I didn't know that, thanks for sharing. A quick Google search reveals that in that same year Amazon led a $575 round in Deliveroo. Seems like I picked the wrong example, and in this case Amazon correctly identified the opportunity but failed in the execution. Makes me just realize how much credit the DoorDash team really deserves.
> In the first 3 quarters of 2020, Doordash has $131 million loss on $1.9 billion revenue
If a startup starting from 0 can pull that off, Amazon should have been able to do (even) better with their customer base and logistics know-how + infrastructure.
How is losing money a positive? Amazon should have been able to lose even more given more of an investment? Amazon realized its bound to be a big loser and left it.
Even the most conservative investors will look at a loss as a percentage of revenue and not in isolation. Decades of business experience have shown that a low loss ratio in a fast growing business is a good investment opportunity.
Amazon has built a delivery network that is almost on par with DHL and others. I would say that's not only a pretty good starting point to get involved in restaurant delivery, but would also increase the utilization of the delivery vehicles (think Uber Eats).
