#kidult t-shirt
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The Colors of You // C.SC
Mini Series || will contain adult themes and language, minors do not interact!!
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Overall Warnings: idol!seungcheol x gradstudent!reader,Afro-IndoLatina!woc, implied curve/plus-sized woc!, emotionally constipated reader, seungcheol is lowkey a simp but so is reader and neither are that good at hiding it, reader considers herself demisexual, reader and seungcheol have a discussion on curly hair maintenance at some point, arguments occur, this is for my tall girlies,reader is just an inch or two shorter than cheol, seungcheol on his glucose guardian agenda, kkuma makes an appearance, pouty cheol, a bit cutesy, a bit domestic, a bit angsty, smut in various ways, reader has tattoos, seungcheol has some not so innocent realizations about himself, I think that's all for now.
A/N: I do not own Seventeen or any of the members. This is a work of fiction and not meant to accurately depict any of the members personality in real life as I only know what I've been shown. Seventeen and any other mentioned idol are just used as face claims and character names.
Unofficial Playlist:
Kidult - SVT
Amazing - Kiana Lede
Naughty - Devita
Natural - Kiana Lede
ë (Me) - ìì€ìż±ì€ (S.COUPS)
It's a work in progress, I'll update it later.
1.Color Rush - release date: 23rd or 24th November 2024. To be rescheduled
Summary: Youïżœïżœïżœd never given much thought to the idea of meeting your probe. Having spent your entire life as a mono, your color spectrum limited to the multiple shades of gray, youâd gotten used to it. You had never met anyone who made you see color so you had figured there wasnât anyone out there that would bring color to your world. You were okay with that, youâve seen what finding a probe can do to a mono and you refused to become like that. You liked your simple life but you had no idea that all that was about to change. All it took was one VIP ticket, your eyes locking with the leader of one of the biggest groups in the world and suddenly thereâs an explosion of color popping around your irises before you pass out.
2. Color Drive - release date: tba!
Summary: Somehow you've been convinced to give this 'thing' -because calling it a relationship makes it seem too real- a chance. You both agree to take things slow while he's away but even though you agreed you're still hesitant and skeptical. Trying to keep him at a distance proves difficult even when he's thousands of miles away because there's one thing that Choi Seungcheol is, it's determined, a bit clingy and very stubborn. Despite continuously trying to break down those walls you've built so damn high, he starts feeling like he's the only one trying. One phone call turns into an argument which in turn leads to you going radio silent. The last place he expects to run into you is at his favorite restaurant while he's visiting home during their short break for the holidays.
3.Color Me In - release date: tba!
Summary: Tour is finally over and while he has some time to rest you're about to start another semester. It doesn't stop him from trying to be in your space every chance he gets or spending money on KTX tickets to have you in his no matter how much you protest. Seungcheol doesn't remember the last time he's felt like this or if he's ever felt like this before but he's 100% sure that you were made for him and him for you. You on the other hand, as much as you keep denying it you know you're falling hard and deeply despite it barely being five months since you both met. He makes it so easy too that you only realize how down bad you are when he's not in your orbit. When his scent has faded from your space and you find yourself missing him. If Seungcheol had noticed the number of t-shirts and hoodies that disappeared during that winter then he makes no mention of it because lowkey or maybe high-key he already knows how you feel. Him finding out that heâs your bias may have clued him in on that but a win is a win.
Release date schedule may change, I'm up to my neck in assignments for grad school so please bare with me. I'm trying to complete and edit the first part which will probably be posted before or after my conference in Seoul next weekend. I'm aiming to have part 2 out by the end of December or early January. The timeline is loosely following real life with the tour dates and such so the final part (subject to change depending on its performance) is set for February 2025. It's a loose schedule that I would like to finish during winter break as long as research and work don't drown me.
#choi seungcheol#seventeen#seventeen scoups#choi seungcheol x oc#seungcheol smut#svt#scoups#scoups smut#seungcheol#seventeen seungcheol#seventeen reactions#seventeen scenarios#seventeen smut#svt smut#svt imagines#svt x reader#svt fluff#svt fics#svt fanfic#seungcheol x reader#seungcheol fluff#cheol#svt scoups#seungcheol scenarios#seungcheol imagines#seungcheol fanfic
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oh ok slay!!!!
hi high - loona
invincible - triple s
t-shirt - shontelle
talk - beabadoobee
off the record - ive
kidult - seventeen
i know itâs over - jeff buckley
tagging: @bywons @equalheart @fariest @heembie @junityy @tyunni @neos127
TAG GAME!
rules: pick a song for every letter of your url and tag that many people!
kendi dĂŒĆen aÄlamaz (ahmet hatipoÄlu)
out of the blue (rini)
i'll see you there tomorrow (txt)
sandie (michael kaneko, yu sakai)
half of my heart (josh makazo)
uleum (mokyeo)
aÄlama ben aÄlarım (canozan)
tagging: @mosviqu @kyuzuberri @wonfilms @kyuala @serafilms @stealanity @lilacnini (tagged by the lovely @wonryllis thank you beloved!!)
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The following CC list is no longer available for download
I'd got tons of messages these days that said my old hairsâ download links are broken. And I thought the need to make an clear noticement in public.
In conclusion, my old hair cc created before September 2018 are no longer available for download. I don't want to share them anymore because of their pathetic quality. If you have my old creations already, feel free to use but please do not re-upload or share with others. â CCs of the following list are no longer available for download;
[ Hairs ]
All of 4to3 conversion hairs
Newsea J221m edit
MMSIMS 02 edit
Maysims 271 edit
Maysims 87 edit
TS3 Bucket Hat Hair set
Bandana Hair 01~03
Hoseok (remake version HERE)
Taehyung (remake version HERE)
Blood, Sweat & Tears set
Yoongi
Peter
Trixie
Bucky
Peter & Bucky Toddler conversion
Isaac
Jinwoo
Daydream
Felix
Kenny
Isaac & Daydream Toddler conversion
Daniel
Familiar
Abel
Fake Love
Tear
Luke
Harry
Stanley
Jeremy
Lincoln
Ferragamo
Belcher
Mullet
Love Maze
134340
Trauma
Jack
Cockatoo
Rider
Nitta
Wanda
[ Clothes ]
Simple T-shirts
Simple Yukata
Tucked-In Simple Tee
Simple Halfneck Sweat Shirt
Kidult T-shirts
Traditional Mens Yukata
Fashion Suit Jacket (remake version HERE)
Slim Tie Suit Jacket
Turtleneck Jacket set
Movie Hangout Kimono Jacket edit
Vintage Suit Jacket (remake version HERE)
Vintage Three Piece Suit Jacket
[ Genetics ]
Simple Eyes
Clear Eyes
Hope you understand my decision. And from now on, I don't answer any question about old creations' download. Thank you and have a nice day!Â
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BIGBANG - GD
youtube
You can find this sim in The Sims 4 Gallery with the name: Kwon Jiyong. Or on my Gallery page. My account name is CButtonc.
