How Instacart's CEO Fidji Simo Brought French Style to Silicon Valley | The Circuit with Emily Chang

Fidji Simo's Background and Upbringing

• Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart, grew up in the charming city of Sete in the south of France, where she was surrounded by the sea and the rhythms of the port (20s).
• Simo was raised by fishing boat captains who instilled grit in her at a young age, and she went on to have a successful career in tech, working at eBay and Facebook before becoming the CEO of Instacart (1m4s).
• Despite her success in the tech industry, Simo has maintained her French heritage and style, refusing to adopt the typical tech industry uniform (1m32s).
• Simo's family has been involved in the fishing industry for generations, with her father, grandfather, and uncles all being fishermen or fishmongers (2m47s).
• Food plays a central role in Simo's family and culture, with her grandfather instilling in her a respect for the idea of feeding the world (3m14s).
• Simo believes that being raised in a fishing village was special, as it taught her the importance of hard work and respect for the people who feed the community (3m45s).
• As CEO of Instacart, Simo feels like she is bridging her two passions - tech and feeding people - and is proud to be able to bring fresh food to people's doors (4m2s).
• Simo is proud of her French heritage and believes that Americans are missing out on the importance of family, food, and community that is central to French culture (5m13s).
• The French culture values enjoying the little moments in life, not just the big ones, and this is something that was instilled in Fidji Simo from a young age, with the French stopping to appreciate lunch and making it a special time to break bread and eat together (5m20s).
• Fidji Simo's father was a fisherman, and she was fascinated by his dedication and work ethic, which she has carried with her into her own career, although she did not follow in his footsteps due to being seasick (6m3s).
• Fidji Simo's grandfather was also a fisherman and had developed techniques to find fish, but when new technology arrived, he saw it as an opportunity to adapt and become the best at using it, rather than fearing it (6m48s).
• Growing up in Sete, the wider world seemed extremely far away to Fidji Simo, with the town next door feeling like it required a passport to visit (7m19s).
• Fidji Simo was the first in her family to graduate from high school and met her husband on the first day of high school (7m36s).
• American television, particularly the show "The OC," inspired Fidji Simo and influenced her decision to move to California (7m57s).

Fidji Simo's Career Path

• Fidji Simo attended one of the most elite business schools in France and then got an internship at eBay, where she worked hard to get into the best possible school and was drawn to the technology industry due to its potential to impact people's lives (8m22s).
• Fidji Simo first heard about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg while working at eBay, and she initially applied to Facebook but was rejected, with the company telling her they didn't need strategy people at the time (8m48s).
• Fidji Simo created a new product from scratch and sent it to recruiters, which impressed the team and helped her get into Facebook (9m6s).
• At Facebook, Simo took risks and led the team in charge of monetizing mobile, which was a huge risk but ultimately changed the trajectory of her career (9m32s).
• Unlike other tech leaders, Simo did not grow up taking computers apart or learning to code, but instead learned strategy from her family's fishing business (9m56s).
• Simo's family's fishing business involved strategy, such as deciding when to return to shore to get the best price for their catch, which taught her valuable business lessons (10m6s).
• The fishing industry also taught Simo the importance of trust between the crew and the captain, which is a matter of life and death (10m28s).
• Simo's father has been a fisherman for 35 years, and she was given behind-the-scenes access to the fishing port and auction (10m37s).
• After the fish are prepped, they are sold at an auction, and Simo's uncle sets prices for the catch of the day (10m55s).

