Technological Leadership

"Firms that make early investments in technology can be at a huge advantage against competitors moving forward."

One of the first patents applied for by Lyft was for the following:

"System and method for operating a service to arrange transport among parties through use of mobile devices,” while others refer to more specific features of the company’s operations, which are based on consumers using an app to summon nearby drivers."

The company has been on the forefront of this industry and field. They talk about it in all of their major interviews:

"Our vision is for every ride to be a Lyft ride, where we fill every seat in every car," says Wampler. "We've achieved that vision when the mom in the minivan is Lyft enabled, because technology has removed any friction for her to pass by my house when I need to get to the BART station and that's on the way to where she's going. But it's also the sense of humanity that [Lyft co-founders] John [Zimmer] and Logan [Green] came up with—sitting in the front seat, the fist bump, these rituals. For every ride to be a Lyft ride, we have to fill every seat, and you can't do that if you're only sitting in the back. And by the way, she's not going to pick you up if you only want to do that, she's already chauffeuring other people."