Instacart hires Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook's app and one of the highest-ranking female executives at Facebook, as its new CEO starting August 2
an ex-Facebook exec — hints at post-IPO ambitions Michelle Cheng / Quartz : Instacart will go public under a new CEO hired from Facebook Tweets: Deirdre Bosa / @dee_bosa : 🚨BREAKING: instacart taps Fidji Simo-Head of Facebook App-as next CEO Simo replaces founder Apoorva Mehta Aug 2 Simo among highest ranking female execs at $FB, after Sandberg & Marne Levine Full exclusive intv with & @fidjissimo & @apoorva_mehta here https://cnbc.com/... @theorgcom : Instacart bringing @fidjissimo on as the CEO comes as no surprise. After a year of explosive growth, they've been on a hiring spree, poaching key executives from several big tech companies, including Uber, Google, and Facebook. Here are the most recent key hires: https://twitter.com/... Kurt Wagner / @kurtwagner8 : NEW: @fidjissimo, who runs Facebook's flagship social network, is leaving the company to become CEO of Instacart Tom Alison, longtime FB product/eng exec, will take over day-to-day running FB by end of July Amir Efrati / @amir : 🛒🥕New: At Instacart, people joke that incoming CEO @fidjissimo already did the hard part of hiring a trusted team from Facebook. It's no joke. *Instacart hired 5 other key FB PMs this year. *In June, Instacart hired 2 FB employees every 3 days. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... Rat King / @mikeisaac : i would say The mood among some rank-and-file is “shocked” I imagine this is a step towards Instacart going public in some fashion Brian Solis / @briansolis : I'm an admirer of @fidjissimo and her incredible work ethic + approach to team dynamics. I wrote about her work around productivity while at Facebook in #Lifescale. Today, she was announced as the new CEO of @Instacart. Go Fidji! I'm proud to know you!🙌 https://www.instacart.com/... Teddy Blank / @teddypowday : @kevinakwok They're an ads company now and they need to make that extremely clear to the market before going public Matt Rosoff / @mattrosoff : @stevekovach @CaseyNewton @TechmemeChatter Hard to match the CEO gig she got at Instacart. i don't think Zuck is stepping down anytime soon. @om : Really great hiring strategy — hire executives from a company with obtuse sense on morality, fairness and taking advantage of society. They will bring the value system they finessed at Facebook to an already morally weak company. https://twitter.com/... Deirdre Bosa / @dee_bosa : New chapter for Instacart @apoorva_mehta & @fidjissimo want to build an “incredible consumer app” beyond delivery, where friends & family can plan meals, find recipes,etc Oh, and sounds like they want to build a giant ad business too Full intv here: https://www.cnbc.com/... Julie Zhuo / @joulee : Can't wait to see the future of Instacart because @fidjissimo is hands down amazing :D https://twitter.com/... @producthunt : Fidji Simo, Head of Facebook's app, is heading to Instacart as its new CEO succeeding the founder Apoorva Mehta on Aug 2nd. Simo's goal is to build Instacart into an “incredible consumer app”. The app currently has a $39B valuation. https://www.cnbc.com/... @turnernovak : Nice overview of recent changes to Instacart's org chart - lots of new key hires from Uber, Facebook and Google. Looks like they're hiring ex-Facebook to ramp up the ad business as well. h/t @vikushavas for putting these together 🙌 https://twitter.com/... Max Mullen / @max : My co-founder of 9+ years @Apoorva_Mehta is becoming Executive Chairman of @Instacart and we warmly welcome @FidjisSimo as incoming CEO. https://www.forbes.com/... Fidji Simo / @fidjissimo : I'm so excited to join the Instacart team as CEO, and grateful to Apoorva for the trust he is putting in me. https://twitter.com/... Cory Weinberg / @coryweinberg : Instacart wants you to think of it as a digital ads biz, not a low margin delivery company https://www.cnbc.com/... Vivek Sharma / @pucknorris : I'm so so happy for @fidjissimo and @Instacart! Many may not realize it but Fidji is one of the biggest believers in Gaming at Facebook and helped propel us to the forefront in many industries. It's also great to see more women leaders take on CEO roles ❤️. https://twitter.com/... Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Wow, I always imagined Fidji becoming Sheryl's successor. Running the Facebook app was a huge but under-hyped role https://twitter.com/... Ellen Huet / @ellenhuet : huge and surprising news, given how entrenched and influential she was at FB (also a good reminder that Instacart is a significant ads business, not just grocery delivery) https://www.bloomberg.com/... Sarah Frier / @sarahfrier : Big change at Facebook https://www.bloomberg.com/... Which means all the heads of major products at the company — FB, Insta, WhatsApp, Oculus/hardware, Messenger — are men, overseen by two more men, Zuckerberg and Chris Cox https://twitter.com/... @initialized : Thank you, @apoorva_mehta, for being such a strong leader at @instacart. And hello 👋 @fidjissimo! We're excited what's in store with you at the helm. https://www.instacart.com/... Deirdre Bosa / @dee_bosa : .@apoorva_mehta cold emailed @fidjissimo <1yr ago to ask if she'd join his board I asked if thats enough time to hand over his baby Mehta:"Reality is that you don't have a chance to work w a leader like Fidji on a reg basis...this is a once in a lifetime opp & I had to take it" Apoorva Mehta / @apoorva_mehta : I'm excited to share that we've recruited @fidjissimo to join us as Instacart's new CEO as I transition to Executive Chairman on August 2. As one of the most formidable consumer tech leaders in the world, I'm thrilled to partner with Fidji. Read more: https://www.instacart.com/... Mitch Garber / @mitchgarber : In a matter of a month ..Two extraordinary women and good friends, with whom I have had the privilege of working with, have been named to top global executive positions. Manon Brouillette Deputy CEO at Verizon and @fidjissimo CEO of @Instacart .These are two amazing executives !! https://twitter.com/... Dani Dudeck / @danidudeck : Exciting day for @Instacart as founder @apoorva_mehta recruits @fidjissimo to join as CEO ahead of his transition to Executive Chairman on Aug 2. Read more about his decision here: https://www.instacart.com/... Rachael Horwitz / @rachaelrad : Fidji was born to be a CEO — this is awesome. https://twitter.com/... Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk : Congratulations to one of my favorite people in tech @fidjissimo Fidji - need to give the Instacart team all my secret tips for working with you! https://www.instacart.com/... Joanna Stern / @joannastern : Have always loved talking to Fidji. Very smart move by Instacart. https://twitter.com/... Rich Greenfield / @richlightshed : WOAH.... @ceverson & @fidjissimo out at $FB https://twitter.com/... Modest Proposal / @modestproposal1 : Opening line to S-1: “We are an advertising business that acquires our audience via grocery and other last mile delivery services” https://twitter.com/... Ari Levy / @levynews : I believe this makes Instacart the third most-valuable tech company with a female CEO behind Oracle and AMD https://twitter.com/... Jessica Verrilli / @jess : “I've counseled a lot of leaders...to put the company before themselves, to take the long-term view, and to never be afraid of giving away their legos. I have found that this attitude creates a stronger, more resilient team and company.” - @apoorva_mehta https://www.instacart.com/... Natasha / @nmasc_ : I was thinking that Instacart has been too quiet lately... https://www.instacart.com/... Rob Leathern / @robleathern : Wow, huge news! Congrats to @fidjissimo, an inspiring leader and now CEO of @Instacart: https://www.instacart.com/... @instacart : We're excited to share that @fidjissimo is joining us as CEO in August as our Founder @apoorva_mehta becomes Executive Chairman of Instacart's Board. Read more on Apoorva's decision to recruit Fidji to lead Instacart's next chapter here: https://www.instacart.com/... Sar Haribhakti / @sarthakgh : “We were rejected by investors who told us that bringing the grocery industry online would prove to be impossible. Retailers were reluctant to work with us because they did not believe a technology startup out of San Francisco would