They are another stream of revenue and service to our guests that helps build our community and makes the density of our food net more secure.

Yiu has also encountered the challenge of optimizing the ratio of drivers to eateries, the problem at the heart of any of these platforms—“we have a lot of sympathy for DoorDash…The problem they are trying to solve is really hard.”

DoorDash, which lost $461 million in 2020, says that its business model will be profitable once it reaches scale and expands into new markets and services. The company argues that its higher restaurant fees react extra levels of service and marketing they choose. “DoorDash was founded to help grow local economies,” a spokesperson told Quartz, adding that its drivers value exibility of being independent contractors, and earned an average of $22 an hour in September 2020. [read more]