Editing Webvan (section)

===Growth===
The company's investors pressured it to grow very fast to obtain [[first-mover advantage]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4ttymUuwcC | last1=Finkelstein | first1= Sydney | last2=Harvey | first2=Charles | last3=Lawton | first3=Thomas | title=Breakout Strategy: Meeting the Challenge of Double-digit Growth | publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Education]] | year=2007 | page=200 | isbn=978-0-07-145231-1 }}</ref> This rapid growth was cited as one of the reasons for the downfall of the company.<ref name="techcrunch">{{cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/09/27/why-webvan-failed-and-how-home-delivery-2-0-is-addressing-the-problems/ | title=Where Webvan Failed And How Home Delivery 2.0 Could Succeed | first=Peter | last=Relan | work=[[TechCrunch]] | date=September 27, 2013}}</ref> Webvan started taking orders in the San Francisco Bay Area in June 1999.<ref>{{Cite book | title=The Wisdom of Failure: How to Learn the Tough Leadership Lessons Without Paying the Price | last=G. Weinzimmer | first=Laurence}}</ref>

Webvan placed a $1 billion order with [[Bechtel]] to build its warehouses, and bought a fleet of delivery trucks.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cnet.com/news/seeking-relics-amid-webvans-ruins/ | title=Seeking relics amid Webvan's ruins | last=Wolverton | first=Troy | work=[[CNET]] | date=October 30, 2001}}</ref> In 2000, Webvan bought [[HomeGrocer]], a competitor that was also losing money, for $1.2 billion in stock.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://money.cnn.com/2000/06/26/deals/webvan/ | title=Webvan goes shopping | first=Luisa | last=Beltran | work=[[CNN]] | date=June 26, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/27/business/webvan-will-acquire-homegrocercom.html | title=Webvan Will Acquire HomeGrocer.com | first=LAWRENCE M. | last=FISHER | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=June 27, 2000}}</ref> At its peak in 2000, Webvan had $178.5 million in sales but it also had $525.4 million in expenses.<ref name="shutsdown" />