WEBVTT - Lyft CEO David Risher Talks Company Expansion

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, back.

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<v Speaker 2>To Tech earnings shares of Lyft higher. The company reported

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<v Speaker 2>growing demand for premium rides, also strengthening European markets. Super

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<v Speaker 2>interesting and kind of the global expansion story, Lift CEO

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<v Speaker 2>David Risher is with us. There is a very specific

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<v Speaker 2>data point actually that I'd like to start on, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is that in markets, specifically San Francisco where you

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<v Speaker 2>have Lyft rides and Weimo rides, you said San Francisco

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<v Speaker 2>grew twenty percent year on year.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right.

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<v Speaker 2>I explain the causal or casual relationship within that data point.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So you know, our industry has gone through a

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<v Speaker 1>big transformation and it is the sort of bringing on

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<v Speaker 1>of these self driving vehicles. Waymore of course is the

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<v Speaker 1>market leader in that anytime you see a transformation like this,

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<v Speaker 1>one or two things can happen. You can either see

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<v Speaker 1>sort of a substitution or you can see a market expansion,

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<v Speaker 1>and in this case, we're seeing a market expansion. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's not that's surprising. When people take self driving cars,

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<v Speaker 1>they tend to like them a lot. They're very reliable product,

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<v Speaker 1>They're a nice private product. So you feel like you

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<v Speaker 1>could have a private conversation. But at the same time

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't seem to take away from people's interest in

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<v Speaker 1>being driven by humans who can help with luggage or

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<v Speaker 1>have good conversations. So it really is a creative.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a micro case study. It's one market San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 2>But you know, the questions are is Lift gaining market

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<v Speaker 2>share from Weimo in this city or is it that

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<v Speaker 2>this is an issue of supply So because somebody cannot

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<v Speaker 2>get into a Weimo within a reasonable timeframe, they go

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<v Speaker 2>to the lift app, which is happening. I probably both, honestly,

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<v Speaker 2>probably so interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and I think this is such an interesting thing

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to play out. My expectation over time is

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<v Speaker 1>what will dominate will be the market expansion. And again,

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<v Speaker 1>the reason it's sort of simple. You have a cool

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<v Speaker 1>new product coming onto an existing platform, and where we

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<v Speaker 1>believe the hybrid network, which is you know, human driven

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<v Speaker 1>cars plus avs really kind of creates the best possborll

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<v Speaker 1>come for everyone. But well, you know, we'll I'll have

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<v Speaker 1>to see how that works.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that you and I discussed on several occasions

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<v Speaker 2>the idea that the introduction of the robot taxi and

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<v Speaker 2>maturity of the market expands the overall tam for ride haling.

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<v Speaker 2>Just recap that argument.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's exactly it. So, I mean, look, people

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<v Speaker 1>take just in the United States, about one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty billion rides a year in their private cars. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>today we deliver a billion. Maybe the other guy's deliver

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<v Speaker 1>two billions. So it's called that three billion out of

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and sixty billion. And it's a good experience.

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<v Speaker 1>You're sitting in the backseat, you're able to text, you're

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<v Speaker 1>able to have your own space. What holds it back, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>for whatever reason, some people might want not want to

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<v Speaker 1>be driven by another driver or someone else in the car.

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<v Speaker 1>This takes that away. I'll tell you a very specific story.

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<v Speaker 1>So I was just with an old friend of mine.

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<v Speaker 1>I just ran intrew into the airport. Her son had

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<v Speaker 1>a tragic, tragic accent a couple of years ago, absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>devastating physical accident. He's in rehabilitation. For him. The idea

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<v Speaker 1>of getting in a self driving car where the doors

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<v Speaker 1>open wide, maybe there's not even a driver there, not

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<v Speaker 1>there's anything wrong with that, but it just gives him

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<v Speaker 1>more space to sort of be in his own zone is.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually going to be the technology and an engineering story,

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<v Speaker 2>design story.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a design story exactly. And so anyway, I'm very

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<v Speaker 1>optimistic about this. And then when I look at our

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<v Speaker 1>capabilities around fleet management and you know, kind of imagining

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<v Speaker 1>supply and demand, I get really excited about the future.

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<v Speaker 2>LIFT is let's let's go back to the core business

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<v Speaker 2>and the earnings. But LIFT is pushing outside of the

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<v Speaker 2>United States. You know, every time you've been on the

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<v Speaker 2>show over the last year, there's been a development on

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<v Speaker 2>that front. But what do we actually learn through your

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<v Speaker 2>earnings about how you're growing x USA?

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<v Speaker 1>So here's what's really cool. So LIFT was primarily a

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<v Speaker 1>domestic company up until about a year ago, maybe called

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<v Speaker 1>it eighteen months ago. Then we started to expand in Canada.

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<v Speaker 1>That's gone very well. Now we acquired a company called

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<v Speaker 1>free Now and a couple of other smaller companies overseas. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>what's happened since then. We're in the process of transforming

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<v Speaker 1>ourself to a truly global company. Some of that is

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<v Speaker 1>internal stuff, back of the house, multi currency, GDPR, all

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<v Speaker 1>these sorts of things, but we're also beginning to introduce

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<v Speaker 1>new functionality to customers. So I was just in Barcelona

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of weeks ago. I was very lucky to

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<v Speaker 1>be there. I get a chance to check out on

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<v Speaker 1>our beta app, the ability to use the Lift app,

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<v Speaker 1>not a new app, but the Lift app to hail

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<v Speaker 1>local supply local taxicab in Barcelona. I did it four times,

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<v Speaker 1>work flawlessly, So good because I don't have to do

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<v Speaker 1>a different app. I already know the user interface and

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<v Speaker 1>so forth, and sowe for now the company we required,

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<v Speaker 1>they're also growing now too because of some of the

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<v Speaker 1>innovation of the technology we've been able to add to

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<v Speaker 1>their stack. So it's look, our service levels are really

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<v Speaker 1>good and I love that about our product, and now

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<v Speaker 1>we can take that to a more global audience and

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<v Speaker 1>hopefully continue to grow as a result.

