Building GrubHub to IPO & The Future of Home Repair w/ Mike Evans (Co-Founder of GrubHub)

The Dealroom with Shamus Madan

Join Shamus Madan as he interviews industry leaders like Mark Cuban and Tim Draper, sharing insights on building billion-dollar businesses to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Building GrubHub to IPO & The Future of Home Repair w/ Mike Evans (Co-Founder of GrubHub)

E89 • Jan 5, 2023 • 22 mins

In this episode, Shamus Madan chats with Mike Evans about his entrepreneurial journey, starting with his MIT experiences and early startup involvement. They discuss the creation and challenges of Grubhub, its profitability strategies, and Evans' reflections on the company. They delve into the role of leverage in business negotiations, introduce Fixer, and share lessons from Grubhub's success. The episode concludes with Evans' advice for startup founders and a plug for his book, "Hangry".

Key Points

Mike Evans emphasizes the importance of relationships and a hands-on approach in entrepreneurship, as seen in his journey from Grubhub's inception to its IPO and his current venture, Fixer, which employs full-time workers rather than contractors for home repair services.
Evans advocates for intentional goal-setting and actionable steps, advising startup founders to start their ventures without overthinking and to learn from the process rather than waiting for perfect conditions.
The concept of leverage in business negotiations, as discussed by Evans, involves building trust and empathy with potential partners or competitors, and presenting one's own product or service as valuable without denigrating others.

I am your host Shamus Madan, and today we are joined by Mike Evans, who is the founder of GrubHub. On the show, Mike walks us through his journey founding GrubHub from a website to a multi-billion dollar software platform. How did he do it? It all starts with a pizza.

More recently, after Grubhub, Mike needed his gutter fixed, but he couldn't get anybody to take on the job, so he started his new company, Fixer, which provides handyman services for an array of home repair jobs with the click of a button.

Purchase the Book Hangry Here: https://amzn.to/3X2jPYs

Learn More About Mike Evans: https://mikeevans.com/

Learn More About Fixer: https://fixer.com/

Twitter of Host (Shamus Madan): @mbitpodcast

Twitter of Guest (Mike Evans): @m_evans

Speakers

Mike Evans

Guest • 74%

Shamus Madan

Guest • 26%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction and Mike Evans' entrepreneurial journey
0:45	Memorable experiences at MIT and early startup involvement
2:12	The conception and early challenges of Grubhub
5:04	Strategies for Grubhub's profitability and future prospects
10:06	Mike Evans' evolving definition of success and reflections on Grubhub
13:02	Rule of leverage in business negotiations: A discussion
15:39	Introduction to Fixer: Its mission and business model
19:05	Lessons from Grubhub implemented in Fixer and the effectiveness of partnerships
20:51	Challenges of starting a new business and key takeaways for startup founders
21:38	Episode wrap-up and where to find Mike Evans' book, "Hangry"

Transcript

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