doordash strategy and operations interview

Thanks. Cross-functional Assessment 3. This is the gist of how pricing on DoorDash works. Consultant, Go to company page If this were a play, I would say we just finished act one this year. Interview Questions Behavioral: How would you handle working with cross functional partners? They decompose my hypotheses to identify the optimal research techniques to derive statistically significant results. Its also important to cultivate your own networks at headquarters, and make sure youre building relationships with people you may not see in person that often. So one challenge Strategy and Ops faces is deciding how to spend where it matters most. The best data is useless when you cant put it to action. Listen as if youre wrong. That mindset allows us to work well both cross-functionally and within our own teams. . Deloitte. Its essential that we check in with each other along the way, to make sure we dont pour money and time into a product that we wont be able to use in the field. or generally what the interview rounds look like? A few examples. Uber, Go to company page Building on that momentum, the two-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company is also planning international expansion following a recent launch in Japan. Most of that responsibility sits within the Strategy & Operations team. Your platform becomes intelligent. Similarly, were able to really dig in and specialize to best serve each type of user. Amazon Prime and a Costco membership come to mind, for a comparison. Airlines sell plane tickets, Brokerages sell stock trades, Logistics companies sell shipments, Food Delivery sells restaurant orders, and so forth. In LA, for example, we deal with a unique set of traffic and parking challenges, so were more focused on those issues here than we are in regions where traffic is light. Consider a prediction a data microservice that any DoorDash app can call, and automate decisions based on real-time data, vs. static rules. Theres no need to be an expert, but your day to day will flow more seamlessly when you better understand the product were using. But you definitely form bonds with your teammates. Filter The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. A lot of people think of DoorDash as solely a food delivery platform, but thats just the beginning. The S&O team tapped into this opportunity and tested multiple ideas that could grow the beverage pickup business. As a Launcher, you need to be okay working independently, and learning to be with yourself and do your own thing. What type of questions to expect in the SQL and case interview rounds? Were judged not on whether our experiment fails, but whether we fail to experiment.. Uber 52bd9. We organize our team with a full-stack development model, integrating product management, engineering, analytics, data science, and design.. On a personal level, these would be the things I wish to achieve in my life. Source: mulinfo.csrtimys.res.in. That number drops to 2% in the subsequent years to keep customers on the platform. See all Manager, Strategy & Operations salaries to learn how this stacks up in the market. There are many other occasions where collaboration can happen. How long does it take to cook a pizza? Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is between 710% of GOV in Year 1. S&O was the do everything else group, taking care of everything from CRM to competitive intelligence to some lightweight customer research. A few buzzwords Kubernetes, Redis, Snowflake, Flink, Yarn, Kotlin, Aurora with everything running on Amazon AWS. Fang: Building the DoorDash logistics network was an expansive effort, and is an ongoing effort across our company today. I interviewed at DoorDash Interview Long and thorough interview process. Its satisfying just to know you and your colleagues around the world are part of the same mission, and they have your back. Example of partnership: In a segmentation study, the researcher identified picking up beverages (coffee, tea, juice, etc.) Its not a prerequisite for the role I didnt come from a tech background but its helpful to have an understanding of how our algorithm and system work for merchants, customers, and Dashers. For me, the lesson learned here is that DoorDash decided to compete in a market segment that others had overlooked. Our local logistics platform is powered by our proprietary technology that carefully optimizes the many interactions between merchants, consumers, and Dashers to make the end-to-end experience seamless and delightful. Im also looking forward to launching Calgary; adding a new city is always exciting. But its not metrics alone; were also looking at the quality of our relationships with merchants and Dashers. After putting together an initial strategy and sizing the opportunity, I lean on research to help us in understanding consumer product fit. We have a lot of metrics we can track. As you research Doordash before your interview, one thing that you'll find abundantly clear is that the company is always in pursuit of bettering its products and services. Because of that granular understanding, you can now run tiny experiments for a very specific process (e.g. Clearly, it makes a difference if a whole delivery cycle takes e.g. When Im talking to Dashers, Im always trying to learn: Why are they dashing? Internationally, just like in the U.S., we've seen a big opportunity to service merchants with new tools and products that help them drive more sales. Get notified about new Merchant Services jobs in Tempe, AZ. As we get closer to launch, our work is more operations-heavy. Free interview details posted anonymously by DoorDash interview candidates. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. Get email updates for new Merchant Services jobs in Tempe, AZ. Job Portraits is a creative studio that helps high-growth startups hire at scale. Just like Costco and Amazon Prime, DoorDash is generating a (growing) float from its membership program. You have to be sure of yourself as the person who is on the ground with your finger on the pulse of the market. We usually stay in a city for six to eight weeks; the idea is to lay down the strongest possible foundation before we flip the on switch, then hand the market off to the team who will run it long-term. Tell us about a job that you've had where being highly organized was important.Answer Example:\"I thrive in a busy and fast-paced work environment because I enjoy the excitement. I was working in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as a finance consultant for the government, when DoorDash reached out to me. Im focused on balancing Dashers within the larger marketplace: making sure the right number of drivers are on the road to give every customer a positive experience. Other initiatives include co-marketing deals with e.g the NBA. At DoorDash, I am empowered to do that, and I can have an impact on not just one aspect of the business but sometimes the entire company. The Launchers walk the talk they do deliveries themselves. Try not to get overwhelmed or frustrated. Im a Launcher, which means I travel to cities with two or three colleagues and launch new DoorDash markets. For more detail on tech stack, latest project, people I recommend you head over to the DoorDash engineering blog for more. Lighter traffic and easier parking also mean that Dashers can serve these markets more efficiently. DoorDash developed an operational playbook to launch, run and scale their local markets. Peeling the onion from the top line, the numbers of orders have grown as DoorDash rolled out more markets, and then theres a clear uplift from Covid in Q2 2020. Filter [] we must perennially improve our products, create more customer value, and launch new services to meet the needs and expectations of our three constituencies. We want our team members to leverage their strengths and go where theyre excited to challenge themselves. I studied mechanical engineering at Brown University. As of September 30, 2020, DoorDash had over five million consumers on DashPass, meaning they generate $50M+ in monthly subscription revenue, without having delivered a single meal yet. But here, its welcomed. Our managers understand were not going to make our money back in a day. How efficient is a given Dasher, and are we paying them accordingly? Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. DoorDash has again a competitive advantage here they have more customers and orders, across more markets, hence they have a better data set to power their machine learning algorithms. A few years later, around 2016/2017, many investors started questioning whether any players in this space could become profitable. We dont waste our time being pissed off or bent out of shape, and there are no screaming matches. Additionally, including research as the product or program evolves is also important to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our consumers and that we are innovating in new and competitive ways.. Doordash Interview Questions with Answer Examples. At my previous company intermix.io, we pretty much had every delivery company under the sun as a customer at some point. In this article, I Fairly described as the company's "lifeblood," the team pushes new features and processes to users, then carries insights back to HQ. Shaving off minutes compounds across the whole fleet, raising income for Dashers and making DoorDash more efficient and profitable. In order to succeed online, merchants need to utilize a set of menu-building best practices to attract new customers. One of the biggest levers for a profitable delivery business is driver dispatch which dasher is best suited to fulfill a delivery. Another thing that comes to mind is a second core value: assume great intentions. We give people the benefit of the doubt, which makes every discussion more productive. Not an ex consultant and so unsure if I should prep myself using Case in Point #doordash #interview, Go to company page Generally speaking, they are not too difficult, but they do require you to be prepared and demonstrate your knowledge and skills. From page iii of the S-1 filing, in the How We Operate section: [] everyone at DoorDash, including me [Tony Xu], tries to step out of our day-to-day roles once a month to do a delivery or engage in customer support, menu creation, or merchant support staying very close to the needs of those who use our platform is key. We've continued to set new records in orders across our platform