The Diary of a CEODeliveroo Founder: From £0 to £5 Billion: Will Shu | E88
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 5:30
Setting the Scene: An Unlikely Founder
Steven Bartlett introduces Deliveroo and frames Will Shu as an anomaly among stereotypical brash founders—humble, understated, and not overtly self‑analytical. They set expectations that the conversation will dig into the harsh realities behind the glossy success story.
- 5:30 – 12:00
From New Haven to London: Early Life and Career
Shu recounts growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, with immigrant professional parents, doing well academically, and taking a Wall Street job more for money and prestige than passion. A transfer opportunity brings him to London, where he quickly decides to stay.
- 12:00 – 20:30
Seed of an Idea: London’s Food Problem and Timing
Working late at Morgan Stanley in Canary Wharf, Shu is appalled that dinner means Tesco microwave meals rather than high‑quality restaurant food in a culinary capital. He first explores the idea in 2008 but realizes it’s too early technically; smartphones and apps haven’t matured yet.
- 20:30 – 31:00
Finding a Co‑Founder and Building V1
Shu reconnects with childhood friend Greg Orlowski, a former car mechanic turned software developer, to build the first version. Greg codes the restaurant tablet and rider app from the US while Shu in London signs restaurants and riders, launching with a simple website rather than a mobile app.
- 31:00 – 37:00
Hyperlocal Hustle: Riders, Friends, and Early Traction
The business begins with a handful of riders and 10 restaurants in Chelsea, many recruited through personal relationships. Shu delivers most orders himself, leaning heavily on friends to order for fun before genuine word‑of‑mouth catches on.
- 37:00 – 42:00
Bias on the Ground: Starbucks and Rider Dignity
Early on, Shu and three Pakistani‑heritage riders used Starbucks as a base while waiting for orders, repeatedly being kicked out by a manager. The dehumanizing way they were treated sears into Shu’s memory and shapes his commitment to rider respect.
- 42:00 – 48:00
Naming Misfires and the Booze Food Concept
Shu shares early, often terrible naming ideas—“Food Pony,” “Food Mule,” and an initial late‑night drunk‑food proposition called “Booze Food.” This illustrates how messy and unglamorous early branding decisions can be, even for breakout successes.
- 48:00 – 54:30
Co‑Founder Departure and Distributed Tech Challenges
Greg builds a dev team in Chicago while Shu scales operations in London, but their geographical split becomes a structural problem. Greg’s unwillingness to move to the UK ultimately leads to his exit, leaving Shu without a peer‑level co‑founder inside the company.
- 54:30 – 1:03:00
Entrepreneurship Philosophy: Obsession, Focus, and Avoiding Idea Lists
Shu contrasts his problem‑driven approach with peers who chase financial outcomes, side projects, or status as “entrepreneurs.” Both he and Bartlett argue that without genuine care for the problem, founders will quit when chaos hits.
- 1:03:00 – 1:09:00
Embarrassment, Identity, and Delivering to Ex-Colleagues
Shu recounts delivering pizza to a former hedge‑fund colleague who assumes his life has gone off the rails. He also describes friends questioning why he’s “just delivering food” after prestigious finance roles, and how he chooses to ignore perceptions and focus on building.
- 1:09:00 – 1:15:00
Scaling Up: Hiring on Gumtree and the 20–100 Employee Sweet Spot
With some early traction, Deliveroo raises an initial £2.7m round from Index Ventures and starts to scale. Shu learns hiring by trial and error via Gumtree and reminisces about the scrappy illegal office and his favorite company stage: 20–100 people.
- 1:15:00 – 1:18:00
Mental Health, Anxiety, and Founder Flat Affect
Asked about mental health, Shu describes himself as emotionally steady rather than volatile but admits to prolonged periods of extreme pressure, especially when facing existential issues. He references Elon Musk’s “chewing glass, staring into the abyss” description and says it resonates.
- 1:18:00 – 1:26:00
Funding Shock: Losing the SoftBank-Like Round and Recovering
In 2017 Deliveroo is days away from closing a roughly $600–700m investment from the world’s biggest fund when the deal collapses, reportedly due to that investor’s entanglements elsewhere. Shu must rapidly re‑fund the company or face running out of cash.
- 1:26:00 – 1:42:00
The Amazon Investment, CMA Battle, and COVID Double Hit
Amazon agrees to invest as a minority shareholder, but UK competition authorities freeze the funding while conducting an unprecedented phase‑1 and phase‑2 review over ~16–18 months. Simultaneously, COVID causes partner restaurants to shut both dine‑in and delivery, cratering orders and forcing major layoffs.
- 1:42:00 – 1:54:00
Founder Loneliness, Relationships, and Life Imbalance
The conversation turns to the toll on Shu’s personal life: he admits being obsessive, having limited capacity for romantic relationships and friendships, and rarely reflecting on his past. Bartlett wonders aloud if they’ve mis‑prioritized life by chasing success so singularly.
- 1:54:00 – 2:02:00
Going Public: IPO Highs, Market Backlash, and Media Scrutiny
Deliveroo’s IPO is a milestone but the stock’s initial drop triggers intense media criticism and internal concern. Shu says he usually doesn’t care about public opinion, but the ubiquity of the coverage made the first weeks post‑IPO emotionally tough.
- 2:02:00 – 2:10:00
Riders, Classification Debate, and Will’s Night in Notting Hill
In the context of public debate over whether riders are employees or contractors, Shu emphasizes his direct experience doing deliveries, including a fresh shift the previous night. He describes rudeness from a restaurant and how such field observations feed back into operational changes.
- 2:10:00 – 2:18:00
Competition and the Emotional Future of Food Delivery
With giants like Uber and Just Eat as rivals, Shu frames online food as an enormous, under‑penetrated market. He argues that the winner will be the company that turns apps from transactional ordering tools into emotional, content‑rich food experiences.
- 2:18:00
Money, Meaning, and Separating Will from Deliveroo
In closing, Bartlett probes Shu’s relationship to money and his long‑term aspirations. Shu says his lifestyle hasn’t changed much, he doesn’t think about wealth often, and he’s more interested in understanding how much of his life’s trajectory is self‑chosen versus being pulled along by the company’s gravitational force.
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