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20VC: Deliveroo Founder Will Shu on The IPO This Year, The Rise of Quick Commerce and The Fierce Competition with Uber Eats

Oct 25, 2021

Will Shu, the Founder and CEO of Deliveroo, shares his journey from finance to revolutionizing food delivery. He reveals the challenges of launching the platform, including building trust with restaurants and acquiring customers. The conversation delves into the strategic decisions behind expanding into new markets and the ongoing competition with rivals like Uber Eats. Shu also discusses Deliveroo's IPO experience and the future of grocery delivery, emphasizing the importance of local engagement and operational efficiency in a rapidly evolving landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Deliveroo's Origin

Will Shu's only business idea was Deliveroo, inspired by London's lack of good food delivery options.
He initially tried starting in 2008 but faced technological limitations with laptops and Palm Pilots.

INSIGHT

Dark Kitchen Advantages

Dark kitchens improve delivery by centralizing food preparation and optimizing for delivery-specific needs.
This leads to faster handoff times, better packaging, and unique menu innovation.

ANECDOTE

Early Restaurant Acquisition

Initially, Will Shu struggled to onboard restaurants, signing the first three himself, including his landlord.
After demonstrating operational effectiveness and timely deliveries, restaurants began joining through word-of-mouth.

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Will Shu is the Founder & CEO @ Deliveroo, the company that provides your favorite restaurants and takeaways, delivered to your door. Prior to their IPO earlier this year, Will raised over $1.7BN for the company from some of the best including Accel, Index, General Catalyst, Greenoaks, and more. Before Deliveroo, Will worked in finance as an analyst with SAC Capital, ESO Capital, and Morgan Stanley in New York and London. Fun fact, Will still enjoys regularly delivering food orders on his bike.

In Today’s Episode with Will Shu You Will Learn:

1.) How Will made his way from hedge funds and Morgan Stanley to changing the world of food and delivery with Deliveroo? Why did Deliveroo not work the first time Will started it?

2.) Restaurant + Customer Acquisition: How did Will acquire the first restaurants to the platform? What did that education process look like for them? What do the restaurants care about? How did Will acquire the first customers? How has that changed over time? What matters to customers; speed, selection or price? How does this change by geography and country?

3.) New Markets: How do Deliveroo select new markets to enter? What makes one more attractive than another? From a resource perspective, what does it take to open a new market? What have been some of the biggest lessons on zone maturity and time to breakeven? Why does Deliveroo not track driver efficiency on a number of drops basis? What is the right mechanism to measure driver efficiency?

4.) Competition: How did Deliveroo come late to markets like France and end up winning them? What was it like competing against Uber with Eats? How important is restaurant exclusivity to Deliveroo retaining its position? What would Will have done differently with regards to competition, with the benefit of hindsight?

5.) Quick commerce: What does Will make of the unprecedented rise of quick commerce? Will we see many winners on a per market basis or will this be a consolidatory environment? What do many of the new entrants mistake or not understand? Why is the vertical ownership of the supply chain such a superior model to working with grocery partners?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Will Shu

Will’s Favourite Book: From Third World to First: Singapore and the Asian Economic Boom