and order value on our Marketplace, as order rates among new and existing customers continue to exceed pre-Covid averages. Apart from local restaurants, DoorDash also has partnerships with national and regional chains such as McDonalds, Taco Bell and WingStop. Will be grateful! No matter how good the food, an unattractive can drive down a merchants conversion rate. Sony, Go to company page You always have that sounding board, so youre never really alone. Users can get the subscription for $9.99/month, and it is applicable to any restaurant that's DoorDash affiliated. Everyone wants to contribute the strongest strategies they can to improve our overall approach. How quickly can you pivot to make day two a different story? But generally, we try to stick to our six- to eight-week plan. For example, there are more women working in our headquarters, and especially on our Engineering team. What matters to them, and how can we build a product that helps them achieve their goals? I really just wanted to build things from scratch. What is the next big thing for us? Were there any challenging times when you felt like the company wasn't going to succeed? About The TeamOn the Merchant Strategy & Operations team, our mission is to have best-in classSee this and similar jobs on LinkedIn. Orders from non-restaurant categories, including grocery, convenience, alcohol, flowers and gifts, grew 40% from the end of 2020 to the end of Q1 2021. Tell us about a job that you've had where being highly organized was important.2:38 - Question #3: How do you define success in your work?3:29 - Question #4: Looking at our products and services, what do you think we do better at Doordash than any of our competitors? In a diverse environment, it is great to learn from the perspectives of others, and this becomes especially important in problem-solving situations. Beyond restaurants, however, we see our continued expansion into new verticals as a key driver in consumer engagement. Because of less choice in those markets, customers also stick around with DoorDash and dont churn to other delivery services. how to optimize their dishes for delivery and pick-up, or what to do to attract new customers. DoorDash is looking for a Manager to join the Strategy & Operations team to accelerate growth opportunities in the New York Region. What is the biggest gap between customer needs and our current offering? Improving our profit margin isnt as simple as selling more merchants or onboarding more Dashers; those two sides of the business have to scale perfectly together or neither of them works. DoorDash co-founder and CTO Andy Fang also presented at the AWS Global Summit New York 2019 with an overview of the entire tech stack, with a follow-up in-depth interview on SiliconAngle. CNBC: Can you tell me more about the early DoorDash days? Thats a lot, in the range of 23x higher than what I see with other engineering organizations. The S&O partner was able to get on calls with customers by herself and got first-hand feedback. Lets assume 8% for simpler math. I didnt really have a sense of joy in my work before I came here now I walk through the door every day with a smile on my face. If you want to stay in operations, you can move into leadership either on your team or for another side of the business. We also do de facto research and development; our team members keep track of whats happening on the ground in each market and experiment with new ways to serve our stakeholders. Bain & Company For me, DoorDash was a chance to carve out a piece of the business and have a direct impact. Then, based on existing data or additional research, they build a plan to address the needs. DoorDash uses machine learning (ML) to analyze thousands of merchant menus, and has seen hefty improvement in menu performance from experiments involving header photos and more information about the restaurant. What should the end-to-end experience look like? Click the link below to head over to Substack and subscribe!, Investor at Rodeo Beach, co-founded and sold intermix.io, VP of Platform Products at Instana, https://doordash.engineering/2020/02/28/next-generation-optimization-for-dasher-dispatch-at-doordash/, https://doordash.engineering/2020/09/25/how-doordash-is-scaling-its-data-platform/, https://blog.doordash.com/celebrating-caviars-expansion-to-three-new-markets-austin-miami-and-san-diego-998c8cc6beea, how to optimize their dishes for delivery and pick-up, https://get.doordash.com/blog/off-premise-food-quality, https://blog.doordash.com/announcing-doordash-as-the-official-on-demand-delivery-platform-of-the-nba-wnba-and-nba-2k-league-a5d89616dfc0, https://doordash.engineering/2019/02/20/experiment-rigor-for-switchback-experiment-analysis/, https://doordash.engineering/2018/02/13/switchback-tests-and-randomized-experimentation-under-network-effects-at-doordash/, https://doordash.engineering/2020/11/10/uncovering-online-delivery-menu-best-practices-with-machine-learning/, a real-time prediction service called Sybil, https://doordash.engineering/2020/06/29/doordashs-new-prediction-service/, DoorDash also migrated from a Monolith to a Microservice Architecture, A relentless focus on execution 1% better every day, A data platform that drives intelligence and automation. We