Cold open

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb life, the share economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hello, hello, hello.

SPEAKER_04 0:13

And welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Thrive.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

It is the Wednesday edition. It's a very special day, right?

SPEAKER_05 0:25

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

This is episode 169 of your favorite Airbnb VRBO, short-term, long-term, share economy podcast in the world. And we're coming at you live from Fort Worth and Arlington. Yeah, Texas. Give it up for those places. We have a special guest today. Her name is Maddie Rifkin. Who's Maddie Rifkin? Y'all don't know? Maddie is the founder and CEO of Mount, where they launch electric scooters at Airbnb properties. She started developing bike locks and startup ideas

Madi Rifkin got her first patent at 15

SPEAKER_02 1:01

since she was 12 years old. She got her first patent at 15. Wow. And is using some of what she invented back then in her company Mount. Welcome, Maddie.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Thank you so much for having me. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Yeah, where's my scooter, Maddie?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

It's in the mail.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

It's in the mail.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

It'll be on the way soon.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

No, don't put it through them through the mail. It'll never get here. Put it through um Amazon or UPS or something. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I send checks to the the my arbitrage units, they're all they all go through the mail. So they lose them, they lose them. So definitely.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

Bang. Now now you you you said some stuff that has me like wonder you you were patting and stuff at 12 years old.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

I was. I uh was fortunate enough to go to a school that had these invention competitions, actually very similar to Shark Tank, where you pitched your idea in front of like very business people of Colorado and uh happened to build a bike lock when I was 12 simply out of the need of always forgetting mine. So I just welded it to my bike and was like, this is a great idea. Uh pitched it to those sharks, and they awarded me a funded patent, basically. So I got to go through that process as a 12-year-old. It obviously took three years because I got it when I was 15. Um, but very cool learning experience. And that's kind of where the bug for entrepreneurship kind of hit me and I couldn't stop.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

Wow. Can you go into what is Mount? How did you get it started and how long have you guys been doing it?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Definitely, yes. So Mount is basically the amenity management platform for hospitality and beyond. And so, really, what we started to

How Mount brings scooters to vacation rentals

SPEAKER_01 2:42

do, partly because Mount's team all comes from the micro-mobility world of scooters and bikes, that's where we all got our start about three years ago. Um, we basically decided to take this really popular model of scooters, but launch it in a way where we could bring it directly to the tourist and also in a less chaotic way than just launching thousands of vehicles and seeing what happens. So that's exactly what we did originally back in January is we were purchasing scooters, we were working with Airbnb hosts, setting up the scooters at Airbnb properties, and then the host would enter into a revenue share with us where they were basically the operator for us, so that they got a percent of the rental revenue. What we found was that we opened up all these ancillary revenue streams for Airbnb properties that are actually pretty hard to come by otherwise. You know, you guys probably know it's hard to kind of monetize from that guest as opposed to just booking revenue. So that's exactly what the scooter did. People could hop on scooter tours, the host could actually start giving scooter tours if they wanted. Some hosts started working with um local shops and like the local community to drive traffic and their guests to those specific locations. So what we found was that we started with scooters, but it really became this whole fledged amenity that really could be modified by any host. Um, now what we do is really supply the platform that enables scooters to be launched and electric bikes, actually. Right now, um, the host will actually help us purchase the vehicles. They'll be the owner, so now they can own some assets and um have a larger share of the revenue. So we're definitely creating better opportunities to work with a lot more hosts than just uh the original we we started with.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

That's awesome. So so my big the huge first question would be,

Liability protection through app waivers and insurance

SPEAKER_02 4:28

you know, I think in providing guests. I've always thought in the past, oh, maybe if I left a bike there or or something, you know, I don't know, a kayak, stuff left behind. Then I think, oh shit, what if they get into a crash on the bike or what if they drown on the kayak? You know, am I responsible for that? So so when I think scooters and I see those little um limes whipping around Dallas or whatever, I'm like, oh, you know, what's it what happens if they if they do get hurt on one of those?

