Food delivery service DoorDash stepped into the coveted “unicorn” club with its latest $535 million funding round, which values it at $1.4 billion.
And CEO Tony Xu wants to make sure the company is “scaling quality as we scale quantity,” Xu told Cheddar.
“We’re going to be growing to every zip code in every city in North America. As a result, we have to make sure that we keep focusing on the basics.”
DoorDash operates in an increasingly competitive space with brands like Seamless, GrubHub, and UberEats all vying for domination.
To stay ahead, Xu says his company focuses on maintaining a variety of merchants.
“It starts with offering the broadest selection and offering at the highest quality [with] a consistent level of service.”
He pointed out that DoorDash serves 90 percent of the top 100 restaurant brands that offer delivery. “That’s more than all our peers combined.”
Going forward, Xu sees DoorDash automating parts of its delivery logistics.
“We’ve been working with autonomous delivery systems for about three years now,” said Xu. “It’s really a very difficult problem because you’re talking about solving the first- and last-10-feet problem. So this is going to take some time before it truly develops.”
Xu also envisions using DoorDash’s technology to get industries beyond restaurants online. “When you can deliver a burrito hot and deliver ice cream that does not melt, you can deliver just about anything.”
But Xu didn’t go into any details of the industries that DoorDash is eyeing next.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/doordash-raises-535-million-in-series-d-funding).
Workers at Kaiser Permanente walked off the job, representing the largest healthcare strike in history. Michelle Castillo broke down what could happen next and what it could mean for patients.
Wednesday marks World Financial Planning Day. Rebecca Walser, president and founder of Walser Wealth Management, joined Cheddar News to discuss why financial planning is important, how it can be done and why it's best to start early.
Traveling can be expensive and if a situation arises, costs can add up. Nick Ewen, senior editor at The Points Guy, joined Cheddar News to explain what travel insurance can cover and when you should purchase it.
A prosecutor opened a criminal fraud trial Wednesday by telling jurors that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was on top of the world a year ago, hobnobbing with people like football star Tom Brady and ex-President Bill Clinton, before his historic fraud was exposed, leaving customers and investors without at least $10 billion they thought was secure.
Staying on top of your personal spending shouldn't be as complicated as you think. Lazetta Braxton, a certified financial planner, joined Cheddar News to provide tips on how to track that spending, such as grouping expenses into different categories.
Uber is adding a new task to its list of services: mailing consumers' return packages.
United Airlines said it's buying about 110 more planes from Boeing and Airbus.
Data shows auto sales rose in the third quarter.
Netflix is planning to raise prices, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Studies show about half of Americans will experience a layoff in their lifetime. Cheddar News' Ready4Work docuseries on Thursdays at 8:30pm provides tips in its latest episode on what to do if you get that pink slip.
