Micromobility

This week, we release the first of the many incredible sessions from the 2021 Micromobility World conference, wherein Benedict Evans and Horace Dediu discussed the disruptive potential of micromobility. It was an incredible conversation between two people who clearly have a lot of time and are excited by each others ideas. We hope you enjoy it! Specifically they dig into:Why Benedicts background as a historian makes him a great analyst.The micromobiltiy disruption thesis - low end, the asymmetric nature of unbundling trips (market for vehicles vs. market for miles), the role of fun/enjoyment, speed of interactionWhy micromobility is more interesting that autonomyThe role of Marchetti’s constant in transport, and why that matters for micrombility’s unique capabilitiesWhat the rise of elevators can teach us about new urban transport technologiesWhat the platform game will look like in this space.What the impact of COVID has been on how we think about transportHow micromobility will enable Amazon logistics API to fulfil deliveriesTackling ‘Should the thing move, or the person move?’, and why that matters to micromobility.Why the low cost of micromobility platforms will allow real world marketing kickbacks similar to how ‘surfing’ on the internet works now - ’take me somewhere interesting’Why the rise of new forms of transport like automobiles enabled new crimes and the rise of Bonnie and ClydeWhy cities will likely eventually move towards dynamic road pricingIf you prefer video, check out the video of it on the Micromobility Industries Youtube page here. 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

On this episode, Horace joins Oliver on the show to talk about what an entry by Apple into the mobility market would look like, and why a car is perhaps the wrong form factor to be looking at. They talk through the growth prospects for micromobility, and why Apple’s entry into the market would be a meaningful contribution to the world of mobility. This is on the back of Horace’s post ‘Apple Computer’ published on the Micromobility Industries blog recently. Check it out here: https://micromobility.io/blog/2021/1/11/apple-computerSpecifically they dig into: - The parts of the upcoming Micromobility World conference that Horace is most excited about- The size of the car market vs the micromobility market as it currently stands- Where the margins lie- Why Apple has typically entered into industries that are still ‘embryonic’- What a meaningful contribution could look like and what technologies would materially affect the user experience- The constraints of infrastructure on useability and the ‘feel’ of a vehicle- How computation becomes more personal over time, and why that will apply to vehicles too- The revisit Microsoft’s decision in the 90’s to get into the lounge, and why that was the wrong question. - Horace coins the term ‘smartphone-y’Thanks again to the sponsors of this episode, Christensen Group. Christensen Group, a lead player in the micromobility insurance category. As the micromobility space continues to grow around the world with a diverse spectrum of business models, Christensen Group continues to be a leader in the space servicing: e-scooter, moped, motorcycle, e-bike sharing operations along with: subscription & private based programs,  manufacturers, AI technology providers and more. They will have a virtual booth at this year’s Micromobility World event on January 27-29.  They invite you to stop by and have a chat with them about safety, fundraising, regulatory requirements, and trends in the risk and insurance marketplace, or whatever else is on your mind. They’re also going to have folks from Zagster, ZipCar, Ford Mobility, and others dropping by their booth to discuss litigation trends, regulatory missteps, fundraising and start-up strategies, and more. 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

Fun fact: Seoul, South Korea is the largest market for shared scooters globally, and Beam is one of the largest players there. This week, Oliver interviews Alan Jiang, founder of Beam, the largest shared Micromobility operator in Asia-Pacific. Asia is one of the hotspots for micromobility given its home to the majority of the world’s population experiencing the growth, density and ensuing urban congestion where micromobility really thrives. We’re very excited to cover more of it in 2021. Alan has a great view over the market and it's nuances. Speciflcally they dig into:- Alan’s background at Uber and then Ofo- how he’s seeing the market develop in Asia and Australasia- Seoul - it’s the worlds biggest scooter market, and you're one of the largest players. What are the benefits to scale and what are they seeing?- Beam’s unique commodity hardware strategy- fundraising and what he’s seen change in the conversations over the last 12-24 months - how Alan think of the ridehailing players, and whether Grab/Go-Jek/Didi are going to go hard into micromobility 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

Today on the show, Oliver interviews Puneeth Meruva, Associate at Trucks VC about their latest report: The Three Axes of Micromobility: Supply Chains, Distribution and Maintenance about the often unseen world of getting Micromobility into the hands of consumers. This is a topic that hasn’t received much coverage to date, so it was a fascinating conversation fully of nitty-gritty and relatively technical details about the opportunities for development and investment in the micromobility ecosystem. Specifically they dig into: - A recap of Trucks VC, their thesis and other portfolio companies in the Micromobility space- Puneeths background and how he got there- What the research was about, and why Trucks undertook it- Key findings in the fields of components, distribution, maintenance etc- Whether timelines for new product development are getting shorter vs longer and why- Who the interesting businesses are in the distribution and maintenance space- Future opportunities in design and tech both in vehicles and business models (including a reference to www.nimbus.green - one of the companies Oliver is most excited about at the moment)- A discussion about vehicle platforms, and whether Puneeth agree’s with Horace’s thesis that these vehicles will become computing platforms.The report itself can be found here [https://www.trucks.vc/blog/the-three-axes-of-micromobility-supply-chains-distribution-and-maintenance] 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

This week Oliver interviews Chinmay Malaviya and Charlie Depman, cofounders of Ridepanda, about their efforts to build a better customer journey for purchasing owned micromobility. The platform is relatively new, but it hits on a very relevant need. Thanks to Reilly Brennan from Trucks VC for putting us onto them. Specifically we dig into: - Their backgrounds at Bird, Scoot and Lime and how that led them to starting this business. - The core customer needs that they’re trying to solve- The importance of trusted reviews and reliable servicing for customers- What matters to customers, and why brand is far further down the list than expected- What early traction they’re seeing- How COVID 19 has impacted the buyers guide- Their fundraising journey and what they’re seeing for Micromobility related startups in general. 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

This week, Horace joins Oliver for the podcasts 100th episode, and they run through what’s happened in the last 2 and a half years, and wonder aloud what will happen in the next two. Specifically they dig into: - Horace’s early theses- The emergence of scooters and why they proved to be so challenging to Horace’s ideas about what vehicles would be most popular- The biggest mistake that Horace thinks he made in his early theories- What Oliver considers the biggest barriers, and where he over and underestimated progress over the last 2 years- Where they expect to see development and who will enter the game- The pace of adoption, and why patience is needed. 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

This week Oliver interviews Richard Burger, co-founder of Swapfiets, the largest bike subscription service in Europe. With more than 220,000 subscriptions and growing rapidly, it’s a great discussion on solving the job-to-be-done for biking/micromobility, as well as the challenges and opportunities of operating large service business at scale across 6 (soon to be 7) countries. Specifically, they cover: - The context of the existing bike ownership experience in the Netherlands that gave rise to paying 16 euros a month to rent a bike.- The origins of Swapfiets, and the genius marketing decision to use a blue-front wheel to make the bike’s identifiable- The operational challenges and economics of the subscription business- Who their customers are, and how that’s evolved over time- The launch of their new electric bike, and how that’s performing 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

