Fidji Simo - Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences - [Invest Like the Best, CLASSICS]
Welcome to this classic episode. Classics are my favorite episodes from the past 10 years, published once a month. These are N of 1 conversations with N of 1 people. In the midst of her transition to OpenAI, we are spotlighting the force that is Fidji Simo. She is the former CEO of Instacart and grew up in a small town in the South of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she has had a dazzling career with stops at France’s leading university, eBay, and Facebook. Fidji spent the better part of a decade at Facebook where she led the Facebook App before joining the online grocery platform, Instacart, in mid 2021. We talk about Fidji’s consumer product experiences, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on leadership. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with Fidji Simo.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best
(00:03:51) Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart
(00:06:22) The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online
(00:07:50) How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business
(00:15:41) What being a pragmatic technologist means to her
(00:18:02) Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology
(00:21:00) The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved
(00:27:09) Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers
(00:29:24) Scale around the original core business
(00:32:12) The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers
(00:34:59) Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities
(00:37:32) Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty
(00:43:16) Her vision for the future of Instacart
(00:46:58) The possibility of becoming the major software platform for most retailers
(00:49:34) Her principles for capital allocation
(00:52:34) Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors
(00:54:21) Her philosophy of seeing the magic in team members
(00:56:46) Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment
(01:01:01) When she felt the most helpless in her career
(01:03:46) Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience
(01:08:00) The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart
(01:11:10) The future of AI personalities and customizing your shopping experience
(01:12:35) The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her
What's for Dinner? AI-Driven Commerce with Instacart CEO Fidji Simo
Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart and co-founder of Metrodora Institute, a medical center and research institute for neuroimmune axis disorders, shares her personal journey from growing up in France, to leading the Facebook app, to becoming a wartime CEO. Fidji talks about the future of Instacart, their AI strategy, how the current era of AI is different from prior ML waves, and the impact of LLMs in commerce, robotics and healthcare. She also shares how she earns followership from her teams.
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Show Links:
May 31, 2023: Instacart users can now plan meals using AI - Fast Company Profile
May 13, 2023: Instacart CEO Fidji Simo makes groceries personal. Now she’s doing the same for women’s health
December 2, 2021: Rapid Response: Re-founding Instacart, w/ first-time CEO Fidji Simo | Podcast: Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
Metrodora Institute
Fidji Simo’s LinkedIn
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Show Notes:
[00:01] - Leading With Impact and Authenticity
[11:48] - Implementing AI
[17:28] - Future of Grocery Shopping With AI
[25:38] - AI in Advertising and Commerce
[32:54] - Metrodora: AI in Biotech and Healthcare
[34:18] - The positive impact of AI, mitigating harm & role of regulations
Fidji Simo - Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences - [Invest Like the Best, EP.328]
My guest this week is Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart. Fidji grew up in a small town in the South of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she has had a dazzling career with stops at France’s leading university, eBay, and Facebook. Fidji spent the better part of a decade at Facebook where she led the Facebook App before joining the online grocery platform, Instacart, in mid 2021. We talk about Fidji’s consumer product experiences, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on leadership. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with Fidji Simo.
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Listen to Founders Podcast
Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder
Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
(00:03:51) - (First question) - Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart
(00:06:22) - The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online
(00:07:50) - How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business
(00:15:41) - What being a pragmatic technologist means to her
(00:18:02) - Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology
(00:21:00) - The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved
(00:27:09) - Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers
(00:29:24) - Scale around the original core business
(00:32:12) - The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers
(00:34:59) - Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities
(00:37:32) - Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty
(00:43:16) - Her vision for the future of Instacart
(00:49:34) - Her principles for capital allocation
(00:52:34) - Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors
(00:54:21) - Her philosophy of seeing the magic in team members
(00:56:46) - Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment
(01:01:01) - When she felt the most helpless in her career
(01:03:46) - Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience
(01:08:00) - The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart
(01:12:35) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her
Rapid Response: Re-founding Instacart, w/first-time CEO Fidji Simo
This past summer, Fidji Simo departed from Facebook – where she stood among the highest-ranking female executives, serving as the head of their app – for the opportunity to become a first-time CEO at Instacart. She replaced founder Apoorva Mehta, who appeared on this show last spring to talk about Instacart’s incredible COVID-fueled growth. Since then, Fidji has emphasized an evolved company mission, diversifying the company’s leadership and focusing on providing the necessary technology to help grocery retailers best serve their customers. As you’ll hear Fidji mention in the episode, she was raised in a French-Sicilian family where food anchored their daily life. “To me, Instacart’s mission resonated deeply, and I saw a very big opportunity.”
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20VC: Instacart CEO Fidji Simo on Why You Need Sponsors Not Mentors, Where Management Skills Align with Good Parenting & The First 100 Days as CEO at Instacart; The Challenges, The Surprises and The Next Chapter
Fidji Simo is the CEO @ Instacart, the company that allows you to order whatever you want from local stores, delivering it straight to your door. Fidji joined the Instacart board 10 months ago and just 3 months ago, Fidji joined Instacart full time as CEO. Prior to Instacart, Fidji spent an incredible 10 years at Facebook in numerous different roles including Head of Facebook App and before that Vice President of Games, Video and Monetisation. If this was not enough, Fidji earlier this year announced her co-founding of Metrodora, an integrated medical ecosystem with the vision of advancing women's health.
In Today's Episode with Fidji Simo You Will Learn:
1.) How Fidji made her way from a small coastal fishing town in France to leading the Facebook App and becoming one of the most powerful CEOs in tech with her new role at Instacart?
2.) The Rise @ Facebook: How did Fidji rise in the ranks at Facebook so much faster than anyone else? What were the biggest inflection points in her rise? What bets did she make that others did not see? How did they play out? Did any of the bets go wrong? What did Fidji learn about management style when the bet went wrong?
3.) Problem Solving and Decision-Making: What framework does Fidji use to have the most effective problem-solving and decision-making process? How does Fidji built such tight trust and honesty with her team members? In what way can leaders make people feel safe to take big bets but also not lose accountability if it does not work out?
4.) The Move To Instacart: Why did Fidji decide that CEO of Instacart was the right next move for her? What was Fidji's hypothesis of how the first 100 days would go? What has been a surprise in the first 100 days? How do the best leaders onboard into new CEO roles? How does the role of CEO change when moving from private to public company?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Fidji Simo
Fidji's Favourite Book: The Night Circus
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