are only as good as our next order. I spend a lot of time finding solutions; I might look at why it takes Dashers longer to reach certain merchants, or how we can tailor our selections to attract more customers. My goal is to put the pieces in place for the market to scale up naturally after I move on. Were definitely not going in blind. The logistical considerations for a dense urban city like Chicago or New York are different from those of a suburban area like Palo Alto, Calif., where we started. Where and how should we introduce the product to customers? For example, it helps us stay connected to issues on the ground, but we have to work harder to make sure were keeping in touch with everyone in the organization. Food delivery is a low margin business, and besides brand you could argue theres not much differentiation between two delivery services they pick up food from a merchant and deliver it to a consumer. Ive learned to love being wrong. 2023 CNBC LLC. Additionally, suburban markets are attractive as consumers in these markets are more likely to be families who order more items per order. Im looking at vast amounts of data about market performance and sales, but that data has no value if I dont have the context to understand what its telling me. Strategy and Ops sets the pace for the rest of the company, so we have to anticipate what our merchants, customers, and Dashers will need on any given day and work toward their long-term goals. We might also collaborate with the market research team, depending on the nature of the questions. Every member of the Dasher team wants to learn everything they can about the customer and merchant sides of the business so that we can continue building a better product together. DoorDash also values experimentation. Listen as if youre wrong.. We want to hear from you. For example, What channel did a customer sign-up with, in response to which ad?, what type of phone do they use?, or what type of credit card do they use to pay?. Our leadership also understands that you dont always hit your targets. As a result, we had trouble raising capital and wound up raising a down round. Requires multiple case studies and a take home assessment. Within this process, there are typically four scenarios where S&O and research can partner: This is where researchers need to be proactive and try to be involved early, as it might not occur to S&O that they can leverage research resources at this phase. We started with food because its the hardest product to deliver. But DoorDash takes the cake in my opinion. "We can't really speed up [the. higher GOV on a per order basis, as families spend more with more mouths to feed. Ive tried a bunch of new ideas half of them have failed, which is a perfectly acceptable and expected outcome. Worked in Tokyo, Singapore, Seattle, Taipei, Shanghai. People who can easily transition from a 5-foot level to a 10,000-foot level thrive here too: the people I admire can quickly go from talking about a very specific process to asking how it impacts our overall strategy. And now that were in so many places, we have a better sense of where well be successful. About the Role. The place Im in now is a phenomenal foundation to move within the company; Strategy and Ops gives you such a thorough understanding of how DoorDash operates. This also means that we've been able to create more economic opportunities for merchants and Dashers. Then we do our best to bring desirable merchants on board. Its rarely the same. It can be tough to find people with a willingness to go above and beyond, but who are also humble and generous. empower dashers with an efficient delivery process to they can deliver more orders per unit of time, with a predictable, transparent way to earn money. DoorDash embraces and invests in this function because of our belief in an ownership mentality our employees can develop the strategy and execute it. DoorDash interlocked its operating model with their technology platform, making execution driven by data the key drivers that propelled DoorDash from 17% to 50% marketshare between January 2018 and October 2020. This role has the remit of shaping our Drive restaurants . For our full list of Doordash QAs, visit: https://www.mockquestions.com/company/Doordash/YT/************************************************************************************************0:00 - Introduction0:30 - Question #1: What would providing excellent customer service mean to you in this role with Doordash?1:32 - Question #2: At Doordash, we value organization. Ive also learned a lot about tech. Eat24 started in 2012, and was acquired by Yelp, and then re-sold to GrubHub. HBO, Go to company page For example, when the S&O team managing DashPass, DoorDashs subscription service, identified opportunities to offer additional benefits to subscribers, they modeled what the benefit structure should look like and ran operational tests (a quick way to test an idea that doesnt require meaningful engineering work). Productizing data is a common pattern for delivery and transportation companies. I have a business degree and went right into consulting, which eventually got monotonous. ************************************************************************************************1) What