We Asked DoorDash’s CEO If AI Competitors Scare Him

We Asked DoorDash’s CEO If AI Competitors Scare Him

From Minus One by South Park Commons

February 26, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

Tony Xu discusses the evolution of DoorDash and the impact of AI on the delivery industry.

When Tony Xu cofounded DoorDash 13 years ago, he was rejected by more than 100 investors. Today, it’s a $70B+ behemoth dominating the delivery industry. Tony joins SPC General Partner Aditya Agarwal to reveal how DoorDash won the delivery war and answer the burning question of whether AI agents pose a threat to his company. He also shares why customer obsession became the company’s guiding principle, the challenges of digitizing the physical world, and how startups today can build competitive advantages in the age of AI. Tony Xu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/ Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply Chapters: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:00) - Becoming a founder (00:11:48) - Implementing AI and customer obsession (00:18:22) - Is AI a threat to DoorDash? (00:21:29) - Digitizing the physical world (00:25:31) - Company culture and values (00:31:33) - Tony’s unpopular business opinion (00:37:42) - How to stay curious and motivated (00:39:31) - Preparing children for the new age (00:42:47) - Audience Q&A

People in this episode

Host: Aditya Agarwal

Guest: Tony Xu

Topics covered

  • AI in business
  • entrepreneurship
  • delivery industry
  • customer obsession
  • startups
  • competitive advantages

Keywords

  • DoorDash
  • Tony Xu
  • AI
  • entrepreneurship
  • customer obsession
  • delivery industry
  • startups

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DoorDash, South Park Commons

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