This week Oliver interviews Dmitri Pivovarov from Bolt Mobility, which is one of the largest ride hailing players in Europe, and has been quietly building a micromobility business which recently announced it was expanding to challenge Tier as the largest micromobility operator in Europe in 2021. Oliver uses this episode to dig into the interplay between ride hailing and micromobility, how Bolt has built the business, and get an update on the overall shared micrombobility market in Europe. It’s a great interview. Specifically, they dig into: - The history of Bolt Mobility, and it’s origins as Taxify- Clarify that they are indeed, not endorsed by Usain Bolt- Talk about the nature of mobility markets, and servicing this demand with either ride hailing or micromobility- How the Bolt team sought to approach building the micromobility business, and how they’ve built a very cost-effective operations engine for scaling- The unique design points from their new custom hardware- The state of the other players in the European market 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

Today Oliver interviews Horace for a fun review of the parallels between the smartphone revolution and what we’re seeing play out with the growth of lightweight electric vehicles trips. It’s also a hilarious chance to hear Horace talk about how we think about fostering children as a species and ask why the same thinking isn’t applied to how we run organisations and products. Specifically they dig into: - The history of the smartphone industry, and why business model rather than competence dictated the fall of Nokia.- Discuss the importance of understanding the framing of job-to-be-done and why that matters for micromobility.- Horace points out how the fostering and growth of children is so natural to humans, and asks why it is yet so challenging for companies to foster comparable innovation.- Talk about how incumbent car manufacturers will be treating micromobility internally, and how the immune systems of the organisations will struggle to accept such a wide departure from their standard business model.Micromobility World is our first all-digital event running from Jan 27-29th, 2021. We have some of the biggest names in the worlds of owned and shared micromobility, disruptive innovation, urban design and investing coming together to talk about how to supercharge the Micromobility revolution. Tickets are free, with a VIP tier for curated community participation. Register at Micromobility.io - it’s going to be awesome.  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

This week Oliver interviews a fellow kiwi, Timothy Allan, CEO of Ubco, about their heavy duty electric motorbikes. While the firm is small - they’ve sold a bit more than a thousand units across NZ, Europe and the US - it ticks a few interesting disruptive innovation boxes, mainly by meeting the customers core needs in very specific ways through improved reliability and then  creating new jobs to be done in the form of silent transport and portable power packs that change the basis of competition against other ICE options. Specifically, they dig into: - The history of the Ubco brand/motorbikes in 2014/15- Why farming environments in New Zealand are the perfect place to test heavy duty micromobility vehicles- The value of getting bikes into the hands of customers for real world feedback- The importance of quality in componentry in a heavy duty setting- The challenges incumbent manufacturers will face transitioning across to electric powertrains- How they think about distribution and servicing, and how that impacts the business- The story of fundraising for an electric motorbike manufacturer down in the middle of nowhere. 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

This week Oliver interviews Amir Haleem, the CEO of Helium, about Peoples Network, which promises ubiquitous coverage and data costs of $1/year to connect a Micromobility vehicle. Oliver has been incredibly excited about what they’re up to for a while, and so welcomed the opportunity to sit down and unpack what they’re doing and why it’s transformational. Specifically, they dig into:- The history of Helium and the importance of permissionless innovation.- What is LoRaWan and why does it matter? - Why does Helium use blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to make their back end system function, and why is that largely irrelevant for customers?- How big the network now is, and how quickly it’s building out- Why this may well be the new model for how we build out telco networks in the future.- Why this is perfectly suited to Micromobility, and what possibilities it unlocks in terms of diagnostics, tracking and other value add services- How $1/year data costs are transformational, and how the costs for transponder and hotspot is going to rapidly decline. - They review the competition for creating connected Micromobility, comparing data costs, battery performance, coverage and the sort.If you’re interested in the Helium project, go and check out The Hotspot PodcastFull disclosure, Helium were kind enough to sponsor earlier podcasts and Oliver has got a few hotspots to learn more about their tech, but mainly, as you can hopefully hear, we just think they’re on to something and building out the best solution for micromobility connectivity that’s available in this space. 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

This week Oliver interviews Derek Dorresteyn, COO of Damon Motorcycles. Derek previously worked at Boosted and was the CTO at Alta Motorbikes, one of the first electric motorbike manufacturers globally. They do a whistle stop tour of the electric motorbike space, including why it’s so hard, what we’ve collectively learnt and Dereks predictions on the space. Derek has been around the space for a long time and thinking about the challenges longer than most.Specifically they dig into:⁃ Derek’s history in motorbike racing and eventually setting up a machine shop business.⁃ His early forays into electric motorbike after reading the Tesla blog⁃ The story of Alta Motors, including their raises, development, partnership with Harley Davidson and eventual closure⁃ His work with Boosted on the products that would come after the Rev⁃ His reflections on capital raising in the micromobility hardware space from 2010 onwards, and why now it’s easier than ever to raise⁃ His work now at Damon Motorcycles, and the potential of electric in the hyperbike category⁃ The possibilities for safety created through electric powertrains and ADAS systems.⁃ The growth of SPAC’s and the impact that that is having on the space. 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

Horace rejoins Oliver on the podcast to revisit the original reasons that Horace started looking at micromobility, and identified it as a disruptive innovation. It covers the context of the research that he was doing at the time, and why it meets the theoretical and anecdotal indicators that it’s going to change the way that we think about transport.Specifically we dig into:⁃ Horace’s research into the auto market, and why he didn’t think that the shared, electric autonomy that was all hype in 2014-16 was going to deliver on it’s disruptive potential.⁃ Why only when asking questions that no-one was asking about cars did he start to see the potential for micromobility⁃ Why a lack of datasets is confirmatory that he was on to something, and why that’s been problematic⁃ What he think he got right in the original thesis back in 2018, and what he thinks has changed since then⁃ Horace reviews his own predictions, what he got wrong and what he didn’t see back then.This is another classic Horace episode. 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

This week Oliver is joined by Horace for an update and discussion on heavy micromobility, including a recent video interview of Sandy Munro, the automotive engineering guru, and Mark Frohnmayer, CEO of Arcimoto talking about their three wheeled electric auto-cycle. Mark has been a guest on the podcast in the past in episode 46 and Micromobility Industries are big fans of what they’re doing. Finally, they circle back on the age old question of whether Tesla is conforming to disruptive innovation theory.Specifically, they dig into:- How Arcimoto is conforming to the theory of disruptive innovation with the way that it’s approaching the market - underserving, lower end, modularised production, solving for the job to be done - and why it’s the first stock recommendation (other than Apple) that Oliver has ever heard Horace make.- The history of overserving the customers in the car market, and why there’s a space under them in the market for heavy micromobility- The speed of technological and business model development, and how that ties to the size and speed of the vehicle- The recent Battery Day announcements and manufacturing process upgrades from Elon Musk, and whether they’ve changed Horace’s mind that Tesla is a disruptive (rather than sustaining) innovation. 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

