PaloAltoDelivery

PaloAltoDelivery was the rough predecessor to DoorDash in Tony Xu on Building DoorDash from a Class Project into a Global Marketplace. Tony Xu says the team launched it on January 12, 2013 with a landing page, eight PDF menus, and a Google Voice number that rang the founders’ phones.

The project is the episode’s clearest Janky MVP case. It did not support online transactions, driver assignment software, or a full marketplace experience. Customers called, founders placed the takeout order, picked up food in a car, delivered it, and collected payment with a Square reader. That was enough to test whether customers cared if restaurants that had never offered delivery could suddenly deliver.

Connections

• DoorDash, Tony Xu, Evan Moore, Stanley Tang, and Andy Fang - successor company and founding team.
• Janky MVP, Customer Pull, Fast Product Validation, and Validated Learning - startup-learning concepts grounded by the prototype.
• Three-Sided Marketplace Validation - broader marketplace test that followed the first consumer-demand signal.