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Joined Instacart to make partner
The Skype calls
Nilam Ganenthiran was a consultant at AT Kearney in Toronto who knew grocery retail inside out. Instacart's founder, Apoorva, wanted a co-founder who understood groceries, so the two got on Skype each night after Ganenthiran finished at his client's site. He didn't join as a co-founder, because he and his wife didn't want to move to San Francisco and were trying to start a family.
Leave at home
Ten months later his daughter arrived, and Apoorva texted to reconnect. Ganenthiran had a generous three-month paternity leave and a pile of unused vacation, enough for five months at home with his wife and newborn. Three weeks in, he told his wife he wanted to go help this guy in San Francisco, with the idea of putting it in his partner application.
First day in San Francisco
He knocked on the door of a house in South Park at 8 a.m., wearing a blazer and slacks. No one answered until 10, when people finally showed up to work, and there was a hot tub on the roof. About 11 other people were there, and before he knew it a decision would be made in a room and he would be asked to go do the thing they had decided.
That had never happened to him before, and it was the most empowering thing ever. A couple of weeks later, waiting at SFO for the red-eye home, he called his wife to say they needed to talk that weekend, because he wanted to quit his job and do this full time.
Why do consultants face a partner-or-leave choice?
Many large consulting firms run on an up-or-out model, in which consultants who are not promoted at set intervals are expected to leave. The firms hire many junior people for each partner, so the structure is a pyramid with few places at the top. Partners share in firm profits and own the client relationships, which makes each promotion a major commitment. Law firms and investment banks use a similar promote-or-leave structure.
Why does grocery know-how matter to a startup?
Grocery runs on thin margins, with net profit often around 1 to 3 percent of sales according to industry groups such as the Food Industry Association. Perishable goods, supplier deals, and store layouts all shape whether a given order makes money. Someone who understands how a store buys, stocks, and prices its goods can see where a delivery service fits into that chain. A typical supermarket carries tens of thousands of distinct products.
Why do startups cluster in single neighborhoods?
Economist Alfred Marshall described in 1890 how firms in the same industry gather in one place to share workers, suppliers, and ideas. In San Francisco, South Park, an oval park laid out in the 1850s, became a startup address in the 2000s. Founders there could walk to meet investors, engineers, and each other. Marshall's observation appeared in his book Principles of Economics.
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