Should Starbucks build its own delivery team

Guidance

Should Starbucks build its own delivery team

or partner with third-party carriers like Grab/be?

Product Strategy

The Build, Buy, or Partner Playbook

Expanding a product’s capability requires a critical choice: do you build it in-house, acquire an existing player, or partner with a third party? This decision hinges on evaluating core competencies, time-to-market, and integration trade-offs.

Step 1

Determine Core vs. Context

Start by asking: Is this new capability your company's "secret sauce" (Core), or just a necessary utility (Context)? You should always Build your core differentiator to maintain full control and IP. If it's a commodity or outside your DNA (e.g., a payment gateway for an e-commerce app, or a delivery fleet for Starbucks), you lean towards Buy or Partner.

Step 2

Evaluate Time-to-Market (TTM) vs. Resources

Step 3

Assess Architectural & Technical Trade-offs

Step 4

Analyze Business & UX Control

Step 5

Formulate the Final Recommendation

Additional Tips

Beware the "Not Invented Here" Syndrome: Engineers instinctively want to build everything from scratch. A strong TPM knows when to push back and use off-the-shelf SaaS solutions to save engineering cycles for the core product.
Integration is the hidden cost of "Buy": Remind the interviewer that acquiring a company isn't the finish line. The true cost lies in the years spent migrating users, deprecating legacy systems, and unifying corporate cultures.
Treat "Partner" as a Two-Way Door: Highlighting that partnering is a easily reversible decision (a "two-way door") shows great strategic maturity. It’s an excellent way to acquire market data before making the irreversible heavy investment of building or buying.

Should Starbucks build its own delivery team

NOT SAVED

0 words·0 / 8,000 chars