DoorDash

DoorDash processed $80 billion in gross order value across 2.6 billion orders in 2024, generating $10.72 billion in revenue (up 24.2%) and its first annual profit of $117 million. These numbers quantify market dominance: 67% U.S. food delivery market share, 42 million monthly active users (up from 37 million in December 2023), and 22 million DashPass subscribers in Q4 2024. This isn't incremental growth—it's ecosystem dominance. DoorDash rose from 18% market share in July 2018 to current leadership through network effects at scale: more restaurants attract more customers, which attracts more dashers, which enables faster delivery, which attracts more restaurants. Uber Eats (23% market share) and Grubhub (10%) can't overcome this flywheel once established. The metabolic signature appears in operations: 590,000 partnered restaurants, 8 million dashers earning $18 billion in 2024, and geographic density that makes 30-minute delivery economically viable.

DoorDash's January 2025 acquisition of Deliveroo ($3.9 billion) represents territorial behavior into defended markets: U.K., France, Singapore, Middle East—nine markets where local competitors had first-mover advantage. This isn't organic growth; it's acquiring market share through capital deployment. DoorDash now operates in 40+ countries, but international operations face different constraints than U.S. dominance: labor regulations (Europe treats gig workers as employees), lower consumer spending (delivery fees matter more), and entrenched competitors (Just Eat Takeaway.com in Europe, Grab in Southeast Asia). The Deliveroo acquisition tests whether DoorDash's platform advantages (better logistics algorithms, higher merchant take rates, subscription revenue from DashPass) translate across regulatory and cultural boundaries.

Yet DoorDash's dominance masks margin fragility. The company's first annual profit ($117M on $10.72B revenue = 1.1% net margin) reveals razor-thin unit economics: dasher payments, customer acquisition costs, merchant incentives, and platform development costs consume nearly all revenue. Operating profit is healthier (around 8-10% based on typical food delivery metrics), but the path from $117M annual profit to sustainable long-term returns requires either: (1) increasing take rates from restaurants (risking merchant defection to alternatives like ChowNow or direct ordering), (2) reducing dasher payments (risking supply shortages and quality degradation), or (3) expanding into higher-margin adjacent categories (groceries, alcohol, convenience). DoorDash is pursuing option three—groceries and retail now represent significant order volume—but these categories face competition from Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart. DoorDash captured the food delivery niche through relentless execution, but replicating that success in adjacent markets means competing against specialized players with their own network effects. The question isn't whether DoorDash can maintain 67% food delivery share; it's whether food delivery generates sufficient margins to justify a $60 billion+ valuation.