ⶠDOWNLOADS      [ original styling, shown in the video ] (required for the sim to look right + remember to enable them in the settings!) These include all the different styles I created for the sim!
â„ Skin/Face/Hair/Makeup/Tattoos/etc.
kijiko-catfood.com/3d-lashes-version2/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-facial/title/s-club-wm-ts4-eyebrows-f-201703-/id/1368804/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-male/title/wings-os0826/id/1386951/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeliner/title/s-club-wm-ts4-eyelashes-201707/id/1377343/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-male/title/anto--electric-%28hair%29/id/1319171/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-male/title/wings-os1215/id/1398159/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeshadow/title/s-club-ll-ts4-eyeshadow-201701/id/1373965/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-skindetails/title/bobur-eyebags-04/id/1386521/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-male/title/wings-os0327/id/1371576/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeliner/title/s-club-wm-ts4-eyelashes-201702/id/1363752/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-skindetails/title/nose-mask-01-overlay-version/id/1398361/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-skintones/title/s-club-wmll-thesims4-bassis-nd-skintones3.5-mf/id/1373157/
sims4updates.net/make-up/cheekbones-contour-at-kenzar-sims/https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-eyecolors/title/galdin-eyes-n137/id/1387851/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-skintones/title/skintone-set-v3/id/1346781/
â„ Clothes/Accessories/Nails/etc.
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/130132944828/s4seze-seze-turtleneck-sweater-8-colors
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-athletic/title/pants-adidas-/id/1315119/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-bracelets/title/jake-bracelet-lh/id/1304450/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/odin-earrings/id/1344595/
sims4updates.net/clothing/anorak-pants-set-at-loner/
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/161857465423/beanie-01-by-younzoey-download
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/138409446223/s4seze-sezecardigan-new-mesh-high-poly
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/166138105828/bowling-night-skinny-www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-male-teenadultelder/title/classic-suede-shoes-%2528male%2529/id/1371498/
savagesims.wixsite.com/savagesims/product-page/daddy-collection (Daddy jeans)
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/164363535573/driesvannotensandals1
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-glasses/title/paris-sunglasses/id/1341736/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-hats/title/white-melanholy--panama-/id/1321575/
moonccs.tumblr.com/post/145260057932/sweater-weather-recolor-hi-guys-heres-a-new
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-rings/title/s-club-ts4-wm-rings-201702/id/1377288/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-bracelets/title/eternia-watch/id/1341911/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-male-teenadultelder/title/madlen-orlando-shoes-%28male%29/id/1295328/
sims4updates.net/clothing/vintage-jeans-2-male-at-rusty-nail/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/null-earrings/id/1362381/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-bracelets/title/s-club-ll-ts4-watch-06/id/1384327/
moonccs.tumblr.com/post/122621460302/moments-underwear-recolor-hi-guys-the-cc-of-this
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-rings/title/entwined-ring/id/1363789/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-male-teenadultelder/title/madlen-budelli-shoes-%28male%29/id/1345036/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-earrings/title/birba-ring-man/id/1367265/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-glasses/title/veox-tinted-glasses/id/1371711/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-rings/title/nails-for-men-n06/id/1362953/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-rings/title/s-club-ll-ts4-ring-%28m%2901/id/1343231/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/super-star-sneakers/id/1345108/
lilosims.tumblr.com/post/129839752817/ts4-socks-2-ver-basic-socks-16-designs
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/stigma-earring/id/1397429/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-hats/title/toksik--chimera-hat/id/1338767/
cutiepiesimmer.blogspot.com/2017/10/kidult-t-shirts-for-ts4.html
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-everyday/title/%5Bsimstailored%5D-indonesian-batik-shirt/id/1293078/
www.thesimsresource.com/members/The_77_sims/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-male-earrings/title/77accessories-s4-friends-exclusive%28right%29/id/1259704/
ooobsooo.tumblr.com/post/164383104209/dearkims-x-kk-collaboration-last-summer
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/eclipse-earrings/id/1339968/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-everyday/title/summer-black-denim-for-him/id/1385717/
love4sims4.tumblr.com/post/161857463118/t-shirts-0202s-by-younzoey-download
oranostr.tumblr.com/post/163591878006/denim-shorts-ea-mesh-edit-4-color-cas
sims4updates.net/clothing/basic-slacks-m-20-colors-at-rusty-nail/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/piercing-set-n02/id/1340787/
www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-glasses/title/exov-glasses/id/1377776/
dr-krinkle.tumblr.com/post/144474843981/s4seze-seze-oversized-hoodie-15-colors
lilosims.tumblr.com/post/129839752817/ts4-socks-2-ver-basic-socks-16-designs
Missing downloads (that I couldn't find anymore)
Swimtrunks by Hautemesh
Lips 34 by Pralinesims
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Who wants to grow up anyway? 'Kidults' swelling the toy markets coffers
So we now have a name for us big kids - kidults, and NBC News look at the cult of the kidult.
Regular readers and listeners to Fantha Tracks will know that we proudly wear our nostalgia on our sleeves (and t-shirts) with no consideration for trends or snide comments. As the 70âs and especially the 80âs continue to dominate the zeitgeist, NBC News take a look at the growing numbers of what they call kidults who are sustaining and growing the toy industry. There are two things keeping theâŠ
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Kidult - article scrap 0001
More than half of the kidult market is made up of Millennials, with 18 to 34 year olds looking to toys and characters from their childhood as a form of escapism and a reflection of simpler times.
Among them is TruffleShuffle, with buyer Lisa Cornish commenting: âA lot of our product has a nostalgic slant, inspired by kids TV shows, movies and toys from our youth, like The Raccoons, Ghostbusters, Moomins and Care Bears. Although originally aimed at children, we find as adults our customers love to reminisce about happy childhood memories. I guess life as an adult can be pretty challenging so revisiting those happy childhood times is lovely escapism.