Today Oliver interviews Paul Steely White, head of Policy at Link by Superpedestrian. We had Assaf Bidermaan, the CEO of Superpedestrian on last year to talk about their new scooter, but that was before they launched Link and recently won one of the Seattle scooter permits. The second mover advantage in this space continues to become clearer and it was great to dig into this. Paul has been around the micromobility/bike advocacy traps a long time first at Transportation Alternatives, then Bird and now Link, and like many others we’ve had on, is a bit of an OG of the space. We hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.- His background at Transportation Alternatives, Bird and now Superpedestrian- How and why Superpedestrian decided to start LINK, and the importance of the feedback cycle in product development- What LINK does differently in it’s vehicle including the importance of being able to do granular onboard vehicle maps and how their vehicle intelligence and operations allow them to be profitable with only one ride per day.- What he thinks Bird and Lime did wrong.- The New York City RFP for scooters and what they’re seeing in the space- What he is seeing with LINK and cities now in terms of what they want for their operators- The question of infrastructure, and his experience working with Transportation Alternatives and experts like Donald Shoup to change street space allocation.- How it helps to be a second mover in the space- The emergence of debt in new rounds of scooter funding and how the question of insurance is changing as the industry matures. 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

In one of his favourite interviews to date, Oliver interviews Cedrick Tandong, CEO of ThreeWheelsUnited, a electric rickshaw or tuktuk financing and operations company based in Bangalore, India. With over 3000 tuktuks on the road, partnerships with the largest local manufacturers, Uber partnership and more, Cedrick and the team have found the sweet spot for Micromobility in what is a fascinating local niche.Specifically they dig into:- What is ThreeWheelsUnited and the multiple sides of the business - vehicle supply, financing, tech platform for payments and operations.- Cedricks background and how he ended up going from Cameroon to France to India.- How the unit economics are playing out with new electric tuktuks vs. existing models.- How to build out a low-cost recharging infrastructure for these vehicles.- The challenges and joys of working in India as a foreigner- The story of fundraising for a vehicle financing and tech startup - how that's gone, what they’re looking for and how they managed to get Techstars and Asian Development Bank money.- The climate impact that they’re having. 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

Micromobility data standards are the rails new micromobility juggernauts will be built on.In this episode, Oliver interviews Sam Herr, Executive Director of North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA), and Heidi Gennin, Shared Mobility Product Manager at Mobility Data, about the Generalized Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) data format.Admittedly, it sounds dry, and yet, it’s a fascinating episode, with Heidi and Sam doing a great job explaining both what it is and why something as simple as a data format can supercharge the development of non-car transportation in our cities.Specifically they dig into:What is a Data format and why does it matter?What is the GBFS and how does it connect to NABSA, Rocky Mountain Institute, and the GTFS.How does the GBFS relate to the Mobility Data Specification?Which countries around the world use the data standards for their bike shares, and why this is a rapidly growing spaceWhat challenges they face in developing a global data standardHow they’re thinking about future open vehicle protocols, including ride hailing and car share.In the meantime, be sure to check out Horace’s upcoming keynote “Micromobility’s Moment” on the 10th of September at 12-1pm EST. It’s going to be amazing - an instant classic, with thundering narrative arcs backed up with detailed data about the State of the Micromobility World not just both before and after COVID, but in the wider context of our transport systems and a better world. Tickets are $20, and you can register here. 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

Exciting episode today with Oliver interviewing Raoul Stöckle, CEO of Bond. Horace and Oliver originally interviewed Corinne Vogel, their COO on as one of the first interviews in 2018 when the company was Smide, but with the recent announcement of a partnership with FreeNow and launches in a number of new cities in Europe, it was time to have them on again to discuss how their approach of high end shared Micromobility is going and why it’s different.Specifically:- The Bond model of high end Micromobility and why they chose that strategy- How and why they decided to go for custom vehicles, and what that has entailed- The operational efficiencies they’ve been able to unlock with smart incentives, swappable batteries and faster vehicles- Why how far a customer is willing to walk determines a huge amount in terms of capital costs, and why that’s tied to a vehicles speed.- What the impact of COVID has been on the business- The high percentage of users who have integrated the service into their commute- Why they charge on a per-km, not per minute, basisIn the meantime, be sure to check out Horace’s upcoming keynote “Micromobility’s Moment” on the 10th of September at 12-1pm EST. It’s going to be amazing - an instant classic, with thundering narrative arcs backed up with detailed data about the State of the Micromobility World not just both before and after COVID, but in the wider context of our transport systems and a better world. Tickets are $20, and you can register here: https://vi.to/hubs/micromobility 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

This week Oliver interviews David Hyman, CEO of Unagi Scooters about their new subscription service, Unagi All Access, as well as a wider discussion about the state of owned micromobility and the vehicles therein. It’s a great conversation - David’s got a great perspective on the industry, backed up with studies commissioned from the Haas Business School about the opportunity for scooters beyond just renting them via shared schemes like Lime and Bird. Hope you enjoy!Specifically, they dig into:- A quick review of Unagi scooters and their history as a premium ‘iPhone of scooters’ brand- Why Unagi has chosen to pursue a subscription model and who that will open them up to- What an end-to-end subscription needs to include- Why subscriptions may offer one of the cheapest daily transport options for most people- Why they have so many musicians and celebrities riding their scooters, and why Andrew Yang is a fan- Why David can’t wait to give Annie Hildago, mayor of Paris, a scooter (anyone know her and want to help?!)- Who David most respects in the Micromobility gameApologies about the audio - we had an issue and needed to go to backup.For those tuning in new, you might also enjoy this earlier conversation with David about the history of Unagi and premium scooters.Also, as mentioned in the news, Mina Nada and the Bolt Bikes (now Zooma) team have raised an $11m Series A. Check the interview we did with them out here. 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

This week Horace returns with Oliver for a great discussion about why what we measure in micromobility, and transport in general, matters so much. They also dig into the recent announcement of the T50 supercar from Gordon Murray, and explain why they, two micromobiltiy nerds, got so excited about a preposterously expensive car.Specifically they dig into:The history of the rise and fall of infrastructuresWhy what we measure about transport - be it track length, unit sales, passenger kilometres or trips - determine how we think about planning, infrastructure spending, and all of these second order effects.The open question about Micromobility measurement, and what is up for considerationThe origins of the Micromobility podcast, and it’s connections to Gordon MurrayWhy Oliver and Horace have both bought cars that Gordon Murray has recommended.The intangibility of maniacal focus on user experience, and why that matters as much in micromobility as it does in cars.Check out the launch of the T.50 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqKQ6uUUmsw 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

This week Oliver interviews Henri Moissinac and Maxim Romain, co-founders of Dott. Dott are interesting - they’ve done things differently since they launched, kept their head down and stayed relatively unknown in wider micromobility circles. That is until they won the tender for Paris and Lyon recently, and asserted themselves as a player to really be taken seriously in the Pan-European micromobility landscape.In this interview they talk about:- The origins of Dott, and Roman and Henri’s history together at Ofo- The landscape to date for both funding and city tenders, and why Dott’s slow and steady approach has really helped them develop into a profitable business.- Their plans for an Ebike, and how they’re thinking about hardware in general- The importance of operational excellence, having internal employees and systems for learning.- Why they have pursued a largely large-city-only approach- What factors contribute to successful city permits- Henri makes an impassioned argument for why Micromobility’s success is inevitable- Bonus - Henri talks about his experience at the Micromobility Conference in Berlin and how it felt to him like the early days of mobile 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

