WEBVTT - David Risher Talks Lyft Growth Forecast

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

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<v Speaker 2>It's been holding its first over investor day this week,

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<v Speaker 2>with the company projecting growth bookings to grow about fifteen

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<v Speaker 2>percent and a compound annual rate over the next three years.

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<v Speaker 2>Investors liking that clarity a stick in a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>more in the LIFT CEO David Rusher, who's here in

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<v Speaker 2>New York City. It was a big event. It was

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<v Speaker 2>lots of musical performances, and then the serious matter of

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<v Speaker 2>numbers of margin. What gets you that fifteen percent compound increase?

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<v Speaker 2>What gets you an improvement in margin and profitability too.

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<v Speaker 1>So I don't think you're going to be surprised about this,

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<v Speaker 1>but the answer is customer obsession is what gets us there, right.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we're a scale business. We're a scale business.

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<v Speaker 1>We do two million rides a day to day. We're

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<v Speaker 1>going to get to twenty five billion dollars in bookings

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<v Speaker 1>over the next couple of years. That just means doing

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<v Speaker 1>more of customers, like picking them up faster, pricing better,

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<v Speaker 1>and then innovating like with women plus connect and some

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<v Speaker 1>of the other things we've talked about before. It's really

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<v Speaker 1>the basics, but you do them really well. Over and

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<v Speaker 1>over again, and you can grow an incredibly big and

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<v Speaker 1>profitable business.

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<v Speaker 2>I can see that helping bookings. How does it do

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<v Speaker 2>the profitability? Do you have to start to charge people

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit more to be able to get that margin?

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<v Speaker 3>No?

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<v Speaker 1>No, in fact, that's not a lot on the plan,

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<v Speaker 1>and standward, it's in the plan are things like lift media.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is such an interesting thing. Think about all

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<v Speaker 1>the different ways brands want to talk to you today.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of them are online, right, They're through Google,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe Meta whatever it is. Well, we actually have people

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<v Speaker 1>in cars going to grocery stores. And is that interesting

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<v Speaker 1>that maybe you know Cres versus Collgate. Maybe you don't

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<v Speaker 1>care too much, but maybe there's an advertiser who'd like

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<v Speaker 1>to talk to you. Is you're about to walk into Kroger,

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<v Speaker 1>for example. So that's part of the way that we

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<v Speaker 1>can kind of work with margins. We can also work

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<v Speaker 1>with modes and some other things. A lot of good ideas.

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<v Speaker 3>There, David, good morning, is ed. I'd like to look

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<v Speaker 3>past the numbers a little bit. I understand the seven

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<v Speaker 3>hundred and nine million rides you did in twenty twenty three,

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<v Speaker 3>and you make this argument that your target market or

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<v Speaker 3>total addressable market is based on the total miles driven

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<v Speaker 3>in personal cars. But what I don't see is how

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<v Speaker 3>you're going to go after that addressable market convincing people

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<v Speaker 3>not to use their own vehicles but take you instead.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, Well, you know I don't have to do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of that. To be honest, it's one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty billion trips that people take a year. Let's just

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<v Speaker 1>look at the daily commute. Every single year, people commute

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<v Speaker 1>to and from works work fifty five billion times, fifty

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<v Speaker 1>five soul crushing billion times. So you don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>take much of that to make a real difference in

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<v Speaker 1>our seven hundred to eight hundred million rides. We've got

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<v Speaker 1>a new product that we're just in the process of developing,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, that will allow you to lock in your price,

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<v Speaker 1>so every single day, instead of a pobace that bounces around,

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<v Speaker 1>you get a consistent price. And that's something we know

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<v Speaker 1>people stress about. Literally, people wake up early in the

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<v Speaker 1>morning just to check a couple of different apps to

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<v Speaker 1>figure out what the least expensive way to get to

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<v Speaker 1>work is. So if we can take that off the table,

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<v Speaker 1>that might increase us by call it a ride a week.

