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> In 2017 and 2018, certain of our named executive officers provided rides to riders using the Lyft platform in a similar manner as other drivers. We believe th

> In 2017 and 2018, certain of our named executive officers provided rides to riders using the Lyft platform in a similar manner as other drivers. We believe that these driving activities provide the named executive officers with substantial practical insight into how our platform serves drivers. I thought this was a pretty interesting point. I was about to call it dogfooding but not quite, since it's more of an experience check than a crucial internal usage.

occamrazor 8y ago
McDonald's does (or used to?) the same, requiring corporate managers to work in a restaurant at several points in their careers.
- Declanomous 8y ago
  Still does. I grew up near Oak Brook, IL, which used to have the corporate hq of McDonalds, and still has Hamburger University. I believe every franchisee is required to attend Hamburger U. There are a number of corporate-owned stores in the area where the a lot of the staff is white-collar professionals in training. Those stores are always amazing. In general stores in the Chicagoland region are way better than stores elsewhere, and I think part of this is due to the fact that corporate sends managers around for training here. I didn't understand the "mcflurry machine is broken" meme until I took a road trip. I had a number of horrible experiences, including a 20 minute wait for a mcflurry that ended up having more ice cream on the outside of the cup than the inside.
- jnaddef 8y ago
  I wish they would require executives to eat their food everyday, in a Super Size Me fashion
  - Consultant32452 8y ago
    This really makes me curious about what is served at the lunch counter at McDonald's corporate headquarters. I used to work at the corporate headquarters of a company that owns several chain restaurants. The cafeteria there didn't have any of the chain food dishes, but was very high quality as far as office cafeterias go. They had a test kitchen there also and sometimes they'd give out free meals of the stuff they were testing.
    - mckee1 8y ago
      There is a free McDonald’s restaurant in the corporate headquarters, but there’s also a deli counter which has fresh sandwiches, as well as a counter for other hot meals (chilli, chicken curry (UK) etc. Source: work for McDonald’s head office.
      - cabaalis 8y ago
        My morning egg mcmuffin is a highlight of the day. You people are building dreams.
mech4bg 8y ago
I had one of the VC investors in Lyft pick me up for a ride a few years ago in Menlo Park. Had a super interesting conversation - I was impressed they were scoping out their investment directly. I wasn't sure what the protocol for tipping as at the end, hah.
- meowface 8y ago
  That's really cool. How did you know they were an investor? Did they introduce themselves, or did you recognize them? I imagine when investors or execs give rides, they probably don't generally reveal their affiliation, since that may skew the experience and the feedback. Though on the other hand, I suppose it could be helpful to say "I work at/with Lyft, how do you like the app?"
  - Schweigi 8y ago
    The same happened to me when I took an Uber. The driver disclosed it immediately that he is an investor after we started driving. I think it makes sense because it allowed him to ask very specific questions without it being awkward.
  - mech4bg 8y ago
    He told me up front and it let him ask me a bunch of questions about how/why I use Lyft.
- borgel 8y ago
  Interesting. I had a VC Lyft driver once too.
meowface 8y ago
Airbnb does this too. They give all of their employees an annual stipend to travel via Airbnb, so that they can regularly experience the app from the perspective of a guest. I think they also provide benefits for employees who host guests, for the same reasons. When you think about it, it seems so obvious that companies should do things like these, yet it still seems so rare. It's easy to fall out of touch with your users and product.
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  Do you have any idea what the stipend typically is?
  - meowface 8y ago
    A quick Google search says it's $2000/year. Don't know if that's accurate.
    - azylman 8y ago
      I have some friends at AirBnB and I've heard it's much more modest, like $300/yr or something. My experience with these type of "dogfooding" credits is that companies are much more generous when they're smaller, so it could be that older employees get more than newer employees.
      - meowface 8y ago
        That makes sense. $300 is enough to cover Airbnb housing costs for at least a few days in pretty much any location around the world, so they probably still get value out of it.
      - whymauri 8y ago
        I think it's a 500$ coupon at the beginning of every quarter.
      - alfalfasprout 8y ago
        $2k/year ($500 every quarter)
drewda 8y ago
Back around 2009 or 2010, my roommates and I put a spare room in our Berkeley place on Airbnb. One night the Airbnb CEO booked the room and came over for the night. Sounds like the company had grown large enough that the co-founders had to move out of their apartment-turned-office. The CEO had not yet gotten his own apartment. He instead would stay each night in a different Airbnb rental and go back to SF in the morning for work.

occamrazor 8y ago

McDonald's does (or used to?) the same, requiring corporate managers to work in a restaurant at several points in their careers.

