this article finally got me to cough up some money.
I live in SF and have followed the story of both for years now. I really like how the optics did actually affect my decisions now that I think about it.
One note as of recent from my house to SFO is about 60-80 bucks. The last few drivers I've talked to got paid 15-20 bucks. That is insane, why are they still doing it?
Ali, you showed admirable restraint in largely leaving Lyft's TikTok spot to speak for itself... it was certainly worthy of harsher rebuke. In that same spirit, I think David Risher deserves a fair amount of honeymoon time to make his mark at Lyft. After all it took Dara a few years to re-focus Uber (with the help of the pandemic forcing function).
But as Barry McCarthy is finding at Peloton, trying to fix a predecessor's mess when the basic problem is a structurally weak business model and hugely disadvantaged market position is neither quick nor easy. Time will tell if it's even possible.
If there's any reason for optimism, it's that David Risher is at least asking the right question: what does Lyft want to be when it grows up? There may not be a good answer, but we know for sure, it has nothing to do with blue cheese.
I had been a fiercely loyal Lyft user, namely because I bought into the narrative that they treated drivers and passengers better. Then I moved. My new house, which I have been in for a year and a half, still isn’t in the app’s database, so I can’t book a ride to or from home. Uber? No problem. (Same for every food delivery app, for that matter.)
Since I was a loyal Lyft Pink member, I tried contacting their customer service department. I’ve never had a worse experience. First was the AI chat that didn’t know how to parse the question. Then I tried email where I bantered back and forth with someone until it became obvious that they had no interest in fixing my problem.
So now I belong to Uber One and can book a ride to the airport without a problem.
this article finally got me to cough up some money.
I live in SF and have followed the story of both for years now. I really like how the optics did actually affect my decisions now that I think about it.
One note as of recent from my house to SFO is about 60-80 bucks. The last few drivers I've talked to got paid 15-20 bucks. That is insane, why are they still doing it?
Ali, you showed admirable restraint in largely leaving Lyft's TikTok spot to speak for itself... it was certainly worthy of harsher rebuke. In that same spirit, I think David Risher deserves a fair amount of honeymoon time to make his mark at Lyft. After all it took Dara a few years to re-focus Uber (with the help of the pandemic forcing function).
But as Barry McCarthy is finding at Peloton, trying to fix a predecessor's mess when the basic problem is a structurally weak business model and hugely disadvantaged market position is neither quick nor easy. Time will tell if it's even possible.
If there's any reason for optimism, it's that David Risher is at least asking the right question: what does Lyft want to be when it grows up? There may not be a good answer, but we know for sure, it has nothing to do with blue cheese.
I had been a fiercely loyal Lyft user, namely because I bought into the narrative that they treated drivers and passengers better. Then I moved. My new house, which I have been in for a year and a half, still isn’t in the app’s database, so I can’t book a ride to or from home. Uber? No problem. (Same for every food delivery app, for that matter.)
Since I was a loyal Lyft Pink member, I tried contacting their customer service department. I’ve never had a worse experience. First was the AI chat that didn’t know how to parse the question. Then I tried email where I bantered back and forth with someone until it became obvious that they had no interest in fixing my problem.
So now I belong to Uber One and can book a ride to the airport without a problem.