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<v Speaker 1>But we ride a week, times fifty two weeks a year,

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<v Speaker 1>times millions of people. It adds up pretty fast.

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<v Speaker 3>David. When I said you were coming on the show,

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<v Speaker 3>the majority of questions from the audience were about robotaxi.

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<v Speaker 3>You and I've discussed this in the past, but Lift

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<v Speaker 3>has a complicated history with robotaxi. I think at the

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<v Speaker 3>core of their question is will you survive in a

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<v Speaker 3>world where you know, Zeukes has a really big runway,

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<v Speaker 3>Waimo appears to have a really big runway.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, so we will survive. Let's just take that

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<v Speaker 1>off the table right now, because I think the way

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<v Speaker 1>to think about it is this. You know, it's one

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<v Speaker 1>thing to create a robotaxi, and both of those companies

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<v Speaker 1>are doing really incredible work. I'm super super impressed with

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<v Speaker 1>the technology and how it's coming together. But it's a

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<v Speaker 1>very different thing to two million times a day, pick

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<v Speaker 1>people up, drop them off, do it in weird weather,

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<v Speaker 1>do it at airports, and so on and so on,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I think it's a much more likely scenario

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<v Speaker 1>that one displaces the other, that actually we work together, right,

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<v Speaker 1>that we end up welcoming them to our network. Because

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<v Speaker 1>if you're a ROBOTAXI company, and I know you've taken

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<v Speaker 1>for example, the Zoukes ROBOTAXI. Gosh, you need a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of volume to really drive the numbers. Otherwise, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you make ten ten cars, you know, ten

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars a car, it doesn't make any sense. So

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<v Speaker 1>you've got to have someone like us as a partner

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<v Speaker 1>who can really incorporate them into our network. And I

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<v Speaker 1>think that's the most likely scenario that you know, a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of different companies. I think they're going to work on.

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<v Speaker 2>No soul crushing commute for Ed when he's in that

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<v Speaker 2>zoos about heading around that, David, I'm interested in you

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<v Speaker 2>can work together with robotaxis, but you're not going to

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<v Speaker 2>work together with Uber And I'm interested is to Ultimately

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<v Speaker 2>they're really focusing on this advertising focus too. Is there

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<v Speaker 2>room enough of both of you? How are you going

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<v Speaker 2>to compete for that?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think we have to compete for them because

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<v Speaker 1>I think this. You know, one of the things I

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<v Speaker 1>learned from Jeff Bezos is work on things that are durable.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're going to build a big business, work on

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<v Speaker 1>something that's durable. Okay, I can predict in five years

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<v Speaker 1>ten years, one hundred years, there are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>companies like the ones we work with today, Chase, You, NBC, Universal,

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<v Speaker 1>Delta with their skymiles program, Kroger, Ihop. These are five

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<v Speaker 1>companies that we're working with today. Every single one of

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<v Speaker 1>those companies or their siblings or their brethren are going

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<v Speaker 1>to want to talk to customers in new ways. And

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<v Speaker 1>we've got two million rides every single day. So no,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think that this is one of the zero

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<v Speaker 1>some things. I think actually this is a whole new

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<v Speaker 1>category of mobile advertising. I think we're going to get

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<v Speaker 1>their first. I think we're going to do it better.

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<v Speaker 1>But if other people want to follow us, and more

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<v Speaker 1>power to them.

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<v Speaker 2>Of course works Famaz and you work for Microsoft. Do

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<v Speaker 2>you learn a lot from those businesses? And both of

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<v Speaker 2>those are plowing forward and artificial intelligence, I'm sure you

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<v Speaker 2>are too. How much can you use my data as

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<v Speaker 2>a lift user to dictate what ads I'm seeing? Make

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<v Speaker 2>it more specific for me without wading me out?

