Bird, das erste Scooter-Startup, das längst nicht mehr das einzige ist, ist heute in über 100 Städten aktiv (außerhalb der USA u.a. Paris und Wien). Bird gehört zu den Scooter-Startups, die Mobility aktiv weiterdenken. Deshalb immer interessant, wenn Bird-Gründer und CEO Travis VanderZanden ein Interview gibt.
TechCrunch fasst ein Interview zusammen. Über den Hintergrund zu Bird Zero, das erste selbst entwickelte Modell:
The company unveiled Bird Zero, in October, equipped with a digital screen to display riders’ speed, a tougher exterior and improved battery life.
“2018 was about scaling,” he said. “2019 is about really focusing on the unit economics of the business.”
Vom Oktober, als Bird Zero vorgestellt wurde:
Dubbed Bird Zero, the scooters have 60 percent more battery life, and better ride stability and durability than the original model. There’s also an integrated digital screen to display your speed.
“We call it Bird Zero because it’s the first vehicle we’ve designed and engineered ourselves specifically for the shared electric scooter space,” Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden told TechCrunch this morning.
Bird, in partnership with Okai, designed and manufactured the scooter from the ground up. Bird handled the design and Okai handled the manufacturing. But for now, the plan is to continue working with multiple vehicle manufacturers, VanderZanden said.
“What I will say is the Bird Zero is designed specifically for this use case so we’re going to keep watching and getting feedback from our rider and charger community,” he said.
Neben dem Bird Zero vielleicht auch noch zum Beispiel E-Bikes von Bird? Das scheint erst einmal nicht der Plan zu sein:
“Yeah, we think about it,” he said. “We [aren’t] religious [about] scooters per se, we just think it’s the thing people like the most so that’s where we started and we think that’s the best thing to do now. We get excited about micromobility generally… We are open and looking at all sorts of different short-range electric vehicles in the future.”
Spannender da eher die Aussagen über „Bird Platform„, das Franchise-Modell von Bird, das die Expansion des Dienstes extrem beschleunigen dürfte:
On Bird Platform: Last year, Bird began selling its electric scooters to entrepreneurs and small business owners, who can then rent them out as part of a service called Bird Platform. VanderZanden said the service has opened Bird up to tons of new markets.
“From early on at Bird, we had people asking ‘hey, how do we take Bird to my city,’” he said. “We thought why don’t we empower the local entrepreneurs to take Bird to their market… Now we have people from 77 countries from around the world that are interested in taking Bird to their market, which is exciting because there is no way we as a company could get there in the short-term. This is a way to bring Bird to the world.”
Besonders interessant ist die Verbindung aus „Bird Platform“-Franchise und eigens konzipierten Modellen. Da verwischt die Grenze zwischen Hardwarhersteller, Softwareplattform und auf Endnutzer ausgerichteten Service (was in diesem Fall auch stark auf Flottenmanagement hinausläuft). Was sollte sinnvoll von einem Bird (et al) kommen, was sollte ausgelagert sein?
In diesem Zusammenhang sind Premium-Dienste wie Bird Delivery auch sehr vielversprechend:
With Bird Delivery, riders can request a Bird be delivered to their home or office by 8 a.m. From there, the rider can use it throughout the day.
Wenig überraschend ist VanderZanden überzeugt von der Zukunft von Micromobility:
VanderZanden explained that despite a long-held interest in transportation — his mother was a public school bus driver for 30 years — he’s only recently come to understand the industry’s most urgent needs. He plans to put more energy in transportation infrastructure in 2019 as a result.
“The deeper I get into transportation, the more I realize we don’t need autonomous vehicles, we need tunnels, all we need are more bike lanes,” he said.
