Goldman Sachs trader swaps job for speedy food delivery

Rahul Parekh became used to long hours and late nights at Goldman Sachs Group in London, where he was executive director of equity-derivatives trading. It was the food that took its toll.

"I remember when I was at Goldman Sachs, working late in the evening and nothing was open nearby," he said in an interview. "You order online from one of the delivery businesses and can end up waiting from 30 minutes to an hour for a greasy takeaway that doesn't feel healthy in any way."

It may have been more a microwave moment than an idea but Parekh decided he could do better. He quit Goldman earlier this year and co-founded EatFirst, a food-delivery service that cooks its own fresh meals and promises to get them to your office in London within 15 minutes of an order being placed. It connects customers with restaurants for takeaways.

Parekh's partners are Humberto Ayres Pereira, who was at McKinsey; and Torben Schulz, an entrepreneur who plans to start an EatFirst in Berlin, where he is based. The company currently offers a choice of two dishes, one of them vegetarian. They both change daily and are prepared in a kitchen in Farringdon, near London.



(In photo: Rahul Parekh with his partner Humberto Ayres)
Recent options include chorizo and chicken jambalaya; Thai massaman curry; and goat cheese ratatouille. The executive chef is Jane Tran, who previously worked at Bar Boulud. A third option will be added in coming months. Customers may pay by debit or credit card or via an app.

Parekh, 28, was born in Manchester, England, to a family that was originally from Gujarat, in India. His parents were born in Kenya. EatFirst is initially delivering in part of the City of London financial district. It's a crowded market.



(In photo: Rahul Parekh, co-founder of EatFirst, says they offer a choice of two dishes to their customers.)
"At Goldman, I used to cycle between Itsu on a Monday, and a Pret on a Tuesday, and a Leon on a Wednesday and a Pod on a Thursday and it just gets so boring after a couple of weeks," he said. "That's what we really wanted to change with EatFirst so people can have a varied diet and don't have to look elsewhere."

He said the company plans to expand aggressively. "In a place like London, which is so vast and so densely populated, the sky's the limit," he said. Fair enough but was it wise to quit Goldman to pursue this venture? Goldman was great but this is an all-round business experience."