# The End of Doordash

By [Curious Thaddeus](https://paragraph.com/@curious-thaddeus) · 2021-10-17

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Big tech is having a moment. Facebook’s curation algorithm is under siege. Netflix’s latest Chapelle special has inspired employee walkouts. Apple is still battling Epic Games over its App Store commission. But Doordash is the real villain.

Sure, Doordash is 3% of Apple by market cap. But to decide who should be more hated, it makes sense to explore their victims.

### What’s the story with Apple?

First, some background. Epic is a video game publisher. They use Apple’s App Store as one method of distribution. Epic monetizes its games through in-app purchases. And Apple is really proud of its app store. So proud that they take a 30% cut of all in-app purchases. Epic’s billionaire founder Tim Sweeny doesn’t like that.

Fast forward through some legal stuff, and it’s still unclear how this will end. Epic wants courts to mandate a smaller cut. And Apple wants a pat on the back for its impressive market share.

### The Media Narrative

Everyone loves an underdog story. Journalists know that. This is billed as a classic David vs. Goliath scenario. Apple, the world’s richest company, is squeezing the little guy for everything they have. But David isn’t so little. Epic raised money at a $28.7 billion valuation this year. Rest assured that Epic’s employees are being fairly compensated.

In a relative sense, the narrative fits. But that doesn’t matter.

### How Food Delivery Fits In

Fair compensation is a privilege not shared across all industries. Just ask Doordash. They’ve done for restaurants what Apple has done for “little guys” like Epic Games. Dashers, what Doordash labels their indentured delivery drivers, scurry across major cities worldwide. But this isn’t about reliance on a class of labor that Doordash needs to remain stagnant. It’s about their effect on the restaurant industry, and the people who lose as a result.

Imagine this. You work at a restaurant. Maybe you’re a server who’s working hard, making decent money on tips, and saving where you can. Suddenly, a global pandemic hits. The customers disappear. And with them go your tips. All of your restaurant’s business goes to Doordash and Uber Eats. Revenue is down. To make matters worse, Doordash charges a 30% commission on every order. The restaurant, already operating on thin profit margins, is forced to let you go.

Sound familiar? Apple does to billion-dollar software companies what Doordash does to millions of underpaid restaurant workers. You decide what’s worse.

### Where’s Crypto on all of this?

If there’s one thing the Crypto/Web3 ecosystem hates, it’s centralization (ignore for now that most crypto activity runs through centralized exchanges like Coinbase and OpenSea). To the crypto community, this issue is simply dumb. Because the App Store is centralized, Apple can control it however they want. They dominate the market so their incentive is to operate in the way that’s best for them. Why care about the developers who make the apps or the consumers that use them? Apple doesn’t have to.

This issue perfectly illustrates the benefit of decentralized networks. Spend time on Crypto Twitter or Discord and they’ll make that clear. Calls to break up Apple and build a decentralized App Store are common.

But no one is saying anything about a decentralized food delivery platform. It’s time to have that conversation.

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*Originally published on [Curious Thaddeus](https://paragraph.com/@curious-thaddeus/the-end-of-doordash)*