I've never heard of Wonder before. It appears to be a small food delivery startup that serves only NYC. I'm very surprised. This comes off as if a local hardware store were announcing that it's...
I've never heard of Wonder before. It appears to be a small food delivery startup that serves only NYC.
I'm very surprised. This comes off as if a local hardware store were announcing that it's acquiring Lowes or Home Depot. Like, what. Where did they get all that cash?
The CEO of Wonder is Marc Lore, who is worth (I think) multiple billions of dollars. Since the acquisition was for less than a billion, this seems more comparable to Elon Musk’s purchase of...
The CEO of Wonder is Marc Lore, who is worth (I think) multiple billions of dollars. Since the acquisition was for less than a billion, this seems more comparable to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter from a financial standpoint. (I don’t know much about Marc Lore or his goals, so I don’t want to make a non-financial metaphor between the two billionaires.)
The article mentions that the $650mm purchase price is 500mm notes and 150mm cash, so I don't think it's coming from the CEO's personal wealth. On a quick scan I see that Wonder raised 700mm in...
The article mentions that the $650mm purchase price is 500mm notes and 150mm cash, so I don't think it's coming from the CEO's personal wealth. On a quick scan I see that Wonder raised 700mm in SAFEs (no data on terms e.g. discount/valuation cap) in March 2024, and 100mm in November 2023 at 3.5B pre-money valuation. Seems like an incredibly high valuation for such an early stage company, but they do seem to have very aggressive growth plans.
I did a triple take, I expected grubhub to be worth a lot more money than $650 million, but maybe I'm used to tech companies being overvalued as hell. I thought they meant Grubhub was acquiring...
I did a triple take, I expected grubhub to be worth a lot more money than $650 million, but maybe I'm used to tech companies being overvalued as hell. I thought they meant Grubhub was acquiring Wonder. I feel like food delivery apps are on the downtrend after COVID, its just far too expensive to be ordering from them anymore. You're spending 40-50 bucks on 20 dollars worth of food that cost 5 dollars to make. (And its usually not even that tasty after its been sitting for 1~ hour.)
The whole idea of having to tip generously beforehand just to convince someone to deliver your order seems completely backwards to me. I wouldn’t use a service like that unless I had to.
The whole idea of having to tip generously beforehand just to convince someone to deliver your order seems completely backwards to me. I wouldn’t use a service like that unless I had to.
Sounds like wonder is basically the same as a "ghost kitchen". I wonder what that means for the restaurants that use grubhub? Are they going to get offers to buy out their recipes? Or see their...
Sounds like wonder is basically the same as a "ghost kitchen". I wonder what that means for the restaurants that use grubhub?
Are they going to get offers to buy out their recipes? Or see their deliveries undercut by vertically integrated kitchens? (Pure speculation on my part)
Wonder also bought blue apron. I wonder if they use blue apron as a way to manage inventory (end up with too any cucumbers? Cucumber in all the BA recipes), although that seems logistically complex.
I don't do food delivery pretty much at all anymore (Even before the move to a small town) but Wonder being described as a food hall reminds me how much I'd genuinely like something like a (Good)...
I don't do food delivery pretty much at all anymore (Even before the move to a small town) but Wonder being described as a food hall reminds me how much I'd genuinely like something like a (Good) university cafeteria but for workers. Food courts separate from the dying malls. Modern cafeterias. Automats with Japanese style vending machines?
This concept is pretty popular in some larger Spanish cities. It's known as a mercado. There's different levels of fanciness, but you've described the gist of them. They are a great place to meet...
This concept is pretty popular in some larger Spanish cities. It's known as a mercado. There's different levels of fanciness, but you've described the gist of them. They are a great place to meet up with friends—everyone can eat what they want.
It's similar for sure, and some stores have multiple venues and lots of options, others have some chicken and questionable potato salad. But grocery stores aren't usually around business plazas...
It's similar for sure, and some stores have multiple venues and lots of options, others have some chicken and questionable potato salad. But grocery stores aren't usually around business plazas near me, they're usually in more outskirt areas, and the ones that are more centralized are some of the smaller ones. Bodegas and similar shops probably also function in a similar way for city folks with access to them. But I'm thinking something larger and more conducive to eating in than most grocery options (Hy-Vee or Wegmans might hit the same spot barring location)
Trendy food halls are a thing in some cities! They're essentially upscale versions of this. There was one by my old work in Santa Barbara, and my partner and I visited a really nice one in Oslo...
Trendy food halls are a thing in some cities! They're essentially upscale versions of this. There was one by my old work in Santa Barbara, and my partner and I visited a really nice one in Oslo when we were there. I think there's even one my sister likes to visit back in Cleveland? They're usually not the cheapest option, but they're not absurd either ime.