This week Oliver interviews Skye Duncan, a fellow Kiwi who has gone on to lead the Global Designing Cities Initiative at the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Skye is a wealth of knowledge about how infrastructure and space allocation decisions get made on streets around the world, and how micromobility can impacts those habitats to achieve transport outcomes. It was a great conversation - they both really enjoyed this conversation and hope you do too.Specifically they dig into:- Skye’s background and journey from New Zealand, via Columbia and working with Mayor Bloomberg to heading the Global Designing Cities Initiative at NACTO.- What the Global Design Guide for Cities is trying to achieve.- What micromobility/electric bikes/scooters offer to cities around the world, and how this intersects with he growth in urban populations that we’re seeing.- Why the problem of parking, and parking entitlement, are such a big issue.- What micromobility operators should be thinking about when talking to city planners and contextualising micromobility in the transport mix.- how Skye encourages advocates of new micromobility vehicles to discuss them and their infrastructure. 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

This week we releasing a recent conversation between Oliver and Doug Gordon from the popular War on Cars podcast that we did as a Micromobility Membership (TripleM) webinar. Philosophically aligned, Oliver and Doug talk about COVID, urbanism and the intersection of infrastructure and technology. This was a fun conversation.Specifically they dig into:- What we’re seeing globally and in NYC in response to the COVID epidemic.- How much (or not) COVID is an opportunity to further the micromobility agenda, both with local and national level programmes for infrastructure- Oliver reveals some of the details of the research he’s been doing on modelling mode shift potential for Micromobility- The impact that Citibike has had on New York- Where the origins of sneakers came from, and how they gained such notoriety during the 1980 transit strike in New York- Why bike parking is the next big opportunity for infrastructure builds- Why micromobility helps in transport deserts that exist, even in places like New York.- General questions from the audience about ebikes, cargo, electric vehicles and more!Also, next week Oliver will be hosting a webinar with the team from Helium talking about their new global long range, low-power and low cost wireless network. You might think data connections to micromobility sounds boring but nothing could be further from the truth. How we keep micromobility connected reliably and cheaply is one of the biggest issues still to solve. Helium are one of the most exciting projects out there. It’ll be relevant to investors, hardware people and operators interested in what the bleeding edge is. Come and join us on Tuesday, 4th of August at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific. Sign up at micromobility.io 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

This week Oliver interviews Laura Fox, Lyft's General Manager for Citi Bike in New York. Laura has an incredible background with stints in Qatar, working on Mexico cities planning regulations, time at Sidewalk Labs, and as editor for one of the best books on urban planning and economics we’ve found, Order by Design by Alain Bertaud, all of which is discussed, before digging in to the nitty gritty details of Citibike in NYC.This was a great episode - Laura is an amazing thinker and you’ll get a lot out of listening to her.Specifically we dig into:- an explanation of the Citibike setup - its coverage, size (15k bikes!!), characteristics and relationship to the NYC DOT.- How and why they price as the product as affordabiy as they do.- a discussion about the docked system and the benefits/challenges of this vs the more common dockless system ie. bike valets, load balancing with large numbers locked up and how they create ’capacity valves’.- the impact of electrification on the fleet - how the early data from bikes show both 2-3x utilisation, but also longer duration and distance trip durations.- A wider discussion about micromobility and its intersection with urban form, infrastructure and other planning requirements- How they think about discussions over kerbside allocation, the challenges of of competing with car parking and the data/storytelling needed to counter this.- where Laura sees the future going with regards to MaaS, how she think about Lyft's play in that space and who has the power to be the forcing function to promote widespread adoption.- How COVID-19 has impacted their operations, and the changes in ridership demographics and usage that they’re seeing.The book that we mention is called Order without Design, and can be found on Amazon here [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BSYX83S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1]. Would also encourage you to check out Devon Zuegel’s great podcast with Alain and his wife Marie-Agnes about their lives as nomadic urban planners/economists here [https://devonzuegel.com/tag/order-without-design-podcast]. 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

Something a bit different this week. Horace and Oliver host Anders Brownworth, co-host of the Critical Path, to talk about crypto, blockchains and markets for trust. Anders’ background working in telecom, finance and then crypto (developing USDC and now working at the Federal Reserve) give him a unique perspective. As Horace, Oliver and he break down what programmable trust can mean for markets, government and society.This came out of a discussion following a Micromobility podcast recording talking about Apple was functioning as an arbiter of trust with all its new key and payment building blocks, and how ‘trust’ carries a market premium, which gave way to a wider conversation about how trust can be priced.For those of you who aren’t that familar with the workings of Bitcoin/blockchain, Anders Brownworth has done a 101 video here (with more than 1 million views!) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_160oMzblY8Specifically, they dig into:- The history of money, and why trust-minimised stores of value are so valuable.- Markets for trust and how companies like Google or Uber are potentially threatened by distributed marketplaces/clearinghouses.- How the overall valuation of Bitcoin is the NPV of all future trust that will be accumulated to the protocol.- Why having immutable records is so important for the functioning of democracies.- What areas of blockchains both Anders and Oliver are most excited about.Finally, as mentioned in the news - here is the excellent NYT article on the reallocation of streetspace in New York, “I’ve seen a future without cars and it’s amazing” - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/opinion/sunday/ban-cars-manhattan-cities.html 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

This week Oliver interviews Andrew Salzberg, former head of Transportation Policy at Uber, and now a Loeb Fellow at Harvard about his work in radically decarbonising transport. Oliver worked with Andrew at Uber, and he’s been thinking about the intersection between climate, transportation and technology longer than most. It’s a great conversation touching on the challenge ahead and opportunities that abound.Specifically, they dig into:his work at TfL, the World Bank and Uber and then now, focussing on decarbonising transport.the challenges and opportunities for decarbonising the transport sector, and where Micromobility might be able to helphow can these modelling exercises actually get integrated into decision making processes and funded, and who in the US is talking about it.The intersection of landuse change, PT, EV’s and Micromobility and others, and how the conversation can be ‘unsiloed’Why Andrew doesn’t think that decarbonization is inevitable, but how the renewable energy sector offers instructive examples of how tech can change the conversation.The opportunity for ‘policy feedback’ in further accelerating and ratcheting up new technologies to reduce emissionshow EVTOLS/‘flying cars’ represent an asymmetric risk to overall decarbonisation effortsEditor note: Andrew’s audio got lost towards the end, so we reverted to the backup. Apologies. 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

This week, Oliver interviews Chris Yu, Chief Product & Innovation Officer and Ian Kenny, global marketing for the Turbo e-bike brand at Specialized. They talk about how incumbent bike manufacturers are thinking of electrification, how that’s changing how the company is thinking about the job-to-be-done for their customers and what role companies like Specialized can play in the discussion to push Micromobility forward.Specifically, they dig into:- what differentiates the Specialized brand in terms of positioning, company ownership structure and customer type.- how their full stack approach, paired with their scale, compares to the rest of the bike industry.- How Specialized think about the Innovators Dilemma, and what framing they use to encourage self disruption within the firm to ensure that they can meet evolving customer needs and wants.- for design, what are the variables that matter for customers? They talk about the Levo family of bikes, and the learnings that can be ported over to other sectors.- How they’re thinking about urban or local transport, including a discussion on the competition such as Vanmoof.- How the business model to service the ‘consumption of miles’ might change the structure of how Specialized- The journey that Specialized made in e-bikes, including its first efforts as early as 2010.- How they’re seeing the supply-chain base change as the industry matures around ebikes/electrification. 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

