Oh, we saw some classic startup shenaniganery this week.
As reported by The Age, US food delivery company DoorDash, which recently launched in Melbourne, has been accused of signing restaurants up to its service against their will.
In a story that reminded me of another classic Australian startup tale, it sounds like DoorDash doesn’t actually onboard restaurants in the traditional sense of the word, how we’ve come to expect a food delivery company to onboard restaurants.
According to The Age, the service has pitched at least two restaurants on its service, and despite them saying no, listed them on its platform without their knowledge. In turn, DoorDash has enabled customers to make orders, which it has then called into the restaurants, and then sent its couriers to pay for in person with a company-issued card.
Business Insider explained this is a strategy DoorDash used in the US, where it now has 300,000 restaurants on board, so I guess it worked…?
I mean, I know there are people out there who will say this is a great growth hack, but honestly, this is right up there with subscription services that let you sign up with a click and then make you call an international office during their business hours to cancel - it’s sketchy and annoying.
Of course, the response from DoorDash to the story has been pretty predictable. Their Australian GM, Thomas Stephens, told The Age:
"Should a restaurant not want to be included in this service, we will remove them from our listings immediately upon being notified, and work closely with the owners for their business needs,” he said.
"We have had informative, enlightening conversations with restaurateurs who expressed concern, and we are actively seeking out restaurants to better understand their needs and move forward in helping them grow."
Sure. Meanwhile, the story from one of the business owners:
"We were hounded for months to sign up but never agreed to it," Mr Lucas said. "We don't use delivery services as it is and aren't interested in starting with new or existing ones."
So, I dunno…it kind of sounds like “hounding” a restaurant “for months” about your service and them not signing up means…they don’t want to be included in your service. Just sayin!
Stephens then “declined to say” how many restaurants and cafes DoorDash has actually signed up.
Now, look, I get it; I’ve asked a lot of founders and CEOs how many customers or partners they have - no one’s ever going to come out and give you an exact number. But most know they’ve got to give you something. Ballpark it! Or answer the question by giving another, tangentially-related number that doesn’t actually answer the question. People love numbers!
Really, any number would help in this situation, to help you prove that you do actually have businesses on your platform who know they’re on there and want to be on there. The fact DoorDash couldn’t even ballpark a number doesn’t sound great.
Peak food delivery
All this shenaniganery has obscured the other big question: are we about done with new food delivery services launching yet? Like each new ridesharing app, are consumers not just signing up for their one free meal with their $20 referral credit before going back to their old favourite?
DoorDash has launched in Australia saying it will look to bring food delivery to the suburbs of our cities, but I don’t know that the suburbs are actually underserved. Believe it or not, food does get delivered outside Sydney’s inner west - Deliveroo has restaurants listed in Penrith, you guys.
Mental health in startups
KPMG High Growth Ventures this week released its second annual research report into the mental health of Australian startup founders. It’s important research that shows there absolutely needs to be more consideration of, and support for, the mental health of founders.
But I’d also like to see some consideration of the mental health of startup employees, who, beyond the cursory nods to “culture”, are quite often forgotten in conversations about the difficulties of startup life.
It’s hard building something new everyday, for employees too. You’re probably working from a small, crappy office or the corner of a noisy coworking space. You’re expected to care about the company and the product as much as the founders do, and devote yourself to it just like the founders do, so there’s no 9 to 5. On top of that, you’re earning less than you probably would at a corporate job but you’re expected to be happy with that because This Company Has A Mission, you get no other tangible perks - the coworking space’s beer on tap doesn’t count - and there’s no HR.
And here’s the thing. If someone were to survey startup employees about their mental health, I’d bet my very bottom dollar that one of the leading causes of stress and unhappiness for this cohort would be their founder/s.
Seriously, someone run the survey then @ me.
Around the internet
This NYT story on Silicon Valley discovering the concept of, wait for it, profitability is wild and honestly quite funny. My favourite line:
If you haven’t heard the Heavyweight podcast before: I’m sorry, but also, where have you been? Each episode sees the host, Jonathan, chat to someone about a formative moment in their past, or the past of someone they know. He will then usually track down the other person, or people, involved in that moment, hearing their version of events and how life has treated them since. It’s really delightful, and pretty much every episode has made me cry. This episode, released this week, was particularly sweet and heart-wrenching and I highly recommend it.
That’s it from me! Shoot me any thoughts here.