In this interview, Nikolaus Volk, co-founder at Kyte, talks about his early days at Uber, what it was like to work under Travis Kalanick, when to pivot your business, and the story behind his company Kyte. We discuss what’s necessary to win in an asset and operations-heavy business, and the plan to become the next trillion-dollar company. He also shares his views on electric vehicles, AI, and autonomous vehicles. We wrap up with the culture shift in tech companies embodied by Elon Musk’s initiatives at Twitter, tech layoffs, and hustler mentality.
Kyte is an online car rental application that delivers cars straight to your door.
(00:00) Introducing Nikolaus and Kyte
(02:30) Iterating on your business and when to pivot
(08:10) Lessons from the golden days of Uber
(14:25) What's Kyte's secret sauce
(18:18) Customer obsession
(24:45) Bits and atoms: asset-light vs vertical integration
(28:50) The future of marketplaces
(34:30) Growing the business
(38:00) Advice on making unit economics work
(40:50) When do you really find product-market-fit
(46:54) Electric and autonomous vehicles
(56:34) Tech layoffs, culture shift, and Elon's Twitter
(65:32) Where to find out more
Kyte's Website -- https://www.drivekyte.com/
📚Show notes:
https://money.cnn.com/2015/07/31/technology/uber-50-billion-valuation/index.html
https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-timeline/index.html
https://about.bnef.com/electric-vehicle-outlook/ https://www.piratewires.com/p/surviving-and-thriving-in-techs-new
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uber-needs-transition-from-pirate-navy-reid-hoffman/
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