WEBVTT - Lyft CEO David Risher Talks Fourth-Quarter Results

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

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, shares of lifted down around fifteen percent, on track

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<v Speaker 2>for the biggest drop since August of twenty twenty four.

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<v Speaker 2>This stock's under pressure, but in the company's earnings, the

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<v Speaker 2>company kind of set out on working on a global

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<v Speaker 2>expansion and new product offerings.

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<v Speaker 1>Lift.

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<v Speaker 2>CEO David Risher is here with us in San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to go to the core business because you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to get to Roba Taxi shortly. But you know,

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<v Speaker 2>like the things that are good for you are black

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<v Speaker 2>Chaufford rides, airports, those are higher value and so like

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<v Speaker 2>my interpretation of reading all the analyst response at least

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<v Speaker 2>is that they looked at the kind of profit outlook

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<v Speaker 2>and said, that's a bit below what we expected. What

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<v Speaker 2>were the factors behind that? If those kind of high

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<v Speaker 2>value segments are doing great.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, it's such a good question, right, Look, we

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<v Speaker 3>had a blowout quarter, so record bookings, accelerating, record profits,

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<v Speaker 3>never been higher, record cash flow, record customers. Okay, So

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<v Speaker 3>all that is really good, and what it shows is

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<v Speaker 3>the customer obsession is what drives profitable growth.

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<v Speaker 1>Now there's no question it sounds.

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<v Speaker 3>Like analysts are looking at things like margin, But as

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<v Speaker 3>you just pointed out, a lot of our biggest growth

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<v Speaker 3>is actually in the highest value mode, it's highest margin modes.

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<v Speaker 3>So we've got a lot of conviction that we're in

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<v Speaker 3>a good place and only getting better.

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<v Speaker 2>You and I spent some time together at the end

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<v Speaker 2>of last year and we went kind of a bit

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<v Speaker 2>deeper on the robotape plan. Yeah, it's through partnerships and

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<v Speaker 2>it's leveraging what you believe is a strength in fleet management.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, succinctly update us on everything that's due to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Then please, oh my good.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, this is gonna be a big year for

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<v Speaker 3>self driving cars, right, and let's start with sort of

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<v Speaker 3>the big picture. When self driving cars come on to

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<v Speaker 3>a network like cars, it tends to expand the market.

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<v Speaker 3>And you would expect that because it's a cool new product.

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<v Speaker 3>It's reliable. You know, you can kind of space out,

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<v Speaker 3>you can text and not worry about a driver or

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<v Speaker 3>over hearing a phone call something like that.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's really good.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, So then what happens is you've got to make

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<v Speaker 3>sure that you're well positioned with all the best players

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<v Speaker 3>in the market if you're on in our in our business,

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<v Speaker 3>we are. We've got way more partnership as you know.

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<v Speaker 3>We've got a buy Do partner that we've just announced

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<v Speaker 3>is going to be live in London later this year.

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<v Speaker 3>We just worked out an agreement with the city of

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<v Speaker 3>Hamburg in Germany to be the first robotaxi provider there.

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<v Speaker 3>So that's wonderful. So you've got the partnerships, you've got

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<v Speaker 3>the cities lined up, and now you've got to be

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<v Speaker 3>able to manage this fleet. And as you just said,

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<v Speaker 3>this is not the sexy part, but it's so important.

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<v Speaker 3>You've got to be able to make sure these cars

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<v Speaker 3>are charged, clean and ready to go. We have a

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<v Speaker 3>flex Drive subsidiary that's been doing that for years.

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<v Speaker 1>We think we're the.

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<v Speaker 3>Best in class, and our goal is to be maybe

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<v Speaker 3>five percent cheaper than any other place with higher quality,

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<v Speaker 3>to put robo taxes on the network.

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<v Speaker 4>Cheaper that doesn't immediately make me think profit driving David

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<v Speaker 4>in that way, And so like talk about your targets.

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<v Speaker 4>You've got this one billion EMIT deal by twenty twenty seven,

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<v Speaker 4>and Lumberg Intelligence is warring.

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<v Speaker 1>That looks pretty ambitious at this stage.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, so when I say cheaper, I mean the lowest

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<v Speaker 3>cost way right. And that's the thing is, I want

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<v Speaker 3>our cost position to be really good. To your point,

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<v Speaker 3>like our goals which we set out a couple of

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<v Speaker 3>years ago. Our top line growth of twenty of fifteen

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<v Speaker 3>percent mid teens year on year, much on track for that,

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<v Speaker 3>and bottom line growth getting to a billion dollars of

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<v Speaker 3>adjusted EBITDAT which will be four percent margin.

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<v Speaker 1>Very much on track for that.

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<v Speaker 3>But what it means is you've got to be really

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<v Speaker 3>smart about managing your costs. You've got really good about

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<v Speaker 3>kind of managing your quality, and we're doing really well

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<v Speaker 3>on both. We've just made progress. As I say, we've

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<v Speaker 3>got our best profitable, highest profitable quarter.

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<v Speaker 4>Just this pass you for I think, therefore, go back

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<v Speaker 4>to the av world because there is this ongoing anxiety

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<v Speaker 4>that the competition is just going to get so fierce.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you set up to win?

