7 ms·

Our Magic

86 points by apoorvamehta 14y ago

stef25 14y ago
I wonder how it works with regards to the logistics, what items are in stock at what price, which stores participate ... ?
sethbannon 14y ago
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 14y ago
  NYC has FreshDirect though... How does this compare?
  - sethbannon 14y ago
    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 14y ago
      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.
- lincolnq 14y ago
  Yes. Please come to NYC. I'll use it very often.
avree 14y ago
Congratulations, Apoorva! I've used Instacart a few times now and it's very intuitive and straightforward.
jhuckestein 14y ago
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 14y ago
  The last month Kozmo was up I spent over $300 on their service. Their closure was a huge disappointment for me.
Firehed 14y ago
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.
NicholasL 14y ago
The 3 hour option is really reasonable.
eweise 14y ago
How is this different than Webvan? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan
- dorkitude 14y ago
  One of them has a functioning mobile app that I used last night to order groceries; the other doesn't even have a website.
- eweise 14y ago
  I found the answer here http://blog.aisle-zero.com/2012/08/what-price-convenience.html http://blog.aisle-zero.com/2012/08/what-price-convenience.ht...
- webwright 14y ago
  Webvan maintained inventory/warehouses. The modern equivalent is Amazon Fresh ( http://fresh.amazon.com/ 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.
evanm 14y ago
Nice work Apoorva!
apoorvamehta 14y ago
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 http://imgur.com/2tWWh Webvan: http://minus.com/l2Mq5zUpwCP6E http://minus.com/l2Mq5zUpwCP6E
- duiker101 14y ago
  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 14y ago
    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 14y ago
      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 14y ago
        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.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
physcab 14y ago
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.
- qq66 14y ago
  The thing is that someone who is listing their services on TaskRabbit wants to exchange their time for money. If it's an amount of money that's worth it to you, it's not you who valued their time less then your own, it's they who did it. Why do law firms have janitors? Because lawyers' time is economically, if not morally, more expensive than janitors' time. It's not a cultural failure to hire someone to do something you could do yourself, but rather wouldn't. Someone who is on TaskRabbit delivering groceries probably isn't using a bicycle, can get better at it than you can by combining deliveries, and can make money at the same time. It's a win for both parties.
  - physcab 14y ago
    I urge you to think deeper about this. You are saying these people chose to list their time, but why do they consider it in the first place and why don't you? Alternatively, think about the array of choices they have to make money and yours. I'm not saying its an immoral service. I'm implying that "distributed labor" startups are problematic for me to participate in as a customer because I find the notion of spinning up people like we do servers to do tasks that I can buy my way out of to be problematic.
petemccarthy 14y ago
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 14y ago
  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.
saddino 14y ago
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?
HyprMusic 14y ago
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 14y ago
  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.
HorizonXP 14y ago
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!
nikunjagrawal 14y ago
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 ?

86 points by apoorvamehta 14y ago

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

sethbannon 14y ago

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 14y ago
NYC has FreshDirect though... How does this compare?
- sethbannon 14y ago
  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 14y ago
    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.
lincolnq 14y ago
Yes. Please come to NYC. I'll use it very often.

avree 14y ago

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

jhuckestein 14y ago

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 14y ago
The last month Kozmo was up I spent over $300 on their service. Their closure was a huge disappointment for me.

Firehed 14y ago

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.

NicholasL 14y ago

The 3 hour option is really reasonable.

eweise 14y ago

How is this different than Webvan? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan

dorkitude 14y ago
One of them has a functioning mobile app that I used last night to order groceries; the other doesn't even have a website.
eweise 14y ago
I found the answer here http://blog.aisle-zero.com/2012/08/what-price-convenience.html http://blog.aisle-zero.com/2012/08/what-price-convenience.ht...
webwright 14y ago
Webvan maintained inventory/warehouses. The modern equivalent is Amazon Fresh ( http://fresh.amazon.com/ 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.

evanm 14y ago

Nice work Apoorva!

apoorvamehta 14y ago

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 http://imgur.com/2tWWh Webvan: http://minus.com/l2Mq5zUpwCP6E http://minus.com/l2Mq5zUpwCP6E

duiker101 14y ago
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 14y ago
  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 14y ago
    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 14y ago
      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.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

physcab 14y ago

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.

qq66 14y ago
The thing is that someone who is listing their services on TaskRabbit wants to exchange their time for money. If it's an amount of money that's worth it to you, it's not you who valued their time less then your own, it's they who did it. Why do law firms have janitors? Because lawyers' time is economically, if not morally, more expensive than janitors' time. It's not a cultural failure to hire someone to do something you could do yourself, but rather wouldn't. Someone who is on TaskRabbit delivering groceries probably isn't using a bicycle, can get better at it than you can by combining deliveries, and can make money at the same time. It's a win for both parties.
- physcab 14y ago
  I urge you to think deeper about this. You are saying these people chose to list their time, but why do they consider it in the first place and why don't you? Alternatively, think about the array of choices they have to make money and yours. I'm not saying its an immoral service. I'm implying that "distributed labor" startups are problematic for me to participate in as a customer because I find the notion of spinning up people like we do servers to do tasks that I can buy my way out of to be problematic.

petemccarthy 14y ago

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 14y ago
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.

saddino 14y ago

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?

HyprMusic 14y ago

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 14y ago
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.

HorizonXP 14y ago

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!

nikunjagrawal 14y ago

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 ?