Matthew Wadiak

Sure. Blue Apron was the first meal kit company in America providing all of the ingredients and a recipe card that allowed customers to cook step-by-step recipes at home. And we grew from a tiny fulfillment center originally in Queens doing about 20 meals or 20 customers per week to millions of meals per week in three major geographies and five distribution centers.

Sure. Blue Apron was the first meal kit company in America providing all of the ingredients and a recipe card that allowed customers to cook step-by-step recipes at home. And we grew from a tiny fulfillment center originally in Queens doing about 20 meals or 20 customers per week to millions of meals per week in three major geographies and five distribution centers.

Sure. Blue Apron was the first meal kit company in America providing all of the ingredients and a recipe card that allowed customers to cook step-by-step recipes at home. And we grew from a tiny fulfillment center originally in Queens doing about 20 meals or 20 customers per week to millions of meals per week in three major geographies and five distribution centers.

We had a lot of cadence from day one because we, first of all, you have to understand the era. It was a time in which there was a massive underserved audience. And whenever you see pent up demand, it's about capitalizing on that demand from a marketing perspective to get share of market and capture as much total addressable market as possible, right? Yeah.

We had a lot of cadence from day one because we, first of all, you have to understand the era. It was a time in which there was a massive underserved audience. And whenever you see pent up demand, it's about capitalizing on that demand from a marketing perspective to get share of market and capture as much total addressable market as possible, right? Yeah.

We had a lot of cadence from day one because we, first of all, you have to understand the era. It was a time in which there was a massive underserved audience. And whenever you see pent up demand, it's about capitalizing on that demand from a marketing perspective to get share of market and capture as much total addressable market as possible, right? Yeah.

So we did something that was really unique on day one. And I entirely attribute this portion to my co-founder, Matt Salzberg, at the time. We had initially built a referral program into our initial web product that included rewards for customers. You know, as many companies have rewards for customers who are loyal to their brand. But what we did was a reverse referral program.

So we did something that was really unique on day one. And I entirely attribute this portion to my co-founder, Matt Salzberg, at the time. We had initially built a referral program into our initial web product that included rewards for customers. You know, as many companies have rewards for customers who are loyal to their brand. But what we did was a reverse referral program.

So we did something that was really unique on day one. And I entirely attribute this portion to my co-founder, Matt Salzberg, at the time. We had initially built a referral program into our initial web product that included rewards for customers. You know, as many companies have rewards for customers who are loyal to their brand. But what we did was a reverse referral program.

And back in those days, thinking back 15 years ago, we would, instead of giving the buyer a reward or a free box for loyalty, we would allow, after the second box ordered,

And back in those days, thinking back 15 years ago, we would, instead of giving the buyer a reward or a free box for loyalty, we would allow, after the second box ordered,

And back in those days, thinking back 15 years ago, we would, instead of giving the buyer a reward or a free box for loyalty, we would allow, after the second box ordered,

the the customer to gift three first boxes to their closest friends and on its head initially we had thought we don't really know how people are going to respond to this because it's not a selfish gift it's not something that people receive personally it's the gift of giving right yeah yeah It was fascinating because we were the first to do that, that I know. And that became a viral sensation.

the the customer to gift three first boxes to their closest friends and on its head initially we had thought we don't really know how people are going to respond to this because it's not a selfish gift it's not something that people receive personally it's the gift of giving right yeah yeah It was fascinating because we were the first to do that, that I know. And that became a viral sensation.

the the customer to gift three first boxes to their closest friends and on its head initially we had thought we don't really know how people are going to respond to this because it's not a selfish gift it's not something that people receive personally it's the gift of giving right yeah yeah It was fascinating because we were the first to do that, that I know. And that became a viral sensation.

So for the first few years of the company, 80% of our customer acquisition with double digit monthly growth, sometimes triple digit monthly growth, was attributed to our referral program, which was really novel for the time.

So for the first few years of the company, 80% of our customer acquisition with double digit monthly growth, sometimes triple digit monthly growth, was attributed to our referral program, which was really novel for the time.

So for the first few years of the company, 80% of our customer acquisition with double digit monthly growth, sometimes triple digit monthly growth, was attributed to our referral program, which was really novel for the time.

Yeah. So if you if you think back to the days of Iron Chef and Emeril Lagasse and the Food Network's peak, when people were still watching cable or more people were watching cable, at least. There was more interest in food and food celebrity and celebrity chefs than any time in history with less people actively cooking in America than any time in history simultaneously. So I think what we have...

Yeah. So if you if you think back to the days of Iron Chef and Emeril Lagasse and the Food Network's peak, when people were still watching cable or more people were watching cable, at least. There was more interest in food and food celebrity and celebrity chefs than any time in history with less people actively cooking in America than any time in history simultaneously. So I think what we have...