Safe and Efficient Transport through Microtransit Innovation S14 Ep50

Getting around in the big city can be easier than in smaller, less populated locations.  In many areas across the country, getting from point A to point B is dependent on having a vehicle.  This can present a challenge for people who don’t have access to a personal vehicle.  With this in mind, our guests today are solving this problem for communities in Ohio. At the Consumer Electronics Show, co-founders of SHARE, Ryan and Hoa McManus, join us in the Mobile Studio.  Ryan and Hoa tell us about seizing the opportunity with microtransit innovation. What evolving transit demographics are shaping this corner of transportation? What innovative changes are upcoming?  SHARE has a new angle on microtransit: meeting the needs of an overlooked market.

Going Places

SHARE, a startup founded 2-1/2 years ago, has been contributing to a better future in ride systems.  Their focus is to provide regularly scheduled transit for the trips people take the most.  Trust is at the center. They serve school systems, healthcare systems, and workers commuting.  SHARE fills the gap between public transport and ride-sharing. It’s affordable and reoccurring, flexible and reliable.  This benefits a significant unmet market: senior citizens.  The number of cities that the company serves continues to grow. SHARE is proving to be a model of microtransit innovation - a safe and efficient transport system.  SHARE gets people where they need to be on a daily and weekly basis.

Investing in the Team

Packing up and moving across the country, Ryan and Hoa joined an incubator.  They weathered the highs and lows. Finishing the incubator program, they promptly informed their investors about their decision to pivot.  As I say, always invest in the team rather than the tech. Their investors stuck with them. They then joined an accelerator program. From buying their first vehicles, to operating a fleet of vehicles, the tough decisions were made.  As SHARE grows, it confirms those were the right decisions.

Microtransit Innovation:  Lessons Learned

Through their shared experience as co-founders, Ryan and Hoa have learned different things.  

For Ryan, a resounding lesson is to have more clearly defined roles. Startups can get overwhelmed if they don’t establish who does what from the very start. Everyone should know where they fit and what their tasks include. It will come together if things are organized and understood. This way, the team can efficiently move towards the end goal.

Hoa’s major lesson was to have grit amid the challenges as a woman entrepreneur in the transportation industry.  Bouncing back from the low points builds endurance. Facing off with the innovation antibodies with grit makes all the difference.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Want to find out more about Ryan’s and Hoa’s microtransit innovation through SHARE?  Track what they’re doing on their website ridewithshare.com, or on Facebook (facebook.com/ridewithshare/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ridewithshare/).

We’re starting Season 15 of Killer Innovations in March.  We’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see and hear on Killer Innovations for the next season and beyond.  Drop me a line and let me know.

 

 Five Minutes to New Ideas

This week’s Five Minutes to New Ideas examines the importance of building onto existing products that are lacking. Sometimes, making that 180 degree turn from the existing norm can really pay off. Forget the obvious solution. Take a crazy gamble.  Could you create a standardized offering of a custom product? Don’t be afraid to go the opposite direction from everyone else.