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In that case you should assume that FedEx will put them all out of business. There's a lot more going on than "delivery".

by paul 12y ago

downandout 12y ago
I wouldn't assume that. Fedex has many constraints on its business, and shares almost no core competencies with DoorDash or Uber. Its fleet consists not of nimble passenger cars, but of large, fuel guzzling trucks - making one-to-one pickups and deliveries inefficient and unprofitable. It also has no expertise in the area of recruiting independent contractors to perform work for it, which is one of the core competencies of both DoorDash and Uber. I wouldn't turn to DoorDash to deliver live lobsters to me from Maine overnight, and I wouldn't turn to Fedex to get me food from down the street. Those are very different businesses requiring very different infrastructures. Therein lies the problem for DoorDash: they are not that different from Uber. They have similar core competencies, but Uber is vastly better known and financed.
- paul 12y ago
  Time will tell :)
- khc 12y ago
  didn't all the Fedex drivers start out as contractors, until a court case ruled that they are actually employees? Time will tell if this will happen to DoorDash and Uber.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  I feel like your post highlights one of the glaring problems with the SV/SFBA echo chamber. Uber, DoorDash, whatever, they're services glued together with server-side logic and mobile apps. Fedex, UPS, and I'll even lump Amazon in there. These are logistics powerhouses. Their physical world equipment isn't a liability, its their advantage. Fedex and UPS have knowledge on how to manage a fleet of hundreds of aircraft, thousands of long-haul tractor trailers, tens of thousands of local delivery trucks, and hundreds of thousands of employees. Your app does not have that. You have users. You have VC money. And while you might think you're more agile than logistics dinosaurs, they have the upper hand. Good luck.

In that case you should assume that FedEx will put them all out of business. There's a lot more going on than "delivery".

by paul 12y ago

In that case you should assume that FedEx will put them all out of business. There's a lot more going on than "delivery".

downandout 12y ago

I wouldn't assume that. Fedex has many constraints on its business, and shares almost no core competencies with DoorDash or Uber. Its fleet consists not of nimble passenger cars, but of large, fuel guzzling trucks - making one-to-one pickups and deliveries inefficient and unprofitable. It also has no expertise in the area of recruiting independent contractors to perform work for it, which is one of the core competencies of both DoorDash and Uber. I wouldn't turn to DoorDash to deliver live lobsters to me from Maine overnight, and I wouldn't turn to Fedex to get me food from down the street. Those are very different businesses requiring very different infrastructures. Therein lies the problem for DoorDash: they are not that different from Uber. They have similar core competencies, but Uber is vastly better known and financed.

paul 12y ago
Time will tell :)
khc 12y ago
didn't all the Fedex drivers start out as contractors, until a court case ruled that they are actually employees? Time will tell if this will happen to DoorDash and Uber.
toomuchtodo 12y ago
I feel like your post highlights one of the glaring problems with the SV/SFBA echo chamber. Uber, DoorDash, whatever, they're services glued together with server-side logic and mobile apps. Fedex, UPS, and I'll even lump Amazon in there. These are logistics powerhouses. Their physical world equipment isn't a liability, its their advantage. Fedex and UPS have knowledge on how to manage a fleet of hundreds of aircraft, thousands of long-haul tractor trailers, tens of thousands of local delivery trucks, and hundreds of thousands of employees. Your app does not have that. You have users. You have VC money. And while you might think you're more agile than logistics dinosaurs, they have the upper hand. Good luck.