Lessons learned: Lyft CEO draws from industry titans Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates

Lyft CEO David Risher was credited with creating one of Microsoft's earliest and most-successful web properties, and Jeff Bezos lauded him for being a "big part" of what Amazon built. 

Now, drawing on lessons from both industry titans Bill Gates and Bezos, as well as insight from WorldReader board chair Peter Spiro, Risher is trying to reshape the trajectory of a company that once suffered mounting losses. 

WorldReader, co-founded in 2010 by Risher, is dedicated to helping low-income countries read by providing access to digital books.

"It's really satisfying to be able to take the lessons of Microsoft around competition and focus and sort of business discipline and the lessons of Amazon around customer obsession…the lessons of WorldReader around doing more with less, leading with purpose, and very importantly, building strong teams, and apply them to this really interesting space that's still so new," Risher told FOX Business. 

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He also acknowledged his parents for influencing his leadership approach. He spoke highly of his mother, who transitioned from selling encyclopedias to "put food on the table" to becoming a successful business owner, noting her high standards and work ethic.

In April 2023, Risher was tapped to turn Lyft into a profitable business in a competitive market dominated by Uber. The Lyft competitor accounted for 75% of U.S. rideshare spending in January 2024, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. That figure was largely unchanged from December 2023.

Just days after taking over, Risher "significantly" reduced the workforce to bring rider fares in line with its rival, and boost driver pay, which has long been a point of contention.

When making swift and, in some cases, difficult decisions, Risher emphasized the importance of honesty. He learned this from his father, who he described as direct and having very little tolerance for "baloney."

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"It's really hard to cut 26% of the staff," Risher said. "You tell them like this, I know this is terrible. It's terrible. And my job is to figure out a way to create a customer-obsessed organization, and we can't price in the right way without reducing our costs. And I'm sorry, but that's what the implication is." 

His focus on customer obsession is something that he can trace back to his days working alongside Bezos to turn Amazon into much more than an online bookstore.

"His basic insight was, on the internet, everyone is a click away from everyone else. And so, if you don't obsess over your customers, if you're not absolutely centered on your customers, then they will leave you. They will leave you," Risher said. 

Over the past year, Risher has consistently emphasized his commitment to creating a customer-centric organization, even when faced with difficult decisions necessary to guide the company towards profitability.

He said, "it's not just me trying to inspire a company. It's not just me trying to have a clever tagline." 

Rather, he recognized that this terminology is "an example of a leader really saying, you know what? I know what matters…and I'm going to focus my attention on what matters," he continued. 

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While working at Microsoft, Risher learned from Gates that leaders should not necessarily focus on the aspects of a company that is already excelling. He recalled a moment during an executive conference where someone asked Gates about the company's Excel feature.

"He just very honestly, and frankly, very directly said, I don't spend any of my time thinking about Excel because I know that right now we've got, let's say, 60% market share, and I know that's going to go to 80 or 90…. I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to think about that," Risher recalled Gates saying. 

That moment was particularly "revealing" for Risher, as Gates was known to have a strong affinity for Excel. However, once Gates understood that he did not need to prioritize it, he shifted his focus elsewhere because he had more valuable ways to invest his time, Risher explained.

A look back at his first year:

After reducing Lyft's workforce, Risher implemented a variety of features to attract more riders and drivers to the platform. This included introducing an on-time pickup guarantee for airport rides, where customers would receive up to $100 in Lyft credits if the driver was more than 10 minutes late. 

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Also, Lyft launched a feature called Women+ Connect, which matches women and non-binary riders with women and non-binary drivers. The company expanded this feature nationwide last month and announced that drivers would now earn at least 70% of passenger payments after external fees, with a breakdown of where the passenger's fees are allocated.

These initiatives, aimed at addressing drivers' concerns regarding pay and transparency, were rolled out shortly before a wave of app-based drivers from Lyft, Uber, and DoorDash went on strike to advocate for increased wages. 

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While Uber, which just posted its first annual operating profit, is still dominating the sector, Risher made it clear that the industry is still very much in its infancy. 

"We're not at the end of chapter one of how this can change people's lives. Riders and driver's lives," he said. 

When Risher took over, ride growth was at 10%. In the last fiscal quarter, it rose to 26% year over year after accelerating for four consecutive quarters.