This week Horace joins Oliver to talk about the news that Segway has ended production of the PT and the new announcements from Apple and how they pertain to Micromobility. They also trial a news segment at the beginning of the show. Specifically they dig into: - What didn’t work about the Segway, and comparable failures in history - The risks of over engineering products without feedback or specifically only asking for feedback from B2B customers when trying to build a general appeal product. - The innovations required to take the promise of the Segway to what we see today - The pathway for adoption, and the risks involved in ‘crossing the chasm’ between early adopters and the early majority. - The new announcements from Apple and how they might be deployed in the Micromobility industry including AppleKey and the forthcoming Apple tile/data network. - How to think about Apple’s efforts in Micromobility from a phone, wearables and accessories perspective - Whether the ‘platform-ization’ of Micromobility will happen in the vehicle or be captured at the phone level. If you like the latest news, check out the Micromobility Newsletter at micromobility.io - Luke, our editor and conference lead, is an utter master at finding the best and latest, and we also have a job board for jobs in the space. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Let us know what you think of the episode @asymco and @oliverbruce! 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

This week Oliver interviews Jake Sion, COO of Transit. We talk micromobility, mobility as a service and the interplay between the two as well as the wider mobility landscape and how software can infuse intelligence into it. After last weeks’ discussion on Adwords, Google maps and mobility, it’s a topical discussion.Specifically, they cover:- Transit - what they do, services they integrate with, number of cities, and who they consider their customers.- How Jake sees the landscape for mobility as a service developing- The Transit UI starts with the question ’where are you going?’. They talk through that design decision and why it isn’t actually the primary use case for Transit.- They talk through data standardisation such as MDS and GBFS, why it matters, why it's such a political battleground and the importance of a non-profit organisation called Mobility Data in setting standards for interoperability.- The state payments and how Jake sees it developing.- Why the forcing function for mobility-as-a-service is unllkely to be driven by technology.- How micromobility plays into the discussion about mobility as a service.- They talk about funding for the mobility-as-a-service space and the long term viability of the business model. 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

This week Horace joins Oliver for a discussion about ebikes and the state of micromobility, including which potential other potential players might want to get into the industry. This leads to a discussion about the job-to-be-done of maps, and Horace’s dystopian warning that they will end up as the browser of the mobile era. Specifically they dig into: - How e-bike sales have been doing during COVID - The current structure of the industry for standard bikes and ebikes, including where the margins are - How this mom-and-pop style industry parallels the early days of the PC industry - A discussion about the Taiwanese ‘golden book’ for bikes - Why distribution is one of the great unsolved aspects of e-bikes - Whether micromobility best parallels the computer industry or the early auto industry, and what implications are there for either framing - Which players are likely to get into building the next generation of e-bikes, and why Amazon, Google or Apple are all potential contenders. - Why maps are so important, and why they might be the software layer that may start to drive the next Micromobility wave - The worry that Horace has about an Adwords approach being directed to Google Maps in the mobility routing, and the incentives that stem from distraction as we move from A to B - How and why micromobility operators should be aiming to participate in the forthcoming mobility-as-a-service layers - The implications of what software enabled transport will enable. The Micromobility Industries blogpost outlining e-bike recommendations -https://micromobility.io/blog/2020/6/1/best-ebikes 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

This week we share a recent TripleM webinar where Oliver interviews Ryan Rzepecki. Ryan was the founder of Jump which sold to Uber and as of a few weeks ago, was sold to Lime. Ryan is a wealth of knowledge and understands this space inside and out. It’s a great discussion. Specifically, they dig into:  - The Social Bike / Jump journey story including how it started, pivoted and what Ryan learnt along the way - The behind the scenes story - The highlights, lowlights and things people were not so privy to. - A discussion of why design was so important and how that came through in the scooters and bikes. - What Ryan thinks of the industry today, and why he believes it still so early.  - What his favourite Micromobility products are.  - His opinion of blitzscaling and the impact that had on Jump.  - A discussion of how the fundraising environment changed over time.  - Where he’s bullish on the industry overall, and their next steps. - Why the Jump hardware team was the best in the business. If you like this, you’ll like our Micromobility Membership, or Triple M. We do exclusive calls like this on a regular basis. We’ve had Kara Swisher and Felix Salmon, the founders of Spin, the head of Segway’s business development and head of Lime Joe Kraus on the current state of the industry, along with webinars on things like insurance and city data.  We have a Slack channel to talk with the others like you with an interest in building the future plus you get discounts on the Micromobility Conference, swag and more, all for $100 a year. Check it out at micromobility.io 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

Today Oliver interviews Taco Carlier, CEO of Vanmoof, about the recently released S3/X3 bikes and the company’s recent venture fundraise. They’re one of the largest and fastest growing urban bike manufacturers globally, and this was a great discussion about the state of the industry in these tough COVID times. Specifically they dig into: - A summary of Vanmoof for those that haven't had a chance to listen to the last podcast, including their brand and design strategy, as well as basic facts about the company. - How they’re looking at COVID, including a discussion about sales, supply chains, how they’re seeing cities react, and how ridership has been changing. - An extensive discussion on the new S3/X3 which has been reviewed exceptionally well, including deep dives on the components, the pricing, the design, end-to-end service packages, sales channels, powertrain and theft protection, and what the driving considerations were for each. - A discussion on the venture capital market vis-a-vis their recent 12.5m Euro raise, and how he’s thinking about the funding opportunities and challenges for both shared and owned companies in the space? Taco is a legend in the space - excited to share this one!Thanks to our sponsors for the episode - Onyx Motorbikes - some of the coolest, most beautiful micromobility designs out! Check them out at onyxmotorbikes.com 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

This week Oliver interviews Ben Bear, Chief Business Officer at Spin, the micromobility company backed by Ford and which operate in 65 markets across the US. They dig into their service and how they’re different from others in the industry. It’s a great discussion - Spin really come across as a the tortoise in an industry of hares. With micromobility adoption being a long term prospect their focus on sustainability for what will inevitably be a decades long play is an interesting counter to others in the industry. Specifically: - Spin’s approach in COVID-19 - The difference that Spin has in market, including: —Their use of Swiftmile charging stations (Swiftmile) from a tendering and business operations perspective.—the efforts to integrate into MaaS - Why being backed by Ford makes them more resilient and able to focus on longer-term planning and outcomes, and why this is attractive to cities. - How has he seen the regulatory environment change in the time that they’ve been operating. - How do they see the owned and leased micromobility business model competing in the ‘market for miles’, and whether they have plans to expand into these area leveraging Spin’s brand or Ford’s distribution. - Their efforts at lobbying for better street infrastructure in the cities that they operate. Thanks also to our sponsor for the episode, Populus.ai. Populus are building digital tools that assist government agencies to manage their curbs, streets and sidewalks with access to intelligent data and analytics tools. Last week, they announced their Open Streets Initiative to provide cities with digital solutions to identify and communicate slow and safe street policies. Oakland, California recently announced that 74 miles of streets would be closed to through vehicle traffic in order to make it safer for pedestrians, and small sustainable modes to travel for essential trips and create more room for social distancing. Populus works with cities around the world, from Buenos Aires to Baltimore - to help build trust between operators and regulators to see shared mobility become the big success that we think it can be. They run webinars and produce some of the best editorial content about the impact of micromobility on cities in the US that we’ve seen - if you’re looking to educate yourself better on the space, and/or are looking for tools to build trust with your local government to help take shared micromobility to the next level, check them out. 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

