Building a Successful Food Delivery Company: Insights from Wolt's CEO

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This article is a summary of a YouTube video "Fireside: Miki Kuusi, Co-Founder and CEO of Wolt - From Launch to Unicorn in 5 years" by Slush
TLDR Wolt's success as a food delivery company lies in building a strong team, maintaining a culture of shared concerns, focusing on unit economics, continuously learning and improving, choosing investors aligned with the company's goals, and expanding into new markets while providing a superior mobile delivery experience.

Timestamped Summary

  • 🚀
    00:00
    Wolt, a food delivery company, became a unicorn by focusing on last mile delivery and building an efficient delivery experience despite challenges in a difficult market.
  • 🔑
    08:06
    Building a strong team and maintaining a culture of shared concerns is crucial for startup success, as exemplified by Wolt's hiring of a former Uber employee, while focusing on unit economics and expanding one market at a time.
  • 📈
    13:32
    Building a successful company requires a resilient team that focuses on building the best product, operations, and continuously learning and improving, as adaptability and a mindset of continuous learning are crucial in navigating the challenges of growth.
  • 🔑
    17:51
    Wolt's CEO discusses the importance of choosing investors aligned with the company's culture and future goals, such as an IPO, and prioritizes finding long-term investors while aiming to build a strong European internet company.
  • 🚀
    22:00
    Wolt is focused on delivering anything to people's homes, including items from physical stores, as retail transitions online and convenience becomes key; building a strong foundation in the restaurant industry allows for investment in expanding and building the future of e-commerce, with acquisition being more advantageous than competition.
  • 🚀
    27:07
    Wolt's expansion strategy involves launching in new markets with launchers responsible for conducting thorough research, while rapidly scaling their recruiting operation and focusing on internal hiring to maintain a consistent culture and best practices.
  • 📱
    33:16
    Wolt's success lies in providing a superior mobile delivery experience, but being a CEO means constantly feeling unsure and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
  • 🚀
    37:30
    Wolt's CEO explains their inspiration for starting the company, the potential of the internet connecting all industries, their goal of bringing restaurants online, and their excitement for building and growing Wolt.

Q&A

  • What is the key to Wolt's success as a food delivery company?

    — Wolt's success lies in building a strong team, maintaining a culture of shared concerns, focusing on unit economics, continuously learning and improving, and providing a superior mobile delivery experience.

  • How did Wolt start in the food delivery industry?

    — Wolt initially focused on the restaurant industry but quickly realized that delivery was the key to taking restaurants online, leading to the convergence of restaurant and delivery companies.

  • What challenges did Wolt face in the beginning?

    — Wolt faced challenges such as high labor costs, low income disparity, small cities, low population density, and limited delivery and takeaway industries in their difficult market.

  • How did Wolt overcome the challenges of low order density and high labor costs?

    — Wolt focused on productizing last mile delivery and building a logistics optimization company, with a small consumer-facing app, to overcome the challenges of low order density and high labor costs in small countries and cities.

  • How does Wolt choose its investors?

    — Wolt chooses investors aligned with the company's goals and culture, such as EQT Ventures and 83 North, who provide valuable insights on team building, industry competition, and financing.

Play video
This article is a summary of a YouTube video "Fireside: Miki Kuusi, Co-Founder and CEO of Wolt - From Launch to Unicorn in 5 years" by Slush
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