1/ Some thoughts on the e-scooter market and especially as it pertains to Bird. For starters they were just named "Company of the Year" by Inc Magazine
inc.com/magazine/20190…
inc.com/magazine/20190…
2/ The growth in cities, scooters, staff & software is truly at a staggering growth rate whatever the people who Tweet negativity about the sector may be saying. This has been one of the most important shifts in consumer transportation behavior. What Segway dreamed of
3/ Might some Bird's have to fly south for the winter due to weather? Sure. Probable. It's still an enormous and transformational sector
4/ When you see unprecedented "leaks" about M&A at least ask yourself - who might have something to gain by these stories being written and what might their motives be? I don't know the answer but I can use my imagination
5/ Everybody wants to know about fund raising. Newsflash - startups are always raising capital. No news here. Fast growing companies can consume a great deal of capital including CAPEX.
6/ Were scooter valuations aggressive? Maybe. Time will tell. People said that same about Uber at $3 billion. I can tell you the revenue growth is real, the market adoption is palpable and cities are learning to embrace this phenomenon
7/ Who would want to talk down the prospects of the scooter phenomenon? Who would try to make fund raising harder? Well, who has the most to lose if Scooters eat transportation dollars? Maybe start there.
8/ I'm enormously proud of the achievements of @BirdRide who deserve Inc's Company of the Year. Pretty amazing to think that they've also been on the road for the past year. Nearly every city or campus I visit they have had an impact.
9/ I'm also enormously proud of my home city @santamonicacity for embracing the change and helping plan a future with more mobility, increased safety & decreased local car congestion. They are balancing the needs & interests of all constituents. Change is hard.
10/ Finally, other than those with a profit motive to oppose Bird & the scooter movement - we should all root for their success. It's an important & viable alternative transportation to reduce carbon, congestion & cars more broadly. Oh, and it's fun as hell #ParisByBird 