Horace and Oliver have a great discussion on the philosophical underpinnings of price signals going back to Freidrich Hayek and how price works to coordinate activity in society. They discuss how micromobility suffers from market manipulation for its infrastructure and manufacturing and how road space allocation is currently misaligned to how it’s valued as real estate. It’s Horace at his best - philosophical, paring theory to reality, and giving us all new frameworks to think about how the world works and will change. Specifically, they dig into: - The concept of using price signals to allocate resources in society proposed by Freidrich Hayek, where that came from as a concept, where it has been applied (free market vs. centrally planned economies), and why it’s interesting in the context of oil prices. - Why black/grey markets exist everywhere - Where it has and hasn’t used for road space allocation, and why that matters - What the impact on micromobility would be if road space could be more effectively priced. - Why minimum car parking is an unpriced externality, and how it came to be. - The geostrategic investment in the auto sector coming out of WW2, and why that has had an impact on city infrastructure - Sunk cost fallacies and the choice of what we continue to invest in in society. - Why clear price signals for real estate used for infrastructure would accelerate the adoption of micromobility. - A discussion about the use of economics in urban planning, including a short discussion of the excellent book Order without Design by Alain Bertaud. Thanks also to our sponsor for the episode, Populus.ai. Populus are building digital tools that assist government agencies to manage their curbs, streets and sidewalks with access to intelligent data and analytics tools. Last week, they announced their Open Streets Initiative to provide cities with digital solutions to identify and communicate slow and safe street policies. Oakland, California recently announced that 74 miles of streets would be closed to through vehicle traffic in order to make it safer for pedestrians, and small sustainable modes to travel for essential trips and create more room for social distancing. Populus works with cities around the world, from Buenos Aires to Baltimore - to help build trust between operators and regulators to see shared mobility become the big success that we think it can be. They run webinars and produce some of the best editorial content about the impact of micromobility on cities in the US that we’ve seen - if you’re looking to educate yourself better on the space, and/or are looking for tools to build trust with your local government to help take shared micromobility to the next level, check them out. 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

On this episode of the Micromobility Podcast, we publish an episode from the recent Micromobility Membership call where we had Axios Reporter Felix Salmon interview Kara Swisher, Editor at Recode about her pledge to go car-free for a year, and her thoughts about the development of the micromobility space. It’s a great discussion.Specifically, they dig into:- Her choice to get rid of a car, and how that’s gone over the last year. - The challenges of using Micromobility with a young child, and what options she’s considering- ‘I like to write about directional stuff and I think car ownership is over eventually.’ And how she thinks about autonomy and micromobility in that context.- The inevitability of new urban transport modes as cities evolve and grow. - Why e-bikes are attractive in the suburbs. - In the discussion about COVID-induced changes to urban design how much does it happen at a local level vs. state vs. national?- The technology of security for bikes and other micromobility vehicles. - How Kara thinks about the rebound of transit and car use, and how it’ll accelerate trends that were already happening. - Why Uber and Lyft enable the convenience of a car without the headache. - How the modularity of Micromobility competes against the incumbent car manufacturers. - Urban form in the majority of the US isn’t like SF, NYC or DC, which were all designed pre-car. Where is the capitalist incentive to reengineer the the majority of the US (and world’s) cities away from the car? - Why Kara thinks cars aren’t actually as sticky as everything thinks they are. - How do cities work with micromobility operators and whether Kara thinks that cities will end up subsidising them.- Why Kara would start with a network of tunnels if she started to rebuild a city from scratch. - Why Kara doesn’t think that the speed of streetscape adaptation is actually that slow. - A discussion with Horace about the nature of software in both micromobility and automotive vehicles. - A discussion about universal basic mobility, and why Kara is for it. - Why Kara is pro congestion pricing.Transcript of the call is available here: https://micromobility.io/blog/2020/5/3/kara-swisher-felix-salmon-end-of-car-ownership If you like this discussion, you can get regular access to this by signing up to TripleM here. For $100/year you get access to exclusive calls with Horace and guests, discounts on conference tickets and access to the Slack community building the future of micromobility. Get your first month free when you sign up now. 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

This week, Oliver interviews micromobility industry veteran Tarani Duncan about her journey and views on the development of the micromobility industry. She’s a fount of knowledge, and this was a really fun discussion on the history of the space. Specifically we dig into: - Her childhood and study in New Orleans, and how that led her to studying transport - Her early days in operations fixing the early NYC Citibike system - Joining the team at Social Bicycles, which became Jump, including a discussion about social incentives and the acquisition by Uber. - Her experience at Mapbox building routing software for some of the largest delivery companies in the world - Joining Shared as the first operations lead - A discussion about the wide range of companies she’s advising in the space, including OurStreets, Tortoise, Karmic and DataContours - Why she’s the first member of the Human Scooting Association - The low hanging fruit for the shared industry - Why micromobility matters to her, and why she’s still very bullish on the space. 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

This week Oliver interviews Tony Ho, VP of Global Business Development for Segway/Ninebot. As the largest Micromobility hardware player globally across a whole heap of different verticals, Tony has a unique perspective on the space and how it’s developing. He’s a Clayton Christensen disciple as well - having studied at Harvard under him, so we get to unpack the theory against the practice of disruptive innovation and why Tony is excited about this space. It’s a great discussion. Specifically, we dig into: - Segway’s wide range of products, and how it conforms to our thesis that micromobility is not just scooters, but a whole range of sub-500kg vehicles. - We talk through how their operations have been affected by Coronavirus in the last 3 months - We talk about how the collapse of the international shared Micromobility industry has impacted the company strategy? - Why Tony sees micromobility as disruptive vs. other modes of transport, and how it conforms to disruptive innovation theory per Clay Christensen’s theory. - How does Segway of thinking of itself positioned alongside auto OEM's - How Segway is thinking about retail vs. shared - Where does Tony think the major growth potential is in terms of vehicle type and markets - We talk through robotics and what has become of the Loomo robot and T60 autonomous scooters - We talk about Segway's performance in the shared space, how they lost their early lead and how they’re responding to it. - How Tony thinks about Segways contribution to a possible Wall-e style dystopian future. - How does Segway think about infrastructure when developing new products, and does this nudge them towards advocacy for better/new bike lanes for your products - As the majority of the world doesn’t have much visibility over micromobility in China, Tony shares insights from there about vehicles, regulation etc - We talk about Segway’s plan to go public and how someone who is interested in getting a copy of their financials from their filing would go about that. 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