understand...” https://www.instacart.com/... Peter Kafka / @pkafka : Another very big FB exec departure https://twitter.com/... Alex Heath / @alexeheath : As I was saying https://twitter.com/... @garrytan : Big day for @Instacart - @apoorva_mehta is a once in a lifetime founder and he made a huge hire in legendary CEO @fidjissimo who helped Facebook go from 1,000 to 100,000 employees. She will help build Instacart into the next trillion dollar tech co https://www.instacart.com/... Justin Paterno / @zerobeta : If she's anything like me over the past year, she's going to mix up Instagram and Instacart daily. https://twitter.com/... Elad Gil / @eladgil : Big congrats to @apoorva_mehta @fidjissimo Dream team! https://www.instacart.com/... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : @stevekovach @TechmemeChatter she was on the M team and running Blue — do you know what spot she wanted? Jessica Verrilli / @jess : Wow, excited to see Fidji take the Instacart CEO role—can't wait to watch her ring the bell 🔔! https://cnbc.com/... @alexisohanian : I am so excited for this for so many reasons (not the least of which is being an early investor in @instacart and seeing an amazing executive come over to be CEO). https://twitter.com/... SarahGuo.eth / @saranormous : Huge get!!! @fidjissimo rocks https://www.cnbc.com/... Brad Stone / @bradstone : Big news for FB and Instacart, with @apoorva_mehta pulling a Bezos and departing as CEO https://twitter.com/... Kurt Wagner / @kurtwagner8 : Also worth noting w/ @fidjissimo's departure: the leaders of all of FB's major product organizations - products with nearly 3B users globally - are now men WhatsApp Messenger Instagram Facebook Hardware + Zuck & Chris Cox https://twitter.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : Big news in Facebook land. Fidji was in charge of “the big blue app” https://twitter.com/... Sara Fischer / @sarafischer : Massive news: Instacart poaches Facebook executive Fidji Simo for CEO role - Fidji has been the person behind many of Facebook's biggest product pivots https://www.cnbc.com/... Steve Kovach / @stevekovach : Dee spoke with Simo here. Simo said after weeks of discussion with Zuckerberg and company, they let her go to Instacart. Interesting FB couldn't find a spot for one of their top female execs. https://twitter.com/... Thanks: @mattrosoff See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The leadership handoff moves founder Apoorva Mehta into the executive-chair role while bringing in Facebook app head Fidji Simo. Related coverage frames the change alongside hiring from Facebook, Uber, and Google, and observers’ view that a public listing may be ahead.
The strategic logic became clearer when Simo outlined an expansion of Instacart’s consumer-products ad platform as delivery growth slowed; Instacart then added Facebook advertising executive Carolyn Everson as president.
First-order effects
- Instacart gains a CEO with Facebook product leadership experience, while Mehta shifts from day-to-day chief executive duties to executive chairman.
- Facebook loses a senior app executive as Instacart strengthens its leadership bench with an externally recruited operator.
Second-order effects
- Instacart’s recruitment of Simo and then Everson concentrates Facebook-derived product and advertising expertise around its ad business, giving consumer-product advertisers a more prominent route into the platform.
- A prospective listing becomes more plausible as a strategic backdrop for the leadership transition, increasing the pressure on Instacart to show that its business extends beyond grocery delivery.
Third-order effects
- If Instacart’s advertising push delivers, grocery-delivery platforms may increasingly compete as retail-media businesses, with advertiser relationships becoming as strategic as fulfillment operations.
- The sequence points to a leadership model in which commerce platforms import consumer-internet executives to build higher-margin platform businesses alongside transactional services.
The trend: Grocery-delivery platforms are seeking to turn their customer and merchant networks into advertising businesses, using consumer-internet talent to make that transition.