âKey customer personas for us are kitsch and quirky, and t-shirt buying men (generally in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties) but I think adults of all ages love the nostalgia of childhood brands.
Pavely, F. (2020) Not just childâs play: The rise of the âkidultâ market for licensing. Available at: https://www.licensingsource.net/indepth/not-just-childs-play-the-rise-of-the-kidult-market-for-licensing/ (Accessed: 27 September 2021)
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Kidult t-shirt? đ đshopđđ» http://ift.tt/2oAfb6I #fashion #instagood #instastyle #instafashion #instadaily #tee #tshirt #fashionblogger #fashionista #fashiongram #fashionshop #fashionpost #kidults #dinosaur #colourpop #pin #yellow #jfashion #koreanfashion #pastelgoth #pastelgrunge #kawaii #kawaiifashion #kawaiiclothes â view on Instagram http://ift.tt/2pxiPyu
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Are scooter startups really worth billions?
Itâs been hard to miss the scooter startup wars opening fresh, techno-fueled rifts in Valley society in recent months. Another flavor of ride-sharing steed which sprouted seemingly overnight to clutter up sidewalks â drawing rapid-fire ire from city regulators apparently far more forgiving of traffic congestion if itâs delivered in the traditional, car-shaped capsule.
Even in their best, most-groomed PR shots, the dockless carelessness of these slimline electrified scooters hums with an air of insouciance and privilege. As if to say: Why yes, we turned a kidsâ toy into a battery-powered kidult transporter â what u gonna do about it?
An earlier batch of electric scooter sharing startups â offering full-fat, on-road mopeds that most definitely do need a license to ride (and, unless youâre crazy, a helmet for your head) â just canât compete with that. Last mile does not haul.
But a short-walk replacement tool thatâs so seamlessly manhandled is also of course easily vandalized. Or misappropriated. Or both. And there have been a plethora of scooter dismemberment/kidnap horror stories coming out of California, judging by reports from the scooter wars front line. Hanging scooters in trees is presumably a protest thing.
Scooter brand Lime struck an especially tone-deaf tech note trying to fix this problem after an update added a security alarm that bellowed robotic threats to call the cops on anyone who fumbled to unlock them. Safe to say, littering abusive scooters in public spaces isnât a way to win friends and influence people.
Even when functioning âcorrectlyâ, i.e. as intended, scooter rides can ooze a kind of brash entitlement. The sweatless convenience looks like it might be mostly enabling another advance in tech-fueled douche behavior as a t-shirt wearing alpha nerd zips past barking into AirPods and inhaling a takeaway latte while cutting up the patience of pedestrians.
None of this fast-seeded societal friction has put the brakes on e-scooter startup momentum, though. Au contraire. Theyâve been raising massive amounts of investment on rapidly inflating valuations ($2BN is the latest valuation for Bird).
But buying lots of e-scooters and leaving them at the mercy of human whim is an expensive business to try scaling. Hence big funding rounds are necessary if youâre going to replace all the canal-dunked duds and keep scooting fast enough for the competition.
At the same time, there isnât a great deal to differentiate one e-scooter experience over another â beyond price and proximity. Branding might do it but then you have to scramble even harder and faster to create a slick experience and inflate a brand that sticks. (And it goes without saying that a scooter sticky with fecal-matter is absolutely not that.)
The still fledgling startups are certainly scrambling to scale, with some also already pushing into international markets. Lime just scattered ~200 e-scooters in Paris, for example. Itâs also been testing the waters more quietly in Zurich. While Bird has its beady eye on European territory too.
The idea underpinning some very obese valuations for these fledgling startups is that scooters will be a key piece of a reworked, multi-modal transport mix for urban mobility, fueled by app-based convenience and city buy-in to greener transport options with emissions-free benefits. (Albeit scootersâ greenness depends on what theyâre displacing; Great if itâs gas-guzzling cars, less compelling if itâs people walking or peddling.)
And while investors are buying in to the vision that lots of city dwellers are going to be scooting the last mile in future, and betting big on sizable value being captured by a few plucky scooter startups â more than half a billion dollars has been funneled into just two of these slimline scooter brands, Bird and Lime, since February â there are skeptical notes being sounded too.
Asking whether the scooter model really justifies such huge raises and heady valuations. Wondering if it isnât a bit crazy for a fledgling Bird to be 2x a unicorn already.
Shared bike and scooter fleets are paving the way to a revolution in urban mobility but will only capture little value in the long term. Investors are highly overestimating the virtue of these businesses.
â Thibaud Elziere (@tiboel) June 18, 2018
The bear case for these slimline e-scooters says theyâre really only fixing a pretty limited urban mobility problem. Too spindly and unsafe to go the distance, too sedate of pace (and challenged for sidewalk space) to feel worthwhile if you donât have far to go anyway. And of course youâre not going to be able to cart your kids and/or much baggage on a stand-up two wheeler. So theyâre useless for families.
Meanwhile scooter invasions are illegal in some places and, where they are possible, are fast inviting public and regulatory frisson and friction â by contributing to congestion and peril on already crowded pavements.
After taking one of Limeâs just-landed e-scooters for a spin in Paris this week, Willy Braun, VC at early stage European fund Daphni, came away unimpressed. âI didnât feel I was really saving time in a short distance, since there is always many people in our narrow sidewalks,â he tells us. âAnd it isnât comfortable enough for me to imagine a longer distance. Also itâs quite expensive ($1 per use and $.15/min).
âLastly: Before renting it I read two news media that told me I had to use it only on the sidewalks and they tell us that we should only use it on the road during the onboarding â and that wearing an helmet is mandatory without providing it). As a comparison, Iâd rather use e-bikes (or emoto-bikes) for longer journey without hesitation.â
âGive us Jump instead of Lime!â he adds, namechecking the electric bike startup thatâs been lodged under Uberâs umbrella since April, adding a greener string to its urban mobility bow â and which is also heading over to Europe as part of the ride-hailing giantâs ongoing efforts to revitalize its regionally battered brand.
âUber stands ready to help address some of the biggest challenges facing German cities: tackling air pollution, reducing congestion and increasing access to cleaner transportation solutions,â said CEOÂ Dara Khosrowshahi wheeling a bright red Jump bike on stage at the Noah conference in Berlin earlier this month. Uberâs Jump e-bikes will launch in Germany this summer.
E-bikes do seem to offer more urban mobility versatility than e-scooters. Though a scooter is arguably a more accessible type of wheeled steed vs a bike, given you can just stand on it and be moved.
