Instacart (YC S12) Scores $220M Investment

Re:Instacart (YC S12) Scores $220M Investment by mashgin on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @05:39PM (#8817143)

Unlike Webvan, they rely on contract workers. No need to operate a large fleet of delivery vehicles/drivers, or sink money in warehouse operations. Internet penetration has doubled (~45% then vs almost 90% of US population now). Of course, smartphones everywhere are a big enabler as well.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Instacart (YC S12) Scores $220M Investment by 7Figures2Commas on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @06:54PM (#8817481)

> Unlike Webvan, they rely on contract workers. No need to operate a large fleet of delivery vehicles/drivers...

They currently rely on contract workers but there is a legitimate question as to whether many of the on-demand companies have misclassified their workers[1]. Uber and Handy have already been sued over classification, and class action attorneys have publicly named other on-demand startups that they're investigating for similar actions.

As one attorney has observed, the startups that have made 1099 contractors the foundation of their businesses "are potentially exposed to a bet-your-company liability if they have not structured, documented, and implemented their freelance relationships in a manner that enhances their compliance with federal and state independent contractor laws"[2].

[1] http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/silicon-valleys...

[2] http://independentcontractorcompliance.com/2014/12/02/novemb...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Instacart (YC S12) Scores $220M Investment by baddox on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @06:35PM (#8817382)

Funny enough, I have seen several people say that this makes Instacart worse than Webvan, because "at least Webvan had assets." I'm pretty sure that's a nonsensical argument, since those assets were just from them dumping millions of their investment dollars into infrastructure.

[ Parent | on HN ]