54: Unpacking the Impact of Intelligent Micromobility with Superpedestrian CEO, Assaf Biderman

In today’s episode Oliver interviews Assaf Biderman, CEO of SuperPedestrian, about his background founding the MIT Senseable Cities Lab and then Superpedestrian. Assaf has been thinking about micromobility longer than most anyone we’ve had on the podcast - this was a fun and very illuminating interview.This conversation convinced Oliver that the ‘intelligence’ that can be infused into micromobility devices has far deeper implications than first thought, especially for driving down operational costs and improving vehicle longevity.Specifically we dig into:- The context for why micromobility is such a boon compared to the other transport options that cities can consider for moving people.- His history founding the Senseable Cities Lab and their early work- How that led to founding SuperPedestrian, and the early lessons with the amazing Copenhagen Wheel- The pivot they've made into scooters, the important variables for the next generation of scooter hardware and why they believe that these need- Why Assaf believes that Superpedestrian's intelligent 'nervous system' combines with mechanical improvements will drop operational costs by over 50% for operators.- The implications of their approach on thinking of their product as a 'computing platform' and why they see their model as a hardware + SaaS business.- Their supply chain structure and costs, and why their entirely proprietary approach can actually make componentry cheaper.- Their recent $20m raise, and what they're planning to do with the money.It's one of the densest and most interesting discussions to date - hope you enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit micromobility.substack.com/subscribe