The Curbivore
The Courier
AVs & Narrative Command, Investing in the Future of Mobility With Alex Roy
0:00
Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:00:08
-1:00:08

AVs & Narrative Command, Investing in the Future of Mobility With Alex Roy

NYC Smart Curbs, DoorDash profitable, Zoox launching in SF

Alex Roy knows two things — how the mobility world works, and how to tell a damn good story. On the first front, he established himself on the legendary Cannonball Run race, held the record for fastest lap around Manhattan and served as Director of Special Operations for Argo AI. On the latter, he chaired the board of storytelling org The Moth, co-founded The Drive, co-hosts The Autonocast and even opened iconic nightclub The Box (I’d argue that few businesses rely on stories and mythos more than nightlife.)

Now he’s brought those two passions together with a new early stage venture fund — NIVC — that he’s started with ex-Rivian manufacturing maestro Patrick Hunt. Alex is looking to invest in companies that have what he calls “narrative command,” meaning they drive the conversation around their entire vertical. As Alex tells, it’s why the Ubers and Teslas of the world succeed, while the Argos don’t make it. Tune in (starting at the 17:10 mark) for a wide ranging conversation on mobility investments, AV regulations, semantics, charismatic leadership and more.

Alex Roy | NIVC

HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP

Big changes headed to the Big Apple: Policy changes are coming hot and heavy out of NYC, starting with a particularly iconic piece of Manhattanite behavior: jaywalking is now officially legal (not that it’s nominal illegality ever stopped anyone from doing it before…) The city is also quadrupling its red light camera count, with that automated enforcement hopefully keeping all those pedestrians safe. Furthering the fight for safety, the city has released a new street safety plan that’s focused on micromobility (given how much Comptroller Brad Lander has painted his name on this report, it kind of feels like part of his mayoral campaign…)

Map of Smart Curbs project area on Manhattan’s Upper West Side

On the curb side of things, NYC also just launched its Smart Curbs program, to manage spots in the Upper West Side. And on the not so smart curb side, the city just paved over a beloved community aquarium that had spouted out of a Brooklyn sidewalk. The city also has a new guide out, aiming to help smaller towns succeed at scoring federal grants. And last but not least, plans for the Interborough Express, a restored rail line to link Brooklyn and Queens, is entering the engineering phase, with the city looking to add more tunnels to the plan.

A takeoff and a landing: Despite new FAA rules finally clearing the way for air taxis, the industry seems to have hit turbulence. Germany’s Lilium is filing for bankruptcy, after the government declined to loan the company 50 million euros. California-based Joby is still humming along, as it raised $200 million in new funding, but the offering did drive its stock price down.

PARTNER — Why Gig Workers Apply but Never Hit ‘Go’ (And How to Fix It)

Every month, millions of Americans apply for gig roles — but most never start. Why?

Through 450,000+ one-on-one conversations with individuals who responded to GetScale ads for flexible work, we discovered that lack of motivation and uncertainty about how to succeed are the main reasons why interested and qualified applicants don’t take the next step.

The solution? Personalized conversations that address the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to educate and motivate applicants to get started. Leading teams are increasing conversions from applicants to active workers by over 20% and cutting acquisition costs. 

Incorporate one-on-one conversations into your gig recruitment strategy.

DoorDash delivers profitability: DoorDash posted its first quarterly profit as a public company, with EPS coming in at $0.38, way ahead of consensus. Marketplace GOV increased 19% YoY to $20.0 billion and quarterly revenue hit a healthy $2.7 billion. DD is looking to keep growth humming along, as it just announced a big new partnership with Lyft that should drive more users towards its profitable DashPass membership. DashPass members now get 5% off most Lyft rides (but 10% off select scheduled airport rides) while Lyft users get a free 3-month trial of DashPass. This’ll be a very interesting partnership to watch, right up there with Instacart and Uber’s tie-up, in terms of watching these big delivery and mobility networks blurring the lines around competition and cooperation.

More Kyte saga: Last week we sniffed out that Kyte might be in trouble, and now TechCrunch has confirmed it, with CEO Nikolaus Volk noting he’s cut half his workforce, as the company struggles with its unit economics. SF Chronicle has more details as well.

Robotaxi wars: Amazon-backed Robotaxi startup Zoox is finally rolling out its purpose-built vehicles, with rides going live in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Zoox co-founder Jesse Levinson also called out Tesla for pushing tech that doesn’t work, which coincided with a self-driving Tesla running into a deer without even considering slowing down. Meanwhile, Aurora Innovation has delayed its autonomous truck launch.

Zoox

Drones, Meals, and Automobiles: Automation at the Intersection of Retail and Industrial. Check out Greg Lindsay’s new report, as part of PwC and the Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2025 guide, on the future of retail and industrial real estate.

Hot new scooter: Wake up kids, there’s a new electric moped in town. Meet the Infinite Machine P1, which just raised $9M from a16z, Adjacent and Necessary Ventures to bring its retro-futuristic vehicle to market. It’s tough to get Americans onto smaller vehicles, but something this eye catching might just turn enough heads to make a difference.

The Infinite Machine P1 electric scooter.
Infinite Machine

Downtown SF still in trouble: Emporium Centre San Francisco, SF’s iconic downtown mall once branded as a Westfield, is headed to auction, as mass vacancies have left its owners unable to meet their loan obligations. While many cities have seen their commercial cores start to finally recover from pandemic lows, SF is still only at about 2/3s of its pre-covid numbers. New transit links may help the neighborhood recover, with the Feds allocating $24.6 million towards designing a Downtown Rail Extension, but the $8.25 billion project is still years, if not decades, away from completion.

A few good links: VW unveils its Scout EVs. EU, China risk EV tariff war. Feds dole out $96M in ATTAIN grants. Canada eyes high-speed rail between Ontario and Quebec. State Farm accused of funneling excess profits to parent co to justify insurance rate hike. GM’s EV bet looks to pay off. Denver’s e-bike subsidy push drives mass adoption. As Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO) come to LA, a new website aims to surface all that deliciousm home-cooked food.

Happy Halloween — enjoy seeing your streets activated with revelers!

- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew

Discussion about this podcast