Invest Like The Best
Episode 328 Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences
Invest Like The Best

Episode 328: Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences

Invest Like The Best

Episode 328

Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences

Fidji Simo is the CEO of Instacart. We cover her experience building the Facebook App and what it taught her about good UX design, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on life and leadership.

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(00:03:51) - (First question) - Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart

(00:05:08) - The culture of sweating the details that made Instacart so successful

(00:06:22) - The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online

(00:07:50) - How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business

(00:13:49) - Handling difficult technical problems through the Insacart lens

(00:15:41) - What being a pragmatic technologist means to her

(00:18:02) - Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology

(00:21:00) - The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved

(00:24:50) - The balance between in-store shopping versus online shopping

(00:27:09) - Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers.

(00:29:24) - Scal around the original core business

(00:32:12) - The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers 

(00:34:59) - Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities

(00:37:32) - Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty 

(00:41:23) - Advice for new food brands looking to build for Instacart

(00:43:16) - Her vision on the future of Instacart

(00:46:58) - The possibility of becoming the major software platform for most retailers

(00:49:34) - Her principles for capital allocation

(00:52:34) - Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors

(00:54:21) - The philosophy of seeing the magic in team members

(00:56:46) - Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment  

(00:59:33) - The most surprising thing she learned in her healthcare education  

(01:01:01) - When she felt the most helpless in her career

(01:03:46) - Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience

(01:08:00) - The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart

(01:11:10) - The future of AI personalities and customizing your shopping experience

(01:12:35) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her

Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences

Introduction

Patrick
My guest this week is Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart. Fidji grew up in a small town in the south of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she's had a dazzling career, with stops at France's leading university, eBay and Facebook. Fidji spent the better half of a decade at Facebook, where she led the Facebook app before joining Instacart in mid-2021.

We talk about Fidji's consumer product experiences, Instacart's role within the grocery ecosystem and delve into her personal leadership philosophy. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with the Fidji Simo.

Before we get to the episode, I'm also excited to announce that I am hiring for a new position to come work with me and my team at my investing firm Positive Sum. We are calling the open position an investigative research analyst, which will become a critical part of our investment diligence function.

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