DoorDash: Tony Xu In 2013, Tony Xu was brainstorming ideas for a business school project when he identified a problem he wanted to solve: food delivery. For most restaurants, it was too costly and inefficient, leaving most of the market to pizza and Chinese. Tony and his partners believed they could use technology to connect customers to drivers, who would deliver meals in every imaginable cuisine. That idea grew into DoorDash, a company that's now delivered over 100 million orders from over 200,000 restaurants across the country. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," we hear from the winner of our 2018 HIBT Summit Pitch Competition: Ashlin Cook. She combined her love for dogs with an entrepreneurial itch to create Winnie Lou: a Colorado business that sells healthy dog treats in independent pet stores and from a food truck.
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DoorDash: Tony Xu

DoorDash: Tony Xu

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Phuong Ngyuen for NPR, Reference: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Tony Xu is the founder of DoorDash.
Phuong Ngyuen for NPR, Reference: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch

In 2013, Tony Xu was brainstorming ideas for a business school project when he identified a problem he wanted to solve: food delivery.

For most restaurants, it was too costly and inefficient, leaving most of the market to pizza and Chinese.

Tony and his partners believed they could use technology to connect customers to drivers, who would deliver meals in every imaginable cuisine.

That idea grew into DoorDash, a company that's now delivered over 100 million orders from over 200,000 restaurants across the country.

How You Built That

We hear from the winner of our 2018 HIBT Summit Pitch Competition: Ashlin Cook.

She combined her love for dogs with an entrepreneurial itch to create Winnie Lou: a Colorado business that sells healthy dog treats in independent pet stores and from a food truck.

How You Built That: Winnie Lou

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/666295686/666333015" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Special Series

How I Built This

For all new episodes, go to the How I Built This page on Wondery.com Listen early and ad-free on Wondery+ Listen on Amazon Music