Podcast Summary: "DoorDash Experiments with Social Proof in Food Ordering"
The Last Invention is AI
December 17, 2025

Overview

In this episode, the host delves into DoorDash’s latest initiative: Zesty, an AI-powered social app aimed at revolutionizing how people discover restaurants. The discussion explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, food tech, and social discovery, and examines the potential business implications for DoorDash as it moves beyond its traditional delivery model.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. DoorDash’s AI-Driven Social App: Zesty

• Purpose and Concept:
  • Zesty is designed to help users discover new restaurants, leveraging AI to provide personalized recommendations.
  • The app integrates a chatbot interface for tailored food suggestions based on nuanced user input.
  • Initially piloted in San Francisco and New York.
  • DoorDash aims to go beyond food delivery, tapping into the broader social and discovery aspect of dining.
• AI Integration in Development:
  • The host suspects DoorDash used generative AI code models to rapidly prototype the app.
  • “Code is so much easier to generate with some of these really cool products that integrate AI into kind of breathing new life into a product and help you capture more market share.” (A, 01:06)
  • Suggests that companies should be experimenting with AI for product innovation.

2. How Zesty Works

• User Experience:
  • Users log in with their DoorDash account and interact via chatbot for specific recommendations.
  • Examples:
    • “A low key dinner in Williamsburg that’s actually good for introverts.”
    • “Brunch spots, good for groups,” or “romantic dinner with a vintage feel.” (A, 02:08)
  • The natural language interface enables more contextual, personalized search compared to traditional platforms like Google Maps.
• Data Sources and Curation:
  • Aggregates information from DoorDash, Google Maps, TikTok, and other web sources.
  • DoorDash’s Andy Fang confirmed the multi-source approach in a post, highlighting TikTok as a “reputable source” for restaurant data.
  • “They said they quote, curate the best suggestions from the web. So they’re also just scraping the web.” (A, 03:11)
• Social Features:
  • Users can save, share, and comment on restaurants; follow other users for recommendations.
  • The goal is to build social engagement around food discoveries, moving DoorDash into social territory.

3. Differentiation from Other Platforms

• Comparison to Instagram & Google:
  • Addresses whether DoorDash can differentiate from platforms where users already follow food influencers or find visually appealing restaurants.
  • Host’s opinion:
    • Discoverability combined with social features gives Zesty an edge over platforms that are purely visual or review-based.
    • “Having the discoverability in addition to sharing the content does make it beyond that.” (A, 05:05)
• Pain Points Addressed:
  • Overwhelm of searching across multiple platforms for the right restaurant, especially for occasions (e.g., anniversaries, group dinners).
  • AI’s natural language understanding and multi-source data consolidation create a faster, easier experience.
  • “Anything that can speed up my search phase where I can ask exactly what I want… I do think that there will be a use case for that.” (A, 07:35)

4. Business Implications & Monetization

• Strategic Expansion for DoorDash:
  • Zesty marks a move from delivery toward broader discovery and in-person experiences.
  • Previous expansion: reservation features with in-store rewards.
  • “If they want to expand the company, I think there’s some really great ways, especially as you start thinking about discoverability.” (A, 08:40)
• Potential Ad Revenue:
  • Host predicts eventual monetization through ads and promoted recommendations, similar to models at Instacart and Uber.
  • “Instacart has a massive portion of their revenue now that is generated from putting ads inside of their app… Uber makes a ton of money from in app ads. So the ads business, I would say do not underestimate that.” (A, 10:01)
• Positioning Against Competitors:
  • DoorDash’s deep data resources and restaurant relationships give them an edge in personalized discovery.
  • Aggregating multiple sources can reduce user friction and build a sticky platform.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“I 100% guarantee they used AI models, AI code models, to help them spin out a really quick sample of this idea that they were thinking of.”
— Host A (00:40)

“It incorporates AI in how it gives recommendations, and I think that every company should be experimenting now.”
— Host A (01:14)

“They said … at DoorDash we’re always looking for new ways to help people connect with the best of their communities. We’re piloting this app to make it easier to discover great nearby restaurants, coffee shops, bars and more through personalized search and social sharing. We’re excited to learn from early testers as we keep sharing what local discovery can look like.”
— Quoting DoorDash Statement (05:58)

“If it’s scraping through all of the reviews on Google and on TikTok to get responses… if it’s going and getting this from a unique data source, I love that. And I think this is super, super valuable and definitely worth trying a new tool.”
— Host A (07:18)

“This is a brand new way for DoorDash, I think, to really kind of grow something that they can unlock that and start seeing a lot of that revenue themselves.”
— Host A (10:28)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00 – 01:50: Introduction to Zesty, DoorDash’s new AI app and its core concept
• 01:51 – 03:40: How AI underpins the app’s recommendation engine and the value of rapid prototyping
• 03:41 – 05:40: App’s user experience and data sources for recommendations
• 05:41 – 07:40: Social features, user engagement, and differentiation from existing platforms
• 07:41 – 09:30: Broadening DoorDash’s business and addressing users’ pain points with restaurant discovery
• 09:31 – 11:00: Monetization possibilities, ad business potential, and DoorDash’s long-term strategy

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a nuanced look at how DoorDash is leveraging AI to create a social, discovery-oriented restaurant app, aiming to streamline decision-making for users while strategically positioning the company for future growth via advertising and new product verticals. The host underscores the value of AI-driven innovation and the increasing integration of social features in technology products, suggesting Zesty could become a potent new entry in the food tech landscape.