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<v Speaker 1>So great question. I mean I would actually turn it

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<v Speaker 1>around a little bit and say, of course, artificial intelligence

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<v Speaker 1>is going to revolutionize a lot of different businesses. I

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<v Speaker 1>would start actually with our drivers. Look at all the

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<v Speaker 1>different ways drivers interact with on our platform. Right now,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, forty one percent of our drivers don't

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<v Speaker 1>speak English as their first language at home. So imaginal

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<v Speaker 1>world where artificial intelligence can help with simultings translation. Every

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<v Speaker 1>single one of our drivers wants to earn more our platform.

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<v Speaker 1>Imaginar world where drivers can use an intelligent assistant to

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<v Speaker 1>help them figure out how to spend their time so

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<v Speaker 1>they can earn even more on the platform. And then

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<v Speaker 1>you get to the targeting side, and our goal is

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<v Speaker 1>going to be to make the targeting so seamless. You

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<v Speaker 1>think of it as a benefit, like, oh wow, this

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<v Speaker 1>is fantastic. I'm literally getting a coupon off of my

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<v Speaker 1>fe what's your favorite toothpiste? Out of curiosity.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm using some weird one made in India that doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>have fluor ride in it. I'm like going into that

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<v Speaker 2>big rabbit hole on.

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<v Speaker 1>You're one of those people, Okay, fair enough, Well you

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<v Speaker 1>know what, I use a product called David Toothpaste. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if they're on the line now, Sorry, I've

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<v Speaker 1>got a personalized it's not personalized, it's just pure coincidence.

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<v Speaker 1>But there also I think they have a different formulation

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<v Speaker 1>than Florid. I don't know. I'm not so focused on that,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's a very nice tube I can tell you that.

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<v Speaker 1>So imagine I'm going to CVS and I get five

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<v Speaker 1>dollars off my David's Tuesdays instead of the big, long,

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<v Speaker 1>ridiculous thing that you get after you check out there.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's a better experience.

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<v Speaker 3>David on the AI note, I got a very specific

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<v Speaker 3>question from an audience member on X how is lift

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<v Speaker 3>leveraging AI? Is it truly a buzzword for them or

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<v Speaker 3>are they really making use of it in a meaningful way?

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<v Speaker 3>And you gave the example or a couple of examples

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<v Speaker 3>there from the driver's perspective, what about the rider's perspective?

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<v Speaker 3>And what about your internal use?

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<v Speaker 1>Sure? So all three? Right? So internal is really about

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<v Speaker 1>productivity and quality? Right? We use AI to check our code.

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<v Speaker 1>We use AI to come up with different ideas, sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>as kind of idea starters. Anyway, a lot of interesting

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<v Speaker 1>things there. For drivers. I just mentioned a great way

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<v Speaker 1>I think to sort of maximize earnings as an example,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think for riders, imagine a world. Here's a

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<v Speaker 1>scenario that I bet has never happened to anyone listening.

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<v Speaker 1>You ever leave your iPhone in the car, and how

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<v Speaker 1>how fun is that experience is? You know two minutes

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<v Speaker 1>later when you realize you don't have it, well, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>AI is pretty good at detecting patterns and understanding the

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<v Speaker 1>gosh the car is moving one way. You know, you've

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<v Speaker 1>just gotten out of the car. What's going on here?

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you can reroot the driver back to drop the

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<v Speaker 1>phone off for you. So I think, look, you can

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<v Speaker 1>overhype AI. You know, maybe it's not going to cure

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<v Speaker 1>cancer tomorrow. Probably isn't, to be honest, but I do

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<v Speaker 1>think that every single day. If we're customer obsessed and

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to be our focus, customer obsessed AI, we

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<v Speaker 1>can use it in really innovative ways.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's see it. David Richard, thank you so much. We

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<v Speaker 3>appreciate you coming into a well head quolt.

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<v Speaker 1>It is always a pleasure.

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<v Speaker 3>You'll good to see