But in Europeâs dense and dynamic urban environments â which, unlike the US, tend to be replete with public transit options (typically at a spectrum of price-points) â individual transport choices tend to be based firstly on economics. After which itâs essentially a matter of personal taste and/or the weather.
Urban transport horses for courses â depending on your risk, convenience and comfort thresholds, thanks to a publicly funded luxury of choice. So scooters have loads of already embedded competition.
TechCrunchâs resident Parisienne, Romain Dillet â a regular user of on-demand bike services in the city (of which there are many), and prior to that the cityâs own dock-based bike rental scheme â also went for a test spin on a Lime scooter this week. And also came away feeling underwhelmed.
âThis is bad,â he said after his ride. âItâs slow and you need to brake constantly. BUT the worst part is that it feels waaaaaay more dangerous than a bike. Basically you canât brake abruptly because youâre just standing there.â
Index Ventureâs Martin Mignot was also in Paris this week and he took the chance to take a Lime scooter for a spin too â checking out the competition in his case, given the European VC firm is a Bird backer. So what did he think?
âThe experience is pretty cool. Itâs slightly faster than a bike, thereâs no sweating. The weather was just amazing and very hot in Paris so it was pretty amazing in terms of speed and lack of effort,â he says, rolling out the positively spun, vested view on scooter sharing. âEspecially going up hill to go to Gare du Nord.
âAnd the lack of friction â just to get on board and get started. So in general I think itâs a great experience and I think it feels a really interesting niche between walking and on-demand bikes⊠In Paris youâve also got the mopeds. So that kind of âin between offeringâ. I think thereâs a big market there. I think itâs going to work pretty well in Paris.â
Mignot is a tad disparaging about the quality of Limeâs scooters vs the model being deployed by Bird â a scooter model he also personally owns. But again, as youâd expect given his vested interests.
âObviously Iâm biased but I would say that the Xiaomi scooter/Ninebot scooter is higher quality than the one that Lime are using,â he tells us. âI thought that the Lime one, the handlebar is a little bit too high. The braking is a little bit too soft. Maybe it was the one I used, I donât know.â
Talking generally about scooter startups, he says investorsâ excitement boils down to trip frequency â thanks exactly to journeys being these itty-bitty last mile links.
But itâs also then about the potential for all that last mile hopping to be a shortcut for winning a prized slot on smartphone usersâ homescreens â and thus the underlying game being played looks like a jockeying for prime position in the urban mobility race.
Lime, for example, started out with bike rentals before jumping into scooters and going multi-modal. So scooter sharing starts to look like a strategy for mobility startups to scoot to the top of the attention foodchain â where theyâre then positioned to offer a full mix and capture more value.
So really scooters might mostly be a tool for catching peopleâs app attention. Think of that next time you see one lying on a sidewalk.
âWhatâs very interesting if you look at the trip distribution, most of the trips are short. So the vast majority of trips if youâre walking, obviously, are less than three miles. So thatâs actually where the bulk of the mobility happens. And scooters play really well in that field. So in terms of sheer number of trips I think itâs going to dwarf any other type of transportation. And especially ride-hailing,â says Mignot.
âIf you look at how often do people use Uber or Lyft or Taxify⊠itâs going to be much less frequent than the scooter users. And I think thatâs what makes it such an interesting asset⊠The frequency will be much higher â and so the apps that power the scooters will tend to be on the homescreen. And kind of on top of the foodchain, so to speak. So I think thatâs what makes it super interesting.â
Scooters also get a big investor tick on merit of the lack of friction standing in the way of riding vs other available urban options such as bikes (or, well, non-electric scooters, skateboards, roller blades, public transport, and so on and on) â in both onboarding (getting going) and propulsion (i.e. the lack of sweat required to ride) terms.
âThatâs whatâs so brilliant with these devices, you just snap the QR code and off you go,â he says. âThe difference with bikes is that you donât have to produce any effort. I think there are cases where obviously bikes are better. But I think there are a lot of cases where people will want something where you donât sweat.
âWhere you donât wrinkle your clothes. Which goes a little bit faster. Without going all the way to the moped experience where you need to put the helmet, which is a bit more dangerous, which a lot of people, especially women, are not super familiar with. So I think whatâs exciting with scooters as a form factor is itâs actually very mainstream.
âAnyone can ride them. Itâs very simple to manoeuvre. Itâs not super fast, itâs not too dangerous. It doesnât require any muscular effort â so for older people or for people who just donât want to sweat because theyâre going to a meeting or something. Itâs just a fantastic option.â
Index has also invested in an e-bike startup (Cowboy) and the firm is fully signed up to the notion that urban mobility will be multimodal. So if e-scooters valuations are a bit overcooked Index is not going to be too concerned. People in cities are clearly going to be riding something. And backing a mix is a smart way to hedge the risk of any one option ending up more passing fad than staple urban steed.
Mostly Index is betting that people will keep on riding robotic horses for urban courses. And whatever they ride itâs a fairly safe bet that an app is going to be involved in the process of finding (docklessness is therefore another attention play) or unlocking (scan that QR code!) the mobility device â opening up the possibility that a single app could house multiple mobility options and thus capture more overall value.
âItâs not a one-size fits all. Theyâre all complementing each other,â says Mignot of the urban mobility options in play. âI would say e-bikes are probably a little bit more great for little bit longer trips because youâre sitting down. But again it takes a little bit longer, because you have to adjust the saddle, you need to start peddling. Thereâs a bit more friction both on the onboading and on the riding. But theyâre a bit better for slightly longer distances. I would say for shorter distances thereâs nothing better than the scooter.â
He also points out that scooters are both cheaper and less bulky than e-bikes. And because they take up less street space they can â at least in theory â be more densely stacked, thereby generating the claimed convenience by having them sitting near enough to convince someone not to bother walking 10 minutes to the cafĂ© or gym â and just scoot instead. So scootersâ slimline physique is also especially exciting to investors. (Even if, ironically, itâs being deployed to urge people to walk less.)
âI think we will end up with more density of scooters. Which is super important,â he continues. âPeople will, in the end, tend to take the vehicle that they can find where they are. And I think itâs more likely, eventually, that they will get a scooter than an e-bike. Just simply because they take less space and they are less expensive.â
But why wouldnât people who do get won over to the sweatless perks of last mile scooting just buy and own their own ride â rather than shelling out on an ongoing basis to share?
