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In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Sam Lessin, an early VP of Product at Facebook and currently co-founder and GP at Slow Ventures, a generalist early-stage VC firm with offices in San Francisco and Boston. We explore how autonomous vehicles—particularly Waymo—are already changing everyday life in San Francisco, and why Sam believes their biggest impact may be on families.

Sam shares what he’s observed about Waymo’s progress over the past few years, why kids and childcare could be the real unlock for autonomy, and how AVs might reduce the financial and career tradeoffs that come with parenting. We also dig into practical questions, including what age it could make sense for a child to ride alone in a robotaxi, how autonomous vehicles could make suburban living more appealing, and what that shift could mean for housing and real estate.

We compare autonomous rides to human-driven services like Uber, discuss Waymo’s pricing and cost structure, and examine how widespread AV adoption could expand the overall ridesharing market. The conversation also covers the short and long term effects of autonomy and automation, from job displacement and birth rates to investment opportunities in AVs.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction to Sam Lessin

(03:20) What Sam has noticed about Waymo in San Francisco over the last few years

(05:10) Why Waymo’s biggest impact will be with kids and childcare

(08:00) The financial and career cost of having kids, and how Waymo can help

(09:50) What age does Sam think is appropriate for a kid to use a Waymo?

(10:50) How Waymo makes the suburbs more appealing, and it’s impact on real estate

(14:10) How AVs compare to human driven rideshare like Uber

(16:30) Short and long term effects of AV proliferation: Job loss, ridesharing Total Addressible Market (TAM), birth rates

(18:19) Insights on Waymo pricing and cost vs rideshare

(19:58) How AVs and automation could make parenting easier

(22:03) Investment opportunities in the advent of AVs and AI

(25:27) Conclusion and final thoughts

Notes/Links:

* You can find Sam on Linkedin (link).

* You can also find him on Twitter/X (link).

* Sam’s personal website (link).

* Slow Ventures’ website (link).

* Sam’s post about Waymo replacing nanny and parent chauffeur jobs, mentioned at the 05:12 timestamp (link).

* My previous podcast episode with Brad Hargreaves explaining the effect of robotaxis on real estate, mentioned at the 22:11 timestamp (link).

Designing Charging Hubs for Autonomous Fleets

We are excited to partner with Terawatt, one of the leading providers of charging infrastructure. To learn more about Terawatt’s network of AV charging hubs and track record of 99%+ uptime, reach out to Logan Szidik at [email protected]

-Harry

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