environments. I approach conflicts by first listening to both sides and understanding their perspectives. So what does it mean to be a world-class CFO? If youre building a team or building a company over time, I think that lays the foundation to carry you through the really difficult times. To be more specific, analytics case studies test your ability to. Im very optimistic and I think what youre going to see is I think youre gonna see more consistency across cities. You should also know some of the languages' nuances, such as how memory management works, or the most commonly used . Some customers really seem to care about a certain type of salad for example, versus what others may just consider to be a mundane meal. And, Tony, I know you say a lot that you really started DoorDash out of a passion to help small business owners like your mom. You kind of have to go through moments of belief and disbelief.. Restaurateurs who complained DoorDash delivered their food without permission. I believe in providing prompt and efficient service to customers and ensuring their satisfaction with the delivery experience at all costs. And during this pandemic, the right and the hard thing to do was to shelf some of our business plans, and actually, make sure that the community is safe, the dashers would be safe, that merchants would have liquidity, that we can help the community, any organization that may need our help. I used to attend to customer queries and grievances through phone, email, and face-to-face interactions. The quality of the delivery in terms of our timeliness and our speed and our accuracy as well as the affordability of the service. Soon, a new group Wall Street investors will pick a side. Critical Thinking for Better Judgment and Decision-Making . And so, I think the second best thing when you dont have full control is that you plan for the variance. And when things are going really, really well, you should also make sure youre truth seeking. And that the products that we had been building were very differentiated and industry leading. That they can create their own digital channels. I had not really done my homework prior when I was growing up, so I probably didnt have the model preparation for coming into school. According to the DoorDash Impact Report, about two-thirds of restaurants stated that DoorDash was critical to their business, and nearly 80% of customers relied on DoorDash deliveries during the crisis. DoorDash has forged partnerships with over 340,000 restaurants in more than 4,000 cities, providing customers with an extensive range of cuisines to choose from. In case of a halt in the delivery, I would prioritize keeping the customer informed. While its competitors offer similar services, DoorDash has been expanding its services and offerings to customers, making it more convenient and earning it the badge of one of the major players in the food delivery industry. Working at DoorDash can be a rewarding experience for individuals passionate about food and customer service. And I think thats really what starting a company really is and so, when I think theres lots of variants and youre learning pretty much on the fly a new job every week in the beginning, later on maybe every month, every six months, you really have to find other maybe first principles that have accumulated in other parts of your life to really get you over the hump at times. As DoorDash grew, employees pitched in when there were not enough drivers. I stay informed of industry trends and advancements, take on challenging tasks and projects, seek feedback and coaching from my seniors, and engage in training and development programs. So I think its really important to be intellectually honest. Tony Xu: Sure, well, the first thing Id say is I think cities are always gonna get better. SAN FRANCISCO DoorDash, the leading food delivery app in the United States, has its fans. They dont necessarily sell through DoorDash. Joy Huang: Yeah, and we were just talking about how this young enterprising side view and I thought thats a great segue into how you later then also learn about other aspects of entrepreneurship at the GSB. Obviously, if you have more time to deliver something less perishable. And so I think there are ways in which you can look at rates of progress, but I think its first and foremost recognizing what is it that youre actually trying to get better at? Tony Xu: Yeah, I think its always focusing on the inputs not the outcomes. To give you a sense of what it felt like DoorDash, I mean it pretty much was 24/7 from March through June, where we had twice a day meetings across probably 20 or so workstreams. That changed in the past two years, when DoorDash raised $1.9 billion from investors including SoftBank and DST Global. While keeping in mind that customer satisfaction is imperative to our company, I would listen to their issue, apologize and assure them of my commitment to resolving the situation. Joy Huang: Be careful what you wish for, Tony. Tony Xu: Oh actually I dont have one. SVS IT Solutions is a software and IT development company. Joy Huang: With that, Tony. I would also plan the delivery route in advance to avoid any delays. DoorDash also has a rewards program for its customers which allows them to earn points for every order and redeem