Skift Take
While we do see the promise in Lyft and its peers, we think investing legends in Silicon Valley aren't always looking to solve the same problems every day humans have.
Marc Andreessen has created a number of things, but he’s just as likely to go down in history as the leading practitioner of the tweet storm as he is for inventing the Netscape browser.
This afternoon Andreessen took to Twitter in a eleven-part output to explain why he thinks Lyft, the rival to Uber in which Andreessen’s firm Andreessen Horowitz is an investor, is best positioned to transform ground transportation.
The tweet storm was tied to the introduction of Lyft Line, a carpooling app the service introduced today. Andreessen returned to themes we’ve seen in the writings of Uber investor Bill Gurley: environmental benefits, new markets, efficiencies, and the sort.
1/We @a16z are very excited about the launch of Lyft Line, and I want to explain why! http://t.co/Jbz6oU0GeZ https://t.co/b2TVhF5Lvu
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
2/Lyft and Lyft Line are an archetypal example of how Silicon Valley is going straight at the hard problems, in this case transportation.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
3/A growing number of people know about the amazing consumer utility and convenience created by "a ride on demand whenever you want".
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
4/And in parallel, services like Lyft make it possible for people who may otherwise not be able to make car payments to keep their cars.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
5/In many cities, this results in a triple win: Consumer convenience, driver economic benefits, and improved business/tourism environment.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
6/But beyond that, as Lyft and its peers grow, ride sharing becomes increasingly convenient and affordable as *alternative* to owning a car.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
7/This leads to environmental benefits: Fewer cars needed -> less natural resource utilization; Network efficiency -> fewer miles driven.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
8/Online supply/demand matching eliminates need for cars-for-hire to drive around & look for riders. Network optimization in bits not atoms.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
9/Lyft Line is especially environmentally friendly: Facilitates multiple people riding together on same route, still with high convenience!
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
10/Everyone in world wants equivalent to upper-middle-class American lifestyle. Services like Lyft make possible without destroying planet.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
11/Few new tech's deliver so much to so many: riders, drivers, car owners, cities, environment. And to think it just looks like an app :-).
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) August 6, 2014
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