

Our Magic - apoorvamehta
http://instacart.com/blog

======
apoorvamehta
For anyone comparing us to Webvan - we are different. I've shared why that's
the case several times before (google instacart). But, I think pictures speak
louder than words:

Instacart: <http://imgur.com/2tWWh> Webvan: <http://minus.com/l2Mq5zUpwCP6E>

~~~
duiker101
That you are no-one and they are a big company,mature and well organized? This
is what I got as a person how know nothing about both. And I am not sure that
is a point for you.

~~~
nlh
C'mon that's just not fair.

The point is, in case you truly didn't get it, is that these guys are a
scrappy start-up (which, we hope, isn't burning money into a fiery pit of
despair), and Webvan is a too-big-for-its-britches lumbering incumbent.

Good luck guys - Instacart seems like it's got amazing potential and I hope
you guys do wonderfully.

~~~
jisaacstone
It is totally fair. People (especially in the valley) tend to think small is
better/more efficient than big. But what are the statistics on actual failure
rates?

Start-ups that 'succeed' (buyouts, etc) for their founders can still fail
before making any real difference in the actual marketplace.

Nothing against Instacart, but that first picture must become like the second
before history will call them 'successful'

~~~
gottagetmac
I think the point of the image is more that starting small makes them less
likely to fail SPECTACULARLY. There is zero chance that Instacart will lose
$830 million before it sees traction, which is what happened to Webvan. If
Webvan had just been a small grocery startup, nobody would have cared if it
failed.

Also, "historically notable" is a pretty high bar you're setting.

Finally, I'm sure Instacart hopes to reach that kind of scale eventually. But
they don't want to start there because again, that's how you fail
spectacularly and lose tons of money without giving people something they
want.

------
physcab
I think Instacart is a fantastic concept / service but for me it doesn't come
without some internal conflict. When I was in grad school and didn't have a
car, it was a huge pain to go grocery shopping. I had to bike a mile to the
nearest grocery store and I could only fit a few items in my backpack. On top
of that, it would rain often (thank you Florida), making the whole experience
absolutely miserable. I always wished there was some service that could do
"maintenance shopping" for me and always deliver the weekly essentials. I
thought the same about laundry as well.

Now that I have a job and live a few blocks from the nearest store and have a
car, is it right to _pay someone else_ to do my shopping for me? Am I really
that lazy? Do I really value other's time less than my own? I have often
pondered these questions ever since services like Taskrabbit started and I saw
people (able-bodied 20-somethings) using TR to do things like screw new light
bulbs in.

So I'm not saying services like this shouldn't exist, because there is clearly
a need...but I worry about what it means for our culture.

~~~
MTGandP
The entire purpose of the modern economy is to pay other people to do things
so you don't have to do them yourself. Did you build your house from trees
that you chopped down yourself? Do you grow all your own food? Do you cut your
own hair?

If you think it's worthwhile to do your own grocery shopping, then you may do
so. But there's nothing wrong with paying someone else for a service.

~~~
physcab
You presumably pay people for their skillsets. Screwing a light bulb in or
doing your grocery shopping doesn't require a special skillset. There are some
tasks that just aren't in the same ballpark as building homes, growing food,
and cutting hair, and I think shopping is one of them.

------
Firehed
Good for them - I use Instacart at least weekly and it's a fantastic service.
I really hope it's sustainable, as same-day delivery services have had trouble
in the past. Launching in the valley where people will pay to have more time
was a great idea, but I anticipate a long road ahead when it comes to middle
America.

------
sethbannon
Great service. Makes shopping for groceries a cinch. My only qualm is that
they're not serving NYC yet. Hopefully this funding means fast expansion!

~~~
aditya
NYC has FreshDirect though... How does this compare?

~~~
sethbannon
Instacart has same day (3 hour and 1 hour) delivery options. Freshdirect is
next-day. As a startup founder, this kind of flexibility is great. Instacart
also has a slick mobile app, which is a more pleasurable shopping experience.

~~~
nlh
FreshDirect is next-day at BEST. I've tried to order and have been limited to
2 days later at odd hours. I suppose that's a result of their success, but
certainly something to be aware of and optimize against.

------
saddino
Can someone explain how the economics of scaling this type of business works
now in 2012 when it failed in 2001? (most famously, Kozmo). I thought the
problem was that the all-in cost of delivery was greater than the flat
delivery fee added to each purchase. What's the trick to make this type of
business work now?

------
jhuckestein
Maybe this time around the business can be profitable at scale. What few
people know/remember is that Kozmo, despite ultimately burning large amounts
of money, was profitable in three cities right before they shut down.

I love Instacart, I use it almost every day! Glad to see some big name
investors agree.

~~~
pault
The last month Kozmo was up I spent over $300 on their service. Their closure
was a huge disappointment for me.

------
petemccarthy
Focus on Trader Joe's. Their stores are smaller and easier for your shoppers
to get in and out of, with a much more concise number of items. People trust
the brand and are much more likely to try something out just by seeing and
reading about it. Trader Joe's = Big time success.

~~~
pbreit
I was thinking that as well but I'm wondering if TJ's customers are so thrifty
that they might not be so excited about a $10 or $20 delivery fee.

------
HyprMusic
In the UK the supermarkets offer a delivered groceries service themselves. Is
this something that US supermarkets don't offer? Or is Instacart's selling
point the rush delivery?

~~~
gagege
Maybe something like that does exist in the US, but I've never heard of it.
Very few businesses deliver; pizza, sandwiches, Chinese food. That's about it.

------
nikunjagrawal
Nice Hack Apoorva. I still remember reading an article about the great hustle
u made to get in YC.

I also plan to integrate Instacart in one of my features, and see how it can
happen. Applied to YC this batch. What you think ?

------
HorizonXP
Fantastic news guys! I use it every time I'm in San Francisco, and I can't
wait until it's more ubiquitous.

I also love that you guys have an Android app now. Makes it much more
accessible!

------
stef25
I wonder how it works with regards to the logistics, what items are in stock
at what price, which stores participate ... ?

------
avree
Congratulations, Apoorva! I've used Instacart a few times now and it's very
intuitive and straightforward.

------
evanm
Nice work Apoorva!

------
NicholasL
The 3 hour option is really reasonable.

------
eweise
How is this different than Webvan? <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan>

~~~
webwright
Webvan maintained inventory/warehouses. The modern equivalent is Amazon Fresh
( <http://fresh.amazon.com/> ). Instacart is more like an Exec/Taskrabbit
model. Their inventory/warehouse is your local grocery store. They pay drivers
to go grab stuff there and bring it to you. So not terribly different in value
prop, but pretty wildly different in terms of business model.

