Masters in Business · Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Lyft CEO David Risher embraces the 'number two' position in the ride-sharing market, viewing it as a motivator to 'try harder' and focus on customer service. He believes a two-player market is optimal and emphasizes that Lyft's customer-obsessed approach differentiates it from competitors perceived as more technologically or financially driven. Risher highlighted Lyft's commitment to reliability, citing a dramatic reduction in driver cancellations and a focus on meeting promised arrival times.
“Absolutely, So I like being number two. And it's maybe a funny thing to say, but I do think it means you try harder. You wake up every single morning and you say, I got one job, which is to frankly, you know, do a great job for my riders and my drivers, such that maybe over time I can you know, I can, I can overtake the other guys.”
“Because guess what, there are a lot of drives rides that people aren't even taking on rideshair at all. Okay, So you know, back to this question. You know we're a customer obsess company, and you know this is going to be the thing. This is why we're growing, you know, mid single mid double digits, you know, fifteen to twenty percent a year on ear. It's why we've become profitab it's why we're spinning off cash.”
“We are very focused. For example, you're talking about reliability. Oh my goodness, you talk to my team and they will, they will they roll their eyes maybe would be one way to say it. But the number of times I talk about reliability internally is is high because I am obsessed by saying we're going to make a promise, we're going to meet the promise.”