This week Horace joins Oliver to talk about the work of Nassim Taleb - namely, antifragility and asymmetric risk - and what connections there are to disruptive innovation theory and Micromobility. Oliver has wanted to record this episode for a while and it doesn’t disappoint.Specifically we dig into:- Taleb’s work and background, explaining concepts such as Black Swans, antifragility, Fat Tony, Skin in the Game, Extremistan vs Mediocristan and intellectual-yet-idiots- The attraction and danger of polemical thinking- The importance of understanding if you’re dealing with bounded or unbounded risk probabilities- How traditional MBA education has increased fragility in enterprises, right at the same time that they’re increasingly trapped by the innovators dilemma, how these two concepts are tied and why Apple’s paranoia from it’s near death experience parallel the investment strategy outlined by Taleb.- The role of job-to-be-done and the anti-fragility of the restaurant space.- The connections between antifragility and disruptive innovation theory- How micromobility’s characteristics of having a clear and easy job-to-be-done, relative simplicity, light weight, low cost and flexible production make it suited to taking ‘hits’ to its business model and thus, more likely to be resilient as a phenomenon. 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

This week Oliver interviews David Levinson, professor at the University of Sydney and popular blogger at transportist.org. David is not new to the world of talking about transport and disruptive innovation, having joined Horace on Asymcar many years ago. He brings a tempered view to the benefits and challenges of micromobility, including around infrastructure and the decision making timeframes that it typically has.Specifically, we dig into:- David’s background and research into toll roads, travel behaviour and urban form. - Whether David considers micromobilty a substantial new innovation in transport. - Constraints around deployment of larger vehicle fleets. - The challenges around parking, NIMBY-ism and political will in reallocating street space. - Comparable histories of new vehicle technologies making it into cities. - The intersection of political capital/structures and the likelihood of rollouts of specific transport infrastructure- The fundamental challenges with micromobility infrastructure - heft, vehicle density and decision-making timeframes- Examples of cities that have more proactively built infrastructure for micromobility, and historical examples of how companies have garnered community support to lobby for new infrastructure. It’s a great episode, if nothing else because it lays out the challenges/opportunities to widespread adoption of micromobility in sober terms. 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

This week Oliver interviews Mina Nada, CEO of Bolt Bikes, about their business leasing ebikes to delivery gig workers like UberEATS/Deliveroo/DoorDash in the UK, US and Australia. Given everything happening right now with COVID19 and the explosion in delivery based meal consumptions, this is a great interview.Specifically, we dig into:- Mina’s background at Bain, Deliveroo and Mobike, and how that prepared him for Bolt Bikes. - The unit economics of their business, including 6 month paybacks, 3 year cycles and 66% residual value for depreciated bikes. - How most markets are still allowing takeaway and delivery during COVID19 lockdowns. - How couriers calculate the costs and tradeoffs of leasing vs owning their own vehicles  (ie. bikes, ebikes vs mopeds) and why the end-to-end and flexible nature of access positions Bolt well to solve the job to be done. - Their plans for expansion and vertical integration into their own Bolt hardware- A discussion about ebikes and the future of the fleet, including e-mopeds and the newly released Arcimoto delivery vehicle. - Bolt’s ability to raise debt capital to fund expansion- Why they plan to double down on B2B rentals, and not focus at all on B2C. It was a great discussion - well worth listening to! 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

This week, Horace joins Oliver for a discussion about the impact of COVID19 on the world of micromobility, as well as taking questions from Twitter. Specifically, we cover: - Horace discusses the work of Nassim Taleb on anti fragility and tail risks, and how that applies to micromobility’s low-end disruption - Why financial stress, shorter distances being travelled in quarantine areas and the low-cost nature of micromobility position it to do well in the face of this crisis. - Examining this pandemic in the face of historical challenges like WW2 and earlier pandemics - The impacts and opportunities faced by shared micromobility operators in the meantime. - How brands can be ‘made’ in moments of crisis. - Whether the early movement for ‘emergency bike lanes’ to facilitate physically isolated movement will take hold, and how that could spread around the globe. NOTE: Apologies in advance for the audio quality. Things are moving very quickly, and even though we recorded this on Saturday, lots has changed since then. It’s not quite up the standards that we’d normally want, but we prioritised shipping it out sooner given how fast everything is moving. 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

This week, Oliver interviews Michael Granoff, partner at Maniv Mobility, an early stage investment firm specialising in transport technologies including micromobility. Michael has been around the mobility space a long time, and we had a great discussion about the boom and bust nature of new transport tech. Specifically, we talk about:  - Michael’s background, his journey through energy security and getting into electrification of mobility, involvement with Better Place, and subsequent founding of Maniv Mobility - How his thesis has changed over time from electric, to autonomous to micromobility - Discussion about their existing investments, including Phantom Auto, Bolt Bikes and one of our most popular episodes to date: Revel, and what was compelling about each.  - How to accelerate the development of infrastructure suited to micromobility.  - What he agrees and disagrees about with Horace’s thesis.  - Which city is the leader for micromobility and why New York is still undoing the mess from Robert Moses, the Power Broker who ran infrastructure from the 1920s-1960s in the USA. Note that this was recorded pre-the COVID19 outbreak. I’m looking forward to having him back on at some point in the future to discuss the impacts. 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

This week Horace joins Oliver to riff on a recent mental model for thinking about the job to be done of micromobility, involving escalators, elevators and stairs. It’s Horace at his best - conceptual, funny, insightful as always.Specifically we cover:- Which customers pick escalators vs elevators vs stairs, and what insight that might provide to the job to be done of micromobility.- The importance of ‘earning’ an experience- Why Horace thinks that customers who climb escalators are the best customers.- The importance of escalators in the architecture that they enabled.- How the impact of regulation will impact on vehicle design.- The importance of design and brand in solving the job to be done beyond simply A to B travel.- Horace’s travel tip for Terminal 5 at Heathrow. 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

This week Oliver interviews journalist David Zipper again (following his appearance on Episode 32) about the latest in the war over mobility data that is being played out between cities and shared micromobility operators.David Zipper is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Taubman Center for State and Local Government, where he examines the interplay between urban policy and new mobility technologies.From 2013 to 2017 David was the Managing Director for Smart Cities and Mobility at 1776, a global entrepreneurial hub with over 1,300 member startups and is still a Partner in the 1776 Seed Fund and consults with startups including Optibus, Tortoise, and TransitScreen to help shape their regulatory strategies.David has written a number of articles in Slate, CityLab, Fast Company and The Atlantic covering, among other things, the rise and ongoing saga of the Mobility Data Specification which we see as one of the building blocks to supercharge micromobility’s growth, and underpin the future operating systems for mobility in our cities.In this episode, we dig into:- A recap of the Mobility Data Specifications, and why it is significant to cities and why micromobility is really the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to important data from shared mobility operators.- The latest in the battle over real-time data requirements vs privacy advocates, and the players on each side.- More details on the Uber <> LADOT stoush.- The development of the Open Mobility Foundation in the last 6 months, how taking the standard out of the LADOT has impacted adoption/development and the politics of the board members.- The impact of Europe’s massive growth in micromobility, their pursuit of differing standards, and whether MDS has any value to add there.- Why the slow progress on these standards has created gaps that are being filled by startups, including Iomob and Token Transit. (Disclosure: Oliver and David advise them respectively)SHOW NOTESCityLab Daily: A City Sick of Tech Disrupters Becomes One by Laura Bliss 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

