WEBVTT - BONUS EPISODE: Lyft CEO Says Company Not For Sale 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.440 Let's start chronologically. When did Logan and John come to 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:06.200 you and say, Hey, we have this idea, would you 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:09.480 like to lead our company? It was first of all, 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.880 I characterized it as a crazy idea of what we'll 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:13.960 come back. Why is it crazy because it's outside of 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:16.799 your CV what you've done in the past in a sense, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:18.720 But in another sense it isn't you know? I was 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.440 at Amazon focused on the customer. I was at Microsoft 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.360 focused on competing. I built a nonprofit against twenty million 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:26.760 kids reading with very limited resources, so I'd do quite 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:28.800 a lot with very little. That's the idea. Yeah. But 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.320 they approached the board actually at the end of last 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.240 year saying it was time for them to think about 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.600 the next thing with your name or just generally speaking, 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:37.400 at the end of last year, that's right, that's right. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.440 And then the board created a search committee, as they do, 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.159 They hired a search firm as they do. They saw 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.720 hundreds of people, dozens of strong candidates. In the end, right, 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:45.800 it came to me and said maybe maybe you're the guy. Okay, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:47.839 So when they came to you, what was it that 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.920 they wanted you to do? What was their kind of 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.279 big pitch around? Why lift would be better under your leadership. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.960 You know, I think they're really proud of what they've created, 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.040 and for good reason. I mean, the rideshare sector exists 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.240 in large part because of Lift. They are the ones 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.440 that introduced the whole concept of shared rides. They are 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:05.800 the ones that introduced tipping for drivers and so forth. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:08.240 But I think they realized at a certain point it 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.280 was time to pass the betime to somebody else. Right, 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:11.759 you looked at my background and said, I think you're 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:13.760 the guy. Do you go into this sort of acknowledging 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.360 that LIFT is kind of a kind of increasingly distant, 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.440 smaller second player and ride share. Now, well, I don't 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.319 love the word increasingly, but I certainly do think it's 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.120 number two. I'd like to reverse that, I do. That's 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.640 the idea. So what it comes down to, and a 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.800 lot of the analysts and investors talk about is diversification. 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.319 What is your plan for LIFT at this early stage 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.280 is does it remain a ride share business or do 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:44.080 you JV with delivery other delivery platforms? Do you expand 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.200 the business offering? Where's your head out of that? Yeah, 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.000 so I'll tell you where my head is as I 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:49.760 reserve the right to change my mind, of course, because 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.720 but look, I think our focus is right. And I'll 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.640 tell you why. The United States is gone through a 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.280 crisis where we've all been locked inside our houses, where 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.720 we've all been locked outside of work, and we're coming back. 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.080 And I think if you look at happy, well lived lives, 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.360 bringing people together is a really, really good idea. And 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.800 I'll tell you what, if you try to also deliver 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:12.000 pizzas and packages at the same time, it might be 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.200 a good business model. We'll see, But I don't know 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.840 that it's a great experience for passengers. You're not ruling 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.600 it out. Have to ask which expanding beyond just pure 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.600 play rides shack not ruling it out, but really the 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:24.600 focus is going to be on picking it up on time, 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:26.960 matching price, making sure you get dropped off on time. 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:28.760 That's the fault. I think what's so interesting about Lift 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.520 is people use lift strange thing to say. But I 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:33.679 went to our audience and I said, look, the new 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:35.480 CEO of Lifts coming on the show, what should I 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.560 ask him? And actually the majority of people say, when 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.079 is Lift going to get? Outside of North America? There 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.440 are people in Europe that want to know when lifts coming. 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.560 Maybe the ideas that competition brings better pricing, but have 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.320 you thought about that an international expansion. I mean, look, 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.400 I love your second point. I do think that's right. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.520 I think competition is good for everybody, and that's a 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:56.919 generic statement, but in this case, specifically, I think you're 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.600 better off if you've got one service, and maybe they 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.040 disappoin your little time you go to the other. We 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:03.280 keep each other honest. Whether or not we'll go to Europe, 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:05.360 that's for the future. There is a big question in 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:10.079 the marketplace right now. Is left for sale? No? Not 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.840 for sale? No? Do you see why people might think 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.720 you coming in opens the door to that, you know, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.040 being acquired by a larger player that does something different, 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.360 or does it not make sense to you? I mean, look, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.880 you know there's people can make these sorts of arguments 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.440 about how aggregation is good. But my argument right now 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:28.680 is unfocused. I'm really making sure that for our customers 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:30.239 and for our drivers who are doing a great job. 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.119 You talk about when you're at Amazon learning to obsess 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:35.960 over customers, and I've been trying to work out how 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.080 you obsess over people that take ride sharing. But I 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.840 guess it comes down to pricing. I think it starts. Well, no, 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:44.520 let me say it a different way. I think if 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.760 you're not price competitive, you're not in the game. So 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:48.680 let's just call it back. If you're not price competitive, 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.640 you're not in the game. Is lift price competitive? That's 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.080 our goal for sure. Whether we're there or not, that's 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.200 to be determined. But for sure that's our goal. But 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:56.640 I think then you build on top of that, and 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.080 I really do think you can build over time differentiated 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.160 products and services. I won't go there today, but I 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.200 think that's where your seas got the phrasing that people use, 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.520 this pricing war. And we're trying to monitor real time pricing, 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:10.200 right lift versus uber in Manhattan or in New York 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.480 City or here in the Bay Area. Are we already 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.720 in a pricing war? Well, you tell me what have 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.960 you felt? Well, there are anecdotal evidence, you know, where 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.200 one ride in Manhattan maybe ten dollars cheaper on lift 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:25.240 one moment, but more expensive than next. What is your 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.840 goal in that respect is the bigger question. Our goals 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:29.719 to match? Our goals to match. And look, if you 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:31.880 get in a lift and you have a problem with 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:33.480 the lift that the price is too high, or you 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.240 don't get it because the price is too high. My 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.760 email addresses David at lift dot com, so we know 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.119 what we want to know. It really against plug your email? 