Unlike bikes, scooters are mobile enough to be picked up and moved around fairly easily. Which means they can go with you into your home, office, even a restaurant â disruptively reducing theft risk. Whereas talk to any bike owner and theyâll almost invariably have at least one tale of theft woe, which is a key part of what makes bike sharing so attractive: It erases theft worry.
Add to that, you can find e-scooters on sale in European electronics shops for as little as âŹ140. So if youâre going to be a regular scooterer, the purely economic argument to just own your own looks pretty compelling.
And people zipping around on e-scooters is a pretty common sight in another dense European city, Barcelona, which has very scooter-friendly weather but no scooter startups (yet). But unless itâs a tourist weaving along the seafront most of these riders are not shared: People just popped into their local electronics shop and walked out with a scooter in a box.
So the rides arenât generating repeat revenue for anyone except the electricity companies.
 Asked why people who do want to scoot wonât just buy, rather than rent Mignot talks up the hassle of ownership â undermined slightly by the fact he is also a scooter owner (despite the claimed faff from problems such as frequent flat tires and the chore of the nightly charge).
âThe thing you notice very rapidly: There are two things, one is the maintenance,â he says. âThe models that exist today are not super robust. Maybe in a very flat, very smooth roads, maybe Santa Monica, maybe itâs a little bit less true but I would say in Europe the maintenance that is required is fairly high⊠I have to do something on mine every week.
âThe other thing is it takes a little bit of space. If you have to bring it to a restaurant or whatever type of crowded place, a movie theatre or wherever youâre going, to an office, to a meeting room, itâs a little bit on the heavy side, and itâs a little bit inconvenient. So certainly some people will buy them⊠But I also think that there are a lot of cases where youâd rather have it just on-demand.â
Unlike Mignot and Index, Tom Bradley, of UK focused VC firm Oxford Capital, is not so convinced by the on-demand scooter craze.
The firm has not made any e-scooter investments itself, though mobility is a âcore themeâ, with the portfolio including an on-demand coach travel startup (Sn-ap), and technology plays such as Morpheus Labs (machine learning for driverless cars) and UltraSoc (complex circuits for automotive parts, which sells to the likes of Tesla).
But itâs just not been sold on scooter startups. Bradley describes it as an âopen questionâ whether scooters end up being âan important part of how people move around the cities of the futureâ. He also points to theft problems with dockless bike share schemes that have not played out well in the UK.
âWeâre not convinced that this is a fundamental part of the picture,â he says of scooter sharing. âIt may be a part of the picture but I personally am not yet convinced that itâs as big a part of the picture that people seem to be prepared to pay for.â
âI keep thinking of the Segway example,â he adds. âItâs an absolutely delightful product. Itâs brilliant. Itâs absolutely brilliant. In a way that these electric scooters are not. But obviously it was much more expensive. And it made people feel a bit weird. But it was supposed to be the answer â and itâs not the answer. Before its time, perhaps.â
Of course he also accepts that capital is âbeing used as a weaponâ, as he puts it, to scoot full-pelt towards a future where shared electric scooters are the norm on city streets by waging a âmarketing warâ to get there.
âVenture capital valuations are what someone is prepared to pay. And in this case people are valuing potential rather than valuing the business⊠so the valuations [of Bird and Lime] are being driven more than anything by the amount of money being raised,â he says. âSo you decide a rule of thumb about what is acceptable dilution, and if youâre going to raise $400M or whatever then the valuationâs got to be somewhere between $1.6BN and $2BN to make that sort of raise make sense â and leave enough equity for the previous investors and founders. So thereâs an element of this where the valuations are being driven by the amount of capital being raised.â
Oxford Capitalâs bearish view on scooter sharing is also bounded by the fund only investing in UK-based startups. And while Bradley says it sees lots of local mobility strengths â especially in the automotive market â he admits itâs more of a mental leap to imagine a world leading scooter startup sprouting from the countryâs green and pleasant lands. Not least because itâs not legal to use them on UK public roads or pavements.
âIf you look at places like Amsterdam, Berlin, theyâre sort of built for bikes. Londonâs getting towards being built for bikes⊠Cyclingâs been one of the big success stories in London. Is [scooter sharing] going to replace cycling? I donât know. Not so convincedïżœïżœ Itâs obviously easy for anyone to get on and off these things, young and old. So thatâs good, itâs inclusive. But it feels a little bit like a solution looking for a problem, the sorts of journeys people talk about for these things â on campus, short urban journeys. A lot of these are walkable or cycle journeys in a lot of cities. So is there a mass need?
âIs this Segway 2 or is this bike hire 2⊠itâs hard to tell. And weâre coming down on the former. Weâre not convinced this is going to be a fundamental part of the transport space. It will be a feature but not a huge part.â
But for Mignot the early days of the urban mobility attention wars mean thereâs much to play for â and much that can be favorably reshaped to fit scooters into the mix.
âThe whole thing, even on-demand bikes, itâs a two year old phenomenon really,â he says. âSo I think everyone is just trying to learn and figure out and adapt to this new reality, whether itâs users or companies or cities. I think itâs very similar to when cars were first introduced. There were no parking spaces at the time and there were no rules on the road. And fast forward 100 years and it looks very different.
âIf you look at the amount of infrastructure and effort and spend that has been put into making â and I would argue way more than should have â into making a city car-friendly, if you only do a 100th of the same amount of effort and spend into making some space for bicycles and light two-wheel vehicles I think weâll be fine.
âThatâs the beauty of this model. If you compare the space of the tech and if you look at the efficiency of moving people around vs the space, the scooters are simply the most efficient because their footprint on the ground is just so small.â
He even makes the case for scooters working well in London â arguing the sprawl of the city amps up the utility because there are so many tedious last mile trips that people have to make.
Even more so than in denser European cities like Paris, where he admits that hopping on a scooter might just be more of a ânice to haveâ, given shorter distances and all the other available options. So, really, where urban mobility is concerned, it can actually be courses for horses.
Yet, the reality is London is off-limits to the likes of Bird and Lime for now â thanks to UK laws barring this type of unlicensed personal electric vehicle from public roads and spaces.
You can buy e-scooters for use on private land in the UK but any scooter startups that tried their usual playbook in London would be scooting straight for legal hot water.
Itâs not just the British weather thatâs inclement.