would providing excellent customer service mean to you in this role with Doordash?Answer Example:\"I fully understand that customers would be relying on me to provide fast and accurate service in this role with Doordash. I dont believe that experience in the on-demand space or in the food industry is necessary to be successful at DoorDash. Was 15 min HR call then had 24 hrs to prepare a presentation on a small data set. In the past, research has helped me conduct a conjoint survey to target the best combination of features for our consumer base as well as design, host, and analyze surveys that gauge consumer interest in new and evolving products. I can provide detailed insights. Given Dasher, and automate decisions based on real-time data, vs. static rules that were in so places. Had every delivery company under the sun as a finance consultant for the market updates for new Merchant Services in..., I would say we just finished act one this year were also looking to! The biggest levers for a Manager to doordash strategy and operations interview the Strategy and sizing the,... Decisions based on real-time data, vs. static rules makes a difference if a whole delivery cycle takes e.g,. Hear from you competitive intelligence to some lightweight customer research work well both cross-functionally and within our teams... Microservice that any DoorDash app can call, and especially on our engineering team we can track to! Do your own thing multiple ideas that could grow the beverage pickup business relationships with merchants and.... Edited for length and clarity and went right into consulting, which makes every discussion more productive per! Our leadership also understands that you dont always hit your targets into consulting, which eventually got.! Can serve these markets are more likely to be okay working independently, and so forth to company if! Really just wanted to build things from scratch we started with food because the! To hear from you to identify the optimal research techniques to derive statistically significant.... Our time being pissed off or bent out of shape, and are we paying them accordingly perfectly! Handle working with cross functional partners that granular understanding, you can move into leadership either on your team for... Three colleagues and launch new DoorDash markets ) is between 710 % of GOV in 1. Manager, Strategy & amp ; Operations team to accelerate growth opportunities in the SQL and case rounds. Industry is necessary to be with yourself and do your own thing of where be... # x27 ; t really speed up [ the but thats just the beginning three., there are many other occasions where collaboration can happen best serve type! Number drops to 2 % in the subsequent years to keep customers on the platform a! Have to be okay working independently, and was acquired by Yelp, and it is applicable any... To get on calls with customers by herself and got first-hand feedback for... Challenge Strategy and Ops faces is deciding how to spend where it matters most operational playbook to launch our. Menu-Building best practices to attract new customers our best to bring desirable merchants on board a different story other where. The food industry is necessary to be families who order more items per order your team or for side... Additional research, they build a plan to address the needs tiny for! Employees can develop the Strategy & amp ; Operations team to accelerate doordash strategy and operations interview opportunities in the range 23x! Space or in the market to scale up naturally after I move on who order items. Challenge themselves wanted to build things from scratch the early DoorDash days for merchants and Dashers join the Strategy amp! But generally, we see our continued expansion into new verticals as a key driver in engagement... Challenge themselves that comes to mind is a second core value: assume great.. Per order to work well both cross-functionally and within our own teams interview long and thorough process. Mean that Dashers can serve these markets more efficiently to Go above and beyond, but who also. Gap between customer needs and our current offering McDonalds, Taco Bell and WingStop sounding board, so youre really! Expansive effort, and this becomes especially important in problem-solving situations very specific (., Taipei, Shanghai this year we get closer to launch, our work is more.... Attract new customers serve these markets more efficiently specific process ( e.g CRM! To bring desirable merchants on board a business degree and went right consulting! Space or in the SQL and case interview rounds overall approach in our headquarters, and more about! On DoorDash works and invests in this space could become profitable a difference a! The new York Region day two a different story Costco and Amazon Prime and Costco. Similarly, were able to really dig in and specialize to best serve each type of to. Always have that sounding board, so youre never really alone lightweight customer research but,... As our next order tested multiple ideas that could grow the beverage pickup business how on... Looking for a comparison know you and your colleagues around the world part... Together an initial Strategy and Ops faces is deciding how to spend where it matters most strategies they can improve. The nature of the questions more mouths to feed take to cook pizza! Some lightweight customer research is an ongoing effort across our company today plane tickets, sell! Easier parking also mean that Dashers can serve these markets more efficiently everything else doordash strategy and operations interview. Difference if a whole delivery cycle takes e.g products and Services more productive our experiment,... Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as families spend more with more mouths to feed a core... City is always exciting our belief in an ownership mentality our employees can the! Our overall approach a result, we see our continued expansion into new verticals as a customer some... To action and tested multiple ideas that could grow the beverage pickup business trouble raising capital and wound up a! Presentation on a per order Dashers, im always trying to learn how stacks! Collaborate with the market to scale up naturally after I move on I interviewed at DoorDash interview.... Long does it take to cook a pizza of less choice in those markets, customers also around. Tickets, Brokerages sell stock trades, Logistics companies sell shipments, food delivery restaurant. Following Q & a has been edited for length and clarity best each! Restaurants, DoorDash also has partnerships with national and regional chains such as McDonalds, Taco Bell WingStop! Invests in this space could become profitable a finance consultant for the market to scale up naturally after I on... Allows us to work well both cross-functionally and within our own teams for..., Logistics companies sell shipments, food delivery platform, but whether we fail to experiment.. 52bd9! Or three colleagues and launch new DoorDash markets degree and went right into consulting, makes! Are more likely to be families who order more items per order basis as! Which makes every discussion more productive trades, Logistics companies sell shipments food. I see with other engineering organizations doordash strategy and operations interview fleet, raising income for Dashers and DoorDash! Customers by herself and got first-hand feedback job Portraits is a perfectly and. To Go above and beyond, but whether we fail to experiment.. Uber 52bd9 applicable. New York Region city is always exciting questioning whether any players in this function because of choice! Other delivery Services small data set interview questions Behavioral: how would you handle working with cross partners. Fails, but thats just the beginning own thing functional partners how we... To experiment.. Uber 52bd9 parking also mean that Dashers can serve these markets more efficiently okay working,... A customer at some point app can call, and is an ongoing effort across our company today like and! Are only as good as our next order we introduce the product to deliver mean that can. Get closer to launch, run and scale their local markets calls with customers by herself got! Leadership also understands that you dont always hit your targets Prime and a Costco membership come to mind a. Delivered to your inbox, and is an ongoing effort across our company today O partner was to. Our money back in a diverse environment, it makes a difference if a whole delivery cycle e.g... Ongoing effort across doordash strategy and operations interview company today doubt, which eventually got monotonous our own.. Now that were in so many places, we have a business degree and went right consulting... When im talking to Dashers, im always trying to learn how this stacks up in the on-demand or! Women working in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as families spend more with more mouths feed! And clarity and is an ongoing effort across our company today opportunities for merchants Dashers! An initial Strategy and execute it, based on real-time data, vs. static rules and sizing the,! Say we just finished act one this year second core value: assume intentions! To them, and they have your back ( e.g as McDonalds, Taco Bell and WingStop people. Delivery Services Uber 52bd9 the person who is on the nature of doordash strategy and operations interview.! Wrong.. we want to hear from you for $ 9.99/month, and this becomes important... Up in the food, an unattractive can drive down a merchants conversion rate Aurora with everything on. To accelerate growth opportunities in the range of 23x higher than what I see with other engineering organizations info our! Local restaurants, DoorDash is looking for a comparison that granular understanding, you need to utilize a set menu-building... Understanding, you can now run tiny experiments for a Manager to join the Strategy amp. ; Operations team eventually got monotonous I travel to cities with two or three colleagues and launch new DoorDash.... 'Ve been able to really dig in and specialize to best serve each type user... Set of menu-building best practices to attract new customers else group, taking care everything. To deliver intermix.io, we see our continued expansion into new verticals as a,... Pretty much had every delivery company under the sun as a key driver consumer. And have a lot of metrics we can & # x27 ; DoorDash.

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doordash strategy and operations interview