Meet Food Delivery App Manager Philip

Meet Philip Padberg, General Manager of the Netherlands for Deliveroo, a food and tech app startup that delivers your favourite restaurant dishes to your home. Guest speaking at our next edition of Amsterdam Talks tech, Philip shares his thoughts on the rapid development of the on-demand instant economy.

Hi Philip, can you tell us about what you do, your role within your company?

I am the General Manager of Deliveroo in the Netherlands. We are a high quality delivery service for your favourite restaurants. We started a few years ago and are now active in over 11 countries. In the Netherlands we are currently active in Amsterdam, where we Deliveroo great food from everyone from Piet de Leeuw, The White Elephant, to George and The Butcher. We deliver to your home or office within, on average, 30 minutes. This is possible thanks to our end-to-end technology platform and our fleet of drivers, enabling us to offer a full service solution. In short, we provide proper food, proper delivery.

Can you tell us about your background and how it lead you to where you are?

After a Masters degree in Econometrics and Operations Research I joined McKinsey as a consultant. During my almost 7 years there I had seen many companies with a wide variety of challenges and an even wider variety of managers dealing with those challenges. The urge to take real ownership and drive a business myself started while I was at INSEAD, France, half way through my consulting time and I grew stronger after every passing month. Then in May this year, I had a call with someone from Deliveroo London; 12 hours later I was in London myself and 24 hours after that I had an offer I couldn’t refuse. Deliveroo.nl will become the place where you’ll find all your favourite food and “‘rooing it” will become the thing to do. Helping making that happen is indescribable.

What are your thoughts on the future of tech and food? Which direction do you see it heading in?

I think tech will drive a lot of change in our business. The two directions I’m most excited about are, the rapid development of the on-demand economy in which everything you want is instantly available, you can order it without significant effort and it is almost immediately delivered. The other thing is the way we grow and prepare food. I am for instance extremely interested in the “plant-based” movement currently taking off in Silicon Valley by companies like Hampton Creek or Impossible Foods, where tech is driving the development of alternatives for meat and eggs. Another example of this is 3D-printed food, which is currently still in its infant shoes, but it has massively disruptive potential.

What are your thoughts on the tech startup scene in Amsterdam?

I see great potential with fantastic people behind it. However, too often I meet people who are happy with something like fifty per cent year over year growth. If we don’t go for five to ten times growth YoY, someone else in the world will and you will be pushed out eventually.

What advice would you give to people aiming to integrate tech as a central component in their business?

Get the right people. It’s by far the most critical thing to do and very difficult to realise. It is also one of the things we are most proud about; our fantastic people and the awesome culture they create.

Great, thanks Philip.

You can hear Philip speak about all things food and tech at our next Amsterdam Talks Tech VI: The Food Edition. For a detailed programme and to get your tickets for the evening check our our events page here.