Lyft's co-founder took a subtle dig at Uber's business model and company culture — without calling it out by name
- In Lyft's IPO roadshow video, Co-Founder John Zimmer hints at its larger rival Uber in making the case for a $23 billion valuation.
- Lyft is set to debut on the Nasdaq on March 29 while Uber is expected to kick off its IPO in April.
- Uber is reportedly seeking a valuation of as much as $120 billion.
Lyft is not pulling any punches as it seeks to raise $2 billion at a $23 billion valuation in its initial public offering ahead of its larger rival, Uber.
In its roadshow video ahead of its March 29 Nasdaq debut, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer says, "There are five key reasons why Lyft wins." (Presumably against Uber.) Uber plays the "Goliath" to Lyft's "David" as it reportedly seeks a valuation as high as $120 billion.
Among those reasons, Zimmer says, "We are founder-led. We have one of the largest and fastest-growing multimodal transportation networks. We are solely focused on consumer transportation. Not food. Not trucking. We have a strong brand based on our strong values. And we have the right autonomous strategy."
While not mentioning Uber by name, Zimmer's "key reasons" seem to allude to Uber, which is infamously not founder-led. Co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick was pressured to resign from the top post in June 2017 after reports of Uber's discriminatory and hostile workplace culture led investors to doubt the company's leadership. Former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi now runs the company, which is expected to kick off its IPO in April, according to Reuters.
Uber has also invested significantly in verticals outside of consumer transportation, including its food delivery service, UberEats, and its trucking service, Uber Freight. Uber plans to double down on its fast-growing meal-delivery service, which has already become the fastest growing meal-delivery service in the US, according to a Business Insider research report from April. CNBC reported in October that UberEats wanted to expand from 50 percent of the U.S. population to 70 percent by the end of 2018.
Lyft, by contrast, has remained focused on the consumer transportation space with its flagship ride sharing program and new initiatives like electric scooters. Both Uber and Lyft have invested in the increasingly-competitive autonomous vehicle space, which Zimmer references in the video.
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lyft's roadshow video.
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