Scaling Weee! and Himself: How Larry Liu Tackled Misperception, Growth, and Leadership

Shared Journey with iFly.vc

May 27, 2025

2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of Weee!, the biggest online grocery for ethnic minorities in the US. Without any Covid tailwind, Weee! has continued to grow year over year. During our recent iFlyVC Consumer Summit, I really enjoyed my fireside chat with Larry Liu, founder/CEO of Weee!.

You can watch the Event Highlight Reel and the Fireside Chat with Larry Liu through the links below:

Here are a few takeaways I’d like to share:

Founders are constantly navigating misperceptions. In Larry’s case, these centered on market size, operating model (a 1^st-party platform with vertical integration versus a 3^rd-party delivery model with brick-and-mortar grocery), and value proposition (broad assortment, high quality, and competitive pricing, in addition to free delivery for a very low order value threshold).

A consumer-facing company doesn’t need to brand itself as a tech company, but technology enablement is critical to its operations. Half of Weee!’s 700 office employees are engineers, dedicated to building a wide range of internal tech tools. The company develops nearly all of its software in-house—the only exceptions are SAP for ERP and Tableau for data dashboards.

Management capability is a step function and it must evolve to keep pace with a company’s growth. What worked in the past often becomes ineffective as the organization scales. Take Weee! as an example: the way it manages its supply chain has had to continuously evolve from local to regional, then to national and eventually international operations. Each stage of growth required new systems, processes, and organizational thinking to meet rising complexity and scale.

There’s no doubt that warehouse automation is key to improving productivity, but it’s important to be cautious when deciding to implement it. Once the significant investment is made, automation can be inflexible and difficult to adapt. Weee! is a good example: for a long time, the company operated without automation. It wasn’t until they reached a meaningful scale that they began introducing automation into their warehouses.

Advice for CPG startups: Be very clear about who your target customer is as it can’t be everyone. Specificity is key to product design, positioning, and go-to-market strategy.

In addition, we talked about growing from start-up founder to fast-growing company leader.

Know When to Persevere vs. Pivot

One of the hardest decisions a founder faces is whether to keep going, pivot, or walk away. Larry emphasized the importance of first determining whether you’re pursuing the right direction. If the answer is yes, then the focus should shift to execution. “Doing the Right Thing; Doing it the Right Way.”

Crystallize and Communicate Strategy Clearly

As a company grows, leadership must evolve. Founders need to transition from being role models to being strategic communicators, ensuring that strategy is not only clear but consistently conveyed throughout the organization.

Repeat and Refine the Message

In a scaling company, clarity requires repetition. Larry found himself saying the same thing over and over, each time refining it to be more focused and actionable, so that the vision remains sharp from top to bottom.

Organizational Structure Must Evolve

Each stage of growth demands structural changes. Larry noted that as Weee! expanded, reorgs became inevitable. What once worked no longer fit, and teams had to be restructured to support the next phase.

Balance Between Granularity and Coordination

Breaking down responsibilities too much can dilute ownership, while not doing so enough can hinder effectiveness. Larry emphasized the delicate balance of designing roles that enable execution while preserving accountability.

Be a First-Principles Thinker

Founders must learn to filter advice through the lens of their own context. Rather than blindly following external opinions, Larry stressed the importance of deeply understanding your own business and owning every decision.

The Founder’s Growth Must Match the Company’s Growth

Scaling a company is not only about systems, but also about scaling yourself. Larry spoke to the steep learning curve founders must climb to meet the growing demands of their role as the business evolves.

Family Happiness and Simplicity Matter

Larry believes that a happy family is the foundation for a sustainable and focused career. He deliberately chooses to keep his personal life simple and grounded, avoiding unnecessary complexity so he can dedicate himself more fully to both his family and his work.

Last but not least, with a constant mindset of promoting the service of portfolio companies, I’d like to invite you to give Weee! a try with $20 off (new user only; click here to sign up).