From UC Berkeley
Q. What’s the backstory on the four UC Berkeley alumni who founded Caviar? How did this group come together?
Caviar co-founders Andy Zhang (current student), Jason Wang ’09, Richard Din ’08, and Shawn Tsao ’11 (Photo: UC Berkeley)
Jason: Although we are all from different graduating classes at UC Berkeley, we all met within our fraternity on campus, Pi Alpha Phi. The four of us came together in May 2012 after creating another startup, Munch On Me, which was part of the summer 2011 batch of Y Combinator. Previously, Jason was at Google; Richard was at Electronic Arts; Shawn was a graduating senior studying architecture; and Andy was still in school studying EECS. It wasn’t planned at all when our group came together, but we all felt a sense of wanting to create something that would make a big impact. Food and restaurants in local economies are things we care deeply about. What better way to change the world than go after something we do multiple times a day, everyday? Since our entrepreneurial start, we’ve been working together for 3.5 years.
Q: You are already in SF, Seattle and New York. When can we expect Caviar in the East Bay or further afield?
Shawn: Caviar is actually serving Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland neighborhoods right now! Check it out at TryCaviar.com/eastbay. Caviar will also be available all over the Bay Area and other major cities in the very near future. Our goal is to be in every major metropolitan city in the United States by end of 2014. So far, we’re on track to do so.
Q: What’s the deal with so many Cal grads in the start-up food space?
Jason: We’re spoiled with great food in Berkeley. There are lots of amazing restaurants, featuring all different types of cuisines. We also have access to several grocery stores, so many of us have also experimented with cooking. Overall, food is a space that hasn’t been disrupted over the years and has a lot of room for innovation. With the recent proliferation of mobile devices and improvement of technology, it has paved the way for new food-tech startups.
Q: Tell us a bit about your role at Caviar and what’s most rewarding about your work?
Shawn: My focus at Caviar is mostly operations, customer support, and graphic design, but I also help with expansion and recruiting. In a startup I have to be able to wear a different hat every day. I make sure that we maintain the best quality delivery service anywhere and ensure that all orders are delivered flawlessly. The best part of my day is when a customer lets us know how great his/her meal was and how our service has greatly changed his/her life for the better.”
Q: How do you come to consensus/make decisions with so many founders?
Jason: The beauty is the make-up of our co-founding team. We all have different personalities and strengths, but we trust one another to make the right decisions. We also handle different areas of the business such that we’re not stepping on each other’s toes. Collaboration and open communication has helped us make decisions quickly. While we won’t always agree on certain issues, we always come back to the same question: “what’s the best for the company?” And when we frame our decisions in that manner, the consensus usually ends up being unanimous.
Read the full article HERE.
