American Dreamers is a collection of conversations with main Asian American entrepreneurs and enterprise leaders during which they open up about every thing from their startup tales and firm constructing to confronting racism and making it in America.
Andy Fang is the chief expertise officer and one of many co-founders of DoorDash, everybody’s favourite meals supply app. Andy and his co-founders, Tony Xu and Stanley Tang, began the corporate in 2013 whereas they have been college students at Stanford. Eight years later, DoorDash is the biggest native logistics firm within the U.S., servicing a whole bunch of hundreds of retailers and tens of tens of millions of shoppers, with over $3 billion in revenues in 2021. DoorDash went public in 2020, making Andy, who’s not but 30, a billionaire. Not unhealthy for his first job out of school!
In these edited excerpts from my dialog with Andy, he tells me about his upbringing, how he and his co-founders began DoorDash, good and unhealthy surprises that he encountered alongside the way in which from thought to IPO, and among the challenges he confronted with scaling the tech stack and himself as the corporate grew. We additionally talk about his reactions to problems with bias that Asian Individuals face in Silicon Valley and the nation extra broadly, and Andy tells me what the American Dream means to him.
Let’s begin with the place your loved ones’s from and the place you grew up.
Each my mother and father immigrated to the US from Taiwan. They met and had me right here. I’m the youngest of 4, born and raised close to San Jose. I went to Stanford and we began DoorDash right here, so I assume I by no means actually left the Bay Space.
When did you get into expertise?
Rising up in Silicon Valley, I used to be uncovered to laptop science very early on. One summer time, once I was in elementary college, my mother didn’t need me to only sit round the home. So she made me and my brother take a summer time class in fundamental coding. I realized how you can write up some IF statements and for-loops in Java, attention-grabbing issues like that.
Java was really my first language, too. And the way did that summer time coding class ultimately result in DoorDash?
Nicely, I met certainly one of my co-founders Stanley [Tang, DoorDash CPO] my freshman yr at Stanford. We have been in the identical dorm and we’d tinker and construct a variety of stuff on the facet. We constructed a social calendar app with group messaging, again within the day, which we tried to persuade our buddies to make use of. We have been simply exploring internet and cellular applied sciences, however nothing actually got here of it.
Then we took a joint engineering-and-business-school course known as “Startup Storage.” And that is really the place we met Tony [Xu, DoorDash CEO and co-founder]. Tony’s mother was a small-business proprietor and the three of us bonded over our curiosity in utilizing expertise to assist native companies.
We ended up speaking to a whole bunch of native companies within the Bay Space and we realized that supply was a ache level, which was attention-grabbing since you would possibly’ve thought that supply was one thing that had already been solved for — pizza supply has been round eternally — however once you tried to get meals delivered in Palo Alto, again in 2013, it was actually solely Domino’s and the native Chinese language restaurant.
So we began out with testing an thought known as PaloAltoDelivery.com. And that’s the place the DoorDash story started.
Tony was an MBA pupil on the time and also you guys have been undergrads. How did your relationship and roles evolve?
We really bought alongside rather well. I believe one of many issues that made our founding group particular is that all of us revered what the others dropped at the desk. Tony was the enterprise man and had earlier relationships with some buyers. He revered our experience, which was expertise for me and, for Stanley, it was extra the product design facet of issues.
Was it clear again then that you just have been going to concentrate on engineering and Stanley was going to concentrate on product?
Yeah, I believe it was apparent from the start. I had a extra in depth background in laptop science and Stanley actually bought into it as a result of he needed to construct issues. In order that a part of it was very straightforward for Stanley and me to delineate. And Tony was hitting the streets, speaking to retailers, whereas we have been coding. The roles naturally type of fell into place. However we nonetheless had a variety of enjoyable founding tales of simply getting the product off the bottom the place not one of the official roles mattered.
Might you share?
Nicely, we did the primary couple of hundred deliveries ourselves, and we have been nonetheless at school on the time, so we might take turns. One in all us would play the dispatcher whereas the others went out and fulfilled deliveries. I might be on the cellphone, and Tony’s calling me, telling me which orders to choose up and in what order, and I’m attempting to jot down all of it down on a scratchpad whereas additionally looking for parking. After which the client needs to pay with a bank card, Oh wait, Did I bear in mind the Sq. card reader? And since we have been at school, we have been initially solely open on the weekdays, from 5 to eight, whereas our early prospects, who have been principally Stanford college students, principally needed supply over the weekend. It was frantic.
When did you guys determine this might be greater than a college challenge?
It was within the spring of 2013. Stanley and I had internships at varied tech firms lined up for the summer time. Tony was graduating from the [Stanford Graduate School of Business]. So, it was an actual determination level for us, and we determined, okay, let’s go all in. That summer time was after we rebranded the corporate as DoorDash and actually dedicated to seeing what we might make of it.
And now, simply eight years later, take a look at what DoorDash has turn out to be. What stunned you alongside the way in which?
It occurred rather a lot sooner than I might’ve thought. In some methods it is unreal to consider the journey we have been on. There’s been a variety of luck that is gotten us up to now, when it comes to our timing available in the market and the varieties of individuals we have been capable of persuade to affix our firm. For myself, particularly — a brand new faculty graduate with no community to recruit from — it was robust again then to persuade engineers to take the leap of religion with you.
What we needed to do was guess on individuals earlier than they turned credible within the business, as a result of these have been those we might afford. And people are the individuals who usually are keen to take these dangers, particularly once they’re actually younger. A philosophy we had within the early days was investing in “slope over y-intercept” — believing in individuals’s potential and hiring for that. And I believe that could be very relevant to us even at this time. Because of this, we have been capable of construct a very sturdy group. Most of the nice surprises we have had, once I take into consideration the final eight years, are the individuals who’ve been capable of step up and scale with us.
