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Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

businessinsider.com

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Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#41

Post by brvsft »

ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #3
josefresco wrote: post #2

> The global shutdown of major cities in the Covid pandemic hit the scooter startup hard, forcing it to pull all of its scooters from US and European markets Why did something like COVID effect the use and "contactless" rental of scooters? Was this just collateral damage or did specific changes on laws/regulations cause the pull out?

It is possible that potential customers just had fewer events and open places worth scooting to.

I would also wager that potential repeat customers eventually just bought their own scooter. It's not like they're particularly expensive. If you really enjoyed using one of these, why rent? (I know there are reasons, e.g. I wouldn't want one of those batteries in my house at all. But my point is simply that they can be inexpensive, especially compared to the price of renting.)

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#42

Post by ToucanLoucan »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #26
ToucanLoucan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly alongside everything else (people hated them and their chargers, they got stolen constantly, etc. etc. etc.) the scooters themselves have collapsed in price, you can pick one up at Best Buy now for like $500. And yeah that's a lot but most of the people who were interested in renting them were a little upmarket anyway, so once they became affordable(ish) why would you rent one when you could own one?

What I want to know is where I can (legally) pick up used Bird or Lime or Spin or Ofo or Skip scooters. Are they all going in the trash?

Almost certainly. I've seen photos of the acres and acres of perfectly good ebikes being piled up. Makes me absolutely sick to see such utter waste.

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#43

Post by floren »

zwieback wrote: post #25

How is the scooter rental market in general? In Portland I pretty much just see Lime now and maybe one out ten is being used, others are parked at the top of steep hills.

I used them a bit in Denver this fall. There were plenty of Lyft and Lime scooters around (I used the Lyft ones, because I already had the app installed). People were about 50/50 on riding them in the (pretty damn decent) bike lanes vs being sociopathic assholes brushing past pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#44

Post by jjtheblunt »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #40
troupo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's the true "innovation" that has been coming out of Silicon Valley for the past 10 years or so: losing hundreds of millions or billions of dollars for years without as much as a hint of a plan to become profitable.

Sounds like a pump and dump with extra steps. Hype up any obvious future failure to pump the stock to crazy valuations, then dump and leave the suckers holding the bags. All enabled by zero interest rates, and VCs were willing to fund some because they knew there's gonna be other suckers out there to enable them to raise the valuations.

The zero interest rates make getting loans cheap, but aren’t there angel investors who lose their investments recommended by VCs?

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#45

Post by RandallBrown »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #23
syndicatedjelly wrote: post #13

How do you go bankrupt as a company renting powered scooters, which are possibly the cheapest possible mode of transportation just above a Craigslist bike? Incredible

Honestly alongside everything else (people hated them and their chargers, they got stolen constantly, etc. etc. etc.) the scooters themselves have collapsed in price, you can pick one up at Best Buy now for like $500. And yeah that's a lot but most of the people who were interested in renting them were a little upmarket anyway, so once they became affordable(ish) why would you rent one when you could own one?

> why would you rent one when you could own one?

Because storing them and dealing with them is a massive pain. I use these scooters way more than I use my bike, and it's not because I don't want to pedal.

When I go out on a scooter I like the flexibility of leaving it at the first place I go. This prevents me from needing to leave my bike parked overnight if I decide to go somewhere else that isn't bike friendly. Not to mention that stealing scooters is really easy and bringing them inside most places isn't really an option.

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#47

Post by soco »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #10
josefresco wrote: post #2

> The global shutdown of major cities in the Covid pandemic hit the scooter startup hard, forcing it to pull all of its scooters from US and European markets Why did something like COVID effect the use and "contactless" rental of scooters? Was this just collateral damage or did specific changes on laws/regulations cause the pull out?

I don't know about other locales, but here, in France, people weren't supposed to wander too far away from their homes. Basically, you were only allowed to go to work if you absolutely couldn't work from home – and many people were staying home because their businesses were shut down. You were not supposed to go visit a friend on the other side of town. "Non-essential" stores were closed, so no reason to go too far a…

But how long was that restriction in place?

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#48

Post by adhesive_wombat »

It's wild to me how these things get these valuations. It's just a scooter and an app. There's demonstrably barely any technical moat here. The only possible way to stay afloat at that kind of value long term is if your scooters are somehow substantially better and your competitors can't ever catch up, you managed to freeze out everyone else though aggressive lobbying, or you manage to somehow be the only socially acceptable option to some group of fashion victims who care what colour paint their tech company uses.

Plus you've weighed yourself down with thousands of just about the fastest-depreciating device you can physically make.

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#49

Post by Keegs »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #26
ToucanLoucan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly alongside everything else (people hated them and their chargers, they got stolen constantly, etc. etc. etc.) the scooters themselves have collapsed in price, you can pick one up at Best Buy now for like $500. And yeah that's a lot but most of the people who were interested in renting them were a little upmarket anyway, so once they became affordable(ish) why would you rent one when you could own one?

What I want to know is where I can (legally) pick up used Bird or Lime or Spin or Ofo or Skip scooters. Are they all going in the trash?

I had the same question a month ago when Revel ended its moped sharing program. What do you do with a fleet of several thousand electric mopeds? Apparently, send them all to recycling plants.

Re: Bird, once valued at $2.5B, just filed for bankruptcy

#50

Post by linuxftw »

floren wrote: post #43
zwieback wrote: post #25

How is the scooter rental market in general? In Portland I pretty much just see Lime now and maybe one out ten is being used, others are parked at the top of steep hills.

I used them a bit in Denver this fall. There were plenty of Lyft and Lime scooters around (I used the Lyft ones, because I already had the app installed). People were about 50/50 on riding them in the (pretty damn decent) bike lanes vs being sociopathic assholes brushing past pedestrians on the sidewalk.

What's worse: being hit on foot by a scooter, or being hit on scooter by a city bus?
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