Avego redefines its organization but keeps its focus
At Avego, we recently re-organized internally around our two core business areas: consumer and enterprise. Nothing unusual there, I hear you say, and you’d be right. Companies re-organize all the time, especially when they are going through a period of growth (shameless plug #1: we’re hiring! Check out our careers page).
The reasoning behind the move was that we wanted to provide focus and clarity internally so that we could progress both lines of Avego’s business and seed our dream of real time ridesharing for all from both hoppers. So, that prompted a lot of questions internally about “what side of the business am I in?”, “what does that mean to me and my career?” and “why was the split done this way and not that way?”. All fair and genuine questions from people who are passionate about our company and its direction – but are they the right questions?
I’m just back from a conference in London (Future of Web Apps – #fowa) and while I was there I was asked a few times: “What business I am in?” That’s a question that resonated with me. It leads to so many more interesting questions: who are our customers? What is our addressable market? How do we fully engage those people and then provide them with an awesome product? When do we release certain features to engage those people? What are our greatest challenges and how do we address them?
The easy answer is that we are in the commuting business – getting people from A to B so that they can get to work and get back home. It’s a need that almost everyone can relate to. Real-time ridesharing (RTR) is our way to get you to and from work in an efficient, cost-effective way. There are multiple ways to do this (vanpooling, carpooling etc.) but RTR is where we hang our hat.
It’s a great business to be in: we save commuters money and time, reduce traffic congestion and it’s good for the planet. The question remains as to whether we are then creating a set of transportation-disadvantaged people. What happens if they need to get to another part of town during lunch or to the gym on the way home? Do we take away their independence? The simple answer: no.
Of course there are early adopters who will need to compromise. This happens every time you create a new market, and most early adopters and pioneers are willing to do this (do you think that when people bought model T’s that there was a gas station on every corner?). When we get a critical mass (and we will) we will be a part of a transit ecosystem that will include solutions like Uber, GetAround, ZipCar, HailO, RelayRides and vRide working in conjunction with traditional public transit. With all these options out there, people won’t have to compromise, in fact getting around the city will be even easier.
Given that we are in the business of reducing congestion, does that make us anti-car? No way. Just because we don’t like seeing all those wasted seats in cars doesn’t mean we are anti-car. Without cars there is no ridesharing. I love my car, but I also love my bike and RTR and hailO. I’m not such a fan of public transit but that’s more of a personal choice and that’s what we are about – providing people with more choices. Our CEO is a public transit junky – go figure.
So, there are a lot of questions out there and a lot of ways to organize ourselves and to realize our dream. But, to answer the question: What business are we in? We are in the business of changing the world by giving people real choice in their transport options.