How a data and tech strategy fueled DoorDash’s rise

Good morning. Tony Xu and three fellow Stanford students began developing the idea for DoorDash in late 2012 and officially launched the company in 2013. Twelve years after its founding, DoorDash is the clear U.S. market leader in restaurant delivery, with Xu as CEO leading a data- and tech-fueled, forward-looking trajectory.

DoorDash controls roughly 60% of the U.S. food-delivery market—more than twice the share of its closest rival, Uber Eats. A new Fortune feature by tech correspondent Jason Del Rey, “How DoorDash became a $85 billion behemoth and won the delivery wars,” offers a deep dive into the company.

DoorDash is pursuing expansion both into new retail categories and into additional geographies. Xu showed Del Rey how the company’s in-house-built mapping technology advises Dashers on everything from the optimal place to park near a customer’s door to the specific entrance they should use in a large corporate building. DoorDash leaders believe the data adds up to meaningful advantages in the delivery-app wars.

“[With] all of this data, we are trying to build the catalog for the physical world,” Xu told him. “This repository of information does not exist on Google Maps. It doesn’t exist on ChatGPT.”

Xu’s approach to leadership is being closely watched and admired by his peers, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to Del Rey. Xu serves as a director on Meta’s board.

Some advice for tech leaders: “If you’re in technology and you are not making improvements, you are actually decaying. Until it’s over all of a sudden,” Xu told Del Rey.

There is plenty of risk but also huge opportunity for DoorDash if the company’s meticulous strategy continues to be effective and it can stay ahead of its competitors, according to Del Rey. You can read the complete article here.

The AI engine powering DoorDash’s next phase

DoorDash has experienced a meteoric rise over the past five years and is currently No. 394 on the Fortune 500, after debuting on the list in 2024 at No. 443. When I spoke last year with CFO Ravi Inukonda about the company’s debut, he also pointed to DoorDash’s use of data and technology, noting that the company has built a “very efficient logistics engine” that has been powered by machine learning for the past decade.

A recent report by Klover.ai argues that DoorDash is strategically positioned to sustain dominance in the AI-driven local commerce sector. This is rooted in a self-reinforcing flywheel composed of a vast and proprietary dataset; a purpose-built, high-velocity AI and machine-learning infrastructure designed for rapid iteration; and a deep, holistic integration of AI across every facet of its operations.

Inukonda, who became CFO in March 2023 and has now been with the company for about seven years, also told me that the company has three customers: consumers, merchants, and Dashers. In addition, every quarter, everyone on the leadership team spends a day with merchants.

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Leaderboard

Doug Larson has resigned as CFO of Beyond Air, Inc. (Nasdaq: XAIR), a commercial-stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company, to pursue another opportunity. Larson will continue to serve as CFO through Dec. 5, and then Duke Drewell, the company’s controller, will serve as interim CFO. Beyond Air has launched a search for a permanent successor. Larson will serve in an advisory role at the company through the end of the year.

Cheryl Paquete was appointed CFO of Terran Orbital Corporation, transitioning from her previous temporary role. Paquete brings nearly 20 years of leadership in finance and business operations at Lockheed Martin Space. She most recently led high-value portfolios across Deep Space Exploration, Commercial Satellites, Weather and Earth Science, and advanced development programs.

Big Deal

Mercer’s 2025 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans found that in 2025, the average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance reached $17,496 per employee, a 6% increase, well above the rate of inflation and wage growth. A sharp rise in prescription drug spending, which increased 9.4% on average among large employers (500 or more employees), contributed to the increase, according to the report. Notably, more large employers covered costly GLP-1 weight-loss medications in 2025—approximately 49%, up from 44% in 2024.

For 2026, an even higher total health benefit cost increase of 6.7% is expected. This will push the average cost above $18,500 per employee, according to Mercer.

Going deeper

“The S&P 500 could hit 7,000 this week, while Trump hints at a Fed chair pick and Washington eyes this special election” is a new Fortune report by Jason Ma.

From the report: “The stock market is about to begin the final month of 2025 on the back of a strong uptrend that has raised hopes the typical year-end ‘Santa Claus rally’ is starting early this season.

“The market’s rebound was fueled by hopes that another rate cut later this month is still on the table, after some hawkish policymakers previously hinted at a wait-and-see stance. But President Trump could further stoke more dovish views if he reveals who his choice will be to take over as Fed chair when Powell’s term expires in May.

“‘I know who I’m going to pick as Fed chair. I will announce it soon,’ Trump told reporters on Sunday.” Read the complete report here.

Overheard

“Right now, leading labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are following business models that are neither novel nor difficult for technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft, or Google to follow.”

—Scott D. Anthony, a clinical professor of strategy at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, writes in a Fortune opinion piece. If the leading labs don’t develop “unique ways to create, capture, and deliver value, history suggests they are likely to have finite lives as standalone providers,” Anthony writes. His latest book isEpic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World.

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