âIâm really hoping that TfL [Transport for London] and the Department for Transport are going to make it possible,â says Mignot on that. âI think any city should welcome this with open arms. Some cities are, by the way. And I think over time once they see the success stories in other parts of the world I think they all will. But I wish London was one of those cutting edge cities that would welcome new innovation with open arms. I think right now, unfortunately, itâs not there.
âThereâs a lot of talk about air quality, and so on, but actually, when push comes to shove⊠you have a lot of resistance and a lot of pushback⊠So itâs a little bit disappointing. But, you know, weâll get there eventually.â
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Are scooter startups really worth billions?
Itâs been hard to miss the scooter startup wars opening fresh, techno-fueled rifts in Valley society in recent months. Another flavor of ride-sharing steed which sprouted seemingly overnight to clutter up sidewalks â drawing rapid-fire ire from city regulators apparently far more forgiving of traffic congestion if itâs delivered in the traditional, car-shaped capsule.
Even in their best, most-groomed PR shots, the dockless carelessness of these slimline electrified scooters hums with an air of insouciance and privilege. As if to say: Why yes, we turned a kidsâ toy into a battery-powered kidult transporter â what u gonna do about it?
An earlier batch of electric scooter sharing startups â offering full-fat, on-road mopeds that most definitely do need a license to ride (and, unless youâre crazy, a helmet for your head) â just canât compete with that. Last mile does not haul.
But a short-walk replacement tool thatâs so seamlessly manhandled is also of course easily vandalized. Or misappropriated. Or both. And there have been a plethora of scooter dismemberment/kidnap horror stories coming out of California, judging by reports from the scooter wars front line. Hanging scooters in trees is presumably a protest thing.
Scooter brand Lime struck an especially tone-deaf tech note trying to fix this problem after an update added a security alarm that bellowed robotic threats to call the cops on anyone who fumbled to unlock them. Safe to say, littering abusive scooters in public spaces isnât a way to win friends and influence people.
Even when functioning âcorrectlyâ, i.e. as intended, scooter rides can ooze a kind of brash entitlement. The sweatless convenience looks like it might be mostly enabling another advance in tech-fueled douche behavior as a t-shirt wearing alpha nerd zips past barking into AirPods and inhaling a takeaway latte while cutting up the patience of pedestrians.
None of this fast-seeded societal friction has put the brakes on e-scooter startup momentum, though. Au contraire. Theyâve been raising massive amounts of investment on rapidly inflating valuations ($2BN is the latest valuation for Bird).
But buying lots of e-scooters and leaving them at the mercy of human whim is an expensive business to try scaling. Hence big funding rounds are necessary if youâre going to replace all the canal-dunked duds and keep scooting fast enough for the competition.
At the same time, there isnât a great deal to differentiate one e-scooter experience over another â beyond price and proximity. Branding might do it but then you have to scramble even harder and faster to create a slick experience and inflate a brand that sticks. (And it goes without saying that a scooter sticky with fecal-matter is absolutely not that.)
The still fledgling startups are certainly scrambling to scale, with some also already pushing into international markets. Lime just scattered ~200 e-scooters in Paris, for example. Itâs also been testing the waters more quietly in Zurich. While Bird has its beady eye on European territory too.
The idea underpinning some very obese valuations for these fledgling startups is that scooters will be a key piece of a reworked, multi-modal transport mix for urban mobility, fueled by app-based convenience and city buy-in to greener transport options with emissions-free benefits. (Albeit scootersâ greenness depends on what theyâre displacing; Great if itâs gas-guzzling cars, less compelling if itâs people walking or peddling.)
And while investors are buying in to the vision that lots of city dwellers are going to be scooting the last mile in future, and betting big on sizable value being captured by a few plucky scooter startups â more than half a billion dollars has been funneled into just two of these slimline scooter brands, Bird and Lime, since February â there are skeptical notes being sounded too.
Asking whether the scooter model really justifies such huge raises and heady valuations. Wondering if it isnât a bit crazy for a fledgling Bird to be 2x a unicorn already.
Shared bike and scooter fleets are paving the way to a revolution in urban mobility but will only capture little value in the long term. Investors are highly overestimating the virtue of these businesses.
â Thibaud Elziere (@tiboel) June 18, 2018
The bear case for these slimline e-scooters says theyâre really only fixing a pretty limited urban mobility problem. Too spindly and unsafe to go the distance, too sedate of pace (and challenged for sidewalk space) to feel worthwhile if you donât have far to go anyway. And of course youâre not going to be able to cart your kids and/or much baggage on a stand-up two wheeler. So theyâre useless for families.
Meanwhile scooter invasions are illegal in some places and, where they are possible, are fast inviting public and regulatory frisson and friction â by contributing to congestion and peril on already crowded pavements.
After taking one of Limeâs just-landed e-scooters for a spin in Paris this week, Willy Braun, VC at early stage European fund Daphni, came away unimpressed. âI didnât feel I was really saving time in a short distance, since there is always many people in our narrow sidewalks,â he tells us. âAnd it isnât comfortable enough for me to imagine a longer distance. Also itâs quite expensive ($1 per use and $.15/min).
âLastly: Before renting it I read two news media that told me I had to use it only on the sidewalks and they tell us that we should only use it on the road during the onboarding â and that wearing an helmet is mandatory without providing it). As a comparison, Iâd rather use e-bikes (or emoto-bikes) for longer journey without hesitation.â
âGive us Jump instead of Lime!â he adds, namechecking the electric bike startup thatâs been lodged under Uberâs umbrella since April, adding a greener string to its urban mobility bow â and which is also heading over to Europe as part of the ride-hailing giantâs ongoing efforts to revitalize its regionally battered brand.
âUber stands ready to help address some of the biggest challenges facing German cities: tackling air pollution, reducing congestion and increasing access to cleaner transportation solutions,â said CEOÂ Dara Khosrowshahi wheeling a bright red Jump bike on stage at the Noah conference in Berlin earlier this month. Uberâs Jump e-bikes will launch in Germany this summer.
E-bikes do seem to offer more urban mobility versatility than e-scooters. Though a scooter is arguably a more accessible type of wheeled steed vs a bike, given you can just stand on it and be moved.
But in Europeâs dense and dynamic urban environments â which, unlike the US, tend to be replete with public transit options (typically at a spectrum of price-points) â individual transport choices tend to be based firstly on economics. After which itâs essentially a matter of personal taste and/or the weather.
Urban transport horses for courses â depending on your risk, convenience and comfort thresholds, thanks to a publicly funded luxury of choice. So scooters have loads of already embedded competition.