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<v Speaker 4>What are you saying to convince the investor base they

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<v Speaker 4>shouldn't be setting off your shares like this?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think that the way to think about avs

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<v Speaker 3>is they're going to be good for the whole industry,

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<v Speaker 3>the ride share industry, because as they say, it's a

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<v Speaker 3>good new product at a lower cost. And I think

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<v Speaker 3>why we are particularly well positioned is we have demand

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<v Speaker 3>that runs to the two three four million people a

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<v Speaker 3>day level, So we have lots of demand for this,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know what they want. They want a fast,

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<v Speaker 3>reliable pick up. It's going to get them where they

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<v Speaker 3>want to go. Sometimes they'll want to be driven by

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<v Speaker 3>a human, sometimes by a robot. Just kind of depends.

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<v Speaker 3>And so this idea of a hybrid network, I think

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<v Speaker 3>it's a real strength, particularly when you sort of marry

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<v Speaker 3>it with fleet.

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<v Speaker 2>Is there a case study for you to reflect on

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<v Speaker 2>in real terms?

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<v Speaker 1>Then?

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<v Speaker 2>Like Atlanta, mame mobility? What are you learning there?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>And by the way, what's the status of it in

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<v Speaker 2>terms of like fully driver lists, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure.

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<v Speaker 3>So we're in Atlanta, have we still have safety drivers

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<v Speaker 3>in the car just to make sure everything is going well,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know, because we want this to be an

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<v Speaker 3>incredibly high quality, incredibly safe experience.

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<v Speaker 1>What we're learning is people love it. I mean, this

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<v Speaker 1>is the interesting thing.

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<v Speaker 3>People before they when they hear about av's are often

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<v Speaker 3>a little skeptical. They sound like, I'm not sure I'm

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<v Speaker 3>going to be excited about taking a car that's driven

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<v Speaker 3>by a robot. You know, five minutes later they've kind

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<v Speaker 3>of fallen in love.

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<v Speaker 1>And that cialization is highlight. What's the metric? Yeah, super high,

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<v Speaker 1>super high.

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<v Speaker 3>Basically, I mean as much supply as we can get

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<v Speaker 3>we can put on the road, because there's plenty of

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<v Speaker 3>demand for these things. I think if you want to

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<v Speaker 3>look at a case study for broadly speaking, maybe look

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<v Speaker 3>at the transition from DVDs to streaming. Right, it's a

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<v Speaker 3>similar sort of technology shift. And look how big streaming

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<v Speaker 3>is today compared to DVDs in the past.

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<v Speaker 1>It's going to be that kind of wave, Stevin. You

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<v Speaker 1>know what else?

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<v Speaker 4>I love a lot of New Yorkers love the bikes,

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<v Speaker 4>and boy has this snow made things really difficult. Hate

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<v Speaker 4>to get personal hit, but I mean, look at these pictures.

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<v Speaker 4>I am really struggling to get my bike out. I'm

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<v Speaker 4>really struggling to get it back in. How much of

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<v Speaker 4>a hit is this to have to refund customers? How

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<v Speaker 4>much are you thinking about what the city and you

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<v Speaker 4>can work together with to make this a really costly

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<v Speaker 4>business for you in these sorts of temperatures.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean, look, this has been a big big

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<v Speaker 3>learning for us. Obviously there's a huge snowstorm. I'm told

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<v Speaker 3>that we're about seventy five percent dugout right now, which

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<v Speaker 3>is amazing, but that takes a lot of work, a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of just physical labor to make sure that the

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<v Speaker 3>bag stations are available. I think people have taken something

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<v Speaker 3>like half a million rides in the last couple of days,

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<v Speaker 3>which is pretty amazing considering the cold and the snow. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 3>working super closely with the city on it, really making

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<v Speaker 3>sure that the availability of these bikes, which, as you say,

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<v Speaker 3>we run behind the scenes asig as we can get it.

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<v Speaker 2>I asked Bloomberg Tech producer Justin Now to pop his

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<v Speaker 2>head out the window and check, because like here in

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<v Speaker 2>the bay, obviously we don't get confronted by snow. But

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I went back and read my history about

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<v Speaker 2>the kind of micro mobility part of the business. It

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<v Speaker 2>is a smaller part on revenue spasis, but clearly it's

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<v Speaker 2>still important to you.

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<v Speaker 1>It is how important?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean, look, as you say, financially it's relatively small,

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<v Speaker 3>but this is the future.

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<v Speaker 1>Look, when you talk about avs, that's part of the future.

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<v Speaker 1>When you talk about micromobility, people.

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<v Speaker 3>Once people get on an e bikes, I say this

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<v Speaker 3>sometimes it's kind of like meeting a person who's just

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<v Speaker 3>started pickleball, Like they have to tell you about it,

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<v Speaker 3>how amazing this thing is. Same with e bikes, you

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<v Speaker 3>know what I mean. So it's like, so this is

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<v Speaker 3>sometimes you can see the future and if you look

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<v Speaker 3>out three, five, ten years, you're going to see more

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<v Speaker 3>people on e bikes. You're going to see more people

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<v Speaker 3>in self driving cars, and you know, and of course

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<v Speaker 3>you're also going to see people in human driven cars,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's what we're building.