them for discounts, free food, and other perks. He said Mr. Xu often did the jobs no one else would, like 15 consecutive hours of customer support on New Years Day. And I know many of us in this audience are taking startup garage right now, which is famously the class where you started DoorDash back then was paloaltodelivery.com. Joy Huang: Yeah, my guess is a lot of audience dialing in are watching this interview with food they got from DoorDash right now. Set of 4 questions : Critical Thinking - Why doordash - Why this job - If you are starting a new business in another city which one would you acquire 1st - Customer, Dashers, Restaurants 2nd - Behavioral - Why Dooordash - When have you been scrappy - Instances of working with cross teams Employees do not have experience to conduct interviews, not . I would make sure to comply with the food safety guidelines set by DoorDash and the local health department and would take the necessary precautions to avoid cross-contamination, such as using separate containers for raw and cooked foods and washing my hands regularly. Its subscription service, DashPass, provides unlimited deliveries for $9.99 a month and has 1.5 million customers. I think it shows you the resilience of how cities go through, obviously, economic cycles as well as even, you know, pandemic cycles. But thats at least what I found in our journey thus far. Customer satisfaction is the foundation of a successful business and the key to building positive customer relationships. Armed with that funding, the company began spending to grow. Because the journey to building anything of meaning, I believe, will take years, maybe decades.. Tony Xu: Yeah, I think, again, there isnt a silver bullet and youre right. We were looking a lot at the input metrics. Its not like that you kind of have to solve it there and then and so we thought that if we can tackle the hardest problem first, that other categories, at least from a pure last-mile logistics perspective, would be easier to do. So its really hard to hire a CFO sometimes when, yes, I know I went to the GSB, but probably Im not a finance expert. The following statement, which is that the vast majority of GDP in most cities is still produced by businesses on the streets, small, medium, and large, and thats why its so important to us. So that was a really good reminder to have. It's a big banner which has the 12 values organized into 4 themes -. The founders placed, picked up and delivered orders themselves, pausing the service while they were in class. And were trying to get to the lowest level branch and to really understand and were really looking for the disconfirming evidence to try to see whether or not were just confirming our own bias or actually were on the right path to seeing what the right problems are. Tony also shared his wisdom about the importance of truth seeking, optimism, and bias for action. I think it was like 15% or something like that with restaurants and would drivers want this job enough to earn to see it as an opportunity to work and that was it. Combining with competitors to become more profitable is not that insightful of an observation, Mr. Xu said, adding that he is focused on DoorDashs growth strategy. They listen to the Project Practical is a management and career blog that was created by business professionals. Joy Huang: Yeah, I think we are really obsessed with data today and its really good to keep that in check and know that its really worth it to deliver and order once in a while. That has led to some consolidation: Last year, DoorDash acquired Caviar, a smaller delivery company focused on upscale restaurants, for $410 million. Until recently, he said, the start-up was so scrappy that it did not serve its employees elaborate snack spreads and he personally delivered meals in a beat-up Honda. I think just being transparent with information, which was something that happened far before I think we had difficult moments than when the difficult moments inevitably came. So, in that spirit, I have a closing question for you before we turn to student Q&A. I had some skepticism as to whether it would work, said Charlie Morrison, Wingstops chief executive. Click here. DoorDash turned a profit in certain cities. Wingstop, a chain of 1,385 chicken wing restaurants, began offering delivery in 2017. And, and I think that that was probably one of the earliest lessons I took were I think on one hand for me it was just hanging out with my mom. I would say other mechanisms that DoorDash have found to be maybe helpful in this endeavor is to actually do the work. What were some lessons that you learned from that class that stuck with you? DoorDash said last week that it had confidentially filed to go public, setting itself up as a test for whether highly valued money-losing start-ups can make it onto the stock market at a time when Wall Street is deeply skeptical of such companies and the coronavirus outbreak has caused market turbulence. When it enters a new market, DoorDash adds restaurants that have not signed up for delivery as a way to show restaurant owners the value it can bring, Mr. Xu said. Encouraged to bring a strong opinion and challenge the cross-functional partners kind of have to go through of. 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