TechCrunchâs resident Parisienne, Romain Dillet â a regular user of on-demand bike services in the city (of which there are many), and prior to that the cityâs own dock-based bike rental scheme â also went for a test spin on a Lime scooter this week. And also came away feeling underwhelmed.
âThis is bad,â he said after his ride. âItâs slow and you need to brake constantly. BUT the worst part is that it feels waaaaaay more dangerous than a bike. Basically you canât brake abruptly because youâre just standing there.â
Index Ventureâs Martin Mignot was also in Paris this week and he took the chance to take a Lime scooter for a spin too â checking out the competition in his case, given the European VC firm is a Bird backer. So what did he think?
âThe experience is pretty cool. Itâs slightly faster than a bike, thereâs no sweating. The weather was just amazing and very hot in Paris so it was pretty amazing in terms of speed and lack of effort,â he says, rolling out the positively spun, vested view on scooter sharing. âEspecially going up hill to go to Gare du Nord.
âAnd the lack of friction â just to get on board and get started. So in general I think itâs a great experience and I think it feels a really interesting niche between walking and on-demand bikes⊠In Paris youâve also got the mopeds. So that kind of âin between offeringâ. I think thereâs a big market there. I think itâs going to work pretty well in Paris.â
Mignot is a tad disparaging about the quality of Limeâs scooters vs the model being deployed by Bird â a scooter model he also personally owns. But again, as youâd expect given his vested interests.
âObviously Iâm biased but I would say that the Xiaomi scooter/Ninebot scooter is higher quality than the one that Lime are using,â he tells us. âI thought that the Lime one, the handlebar is a little bit too high. The braking is a little bit too soft. Maybe it was the one I used, I donât know.â
Talking generally about scooter startups, he says investorsâ excitement boils down to trip frequency â thanks exactly to journeys being these itty-bitty last mile links.
But itâs also then about the potential for all that last mile hopping to be a shortcut for winning a prized slot on smartphone usersâ homescreens â and thus the underlying game being played looks like a jockeying for prime position in the urban mobility race.
Lime, for example, started out with bike rentals before jumping into scooters and going multi-modal. So scooter sharing starts to look like a strategy for mobility startups to scoot to the top of the attention foodchain â where theyâre then positioned to offer a full mix and capture more value.
So really scooters might mostly be a tool for catching peopleâs app attention. Think of that next time you see one lying on a sidewalk.
âWhatâs very interesting if you look at the trip distribution, most of the trips are short. So the vast majority of trips if youâre walking, obviously, are less than three miles. So thatâs actually where the bulk of the mobility happens. And scooters play really well in that field. So in terms of sheer number of trips I think itâs going to dwarf any other type of transportation. And especially ride-hailing,â says Mignot.
âIf you look at how often do people use Uber or Lyft or Taxify⊠itâs going to be much less frequent than the scooter users. And I think thatâs what makes it such an interesting asset⊠The frequency will be much higher â and so the apps that power the scooters will tend to be on the homescreen. And kind of on top of the foodchain, so to speak. So I think thatâs what makes it super interesting.â
Scooters also get a big investor tick on merit of the lack of friction standing in the way of riding vs other available urban options such as bikes (or, well, non-electric scooters, skateboards, roller blades, public transport, and so on and on) â in both onboarding (getting going) and propulsion (i.e. the lack of sweat required to ride) terms.
âThatâs whatâs so brilliant with these devices, you just snap the QR code and off you go,â he says. âThe difference with bikes is that you donât have to produce any effort. I think there are cases where obviously bikes are better. But I think there are a lot of cases where people will want something where you donât sweat.
âWhere you donât wrinkle your clothes. Which goes a little bit faster. Without going all the way to the moped experience where you need to put the helmet, which is a bit more dangerous, which a lot of people, especially women, are not super familiar with. So I think whatâs exciting with scooters as a form factor is itâs actually very mainstream.
âAnyone can ride them. Itâs very simple to manoeuvre. Itâs not super fast, itâs not too dangerous. It doesnât require any muscular effort â so for older people or for people who just donât want to sweat because theyâre going to a meeting or something. Itâs just a fantastic option.â
Index has also invested in an e-bike startup (Cowboy) and the firm is fully signed up to the notion that urban mobility will be multimodal. So if e-scooters valuations are a bit overcooked Index is not going to be too concerned. People in cities are clearly going to be riding something. And backing a mix is a smart way to hedge the risk of any one option ending up more passing fad than staple urban steed.
Mostly Index is betting that people will keep on riding robotic horses for urban courses. And whatever they ride itâs a fairly safe bet that an app is going to be involved in the process of finding (docklessness is therefore another attention play) or unlocking (scan that QR code!) the mobility device â opening up the possibility that a single app could house multiple mobility options and thus capture more overall value.
âItâs not a one-size fits all. Theyâre all complementing each other,â says Mignot of the urban mobility options in play. âI would say e-bikes are probably a little bit more great for little bit longer trips because youâre sitting down. But again it takes a little bit longer, because you have to adjust the saddle, you need to start peddling. Thereâs a bit more friction both on the onboading and on the riding. But theyâre a bit better for slightly longer distances. I would say for shorter distances thereâs nothing better than the scooter.â
He also points out that scooters are both cheaper and less bulky than e-bikes. And because they take up less street space they can â at least in theory â be more densely stacked, thereby generating the claimed convenience by having them sitting near enough to convince someone not to bother walking 10 minutes to the cafĂ© or gym â and just scoot instead. So scootersâ slimline physique is also especially exciting to investors. (Even if, ironically, itâs being deployed to urge people to walk less.)
âI think we will end up with more density of scooters. Which is super important,â he continues. âPeople will, in the end, tend to take the vehicle that they can find where they are. And I think itâs more likely, eventually, that they will get a scooter than an e-bike. Just simply because they take less space and they are less expensive.â
But why wouldnât people who do get won over to the sweatless perks of last mile scooting just buy and own their own ride â rather than shelling out on an ongoing basis to share?
Unlike bikes, scooters are mobile enough to be picked up and moved around fairly easily. Which means they can go with you into your home, office, even a restaurant â disruptively reducing theft risk. Whereas talk to any bike owner and theyâll almost invariably have at least one tale of theft woe, which is a key part of what makes bike sharing so attractive: It erases theft worry.
Add to that, you can find e-scooters on sale in European electronics shops for as little as âŹ140. So if youâre going to be a regular scooterer, the purely economic argument to just own your own looks pretty compelling.
