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Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

techinasia.com

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Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#11

Post by crazygringo »

jurassic wrote: post #4

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bike share bike actually being ridden. I have seen rows of bike share bikes sitting parked taking up useful space that could have been allocated more usefully as public parking for people riding bikes they own. I assume there must be some aspect to this business I’m not understanding if they are able to talk cities into giving them valuable street space and investors into backing them t…

> I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bike share bike actually being ridden.

Then come to NYC and spend 60 seconds standing on a corner of an avenue in Manhattan. You'll see tons. Bikes are everywhere, and by my eyes about half are Citibikes.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#12

Post by mrlase »

jurassic wrote: post #4

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bike share bike actually being ridden. I have seen rows of bike share bikes sitting parked taking up useful space that could have been allocated more usefully as public parking for people riding bikes they own. I assume there must be some aspect to this business I’m not understanding if they are able to talk cities into giving them valuable street space and investors into backing them t…

Citibike in NYC is wildly successful.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#13

Post by tyingq »

tossaway1 wrote: post #5

"staff this week told salary payments will be delayed until February 10, 2018" For real?? What sane person would continue working for them at this point? Might as well say February 10, 2028...

I guess I would come in and solely work on finding my next job until I either landed it or got fired.

Then there would be the off chance I'd get paid later for the search.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#14

Post by dandr01d »

jurassic wrote: post #4

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bike share bike actually being ridden. I have seen rows of bike share bikes sitting parked taking up useful space that could have been allocated more usefully as public parking for people riding bikes they own. I assume there must be some aspect to this business I’m not understanding if they are able to talk cities into giving them valuable street space and investors into backing them t…

In Seattle I’ve seen all 3 types of ridesharing bikes (LimeBike, Spin, Ofo) being used fairly frequently - especially when it’s nice outside.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#15

Post by synicalx »

shusson wrote: post #6

In Sydney you're required to wear a helmet, and there are not many people willing share helmets...

At least the helmets don't have people's junk and a sweat on them all the time. Whole thing is pretty gross when you think about it.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#16

Post by thisisit »

Why is it "shocking"? That is never explained in the article.

From the looks of it their two revenue models were advertising and flat user fees.

So the fees would have been super low to get as many customers on the platform and the ad dollars were not exactly rolling in.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#17

Post by londons_explore »

thisisit wrote: post #16

Why is it "shocking"? That is never explained in the article. From the looks of it their two revenue models were advertising and flat user fees. So the fees would have been super low to get as many customers on the platform and the ad dollars were not exactly rolling in.

Their revenue was deposits made by users to use the service.

If every user has to pay $60 refundable security deposit to get started, and you can attract a million users to try your service a couple of times, you can quickly pay for a few thousand bikes.

The vast majority of users will then forget to reclaim their deposit.

OBike for example reminds users who try to refund their deposit that if they want to sign up again there will be a fee to pay. That discourages users from claiming the refund because they think "huh - I might want to use this again in the future, and if I do, I don't want to pay a fee".

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#18

Post by londons_explore »

revelation wrote: post #3

As I see it, these guys took US$60 million from VCs and used it to donate 350000 perfectly robust bicycles to some parts of the world most in need of modern transportation (SF). They are goddamn heroes. If you gave the same money to the SFCTA they would probably build a mile of highway facsimile.

The bikes really are pretty bad. They have Bluetooth locks, so if the company goes bankrupt I doubt anyone will be able to take on the fleet.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#19

Post by tinus_hn »

tstyle wrote: post #7
revelation wrote: post #3

As I see it, these guys took US$60 million from VCs and used it to donate 350000 perfectly robust bicycles to some parts of the world most in need of modern transportation (SF). They are goddamn heroes. If you gave the same money to the SFCTA they would probably build a mile of highway facsimile.

> (Bluegogo) holds tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in deposits from its approximate 15 million users, which many now fear cannot be refunded. These guys took millions from users in the form of deposits.

So as a user you should take one bike and hold it as leverage. If they don’t return the deposit you sell the bike.

Re: Shock as $140m bike-share startup CEO goes AWOL ahead of impending collapse

#20

Post by revelation »

londons_explore wrote: post #18
revelation wrote: post #3

As I see it, these guys took US$60 million from VCs and used it to donate 350000 perfectly robust bicycles to some parts of the world most in need of modern transportation (SF). They are goddamn heroes. If you gave the same money to the SFCTA they would probably build a mile of highway facsimile.

The bikes really are pretty bad. They have Bluetooth locks, so if the company goes bankrupt I doubt anyone will be able to take on the fleet.

They are much better for commuting use than any Walmart mountain bike ever was.

And the bluetooth lock without the company monitoring it.. that's just another wheel lock. They are not very secure at all.

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