Harker alumni and businessman Andy Fang reflects on DoorDash’s success

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Courtesy of Andy Wang

Andy Fang (’10) is one of the owners of DoorDash. The service allows customers to electronically order food from local restaurants.

In 45 minutes or less, technology can bring food from hundreds of local eateries to homes across California, Boston and Chicago.

In January 2013, a group of Stanford students, including Harker Alumnus Andy Fang (‘10), created a food delivery service app called DoorDash, for restaurants that don’t provide food transportation.

The service allows customers to electronically order food from local restaurants with a $5.99 delivery fee that is waved for the first selected order.

Since its start, the company has raised 19.7 million dollars in venture-backed money and has expanded across the country.

“DoorDash is a technology company that enables on-demand delivery to empower local economies,” the website’s mission statement reads. “We help small businesses grow, give underemployed people flexible work, and offer affordable convenience to consumers.”

Andy was recently listed in Forbes’ 30 under 30: Consumer Technology along with co-founder Stanley Tang.

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Andy Fang conducted a brief interview with the Winged Post about his involvement with DoorDash and what he hopes to see in the future.

The Winged Post: Did you feel that your experiences at Harker have influenced your interests that led to your involvement with DoorDash?

Andy Fang: I wouldn’t say any one thing or combination of things I did in high school directly affected my eventual involvement with DoorDash. I’ll say that Harker did a great job of preparing me for life after high school.

WP: What did you major in at Stanford/ how does that relate to the work you are doing or plan on doing?

AF: I studied computer science. Given that I work at a technology company, it comes in handy quite a lot.

WP: You and Stanley Tang have recently been featured in Forbes magazine, how did that feel to be nationally recognized?

AF: It’s definitely an honor to be recognized in that way. To be honest, I never really expected that it would happen.

WP: What do you hope to see in the company’s future?

AF: We have great ambitions for DoorDash. We hope to establish DoorDash as a national brand and expand our on-demand logistics platform beyond restaurants.

WP: Can you speak about the company’s emphasis on helping local economies?

AF: For us it always started out with helping out small businesses. We went out and interviewed over a hundred small business owners ourselves to figure out the kinds of challenges they dealt with. Since then, it’s been extremely rewarding for us to see how we’ve empowered merchants trying to increase their business, drivers looking for flexible pay, and customers who seek the convenience we offer. The positive stories we hear from our merchants, drivers, and customers help remind us of why what we’re doing is important.

WP: Anything else to add?

AF: Not really, It’s always nice to get back in touch with the Harker community. Go Eagles!

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 13, 2015.