Michael Bloch (@michaelxbloch) / X

Michael Bloch

1,643 posts

Michael Bloch

@michaelxbloch

Partner @QuietCapital. Previously founded Pillar (acquired by @Acorns) + early @DoorDash. Tweets about startups, tech, AI, and investing.

New York, NY

Joined April 2014

Pinned
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Two years ago, DoorDash was a distant third behind Seamless & UberEats in the food delivery race. This week, $DASH will IPO at a $30B+ valuation as America's biggest food delivery provider. I was one of DoorDash's first 50 employees. Here's an inside look at how we did it 👇👇👇
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 13, 2020
There is a lot of advice out there about how to raise your very first round of funding. I've raised $7M from top tier VCs and learned the hard way that a lot of the common wisdom at the earliest stage isn't true. Here's my advice on how to fundraise pre-launch 👇
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
Tony said it best in the S-1: - Be customer-obsessed, not competitor-focused - Get 1% better every day - Operate at the lowest level of detail - Dream big, start small - We are owners
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 14, 2021
1/ I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined @QuietCapital as a Partner! After 8+ years as a founder & operator, I’ll now be investing in and helping start, build, and scale the next generation of category-defining crypto + fintech + consumer companies.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 24, 2021
This policy was in place since the earliest days of DoorDash. It helps employees better understand how the system works and what problems need to solved for customers. Every company should do things like this.
Josh
@JoshuaOgundu
Dec 23, 2021
DoorDash is making employees including the CEO to do one dash a month and employees are upset
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
1. Focus on the suburbs Delivering in cities is hard. Customers expect to pay less, drivers expect to be paid more, traffic sucks, parking is hard. Suburbs have better fundamentals and even more people. While our competitors struggled in cities, DoorDash thrived outside of them
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
2. Selection & quality > price & speed In food delivery, you can compete on four things – price, speed, selection, and quality. $DASH couldn't beat Seamless & Uber on price. We knew that was a no go for us. Uber focused on speed. That was the wrong decision.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
Our analysis showed there was limited marginal benefit to customer conversion or retention rates under 42 minute ETAs. As long as deliveries were sub 42min, customers didn't really care how long they took. Uber focused on achieving sub 30min delivery times to their own detriment.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
4. The team is everything $DASH's greatest advantage is its team and culture. As someone that helped scale the team from 50 --> 2,500, I can attest that the team lives & breathes these values. They're committed to excellence and success.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Jan 17, 2023
The 🇺🇸 government will spend $858,000,000,000 on defense in 2023. 4% of that will go to startups. Hundreds of founders are now building for the defense sector. From AI & autonomy to space & public safety, here's what this ecosystem looks like today👇 michaelxbloch.com/national-secur…
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
For more on $DASH, check out our S1 club analysis thegeneralist.substack.com/p/doordash-the… @mariodgabriele @ranjanxroy @cristinagberta @averyklemmer @thenewb @daveambrose @nanduanilal @d_mccar
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
3. Obsess over the merchant AND dasher AND customer $DASH is a service business. It's run by and powered by people. Our competitors focused on customers first; restaurants and drivers second. They often ignored merchant & driver needs. We weighed all sides equally.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
$DASH focused on having the best selection (all the restaurants you want to order from) and the best quality (we made sure your food arrived on time, with everything, in the state you expected). That focus paid off. People trusted us more, talked about us more, and stuck with us.
Michael Bloch
@michaelxbloch
Dec 6, 2020
Replying to @michaelxbloch
Our team shifted focus to the suburbs and launched DD in Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester, and Connecticut. We found instant product market fit. Business skyrocketed and we were profitable in months. Over time, we reinvested those gains into the city and fought on our terms.