The Wild, Broken Ride of Bird and Its Scooter Empire with Joe Fenti and Maddy Smith | 100 episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 11, 2025 · 49 MIN

The Wild, Broken Ride of Bird and Its Scooter Empire with Joe Fenti and Maddy Smith | 100

from The Big Flop

In 2017, Santa Monica residents woke up to find their streets invaded by mysterious electric scooters. The culprit? Travis VanderZanden, a former Uber exec with a plan to revolutionize urban transit. But between drunk-tweeting executives, phantom revenue reports, and scooters being hurled into oceans, Bird's flight path was destined for turbulence.Joe Fenti and Maddy Smith join Misha to watch Bird's $2 billion flight plan nosediveBe the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to The Big Flop on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/the-big-flop/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 11, 2025

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Wild, Broken Ride of Bird and Its Scooter Empire with Joe Fenti and Maddy Smith | 100

0:00 49:03

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Big Flop?

This episode is 49 minutes long.

When was this The Big Flop episode published?

This episode was published on August 11, 2025.

Can I download this The Big Flop episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!