This week Oliver interviews Colin Roche from Swiftmile. Shared scooters cluttering up the streets is one of these things that have largely been discounted in the hype of the recent explosion of these new vehicles. The Swiftmile team build scooter parking infrastructure and in this episode with Colin, Oliver’s initial skepticism is assuaged as he learns of the importance of the work that they’re doing in the ecosystem. This conversation really enlightening, and I really hope that you do to.  Specifically we dig into: - the history of Swiftmile and how they got into making ‘the gas stations of the future’ - How they pivoted after the initial scooter explosion - The benefits of agnostic charger infrastructure to both cities and operators - How and where this infrastructure is being deployed - Why scooter parking is an important part of the puzzle to social acceptance - How they’re monetizing their offerings Cheers! 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

This week we have a timely episode with Horace being interviewed by Katie Zandbergen on The Disruptive Voice - a podcast produced by The Forum for Growth & Innovation at Harvard business School a few days after the passing of Clay Christensen.Horace strikes a reflective tone - it’s a great episode that goes into the core of why micromobility is really disruptive assessed against the theory that Clay proposed. For those who are more into the theoretical, this is a wonderful episode.Specifically, they cover:The impact that Clay had on how Horace viewed the world. How Horace ended up finding micromobility through this efforts to study disruptive innovation in the auto sector by rethinking through the job that the car was hired to do into trips rather than vehicles, and how that need could be better served by the performance of smaller form factor vehicles. Why micromobility lends itself to the benefits of software platforms allowing it to iterate faster vs incumbent producers of vehicles. Horace runs through the paradox of mobility - we use overserving big vehicles for small trips. Why Horace believes that this market will move towards a franchised model of shared systems, and how this market will develop as the technology and operations improve.Why micromobility will serve as a bottom up disruption in the majority of the rapidly urbanising African and Indian cities.Why parking and land use allocation in many cities will change away from parking to better, more economically valuable forms of transport with the rise of micromobility. Why Horace is involved with Bond Mobility, and his rationale behind the premium end of Micromobility. Why Horace dedicates all of his work in Micromobility to Clay’s influence. Also, for those of you who are fans of Clay, you’ll know that he holds a special place in our heart here. He’s obviously been a massive influence on Horace and Oliver and how they see the world. If you want to hear one of the best interviews Horace has ever done, we recommend going to check out the interview he did with Clayton on the Critical Path (#36) back in 2012, discussing the book ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’. It’s a poignant listen, and a beautiful embodiment of a teacher-student relationship. 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

This week, Oliver interviews Kevin Talbot (@Talbot), a General Partner at Relay Ventures, a VC firm based between the Bay Area and Toronto, who are investors in Bird, Populus and Bird Canada, among others. It is a great interview with Kevin about how they’re thinking about micromobility investments and the wider context of venture capital in this Softbank dominated world. Specifically, we dig into: - how you got into VC/joined Relay Ventures - His thesis at the firm and why they're interested in micromobility. - How they work with their portfolio companies, including former podcast guests Regina Clewlow from Populus. - How the landscape for micromobility has changed from the early days of their investment in Bird - including business models, regulatory landscapes and supply chains. - We talk about the Bird Canada venture - what it is, why it was formed, the market for micromobility in Canada and where they're seeing early traction. - How capital formation in the micromobility sector is interacting with cities, and whether he think this will ever be anything other than messy. - How their firm is thinking through owned vs. shared, and hardware vs. software investments. - What you'd recommend to entrepreneurs getting into the micromobility space - Bonus: his take on micromobility autonomy, and the promise and challenges in this space. It's a great interview! 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

This week Oliver interviews Sanjay Dastoor, one of the founders of Boosted Boards and subsequently Skip, who operate a shared scooter service in DC. Sanjay has been around this space longer than pretty much anyone, and has a wealth of insight and experience that were a joy to unpack.Unfortunately, the audio cut a little for Sanjay right at the beginning but we kick off right where it picks up.Specifically we cover:- Sanjay's journey as a Micromobility OG starting Boosted Boards and then on to Skip - his original motivations, how your thinking has evolved, and lessons learned about what works and doesn’t.- How he's thinking about the current shared scooter space in terms of business models and regulatory response, as well as a discussion about Skip’s foray into subscription models- We dig into the challenges that Skip have faced in San Francisco and the bidding processes. We talk about what if anything could have improved it, and why Sanjay sympathizes with the city officials for the outcomes.- We talk about vehicle design, and the opportunities and challenges for shared vehicle design and what he thinks is coming- How Sanjay thinks through shared vs. leased vs. rented vehicles and reflects on what works and doesn't- We discuss where and why legacy regulations will result in highly specific solutions for different geographies.- We talk through capital efficiency in operations, why it’s important, and what creative destruction in this space looks like- Sanjay's thoughts/critiques on Horace’s thesis around micromobility, including the interplay between hardware and operating systems 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

This week, Horace joins Oliver on the podcast to talk about hype cycles, capital formation and transport funding patterns historically, and what we can learn from them about the micromobility space now.Specifically:- The parallels between the hype cycles for MP3 players, the internet and personal computers vs. micromobility.- The perils of ‘being early’ in large scale technology adoptions.- The history of funding for the auto, railway and canal sectors transport systems, and parallels to micromobility and the infrastructure required.- Why pioneers for traditional transport innovations largely end up with arrows in their back.- Why we’re unlikely to see large scale infrastructure deployments like we used to in democratic countries. 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

This week, Oliver interviews Joe Kraus, President of Lime. Lime are the largest players in the shared micromobility space globally, and this episode has been a long time coming. It was awesome to get Joe on to talk about their history and plans, the state of the industry and business model, regulation, the challenge of climate change and where micromobility can assist. Joe is an awesome guest, and in a world of hype, keeps a very level head about the potential of this space. This episode is well suited to investors, operators and regulators interested in hearing about why the opportunity Lime/the wider industry offers is far more than just a few scooters on the street.  Specifically we dig into:  - Lime’s history coming out of 2016 Chinese bikeshare bubble, the move into scooters and rapid growth of that business. - Google Ventures investment and how Joe came to be involved. - Joe’s thoughts on business model evolution and how the market will shake out in the short/medium term, especially around a global player vs local competitors. - We dig into regulation, and whether there are parallels to other global/local companies and traditional public transport funding/operation models. - We discuss Lime's policy/operations challenges, using the example of Auckland, New Zealand, where wheel locking issue/death on a scooter lost them the licence in the following round. - We talk about how the binary nature of the businesses ability to operate impacts the structure they have for operations/policy teams to ensure they have sufficient local agency to be responsive. - We talk about the missing gap of a micromobility industry association in terms of advocacy, research and lobbying and what needs to happen to make this a reality. - We talk about how Lime is working to avoid the mistakes that Mobike and Ofo made in the Chinese bikeshare bubble, and Joe’s plans to ensure that Lime stays afloat and relevant for the long term. - We discuss the Call to the Industry that Joe made in Berlin regarding safety, climate and equity of access, and dig in on climate change, and what Lime can/is doing to help push that conversation forward. - We talk about Lime’s plans to reach the next few billion riders, especially in the developing world, and what is needed to make that a reality. It’s one of our best interviews to date - highly recommend checking it out.  Joe will also be speaking at the upcoming the Micromobility America summit coming up April 22-23 in Richmond in the Bay Area. It’ll be an amazing event - we will have industry leaders from all over the world there speaking about the best new ideas in this burgeoning industry. Check out the website (micromobility.io) to get tickets.  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