#037: Shawn Tsao (Caviar) - How we built and sold our $400M food delivery business

Shawn Tsao was the co-founder of Caviar. They sold it to Square for $100M. DoorDash then bought it from Square for $400M.In this episode, expect to learn how the idea of Caviar came from a failed business, their unique partnership strategy that allowed to scale fast, the interesting discovery that made their customers loyal, why he would do it all over again (with a few tweaks), how the Square acquisition went down and much more…TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Coming up 01:15 Starting a company out of college 04:34 The fall of Groupon and business failure 07:01 Being an accidental founder 10:27 The value of being able to sell 12:56 Being influenced by your environment 16:06 Starting Caviar 18:32 Lessons learnt 22:04 Partnership strategy 23:47 Marketing 25:34 Scaling 28:25 Recruiting 31:20 Competition 34:06 Height of Caviar 35:31 High Retention 38:07 Square takes notice 43:09 Selling to Square 46:12 Continuing to build 48:00 DoorDash steps in 49:04 Would you do it all again? 50:37 Would you change anything? 52:05 Mental health 54:44 What's happening now 56:12 Routine 57:05 Connecting with ShawnGUEST:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-tsao-9361142a/CONNECT WITH ME:About Me / Newsletter: https://barrywinata.ck.page/YouTube:  @barrywinataPodcast: https://www.youtube.com/@barrywinata/podcastsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrywinata/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.prompt_/X: https://x.com/barrywinataRSS: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/258746.rssPatreon Support: https://www.patreon.com/barrywinataFOR FOUNDERS:Get funded: https://metagrove.vcABOUT ME:I'm an engineer, founder, and investor. I've worked across Silicon Valley with hundreds of founders and early-stage companies. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work alongside amazing founders and entrepreneurs. This channel is to help support the next generation of leaders.Argon Labs: https://argonlabs.xyzAFFILIATES:Riverside: https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_2&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=thepromptNotion:https://affiliate.notion.so/the-promptNotion AI:https://affiliate.notion.so/the-prompt-ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beesletter.substack.com