Lyft co-founder John Zimmer recalls when Uber had raised $3 billion to Lyft's $100 million, threatening the company's survival. He credits partnership with Logan Green and commitment to core values for keeping the company focused through the brutal competition. The rivalry pushed Lyft to innovate on driver tipping, flexible rentals, and driver welfare.
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I mean, this became almost like a blood sport for some time, right? This competition between Uber and Lyft, and it was really— I mean, Uber wanted to crush you guys. Yeah. And there was dirty tricks. There were all kinds of things that were going on. It's all in the public domain. How did you deal with that? Like, how did you deal with that just from a stress level?
It was very hard. I have an amazing co-founder, Logan Green, who's a— we didn't know each other before we started working together. There's a lot of stories of friends who start things together. We started something together and became friends. And we're two very different people that have found an amazing partnership. I have a great wife who is very supportive, but it was very difficult. We woke up one day, it was about 4 or 5 years ago, and Uber has raised $3 billion. And we had $100 million left in the bank, which is a lot of money, but only a few more months left, and now you have this crazy competitor who wants to kill you. That was definitely tough, but I think we stayed focused on our values. We stayed focused on our vision and our mission, and just put our heads down and executed, and tried our best not to get distracted.
A lot of people here are building are building ideas that will inevitably attract copycats, inevitably attract competitors, even brutal competitors. What have you learned about your competition with Uber that might help someone figure out how to deal with their own competitors?
Yeah, so if you think back 5 years ago, everyone said we were dead. Right. There are very few people, like, thank you to the investors that believed in us, Most people told us we were dead, and that, I mean, if you look at the odds, $3 billion, a strong competitor, network effects as part of the business. But values do matter. Treating people well does matter, and having a mission that you focus on and care about more deeply than someone else, in the end, really matters. So I would just say focus on what you can control, and there are good forces at play.
Uber is a good product. Lyft is a good product. They do things really well. You guys do things really well. I'm curious how that competition has actually made Lyft better.
Yeah, it's a great point. The competition has absolutely created more urgency. More focus, more prioritization. I think we've been better able to serve our drivers and passengers, and same for them. We started tipping for drivers. We started rental cars that are completely flexible on a weekly basis for drivers. We started this idea of treating drivers well, which is shocking that it's an idea and not obvious. And so I think in this case, competition has been a good thing.
And I mean, are there things that they did that inspired you guys to make changes and to try things?
I'm sure. Absolutely. I'm sure there are. Yes, please. Support for How I Built This comes from American Express. Don't do business without it.
