When Picnic launched in 2015 as an app-only supermarket with a modern twist on the milkman delivery model, the food industry was a different place. E-commerce had already taken over fashion, books, and electronics, but groceries? Only 1.5% of food shopping happened online. Where most saw a dead end, Daniel Gebler, one of Picnic’s founders and CTO saw a 98.5% opportunity.
At our recent Scale Impact Event on September 19, designed to help founders explore what’s next for their growth journey, we sat down with Daniel to dive into what it really takes to scale.
Picnic’s bet? Design a proposition for the offline majority: lowest prices, free delivery, and a radically consumer-friendly experience. Instead of four-hour delivery slots, they introduced 15-minute windows. Instead of treating food like non-food, they built tech tailored for 30-40 items per order, week after week.
Scaling smart: Why slow beats fast
Expanding from Amersfoort, in the Netherlands, to Germany and France, Picnic learned that scaling isn’t about speed, it’s about discipline. Every city had to be profitable within 3–6 months. Scaling too fast, Daniel notes, is the fastest way to burn cash and break a model that isn’t ready. The rule? Scale back if needed, fix the fundamentals, then move forward stronger.
Their data-driven approach even extended to launch strategy: measuring sign-ups before entering new cities, testing branding in stealth pilots, and co-creating assortments with customers. Picnic showed that “waitlists” can create FOMO in the Netherlands, but not in Germany, proof that scaling is never one-size-fits-all.
“Many tried to crack online food, but nobody succeeded. At that point, you have two options: you can leave it and move on to the next opportunity, or you can start with a blank sheet and completely rethink how the problem should be solved. For us, the breakthrough came from shifting the perspective — instead of competing harder for the same customers, we looked for a new customer base and created a blue ocean opportunity that unlocked rapid, scalable growth.”
Daniel Gebler, Co-Founder & CTO – Picnic
People, culture, and the power of understaffing
Tech vs. business? At Picnic, that line doesn’t exist.
For Daniel, scaling Picnic was as much about people and culture as it was about technology and logistics. He emphasized that the first hires set the cultural DNA of the company, shaping values and mindset for the years to come. Rather than rushing to build large teams, Picnic deliberately embraced understaffing, a counterintuitive but powerful choice. By keeping teams lean, gaps and real needs quickly became visible, forcing clarity, focus, and creativity. This approach demanded resilience and a strong cultural fit, but it also created a workforce deeply invested in problem-solving and adaptability. In Daniel’s view, the combination of culture-first hiring and the discipline of operating with lean teams became one of Picnic’s success factors.
Advice to founders: Love the early pain
Daniel leaves founders with two pieces of advice:
- The lack of resources and the uncertainty can be painful, but it’s also when you’re freest to shape your business. That kind of freedom never comes back. Daniel: “The early stage of a startup is always tough — too few resources, too much uncertainty. But that’s also what makes it special. It’s the only time you’ll have complete freedom to shape what your company becomes. That freedom will never come back. So don’t just endure it — embrace it, enjoy it, and make the most of it.”
- Don’t chase every shiny new technology. Not every process needs AI, and not everything should scale too soon. Focus on what your customers truly love — even if it’s not scalable yet. You can scale it later.
After 10 years, Picnic may be a household name across three countries, but Daniel says with a smile: “It still feels like we’re just getting started.”
