
Bird lays off up to 5% of workforce - pseudolus
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/14/bird-lays-off-up-to-5-of-workforce/
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013a
> The recent events are a reflection of shifting geographical needs

You know, I think what they're experiencing is, uh, Winter. This might be a
foreign concept for people who live in sunny Santa Monica, so I'll explain:
for about 5 months in most of the US, it gets really cold outside, kind of
like your freezer. Crystalized water falls from the sky, and riding a scooter
becomes both dangerous and very uncomfortable, so most people don't do it.
Unlike, say, Uber, your revenue will likely take a real big hit during this
time, instead of increasing.

More bad news for you, this does happen every year. Heck, in many of your
largest markets, like Minneapolis and Chicago, it can last up to 8 months!

I'm available for hire if you need boots on the ground in this part of the
country. First recommendation: Maybe don't keep hundreds of scooters on the
streets during heavy snowfall! As far as I could tell, the total scooter
capacity didn't decrease substantially over the past four months, no one was
riding them, and I'm sure they took a lot of damage from the bad weather.
Hunker down and wait for the sun!

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mayneack
It's been really cold in LA for the last month. We have weather too.

[https://la.curbed.com/2019/3/1/18246745/los-angeles-cold-
wea...](https://la.curbed.com/2019/3/1/18246745/los-angeles-cold-weather-
temperature-record-february)

~~~
labster
We have four seasons in L.A.: Fire, Flash Flood, Earthquake, and Awards.

Seriously, I've been noticing the cold. I haven't had to wear long pants for
the whole season in over a decade. It feels so normal, going back to how it
was in my childhood, but I know it's only a brief respite from climate change.

~~~
Zarath
In Minneapolis, we say: Winter, and Construction.

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graaben
I live in LA and the scooter situation is starting to get out of hand, at last
count we had 5 companies competing in my neighborhood. I think it does solve a
necessary problem, but there are easily 5+ scooters for every rider now. I
fail to see how any of them can get this to profitability soon, let alone all
5.

~~~
jdavis703
To put this in perspective, there are about 8 parking spaces for every car in
the US [0]. A parking lot costs about $5,000 to $50,000 per space, depending
on if it’s a gravel lot vs a parking garage. Yet parking lot operators and
rental car companies are still able to make a profit.

0: [https://www.nrdc.org/experts/david-b-goldstein/does-every-
ca...](https://www.nrdc.org/experts/david-b-goldstein/does-every-car-
need-8-parking-spaces-ride-sharing-can-save-emissions)

Edited to remove sarcastic wording.

~~~
WrtCdEvrydy
If people weren't bad actors, I bet you a ride sharing company where you can
just get into a car and drive around with it would make big money.

Just charge per minute and allow the owner to track the position continuously.

~~~
jimmy1
How do you think rental car companies stay in business? You are still liable
for the damage to the car if you blatantly abuse it, and you are still liable
for property damage or accidents in states that require insurance and insure
the driver.

This is just a car rental for a shorter amount of time. And in D.C. we had
something called ZipCar which was pretty close to that.

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newnewpdro
When I was in the bay area zipcars were consistently driven by some of the
worst drivers on the road.

It's like tourists in rental cars but worse, since these people often have
_never_ owned a car and drive very infrequently. I know people who never drove
until their 30s then got a drivers license just to access zipcars. They're
exceptionally bad drivers.

~~~
jimmy1
Right but it doesn't matter if they are bad drivers. They are still liable for
damages and any accidents they cause. If you get in a wreck/get a ticket in a
ZipCar, it is still _your_ insurance that goes up, and points on _your_
license, and _you_ have to pay the ticket.

~~~
newnewpdro
Which means nothing to the other drivers and pedestrians sharing space with
these hazardous nuisances.

Personally I prefer these people use electric scooters than N-thousand-pound
>100HP vehicles.

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kozikow
When I discuss with friends outside of Bay Area the electric scooters startups
are one of symbols of Silicon Valley loosing the touch with reality.

Not saying they are necessarily not viable, just that is how the rest of the
world sees us.

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saintPirelli
Here in Vienna there are three companies competing, with Bird having
significantly reduced their radius of operation, it is practically unusable
now. We have a few "startup-hubs" here and I don't think you can reach a
single one by Bird, which seems like a bad strategy.

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croisillon
four at the moment (Lime, Bird, Tier, Wynd) and a few more in the planning
(Flash, VOI, Arolla)

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saintPirelli
I have never even heard of Wynd, tried a websearch, DDG says it's either a
Scottish poet or a small lane and Google says it's a portable air purifier. I
think it's just called WIND?

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croisillon
you're right, it's a I
[https://www.wind.co/austria/](https://www.wind.co/austria/)

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Simulacra
I love the scooters in Washington DC, and I don’t really mind that there are
all these different companies. Eventually they will consolidate and will get
two or three really good ones, and all will be great. Parking is miserable
here, but it makes it more tolerable when I park six blocks from where I need
to be, and scooter over.

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blhack
I personally would love to see cities pouring funding into these scooter
companies. For me, at least, they are infinitely more useful than the other
public transportation options I have available.

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smadge
These birds are out of control.

~~~
p1mrx
HR leaves the window open; pigeon lands, pecks at the Del key.

