Elad Gil Apoorva Mehta, Founder of Instacart, Fireside Chat w/ Elad Gil
Nov 8, 2023
Apoorva Mehta, the founder of Instacart and a former Amazon engineer, shares the riveting journey from building startups to creating a grocery delivery giant. He delves into the challenges of overcoming skepticism from investors influenced by Webvan's failure. Apoorva highlights key traits for early hires and the strategic importance of team dynamics. He also explains technical complexities as moats, the impact of the Whole Foods acquisition, and lessons learned during pivotal moments like COVID. His insights on launching a second startup and market evaluation frameworks inspire future entrepreneurs.
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Bootstrapped Supply By Buying Stores
- To bootstrap supply, Instacart 'ninja shopped' stores and photographed every SKU in a studio.
- Buying an entire store cost ~$50,000 but doubled demand and created durable SKU data as a moat.
Build Moats Intentionally, Not By Accident
- Deliberately build and track barriers to entry alongside growth metrics.
- Instacart's technical SKU data, retailer relationships, and enterprise features became layered moats.
Win By Rallying Retailers After Amazon Deal
- Amazon buying Whole Foods felt existential because Whole Foods was Instacart's largest partner.
- Instacart entered 'war mode', signed every major grocer, expanded nationwide, and reduced Whole Foods to <5% of sales.