The food I've had at these places does tend to be good, it's just on the trendier end. I think usually food halls like that rely on the trendiness aspect to bring in customers. I think...
The food I've had at these places does tend to be good, it's just on the trendier end. I think usually food halls like that rely on the trendiness aspect to bring in customers. I think cafeteria-style food halls with more basic food are a thing in some parts of eastern europe, but it's harder for the less trendy version to catch on more widely ig.
Boston has Quincy Market. A lot of office towers in larger cities have food courts too, with typical mall type stalls, if they're shared complexes. Some companies also have cafeterias for their...
A lot of office towers in larger cities have food courts too, with typical mall type stalls, if they're shared complexes. Some companies also have cafeterias for their employees. (Fairly common in the software industry, or for call centers.)
Boston has a couple actually, Time Out Market: https://www.timeoutmarket.com/boston/ High Street Place: https://www.highstreetplace.com/ Hub Hall: https://www.hubhallboston.com/ NYC also has a...
Seems to be a bit more than what I'm looking for - back around to Mall again? I went to one in New Orleans I think when I was at a conference there, and it was essentially a big food court with...
Seems to be a bit more than what I'm looking for - back around to Mall again?
I went to one in New Orleans I think when I was at a conference there, and it was essentially a big food court with lots of seating so you and your friends could eat at one place or any of them and still sit together, but it was separate from other shopping. The idea of a cafeteria appeals too.
Anyway I know it's a tangent but I'm just thoughtful about it.
Re: your additions, yeah I see that in major cities, and I'm definitely thinking about smaller locales. And I definitely don't work in tech or a call center so it's not something seen in my area
Re: your additions, yeah I see that in major cities, and I'm definitely thinking about smaller locales. And I definitely don't work in tech or a call center so it's not something seen in my area
You might be interested in hawker centers, like in Singapore. A bunch of varying food stalls to order from and a bunch of tables for everyone. Some have only a few stalls, others are massive.
You might be interested in hawker centers, like in Singapore. A bunch of varying food stalls to order from and a bunch of tables for everyone. Some have only a few stalls, others are massive.
[…] UNESCO described the hawker centre as "‘community dining rooms’ where people from diverse backgrounds gather and share the experience of dining over breakfast, lunch and dinner."
That valuation seems low but it appears that would only be the US branch of Just Eat, which makes far more sense. I wonder if the USA is just generally too large for it to work as well as it does...
That valuation seems low but it appears that would only be the US branch of Just Eat, which makes far more sense. I wonder if the USA is just generally too large for it to work as well as it does elsewhere.
This also plays into what surprised me, in terms of the ownership chain, since tbh I never really looked into it beyond knowing it was the same overall group. That EU Just Eat is the parent...
This also plays into what surprised me, in terms of the ownership chain, since tbh I never really looked into it beyond knowing it was the same overall group. That EU Just Eat is the parent company compared to US Grub Hub.
I guess given the way most tech companies operate it feels like it's normally the other way around.
Grubhub is the minority player in the competitive food delivery market in the us. Compare it to DoorDash, for instance, whose market cap is currently at 76billion.
Grubhub is the minority player in the competitive food delivery market in the us. Compare it to DoorDash, for instance, whose market cap is currently at 76billion.
Yeah, Just Eat more or less succeeded at replacing or buying up most of its competition in Europe (at least in the countries I'm familiar with), but it hasn't been in the US as long. The market in...
Yeah, Just Eat more or less succeeded at replacing or buying up most of its competition in Europe (at least in the countries I'm familiar with), but it hasn't been in the US as long. The market in the US is, weirdly, much more competitive.
I've never heard of Wonder before. It appears to be a small food delivery startup that serves only NYC.
I'm very surprised. This comes off as if a local hardware store were announcing that it's acquiring Lowes or Home Depot. Like, what. Where did they get all that cash?
The CEO of Wonder is Marc Lore, who is worth (I think) multiple billions of dollars. Since the acquisition was for less than a billion, this seems more comparable to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter from a financial standpoint. (I don’t know much about Marc Lore or his goals, so I don’t want to make a non-financial metaphor between the two billionaires.)
The article mentions that the $650mm purchase price is 500mm notes and 150mm cash, so I don't think it's coming from the CEO's personal wealth. On a quick scan I see that Wonder raised 700mm in SAFEs (no data on terms e.g. discount/valuation cap) in March 2024, and 100mm in November 2023 at 3.5B pre-money valuation. Seems like an incredibly high valuation for such an early stage company, but they do seem to have very aggressive growth plans.
