Daredevil Startups Are Finally Exposed for What They Are
Why the flimsy business models of Uber, Airbnb, and ClassPass are starting to crack under pressure.
Giuseppe Badalamenti, a pizzeria consultant outside Chicago, was flipping through the invoices of a particularly troubled client when a March statement from Grubhub, the food order-and-delivery app, made him stop cold. From 46 orders billed at $1,042.63, Grubhub had paid the pizzeria just $376.54 — a 64% cut going to the app. Among the deductions were charges for two types of commission along with fees for processing, promotions, and adjustments.
There has long been grumbling in Chicago pizza circles about the excessive fees charged by Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Postmates, but this was by far the largest Badalamenti had ever seen. On April 29, he posted the invoice on his Facebook page. “Stop believing you are supporting your community by ordering from a 3rd party delivery company,” he wrote.
The post has since been shared about 5,300 times and has more than 1,200 comments. Not everyone sympathized with Badalamenti’s client — among those defending Grubhub, one restaurateur posted his own April statement, which he noted showed the app claiming only 28% of his revenue. (He hadn’t run any special get-$5-off promotions nor did he…