Have been there any disagreeable surprises?
Although our firm was rising rather well and our inside metrics have been nice, we had hassle elevating funding in 2016 and thru 2018. It was a bear cycle inside the investor group. It pressured us to buckle down, be fiscally accountable, and develop profitably. It was a reasonably robust time for the corporate, although. We noticed a good quantity of attrition throughout many various departments throughout that interval, however we additionally had lots of people who stayed by means of it.
I count on that we’ll undergo tough occasions once more. It is inevitable. However I believe the DNA we have constructed — the perseverance, concentrate on the shoppers, and working on the lowest stage of element — that core DNA is embedded in our management and the individuals who’ve endured with us. And I really feel actually assured that the subsequent time we face obstacles or challenges, we’ll be capable of work by means of them.
As you understand, Asian Individuals, particularly East Asians, are underrepresented on the govt stage. And one motive, many individuals imagine, is the notion that East Asians lack what individuals right here name management abilities or govt presence. I do know your skilled path is atypical and also you’re in some methods nonetheless early in your profession, however have you ever felt or witnessed that bias?
That’s one thing I’ve heard, however given the truth that our founding group had such sturdy East Asian illustration, I do not suppose we felt it a lot. Regardless of the notion, it’s not the truth at DoorDash. And hopefully, the place that I’m in reveals different individuals who come from the same background that there is nothing stopping them from with the ability to accomplish nice issues as an entrepreneur or govt.
Because the technical co-founder, what was the toughest technical problem you confronted each at first when it was principally simply you after which as you scaled up?
At first, I might say the toughest technical problem was simply attempting to get issues out sooner, as a result of that was crucial factor to hitting our subsequent milestone. There have been so many merchandise we needed to construct for purchasers, for Dashers, for retailers, inside assist instruments, instruments for our operators, launching and managing areas and new markets. There’s an enormous breadth of merchandise that it’s important to construct once you’re ranging from scratch. And there was a variety of strain to get the naked minimal merchandise throughout the board to assist all our varied audiences, exterior and inside.
As we have gotten greater, the problem is discovering the stability of sustaining or rising that velocity, whereas ensuring your programs can scale appropriately. We had some challenges with scaling our structure and it was a humbling expertise for me, as a result of I’d by no means overseen large-scale distributed programs. So we had to usher in engineers from the surface who did have that have, to come back in and make selections on the place to take our expertise stack. And it was essential for me to let go of a variety of these selections for us to have the ability to get to that subsequent stage.
Eight years in the past, you guys dreamt of beginning this firm and it is grown up a lot sooner than you ever anticipated. What are you dreaming up now?
There are a few issues we’re actually enthusiastic about at DoorDash. Supply is clearly one thing that we’ll proceed to assist, however we wish to broaden the choices now we have on DoorDash past eating places. We have seen a variety of promise within the comfort and alcohol and grocery areas. And I believe there are a variety of different alternatives to assist prospects join with eating places and interact extra with retailers than simply by means of supply, whether or not that’s ordering pickup or shopping retailers on the app. There are additionally some attention-grabbing verticals that we wish to experiment with and discover over the subsequent couple of years.
One different dimension that can be actually attention-grabbing for us is changing into a extra really world firm. We launched in Australia and Canada a few years in the past, and in Japan and Germany this yr. So now we have our sights set on persevering with to broaden our geographic footprint.
You and quite a few different Asian American enterprise leaders signed an open letter a number of months in the past condemning the latest spate of anti-Asian racism and violence. Are you able to share any ideas about this era of heightened anti-Asian animosity?
I distinctly bear in mind watching a clip of president Biden calling out the wave of racism towards Asian Individuals, which was attention-grabbing to me as a result of, rising up on this nation, I don’t recall a earlier occasion of a president particularly talking concerning the Asian American group. So, I assumed the truth that we have been being acknowledged was an indication of progress. On the similar time, I believe there’s extra work to be executed. And as enterprise leaders from the Asian American group, I believe now we have a accountability to unfold consciousness about and condemn hate concentrating on our group.
I’m an immigrant, your mother and father are immigrants, you’re a toddler of immigrants. We’re all comparatively new Individuals. What do you like about America?
One factor that I’ve come to understand, particularly over the previous few years, is how America protects the concept of individualism and creating your personal livelihood. As a son of immigrants, I respect that I’ve been capable of chase my dream of entrepreneurship and see it flourish. I believe the pursuit of happiness and freedom of alternative are very American beliefs. And the prospect to dream and make these desires a actuality could be very particular and what I really like about this nation.
We began with speaking about your loved ones. Why don’t we finish there as effectively. What position did your loved ones play as you went by means of this loopy journey?
They have been very supportive all through all of it. They’re at all times in my nook and that is been essential to me staying grounded. As a founder, it could typically really feel just like the world’s crashing down on you. I’m grateful that I had my household there to assist me by means of all of the highs and lows.
What classes or values have your mother and father handed right down to you that you just suppose have been most important to your success?
My mother and father taught me a type of braveness — that it was attainable for me to do nice issues. Taking step one of beginning an organization is often the toughest step for lots of people. However I at all times felt prefer it was one thing that I needed to do and felt like I might do. And I believe that not being afraid to take leaps of religion and placing myself in uncomfortable positions — that got here from my mother and father. I’m grateful to them for that, too, as a result of being outdoors of your consolation zone is usually once you develop probably the most.
Thanks, Andy, I liked studying extra about you. And thanks for constructing DoorDash. It’s how I get fed day by day!