Declanomous 8y ago
Still does. I grew up near Oak Brook, IL, which used to have the corporate hq of McDonalds, and still has Hamburger University. I believe every franchisee is required to attend Hamburger U. There are a number of corporate-owned stores in the area where the a lot of the staff is white-collar professionals in training. Those stores are always amazing. In general stores in the Chicagoland region are way better than stores elsewhere, and I think part of this is due to the fact that corporate sends managers around for training here. I didn't understand the "mcflurry machine is broken" meme until I took a road trip. I had a number of horrible experiences, including a 20 minute wait for a mcflurry that ended up having more ice cream on the outside of the cup than the inside.
jnaddef 8y ago
I wish they would require executives to eat their food everyday, in a Super Size Me fashion
- Consultant32452 8y ago
  This really makes me curious about what is served at the lunch counter at McDonald's corporate headquarters. I used to work at the corporate headquarters of a company that owns several chain restaurants. The cafeteria there didn't have any of the chain food dishes, but was very high quality as far as office cafeterias go. They had a test kitchen there also and sometimes they'd give out free meals of the stuff they were testing.
  - mckee1 8y ago
    There is a free McDonald’s restaurant in the corporate headquarters, but there’s also a deli counter which has fresh sandwiches, as well as a counter for other hot meals (chilli, chicken curry (UK) etc. Source: work for McDonald’s head office.
    - cabaalis 8y ago
      My morning egg mcmuffin is a highlight of the day. You people are building dreams.

mech4bg 8y ago

I had one of the VC investors in Lyft pick me up for a ride a few years ago in Menlo Park. Had a super interesting conversation - I was impressed they were scoping out their investment directly. I wasn't sure what the protocol for tipping as at the end, hah.

meowface 8y ago
That's really cool. How did you know they were an investor? Did they introduce themselves, or did you recognize them? I imagine when investors or execs give rides, they probably don't generally reveal their affiliation, since that may skew the experience and the feedback. Though on the other hand, I suppose it could be helpful to say "I work at/with Lyft, how do you like the app?"
- Schweigi 8y ago
  The same happened to me when I took an Uber. The driver disclosed it immediately that he is an investor after we started driving. I think it makes sense because it allowed him to ask very specific questions without it being awkward.
- mech4bg 8y ago
  He told me up front and it let him ask me a bunch of questions about how/why I use Lyft.
borgel 8y ago
Interesting. I had a VC Lyft driver once too.

meowface 8y ago

Airbnb does this too. They give all of their employees an annual stipend to travel via Airbnb, so that they can regularly experience the app from the perspective of a guest. I think they also provide benefits for employees who host guests, for the same reasons. When you think about it, it seems so obvious that companies should do things like these, yet it still seems so rare. It's easy to fall out of touch with your users and product.

throwawaymath 8y ago
Do you have any idea what the stipend typically is?
- meowface 8y ago
  A quick Google search says it's $2000/year. Don't know if that's accurate.
  - azylman 8y ago
    I have some friends at AirBnB and I've heard it's much more modest, like $300/yr or something. My experience with these type of "dogfooding" credits is that companies are much more generous when they're smaller, so it could be that older employees get more than newer employees.
    - meowface 8y ago
      That makes sense. $300 is enough to cover Airbnb housing costs for at least a few days in pretty much any location around the world, so they probably still get value out of it.
    - whymauri 8y ago
      I think it's a 500$ coupon at the beginning of every quarter.
    - alfalfasprout 8y ago
      $2k/year ($500 every quarter)

drewda 8y ago

Back around 2009 or 2010, my roommates and I put a spare room in our Berkeley place on Airbnb. One night the Airbnb CEO booked the room and came over for the night. Sounds like the company had grown large enough that the co-founders had to move out of their apartment-turned-office. The CEO had not yet gotten his own apartment. He instead would stay each night in a different Airbnb rental and go back to SF in the morning for work.