There's a big difference between entrepreneur and opportunist! Most journalists I know understand this, and that doesn't make us risk-averse, it makes us ethical and trustworthy. (I'm a solo journo with over a decade of newsletter entrepreneurial experience including one successful exit.)

There's a huge difference between doing world-changing work and gaming the system with outrage content.

Explain to me like I didn't live through the early 2000s in NYC why this is not a medicated eating disorder: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/d...

I am over 7 years out from my third (and last) media layoff and it is still so raw. Thinking about the talented people who are too good at — and care too much about — their important work to be part of this media trash fire.

This story is absolutely wild. www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaur...

whoa whoa whoa you mean the signal from a professionally reported story is stronger than those from the unregulated social influencer economy? You don't say! (I still hate this.) www.semafor.com/article/05/1...

DoorDash plans to buy reservations and CRM company SevenRooms for $1.2 billion. The deal is expected to close later this year. www.expedite.news/p/doordash-b...

I will defend good QR codes usage in restaurants to the death. If you're going in, go ALL IN like Flour + Water: www.fastcompany.com/91311865/san...

There's always a restaurant angle www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/d...

Sweetgreen is adding 'ripple fries' to the menu at all its restaurants today. I flew to LA a couple weeks ago to try them and hang out with the c-suite: www.fastcompany.com/91289313/swe...

You'd think government officials could at least get the grammar right in an email firing workers whose skills and ability are deemed subpar. And yet... www.wired.com/story/dozens...

I'm in!

Clicked on a @fastcompany.com link of best New Yorker covers not expecting to find the actual best New Yorker cover, but look! “Missed Connection” by Adrian Tomine (Nov 8, 2004) made the list — and my office wall.

My pal @rickwebb.net shared my favorite DeepSeek explainer yet: buttondown.com/rickwebb/arc...

Just another day in paradise. (Yes, Expedite accepts limited sponsorships.) www.wsj.com/articles/sub...

Do I know anyone who's been to the Newsletter Conference in New York? Worth it? thenewsletterconference.com

20 years of Employees Only, whew! vinepair.com/articles/emp...

There's always a restaurant angle.

🗣️🗣️🗣️ I need more people to buy subscriptions to keep publishing Fingers. I'm offering 25% off to first-time subscribers, today only. If you like independent journalism about drinking in America, now is a great time to upgrade: www.fingers.email/subscribe?co...

Wow real healthy swing at the elder millennial set in this coverage of a restaurant closing in Brooklyn. (yes I feel personally attacked, thanks.) www.grubstreet.com/article/butt...

Hello! I'm Kristen, a freelance journalist covering the future of the hospitality business. I also write a newsletter about restaurant technology (and I'm super proud of it.) Read and subscribe at expedite.news.

The onetime restaurant delivery leader in the US was just acquired by an upstart bourgeoning "meal delivery superapp" run by a billionaire. Wonder paid $650M for Grubhub. That's less than 10 percent of the $7.3B that Just Eat Takeaway paid for Grubhub in 2020. www.expedite.news/p/wonder-mig...

Today's edition of Expedite has over 2,000 words and dozens of links to help us all think through what could come next for restaurants based on everything we've seen before. www.expedite.news/p/now-what

Today on Expedite: DoorDash turns a profit and partners with Lyft: www.expedite.news/p/doordash-t...

DoorDash posted a profit in the third quarter, its first quarterly operating profit since the company's December 2020 IPO. (More context in tomorrow's edition of Expedite; sign up to get it in your inbox at expedite.news)

That feeling when you finally file the draft, my goodness.

I'm on a podcast! It was an honor to appear on On the Pass. It's intimidating to be on the other side of the interview, but I figured I'd lay it all on the line and share my goals for the future of my restaurants newsletter, Expedite. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

Ah yes so glad the entire journalism industry is preparing for the inevitable rise of generative AI as the companies building it whisper "It can't really do everything" to their salespeople. Via The Information:

LOL, "sniveling." Haven't heard that one in a while! ny.eater.com/2024/3/11/24...

Just spitballing here, but I would read thousands of reported words about the sort of LinkedIn "experts" who repackage others' work for personal gain.

LOL people.com/trader-joes-...

A thing to remember (and that's not in this linked article) about the rapid scale of new restaurant concepts like Kernel is that they will rely on a hub-and-spoke model in densely populated areas to operate. The small storefronts are part of the economic allure: www.bonappetit.com/story/kernel...

Significant layoffs at Instacart earlier this week; now restaurant point of sale provider Toast is cutting hundreds of roles: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

In an investor update today, Uber shared some numbers to back up its earnings story. Just over a third (34%) of its monthly consumers use rideshare and delivery services. Those consumers spend over three times as much with the company. And 31% of delivery "first trips" come via the rideshare app.

I love earnings season, and it's been a minute since I've covered a call on Expedite. UNTIL TOMORROW! (Thanks, Uber.) subscribe: expedite.news/subscribe

This post is just :head-exploding emoji: I wonder... did the person who created this search app bother to ask the flight attendant about the blueberry juice (this is what we call a primary source)? Or did he go straight to the web, circumventing the information that was literally under his nose?

Mood

What's the over/under on Substack striking a financial deal to let AI providers like ChatGPT crawl our trusted and valuable newsletters?

Proud to share my latest #longread. It's about Zume, a failed robot pizza company that wasn't really a robot pizza company. This story has a lot of cliches & a few WTFs, but really it's a testament to the risk of throwing nine figures of funding behind an idea. www.fastcompany.com/90979001/zum...

I don't know who needs to hear this (JK I do), but a clear and explanatory headline or email subject line is not "clickbait."

It's a restaurant! It's a tech company! It's a hopeful robot salad company! Also, cheers to fun weekend headlines. My latest for Fast Company: www.fastcompany.com/90977050/swe...

My newsletter's color palette has been knocked off twice in one week. Thanks I'm... flattered?

I just wrapped a magazine feature about a different Softbank-funded... adventure that I've been immersed in for months and I still can't believe this company's story.

Surprised it wasn't higher, tbh www.sfgate.com/tech/article...

I was considering changing the color of Expedite's background, but it's now apparently recognized by the paper of record as the official color of restaurant technology coverage on the internet.

Real "old man yells at cloud" vibes from this one that seems like it's trying to insult the restaurant's owners but just makes the critic seem hopelessly grumpy and out of touch, extremely obscure book reference from the '70s included.

I don't know why we are begging the "pivot to video" people to support journalism when they're literally telling us they don't understand the news business. I also don't know the right way forward, but I'm pretty sure they aren't it. (I'm down to help build whatever it is.)

Forget Yelp, the WhatsApp first grade parents' group chat is going off about the brand new donut shop that opened next to school this week.

Conquering the YouTube algo is one thing; conquering the restaurant world is another entirely. Thoughts on those deleted tweets and MrBeast’s intention to bail on his virtual burger joint:

Strange that the Washington Post chose to report this story from San Francisco, no? https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/delivery-app-doordash-grubhub-ubereats/