Fidji Simo's Vision for Instacart and the Food Industry

• Simo believes that technology can be used to help people in traditional industries, such as fishing, do their jobs better, rather than disrupting them (11m46s).
• As the CEO of Instacart, Simo wants to use technology to help people continue doing their craft, rather than disrupting the grocery business (12m7s).
• Instacart was founded by Apoorva Mehta in 2012, and the company allows users to order groceries through an app, which are then delivered directly to their door (12m30s).
• The company caught the attention of venture capitalists and rode the wave of gig economy companies in Silicon Valley, but needed to redefine itself after the pandemic (12m36s).
• Simo joined the board of Instacart in 2021 and became the company's new CEO six months later, after leaving Facebook (13m5s).
• Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart, believes that not being a founder of the company is both an advantage and a disadvantage; the advantage is that she brings experience from a larger company, while the disadvantage is that she lacks the credibility that a founder has, which takes time to rebuild (13m21s).
• Simo saw potential in Instacart beyond groceries, recognizing the company's ability to integrate deeply with 1,500 grocers and provide technology for their e-commerce properties, making it a grocery technology company (13m49s).
• When Simo became CEO, Instacart was worth $38 billion, but the company was declining in gross transaction volume due to the post-pandemic period, leading her to reframe expectations and focus on building a generational company that can grow sustainably and profitably (14m18s).
• A year after the IPO, Instacart is now valued at around $9 billion, and Wall Street remains skeptical; however, Simo believes that the market underestimates the difficulty of serving customers and delivering groceries with accuracy, speed, selection, and affordability (15m7s).
• Simo thinks that Instacart has a deep competitive advantage due to its 12 years of experience and ability to deliver high-quality services at scale, which will be realized by the market despite intensified competition from giants like Amazon and Walmart (15m26s).
• Instacart can compete with giants by being the best place for customers to shop from their favorite retailers, such as Publix, Kroger, and Albertson, which may not be the primary choice for Amazon or Walmart (15m49s).
• Instacart acquired Caper, the maker of AI-powered smart carts, which use a screen to follow customers around the store, recommend items based on their basket, and provide a more enjoyable shopping experience (16m2s).
• Hundreds of Caper carts are currently deployed, with plans to expand to thousands in the next few months, and the technology also allows customers to track their spending in real-time, which has not been found to reduce overall spend (16m32s).
• Instacart's checkout feature helps customers on a budget by allowing them to maximize their spending without feeling embarrassed about putting items back, providing a service for both affluent and budget-conscious customers (16m53s).

Instacart's Role in the Evolving Grocery Landscape

• The rising cost of groceries is a widespread issue, with prices increasing throughout the supply chain and affecting the end customer (17m14s).
• Instacart aims to help customers save money by identifying savings opportunities using their platform (17m46s).
• Despite initial perceptions of Instacart as a luxury service, many customers find it to be a good deal when factoring in the cost of gas and time spent going to the grocery store (18m17s).
• Gig work on Instacart provides extra income flexibility for many people, but there are still complaints about issues such as low tips and competition for orders (18m32s).
• Instacart addresses these complaints by analyzing numbers and investing in tools and technology to make the shopping job easier (18m59s).
• The company is advocating for policies to address dietary-related healthcare costs, which amount to around $1 trillion, by using their platform to distribute nutritious food (19m29s).
• Instacart believes that the global food system is suboptimized, creating waste and opportunities for technological optimization through machine learning (20m19s).
• Fidji Simo envisions a food system that is less wasteful through the use of artificial intelligence, with Instacart playing a key role in collecting consumer data to optimize food production and delivery (20m31s).

Fidji Simo's Impact and Future Outlook

• Simo's plan to transform the food system is ambitious, and her vision has gained attention from world leaders, including French President Macron, with whom she recently had dinner (21m7s).
• Growing up in France, Simo never imagined she would have dinner with the French president, but the experience felt like a full-circle moment for her (21m18s).
• Simo believes that if she could do it all over again, she would still choose to build her career in the US, as the entrepreneurship path is more valued in the US compared to France (21m42s).
• According to Simo, the French culture still needs to change to value entrepreneurship and encourage people to take risks and pursue this path (21m54s).
• Simo notes that it is still challenging to hire, retain talent, and have flexibility in team structures in France, and that Europe is behind the US in valuing entrepreneurship (22m10s).
• As one of the few female tech CEOs and even fewer French female CEOs, Simo recognizes the need for change and is hopeful that more women in positions of power will lift others up and create a bigger transformation (22m31s).
• Simo advises the next generation of women, including the next French Fidji Simo, to dream big, not put limitations on themselves, and focus on long-term goals (23m10s).