1The Amazon Years
Apoorva Mehta grew up in India and Libya before moving to Canada for university. He studied engineering at the University of Waterloo, where he did co-op placements at companies like BlackBerry and Qualcomm. After graduation, he joined Amazon as a supply chain engineer.
At Amazon, Mehta learned the mechanics of logistics—how to move millions of products efficiently from warehouses to doorsteps. But he was restless. He didn't want to optimize someone else's machine; he wanted to build his own.
"I knew I wanted to start a company. I just didn't know what yet. So I quit Amazon and started building things. One after another. Most of them were terrible."
— Apoorva Mehta
2Twenty Failures
After leaving Amazon in 2010, Mehta moved to San Francisco with savings and a dream. Over the next two years, he started approximately 20 different companies. A social network for lawyers. A way to recruit people at parties. Ad tech plays. None of them worked.
Each failure taught him something. He learned to build fast, to recognize when something wasn't working, and most importantly—to keep going. He was running out of money but not out of ideas.
Mehta didn't just fail randomly—he failed systematically. Each startup taught him what he didn't want to build: businesses without clear customer pain, markets without urgency, products people could live without.
3The Grocery Insight
In late 2012, Mehta was struggling with a mundane problem: he hated grocery shopping. As a busy founder, spending hours at the store felt like wasted time. Why couldn't someone just deliver groceries to his door?
Amazon Fresh existed but was limited. Webvan had famously failed in the dot-com crash. Everyone said grocery delivery was a terrible business—low margins, high logistics complexity. But Mehta saw it differently: smartphones and the gig economy had changed everything.
Why Webvan Failed (2001):
Built warehouses, bought trucks, hired drivers. Massive fixed costs before a single order.
Why Instacart Could Work (2012):
Use existing stores, gig shoppers, and smartphones. Variable costs that scale with demand.
4The Beer That Got Him Into YC
Mehta applied to Y Combinator in 2012 with Instacart. The deadline had passed, but he had a bold idea. He used his own app to order a six-pack of beer delivered to YC partner Garry Tan's office. The delivery was the demo.
Tan was impressed—not just by the stunt, but by the product. Instacart got a late interview and was accepted into YC's Summer 2012 batch. Sometimes, showing is better than telling.
"When Apoorva sent that beer, I knew he understood something important: this business is about solving real problems for real people. Not theoretical value— actual convenience delivered to your door."
— Garry Tan, Y Combinator Partner
5Scaling to $39 Billion
Instacart grew steadily through the 2010s, partnering with grocery chains and building a network of shoppers. Then COVID-19 hit. Suddenly, everyone needed grocery delivery. Demand exploded 500% overnight.
Mehta had spent eight years building infrastructure that could scale. When the moment came, Instacart was ready. By 2021, the company reached a $39 billion valuation—one of the largest private companies in America.
6Key Lessons for Founders
1. Failure is iteration, not defeat
Twenty failed startups weren't wasted time—they were research and development for the one that worked. Keep building until you find it.
2. Solve your own problems
Mehta hated grocery shopping. That personal frustration became a $39B company. Your annoyances might be business opportunities.
3. Timing beats everything
Webvan failed in 2001. Instacart succeeded in 2012. Same idea, different era. Smartphones and gig economy made it possible.
4. Show, don't tell
A beer delivered to a YC partner's door was worth more than any pitch deck. Demonstrate your value, don't just describe it.
5. Build for the moment that hasn't come
Mehta built infrastructure for eight years before COVID made grocery delivery essential. When opportunity knocks, be ready.