I did a triple take, I expected grubhub to be worth a lot more money than $650 million, but maybe I'm used to tech companies being overvalued as hell. I thought they meant Grubhub was acquiring Wonder. I feel like food delivery apps are on the downtrend after COVID, its just far too expensive to be ordering from them anymore. You're spending 40-50 bucks on 20 dollars worth of food that cost 5 dollars to make. (And its usually not even that tasty after its been sitting for 1~ hour.)
The whole idea of having to tip generously beforehand just to convince someone to deliver your order seems completely backwards to me. I wouldn’t use a service like that unless I had to.
This is just a noise post.
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Sounds like wonder is basically the same as a "ghost kitchen". I wonder what that means for the restaurants that use grubhub?
Are they going to get offers to buy out their recipes? Or see their deliveries undercut by vertically integrated kitchens? (Pure speculation on my part)
Wonder also bought blue apron. I wonder if they use blue apron as a way to manage inventory (end up with too any cucumbers? Cucumber in all the BA recipes), although that seems logistically complex.
These are companies who deliver meals to millions of people. Their entire business is logistics.
I don't do food delivery pretty much at all anymore (Even before the move to a small town) but Wonder being described as a food hall reminds me how much I'd genuinely like something like a (Good) university cafeteria but for workers. Food courts separate from the dying malls. Modern cafeterias. Automats with Japanese style vending machines?
This concept is pretty popular in some larger Spanish cities. It's known as a mercado. There's different levels of fanciness, but you've described the gist of them. They are a great place to meet up with friends—everyone can eat what they want.
Yeah I'd definitely like low level casual, like I said cafeteria style would be fine too. Affordable and friendly.
Isn’t that just the hot bar at grocery stores
It's similar for sure, and some stores have multiple venues and lots of options, others have some chicken and questionable potato salad. But grocery stores aren't usually around business plazas near me, they're usually in more outskirt areas, and the ones that are more centralized are some of the smaller ones. Bodegas and similar shops probably also function in a similar way for city folks with access to them. But I'm thinking something larger and more conducive to eating in than most grocery options (Hy-Vee or Wegmans might hit the same spot barring location)
Trendy food halls are a thing in some cities! They're essentially upscale versions of this. There was one by my old work in Santa Barbara, and my partner and I visited a really nice one in Oslo when we were there. I think there's even one my sister likes to visit back in Cleveland? They're usually not the cheapest option, but they're not absurd either ime.
Yeah I guess I am hoping for something less trendy more utilitarian but like, decent food? Idk. Especially as food has gotten more expensive.
The food I've had at these places does tend to be good, it's just on the trendier end. I think usually food halls like that rely on the trendiness aspect to bring in customers. I think cafeteria-style food halls with more basic food are a thing in some parts of eastern europe, but it's harder for the less trendy version to catch on more widely ig.
Boston has Quincy Market.
A lot of office towers in larger cities have food courts too, with typical mall type stalls, if they're shared complexes. Some companies also have cafeterias for their employees. (Fairly common in the software industry, or for call centers.)
Boston has a couple actually,
Time Out Market: https://www.timeoutmarket.com/boston/
High Street Place: https://www.highstreetplace.com/
Hub Hall: https://www.hubhallboston.com/
NYC also has a Time Out Market, iirc and Chelsea Market
London has a couple that I really enjoyed too
Seems to be a bit more than what I'm looking for - back around to Mall again?
I went to one in New Orleans I think when I was at a conference there, and it was essentially a big food court with lots of seating so you and your friends could eat at one place or any of them and still sit together, but it was separate from other shopping. The idea of a cafeteria appeals too.
Anyway I know it's a tangent but I'm just thoughtful about it.
Re: your additions, yeah I see that in major cities, and I'm definitely thinking about smaller locales. And I definitely don't work in tech or a call center so it's not something seen in my area
You might be interested in hawker centers, like in Singapore. A bunch of varying food stalls to order from and a bunch of tables for everyone. Some have only a few stalls, others are massive.
I would be.... If we had them!
That valuation seems low but it appears that would only be the US branch of Just Eat, which makes far more sense. I wonder if the USA is just generally too large for it to work as well as it does elsewhere.
This also plays into what surprised me, in terms of the ownership chain, since tbh I never really looked into it beyond knowing it was the same overall group. That EU Just Eat is the parent company compared to US Grub Hub.
I guess given the way most tech companies operate it feels like it's normally the other way around.
Grubhub is the minority player in the competitive food delivery market in the us. Compare it to DoorDash, for instance, whose market cap is currently at 76billion.
Yeah, Just Eat more or less succeeded at replacing or buying up most of its competition in Europe (at least in the countries I'm familiar with), but it hasn't been in the US as long. The market in the US is, weirdly, much more competitive.
The amount of territory Just Eat's subsidiaries cover in Europe is big enough that I don't think "too large" is the factor at play here.