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| DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said he gets hundreds of emails from workers and customers each week. Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch |
For DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, feedback from customers, delivery workers, and restaurant partners isn’t just a management metric it’s part of his daily inbox routine. Speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Xu revealed that he personally receives hundreds of emails each week from the full spectrum of DoorDash users. Many of them don’t hold back, highlighting where the company’s service misses the mark.
“I get several hundred emails a week from all of our audiences, whether it’s consumers, Dashers, or merchants,” Xu said. “And I don’t know if they think that our improvements are very impressive.”
One example landed in Xu’s inbox just hours before the call: a customer wrote to complain that their delivery driver had arrived at the wrong parking lot in an apartment complex. The mix-up delayed the order and left the customer wondering if their driver would even show up. For Xu, moments like these reinforce that there’s always more work to do. “Every day, I think, is a daily struggle, where the job is to try to make an improvement for that day,” he said.
Growth Continues Despite Room for Improvement
While Xu acknowledged the areas where DoorDash needs to do better, the company’s latest earnings suggest Wall Street is confident in its growth trajectory. DoorDash reported second-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ expectations, with revenue climbing 25% compared to the same period last year. Beyond its core delivery operations, DoorDash has also been expanding through acquisitions spending over $1 billion this year to acquire UK delivery startup Deliveroo and restaurant reservation platform SevenRooms.
Emails aren’t Xu’s only window into the day-to-day DoorDash experience. He and other corporate employees have participated in WeDash, a program in which staff sign up as delivery drivers or “Dashers” to better understand operational challenges firsthand. Xu has previously said this has led to tangible changes, such as fixing bugs in the app or improving the accuracy of restaurant wait times.
CEOs Who Get Behind the Wheel
Xu isn’t the only gig economy leader to experience life in the driver’s seat. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has moonlighted as both a rideshare driver and delivery courier for his company, an experience that once left him on the receiving end of “tip baiting” a practice where a customer promises a large tip upfront only to withdraw it after delivery. Lyft CEO David Risher has also taken a hands-on approach, driving for Lyft roughly every six weeks to stay connected to the driver experience.
For Xu, the direct feedback loop from email inbox to boardroom keeps him grounded in the reality of the service DoorDash offers. And while the company’s earnings reflect strong financial performance, the CEO’s candid admission suggests that internal recognition of customer and worker frustrations will remain a driving force in how DoorDash shapes its next improvements.
