On today's episode Horace and Oliver are joined by Corinne Vogel, head of operations at Smide bikeshare based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Smide is a high-end e-bike share system, with speed pedelec bikes that travel up to 30mph/45kph. It's using a completely different approach to the rapid blanket approach from e-scooter rollouts we're seeing elsewhere. It's a fascinating discussion.
Specifically, we touch on:
- who and what their customers are, why they choose Smide over other options and how this parallels to iPhone market positioning.
- the importance of having good relationships with cities (and how they're loved by the governments they work with)
- their unique crowdlending model for financing the launch of new cities
- how they deploy user incentives to help load-balance the network, and the importance of having vehicles that go >70km / 50miles per charge
As always, let us know what you think on Twitter at @asymco or @oliverbruce. Thanks!