Delivered: How Two Former Drexel Students Are Leading Convenience 2.0

Amongst the rough steel and brick that lines a seemingly-empty block of warehouses in Philadelphia’s Callowhill neighborhood, an unmarked glass door is the portal into the GoPuff world.

Upon entering, there’s little indication that you have just entered the offices of a quickly growing successful delivery startup except for a glimpse of the checkered wallpaper in the back stairwell that says, “Delivered.”

Just a few doors down from a beer store that bears GoPuff’s distinct blue and white logo, the concrete floors and white leather couches in the lobby are a drastic difference from the chest-high maze of beer boxes and assorted snacks down the road.

The offices of GoPuff epitomize those of a quintessential startup. Featuring large floor games, an open kitchen and eating area, two English-style phone booths, and an obvious lack of business casual attire, you get a sense of playfulness and a clear indication that this is not your typical workplace.

Upstairs, there is no sense of playtime. In the open working space sit roughly 30 people with their faces inches from their computer screens and frowns on their foreheads. Natural light from the ceiling and windows illuminates the room, and the unconventional seating style looks intimate yet thoroughly functional. In one of the meeting rooms, two staff members write ideas on the wall-to-wall dry erase board as others look on. This is the hub of the app so many people have come to love; keeping it running doesn’t look easy.

When Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola step out of their office, the staff seems to shift from hard-working to working their hardest. Though no one looks up, the two men in their early 20s seem to alter the way the room operates without saying a word. Strikingly, they are also the only employees sporting typical business casual attire.

Their shared office has the same dichotomy as the rest of the building: a strange push-pull between diligent and passionate work and a determination to have fun and not take yourself too seriously. In the long, dark room with an amalgam of furniture, Gola sits at his desk while Ilishayev casually leans on the couch between their two work stations.

Gola begins to describe GoPuff’s origin story as if he’s told it a million times. He and Ilishayev have been friends since their freshman year at Drexel, and during their sophomore year they moved into a house with five other close friends. Yakir would often find himself taking people to the local convenience stores for late night snack runs. “One weekend, I looked over at Raf and I was like, ‘How is there not a company that will deliver to you these things—when you want snacks, when you want ice cream?’” Gola says.

After the two researched the idea, they noticed that the delivery market was heavily focused on restaurant delivery, and thought their idea could work. After making several plans for the company but with no money to start, a friend donated furniture to them from an office that was moving, and Gola and Ilishayev took the furniture and sold it. “We came in with close to $50K in four or five months. We used that money for development and to pay for inventory,” says Gola.

Ilishayev interjects, “It’s easier to work with someone when they’re your best friend, you know what I mean?” To him, the synergistic relationship between the two is what helped GoPuff survive when the company was in its infancy. “Living in warehouses in the early years, to the type of expanding we’ve been doing—and living through that together—kind of helped us to embrace it and come out stronger,” says Ilishayev.

The days staying in warehouses surrounded by inventory started out when the young men were still in school. Taking the risk to chase their dreams while still pursuing their degree wasn’t easy for either of them. From the pressure of family and friends to managing school and a business, the growth took commitment. “Everyone looks at you crazy. We were delivery guys for the first six months because we delivered everything ourselves, and our families were like, ‘Do you guys want to be delivery drivers for the rest of your lives?’” says Gola.

Though Gola and Ilishayev were spending a lot of late nights delivering the 50 products they offered as their original inventory, they were determined to expand.

“I think we grew up with the mindset that failure wasn’t an option,” says Ilishayev. “There was no other way and anything that came in the way was only an obstacle for us that we needed to get over it to build this dream.”

In the first year, GoPuff was already in three cities and expanding its number of employees. The relatively small operation was growing fast, and the two men saw themselves growing with it. “I think people think the approach to take—especially when they are young entrepreneurs—is cookie-cutter, but unfortunately that’s not the case. You have to evolve yourself multiple times over as the business evolves,” says Ilishayev.

The company expanded its original 50 item inventory focused on snacks to include over 2,000 choices of drinks, over-the-counter items, sexual health products, household goods and alcohol in some markets - all delivered right to your door 24 hours a day.

As their mindsets shifted from getting off the ground, to survival and expansion, a variety of directions to take the company began to show themselves.

Ilishayev and Gola say GoPuff is a Philadelphia company with strong Drexel ties. “I think the first five or six employees of ours were Drexel students, and 90 percent of them still work with us today. Starting a business in college has really helped us tell our story and get our message out and meet the right people,” says Gola.

With the growth, prompts to move to large cities such as New York and San Francisco have begun to increase. “For us, we always say, Philly is our first investor,” says Gola, “If we started this business somewhere else, we probably would have failed, so we’re committed to staying at our home.”

The company currently has over 41 markets open but will be approaching 45 by the end of the year, right on pace with the 30 markets opened in the past two years. For Ilishayev, this type of growth was something they could have only dreamed of in the beginning when they completed all the deliveries themselves and lived in their warehouse. “I don’t think anyone truly believes you when you say you want to start a business. I think the first reaction is that this is a joke, and I don’t think we were any different,” says Ilishayev.

But thriving in their hometown has proven to require some creative thinking. The company often hires its top talent through national searches and is keen to stay connected throughout the country. And the plan is to expand and begin offering what Ilishayev calls, “Convenience 2.0,” a redefining of convenience where everything you need is brought right to your home. The company has not only served as an example of how tech can thrive in Philadelphia, but how young entrepreneurs can make an impact on an industry.

“When we started GoPuff in college, it wasn’t cool to start a business. People looked at us and were like, ‘What are you doing?’” says Gola.

He says now it’s not uncommon for him to meet someone hoping to start their own company. It’s an idea he thoroughly supports: “People need to take that leap of faith if that’s what they want to do and they have a valid business idea. You just have to be fully committed. You can’t be half-in, half-out. You have to go all in and not accept failure as an option.”