Lyft’s Values: Class is in Session
Imagine you run a cash intensive business with a large and ferocious competitor
YOU have good tech <=> THEY have good/better tech
YOU have a war chest <=> THEY have a bigger war chest
YOU have a strong brand <=> THEY have an even stronger brand,
Together you have burned through $ billions, and then… they stumble! YES! YES! YES!
Ok wait… what’s the strategy?! Do we stop and just breath? Do we try to slay the giant? Do we stall? Expand? Contract? Wha-do-we-do?! What do our values teach?
Let's see how Lyft uses values as a guide...
"The faults of our competition don't do anything to deliver a better experience for our customers"- Lyft Co-founders [4]
Lyft‘s Mission Statement:
Our mission is to reconnect people through transportation and bring communities together [1][2]
Lyft‘s Vision:
Let’s imagine you sign up for – just like you have with Spotify or Netflix – a monthly subscription to Lyft. -Lyft Co-founder and President John Zimmer.[5]
Lyft‘s Core Values:
1) Make It Happen [3]
2) Uplift Others [3]
3) Create Fearlessly [3]
4) Be Yourself [3]
Primary Source(s):
[1] https://twitter.com/lyft/status/577558134698348544, Company’s Official Twitter Account tweeting to Co-Founder Logan Green (12:52 PM - 16 Mar 2015). https://twitter.com/logangreen
[2] https://blog.lyft.com/posts/2015/3/11/accelerating-the-lyft-movement, Official Company Blog (March 11, 2015). “Accelerating the Lyft Movement”,
[3] https://www.lyft.com/jobs/training-manager, Lyft Internal Career/Jobs Site. Training Manager Position, Last viewed July 6, 2017
Secondary Source(s):
[4] http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/22/technology/business/lyft-uber-gloating/index.html, Fiegerman, Seth (June 22, 2017). “Lyft tells employees not to gloat over UBER crises”, CNN Tech. Lyft Co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer.
[5] https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/18/lyft-self-driving-network-plan/, Etherington, Darrell (2016). “Lyft’s ambitious future vision includes self-driving dominance by 2021”, Tech Crunch.com
Source(s) Disclaimer:
We have a strong preference for primary sources (i.e. direct statements issued from the company) when citing purpose/mission/vision/values. We believe that the wording and availibity of these statements are THE BEST indicator of the company’s commitment to operating a purposeful organization. Often times primary sources are not easily accessible via normal channels (books, official websites, social media, sec filings, job postings, executive interviews, etc) and must we reluctantly rely on secondary sources (aka hearsay). We caution against relying too heavily on information from secondary sources. Please contact us at info.campfireconsulting@gmail.com with any comments, corrections, or updates.