Travis VanderZanden was born to improve public transportation which he is now revolutionizing through the foundation of Bird-a company that rents electric scooters in cities through an app. Growing up in a single mother home, he often went with his mom to work which in his case was the bus stop. She was a Valley Transit bus driver in Appleton, Wisconson for over 30 years. It was during those times riding on her bus that VanderZanden first identified problems with the wait time, traffic, parking, and so on in the transportation realm.
Although the roots of his most recent innovation were planted very early on, there were many steps in between then and his foundation of Bird. Always possessing the determination and drive to succeed, VanderZanden worked hard for his education, started a couple short-lived companies, and made it high up in the rankings of other businesses before his big breakthrough with Bird in 2016. His first two startup attempts were QikCom (2008), an enterprise communication app, then Cherry, a car-wash app he started in 2011. Cherry was bought by Lyft where he took his turn as COO. After a fallout, VanderZanden was picked up by their rival, Uber, as Vice President of Driver Growth. After a twisted mess of lawsuits between the companies over his switch, Vanderzanden left in 2016-the year his breakthrough idea came about.
Travis VanderZanden (founder) riding a Bird
Planted by childhood experiences with his mother, the idea of Bird culminated with another family experience when his daughters wanted to keep riding their scooters even after receiving bikes for Christmas. This struck him with the idea of scooters for adults which snowballed into Bird. VanderZanden’s whole goal with Bird and whatever he has in store for the future is centered around minimizing the number of cars on the road and making public transportation more accessible. Bird is so revolutionary it has shaken cities and rattled local governments as they react to this radical change in travel which the laws of the road were not prepared for. Bird certainly has obstacles to overcome with educating the public and ensuring safety, but this is to be expected with such a major innovation. This endeavor has incredible potential shown by the annual revenue at upwards of $100 million within the first 14 months-a faster takeoff than even Airbnb and Uber!
When I was in Nashville this past summer, there were so many of these scooters laying on the sidewalks and in use. There was even a lady that crawled down an embankment to get one, she was so desperate to have it! It’s crazy to think that something commonly thought of as a child’s toy can, with certain modifications and marketing, be reinvented as a popular means of transportation in bigger cities.
Bird has definitely changed the way we travel around cities. It is a growing market and will help improve cities as a whole
I want one!! This is a great example of shifting your potential customer from children to adults.
It’s interesting to learn about how such a new innovation was invented. The Inspiration for Bird is so unique and shows how if we keep an eye on how we can make everyday life easier and better, a new innovation is bound to happen. I love using these scooters because of their style and convenience.