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<v Speaker 2>How we let you know, it could be Europe Spain specifically,

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<v Speaker 2>but how are those markets different to the United States?

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<v Speaker 2>How does the consumer behave differently? You know there are.

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<v Speaker 1>Subtle differences, I mean very significant, I guess difference not subtle.

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<v Speaker 1>Is the role of the taxicab in a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>Europe is very significant.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, this culturally entrenched in many economies in Europe,

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<v Speaker 2>as an example.

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<v Speaker 1>Very much so. And unlike maybe in a New York

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<v Speaker 1>where people almost begrudgingly take a cab, for example, But

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<v Speaker 1>in a.

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<v Speaker 2>Plays like Spain, and you're going to have New york

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<v Speaker 2>Is phony into this program now.

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<v Speaker 1>And I get that, and I understand well, and New

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<v Speaker 1>Yorkers have opinions about their taxicabs, right, But in Spain

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<v Speaker 1>it tends to be almost a career. You know, you

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<v Speaker 1>get in the car, it's probably someone who's been doing

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<v Speaker 1>it for many years, maybe as father did it as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Certainly in London everyone knows that knowledge. I mean, it's

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<v Speaker 1>an all sort of incredible thing. So that's a really

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<v Speaker 1>significant difference. And for us, it favors us because free

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<v Speaker 1>now is strong in taxis and the sort of double

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<v Speaker 1>click there is because tax is seen to be quite regulated.

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<v Speaker 1>The relationship that that company and now our company has

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<v Speaker 1>with governments tends to be quite strong, which back to

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<v Speaker 1>the av question, really matters a lot. Abe is new

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<v Speaker 1>technology and for a lot of governments it feels maybe

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit intimidating, and we can help there. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's a really nice sort of set of circumstances that

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<v Speaker 1>tends to sort of favor our business.

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<v Speaker 2>In markets outside of the United States, Uber is already

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<v Speaker 2>there in some cases, Bolt etc. How are you going

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<v Speaker 2>to make lifts different from a technology perspective or just

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<v Speaker 2>a product perspective.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so stay tuned on this. This is actually a

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<v Speaker 1>very very live conversation we're having internally. I can use

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<v Speaker 1>some of the examples of the US maybe and give

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<v Speaker 1>you a little sense. So in the US we've really

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<v Speaker 1>redoubled our innovation and you know some of these products

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<v Speaker 1>Women plus Connect and I just turned that we've given

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<v Speaker 1>over one hundred and seventy five million rides between women

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<v Speaker 1>and women in the US over the last couple of years.

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<v Speaker 1>Lift Teens, Lift Silver. This is real innovation. We're hoping

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<v Speaker 1>to bring some of that innovation to the European space

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<v Speaker 1>for sure. And then there's also a lot of conversation

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<v Speaker 1>around you know, let's say, the reputation of those guys

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<v Speaker 1>in Europe isn't necessarily super. People don't necessarily love the company.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll just say it that way, and we hope we

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<v Speaker 1>bring some joy to the conversation as well.

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<v Speaker 2>Internally, Where is your biggest focus on the technology side,

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<v Speaker 2>What are the types of people you're trying to bring

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<v Speaker 2>in and things you're building rebuilding, code migration, literally anything

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<v Speaker 2>on the side.

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<v Speaker 1>For sure. So many interesting things. So I'll give you

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of examples. Some of it's basic, some of

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<v Speaker 1>it's more far reaching. Here's the basic thing. We now

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<v Speaker 1>pick people up on average, so seventy five percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the time we will pick you up either the same

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<v Speaker 1>or faster than our big competitor. OK. Why is that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a big deal? Because our market share is smaller.

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<v Speaker 1>So doing that reliably twenty four hours a day, seventy

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<v Speaker 1>a week because people are busy, they want to get

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<v Speaker 1>to where they are an awesome accomplishment. I'm hugely proud

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<v Speaker 1>of our marketplace team for accomplishing that. And then, bigger picture,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm really excited about Lifting, one of our newest products

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<v Speaker 1>that allows teens to get in and get constant messaging

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<v Speaker 1>back to their parents to make sure the parents know

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<v Speaker 1>that they're safe and sound. It's just a good I

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<v Speaker 1>look at this as almost a generational thing. A new

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<v Speaker 1>car now costs like eight indred bucks. It's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be interred bucks a month, fifty on releasepace plus maintenance,

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<v Speaker 1>plus gas, all these sorts of things. Lift is just

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<v Speaker 1>a better answer for a lot of people. And so

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sort of excited when I look two, three, four,

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<v Speaker 1>five years out at some of the kind of you know,

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<v Speaker 1>teen innovation now, because I think that'll help change a

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<v Speaker 2>Whole generation lift CEO David Rishard, thank you very much

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<v Speaker 2>for coming in than thanks for being back on the show.