And people zipping around on e-scooters is a pretty common sight in another dense European city, Barcelona, which has very scooter-friendly weather but no scooter startups (yet). But unless itâs a tourist weaving along the seafront most of these riders are not shared: People just popped into their local electronics shop and walked out with a scooter in a box.
So the rides arenât generating repeat revenue for anyone except the electricity companies.
 Asked why people who do want to scoot wonât just buy, rather than rent Mignot talks up the hassle of ownership â undermined slightly by the fact he is also a scooter owner (despite the claimed faff from problems such as frequent flat tires and the chore of the nightly charge).
âThe thing you notice very rapidly: There are two things, one is the maintenance,â he says. âThe models that exist today are not super robust. Maybe in a very flat, very smooth roads, maybe Santa Monica, maybe itâs a little bit less true but I would say in Europe the maintenance that is required is fairly high⊠I have to do something on mine every week.
âThe other thing is it takes a little bit of space. If you have to bring it to a restaurant or whatever type of crowded place, a movie theatre or wherever youâre going, to an office, to a meeting room, itâs a little bit on the heavy side, and itâs a little bit inconvenient. So certainly some people will buy them⊠But I also think that there are a lot of cases where youâd rather have it just on-demand.â
Unlike Mignot and Index, Tom Bradley, of UK focused VC firm Oxford Capital, is not so convinced by the on-demand scooter craze.
The firm has not made any e-scooter investments itself, though mobility is a âcore themeâ, with the portfolio including an on-demand coach travel startup (Sn-ap), and technology plays such as Morpheus Labs (machine learning for driverless cars) and UltraSoc (complex circuits for automotive parts, which sells to the likes of Tesla).
But itâs just not been sold on scooter startups. Bradley describes it as an âopen questionâ whether scooters end up being âan important part of how people move around the cities of the futureâ. He also points to theft problems with dockless bike share schemes that have not played out well in the UK.
âWeâre not convinced that this is a fundamental part of the picture,â he says of scooter sharing. âIt may be a part of the picture but I personally am not yet convinced that itâs as big a part of the picture that people seem to be prepared to pay for.â
âI keep thinking of the Segway example,â he adds. âItâs an absolutely delightful product. Itâs brilliant. Itâs absolutely brilliant. In a way that these electric scooters are not. But obviously it was much more expensive. And it made people feel a bit weird. But it was supposed to be the answer â and itâs not the answer. Before its time, perhaps.â
Of course he also accepts that capital is âbeing used as a weaponâ, as he puts it, to scoot full-pelt towards a future where shared electric scooters are the norm on city streets by waging a âmarketing warâ to get there.
âVenture capital valuations are what someone is prepared to pay. And in this case people are valuing potential rather than valuing the business⊠so the valuations [of Bird and Lime] are being driven more than anything by the amount of money being raised,â he says. âSo you decide a rule of thumb about what is acceptable dilution, and if youâre going to raise $400M or whatever then the valuationâs got to be somewhere between $1.6BN and $2BN to make that sort of raise make sense â and leave enough equity for the previous investors and founders. So thereâs an element of this where the valuations are being driven by the amount of capital being raised.â
Oxford Capitalâs bearish view on scooter sharing is also bounded by the fund only investing in UK-based startups. And while Bradley says it sees lots of local mobility strengths â especially in the automotive market â he admits itâs more of a mental leap to imagine a world leading scooter startup sprouting from the countryâs green and pleasant lands. Not least because itâs not legal to use them on UK public roads or pavements.
âIf you look at places like Amsterdam, Berlin, theyâre sort of built for bikes. Londonâs getting towards being built for bikes⊠Cyclingâs been one of the big success stories in London. Is [scooter sharing] going to replace cycling? I donât know. Not so convinced⊠Itâs obviously easy for anyone to get on and off these things, young and old. So thatâs good, itâs inclusive. But it feels a little bit like a solution looking for a problem, the sorts of journeys people talk about for these things â on campus, short urban journeys. A lot of these are walkable or cycle journeys in a lot of cities. So is there a mass need?
âIs this Segway 2 or is this bike hire 2⊠itâs hard to tell. And weâre coming down on the former. Weâre not convinced this is going to be a fundamental part of the transport space. It will be a feature but not a huge part.â
But for Mignot the early days of the urban mobility attention wars mean thereâs much to play for â and much that can be favorably reshaped to fit scooters into the mix.
âThe whole thing, even on-demand bikes, itâs a two year old phenomenon really,â he says. âSo I think everyone is just trying to learn and figure out and adapt to this new reality, whether itâs users or companies or cities. I think itâs very similar to when cars were first introduced. There were no parking spaces at the time and there were no rules on the road. And fast forward 100 years and it looks very different.
âIf you look at the amount of infrastructure and effort and spend that has been put into making â and I would argue way more than should have â into making a city car-friendly, if you only do a 100th of the same amount of effort and spend into making some space for bicycles and light two-wheel vehicles I think weâll be fine.
âThatâs the beauty of this model. If you compare the space of the tech and if you look at the efficiency of moving people around vs the space, the scooters are simply the most efficient because their footprint on the ground is just so small.â
He even makes the case for scooters working well in London â arguing the sprawl of the city amps up the utility because there are so many tedious last mile trips that people have to make.
Even more so than in denser European cities like Paris, where he admits that hopping on a scooter might just be more of a ânice to haveâ, given shorter distances and all the other available options. So, really, where urban mobility is concerned, it can actually be courses for horses.
Yet, the reality is London is off-limits to the likes of Bird and Lime for now â thanks to UK laws barring this type of unlicensed personal electric vehicle from public roads and spaces.
You can buy e-scooters for use on private land in the UK but any scooter startups that tried their usual playbook in London would be scooting straight for legal hot water.
Itâs not just the British weather thatâs inclement.
âIâm really hoping that TfL [Transport for London] and the Department for Transport are going to make it possible,â says Mignot on that. âI think any city should welcome this with open arms. Some cities are, by the way. And I think over time once they see the success stories in other parts of the world I think they all will. But I wish London was one of those cutting edge cities that would welcome new innovation with open arms. I think right now, unfortunately, itâs not there.
âThereâs a lot of talk about air quality, and so on, but actually, when push comes to shove⊠you have a lot of resistance and a lot of pushback⊠So itâs a little bit disappointing. But, you know, weâll get there eventually.â
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