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.360 Do you know how many you might get? Sorry, we'll 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.640 figure it out. You haven't had that much time to 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.760 look under the hood, so to speak. But let's go 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.880 back to some sort of financial basics. The concern is 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:53.880 that a recession comes in the second half of this year. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.120 You've just pledged to match pricing with Uber. How does 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.440 cash burn look there? For Well, look, I don't know 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:02.880 that what I said as a pledge. To be clear, 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.280 what I said is that's our goal. Now, how does 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.479 cash burn look? There's two under the covers for me 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:09.200 to go into right now. What I can say is 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.440 to be a strong number two you have to be competitive. 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.400 It's just that simple. So that's the business model. So 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:15.600 we have to figure out how to do that. View. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.400 You've seen evidence already that lifts pulling in ride a ship. 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:20.960 I don't want to talk about it because it'll give people, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.000 it'll make people connect dots in a funny way, but 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.520 it's something I'm very focused on. Looking under the hood. 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:29.560 What is good at Lift? What is the niches where 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.680 lift is more competitive. Which cities do you feel you're 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.360 stronger in than your direct competitor. But let me ask 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.520 you a certain two ways on the city question, I 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.679 probably can't go there. I will say there are certain 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.240 cities where we have strength, and largely correlates to where 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.560 have we been operating the longest. I'll give you an 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.040 example of Portland, Oregon, is a city we have relative 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.039 strength compared to other cities. We've been there a long time. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.160 The second thing, though, which I think is a real 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.800 asset and is underappreciated, is millions and millions of people. 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.640 A third of the US population has taken a lift 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.359 since its beginning. Millions of drivers have made billions of 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.840 dollars on lift. So this is not a small thing. 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.279 This is quite a complicated thing. And building on that 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.560 architecture is actually really I think it gives us all 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.760 sorts of opportunities. When Logan and John came to you, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:15.960 did they kind of give you any into insight in 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:20.000 what kind of rides are more profitable or better? You know, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.360 you talked about the shared ride experience pulled ride for once. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:27.040 For another expression those more profitable is that the future 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.839 I'm trying to work out how you put your stamp 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.719 on Lift and make it more competitive. Yeah, yeah, I 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:34.160 mean I love the question, and of course I got 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.040 a thousand ideas. Haven't you even said in the chair officially? Yeah, 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.480 so a little too early, But I can say, yes, 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.240 there are segments where I think there is some extra 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.280 margin to be made, but you have to deliver a 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.240 great service there. I want to be very clear. You 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.320 can't just say I want to create margin that I 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:50.880 want to raise prices or whatever without also having a great, 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.120 great service and maybe even a service that's better for 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.720 that segment. But you know, stay tuned. There's a cultural 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:01.200 discussion around Lift as well, the brand, the market or 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:05.160 demographic that it resonates with. There's this idea that broadly, 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.360 a younger audience might use Lift over Uber. Do you 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.440 lean into that or do you actually try and look 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.920 a bit more broad to grow the company. Yeah, I don't. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:18.640 I've heard that too. I've looked at the data. I 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.640 would say Lifts customers and Uber's customers are not as 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.360 deferred as maybe you know some people think. So yeah, 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.480 I wouldn't say that's going to be a real area 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.520 of focus. I'm more interested in If people want a 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.280 great rioters experience and don't necessarily want to get in 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.640 a car that's just dropped off a pizza, then I 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.480 want you as a customer for sure. Let's finally talk 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.720 about supply. This was actually a really interesting story during 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.200 the pandemic because of how gig economy work has behaved 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.480 and demand. But what does supply look like to you? 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:52.000 And it's a similar question, how do you get drivers 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.120 to come and drive for Lift? Not for Uber, where, 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.120 for example, they have a choice to not just drive 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.400 people but also do deliveries as well. Yeah, well, look 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:03.280 they do have a choice on deliveries. I'll say that 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:05.720 the drivers I've talked to not always a huge fans 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.760 of that choice. Double parking restaurant, get a ticket, have 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:11.120 to get out of the car a bunch of times, 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.040 maybe not a great experience, don't make as much money. 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.240 So that's the value proposition for the driver on the 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.320 Uber side. Look, the best way to get drivers is 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.480 to get passengers. If you've got a lot of passengers, 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:24.119 the drivers will come. Lift cut around seven hundred workers 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.440 last year and cut costs many did. Actually that level 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.280 isn't too severe as other companies you lean into your 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:36.240 background working and leading and not for profit running with 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.760 fewer resources to do more. Can you just talk me 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.520 through how you take that mindset into a company like Lift. 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:48.480 It will more layoffs come, more belt tightening or have 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.280 you seen evidence that this is a company in good health. Yeah. 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:53.720 The way I'd say that is I do think you 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:55.959 can get a lot done with limited resources. That's what 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.959 I've learned over the last thirteen years. But I'm not 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.480 going to speculate about the LIFT specifically, though. Give me 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.880 just one sentence your vision for LIFT under your leadership. 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:11.520 So I'll say this purpose driven. Together, We're gonna lead 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.559 with purpose because we want people to come out of 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.440 their house and get out and go to the movie 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.640 and so forth. We're going to be driven. It's kind 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:18.920 of who I am, and I think it's a strong 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:20.480 cultural thing and we're going to do it together.