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yeah, I mean, that is the biggest question we get. And it's unfortunate that the media kind of over exaggerated how many people actually get hurt and why they're getting hurt. Um, so we put in a few processes in place to kind of de-risk both Mount and the Airbnb host. One of the first processes in place is that every rental happens through our app. So you as a guest would download the Mount app, and then you're actually prompted to create an account, put your credit card information in, and signed a term terms and conditions sheet. So that happens in the app and it basically states you need to wear a helmet. If you don't, you're liable for any damage you do to yourself. And then also you can't ride under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other drugs. And really that is the big one because that's why most people get hurt on scooters is because they take them at 2 a.m. from the bar and think they can get home, and they ultimately don't. Um so really that's the big one for us, and most of the crashes happen. They haven't happened on our fleets, but that's what you see with the lime and birds, is that's why people are hurting themselves. So typically they can't really go after you, anyways, because that's that's when it happens. Um, the further kind of thing we've done is actually curated an insurance policy, which is specific to scooter and bike rentals. So we have that policy and we actually extend it to the Airbnb host. So they come in as an umbrella, um, they're covered, we're covered, and then really all you have to worry about is maintenance and then you know, maintenance of your property, making sure a scooter isn't going to get caught in a tree branch or something. Um, but really did try and de-risk the whole situation so that you could have these amenities. And it's funny you mentioned kayaks, because that actually is our plan after our seed raise, is to open it up to all amenities. So if you have a kayak in your backyard and you're like, how could I make money off of this? You could theoretically put it on our platform and have the guests rent it through our app so they're paying for it. Um, so really trying to take any amenity and turn it into something you can monetize.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

That's dope. So in what uh what areas, what areas are you guys in right now? I think I had asked you earlier, but it was off the air. What

Phoenix, Miami, Denver, and California beach towns

SPEAKER_04 6:52

areas are you guys in? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Uh so we actually started in Phoenix uh with home slice stays. Shout out to Ellie, she's been amazing. And then we went into Miami uh and then Denver, actually, because we're based there, so it was an easy one for us, as well as Estes Park, which is a small mountain town in Colorado. And then we expanded to California. So we did San Diego, Los Osos, and Big Bear Lake. Um, but because we've really changed our model and are really this software platform that is enabling these scooter and bike rentals, we actually aren't really constrained by geography anymore like we were um four months ago. So any host that wants to work with us, you actually either enter into a lease-to-own model or a buy now pay later, um, and you are really going to be in charge of purchasing the assets, and then we'll put them on our platform so you can monetize them. You're gonna have most of the revenue of the scooters. We kind of flipped the model because before we were purchasing the scooters and it was really hindering our growth because we're a startup, uh, we don't have that type of capital. So now we've entered in kind of this agreement with the host where they'll help pay for some of the assets and then own them further, kind of, I guess, you know, good things for the host there.

SPEAKER_04 8:00

Now, are is are you is the scooter model like the people actually putting them on, is it more popular to the Airbnb host that is, let's say, in an apartment complex or to a home, like people that rent out their homes. How do you guys found it to be most efficient or more more popular with which type of

Works best at 5-bedroom homes or 10-plus unit complexes

SPEAKER_04 8:17

host?

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yes, we've definitely in the beginning we're working with kind of anyone really to hone in on who was our perfect customer. What we found is it's either a really large house, so at least five rooms, maybe there's 20 people staying there, or it's your superhost that has six houses right on the same block, and they can drive all of the traffic from their houses to that one rental area where the scooters are stationed. Um, and then the other sweet spot we've actually just started to work with is those Airbnb hosts that manage like the whole apartment complex, so like 10 plus units, um, bigger areas. And really the reason for that is because if you're putting two scooters at a single bedroom property, you're only going to have the opportunity to have like maybe one or two people's eyes on your scooters. And if they don't rent them, then they leave idle and you're not making enough of that money to really make the amenity worthwhile, unless you're charging a higher nightly price. Um, so that's really kind of what we tell our hosts is make sure you're getting enough eyes on the scooters so it's more than two people. And you also will have to kind of help the program in terms of telling your guests to actually allow them to rent the scooters. We've had people show up at the properties thinking the scooters are off limits and they don't understand that these are for them. So you kind of have to really explain to the guest, like, hey, I have these for you, like you should use them.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Right, right. Oh, that's pretty cool. Um, so how about maintenance of the scooters? Like, you know, like I guess the wear and tear. Who handles all that?

SPEAKER_01 9:44

So we the enter into an agreement where the host is typically in charge of the maintenance. We help supply spare parts or point you in the direction of a service center in case like something drastically goes wrong with the scooter, which doesn't happen too often. Um, but most of the day-to-day operations like wiping the scooter down, getting the dust and dirt off, are up to the host and how they want to manage their program, um partly because they're there or they have a maintenance staff, something like that. Um, so we'll help the host, but typically maintenance and if a malfunction happens in the field, that's up to the property owner.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Now, another question are they, yeah. I'm asking a lot of questions, you know, for my own for my own good, because I do want some scooters. And so let's say, are these scooters really heavy? Like if you're on the second or third floor with no elevator, is that going to be a big issue?

SPEAKER_01 10:35

So, what we've seen, the scooters are about 35 pounds. They're not heavy, but they're like, you know, it's a weird object to carry because it's like four feet tall and and three feet long, you know, very rough estimates. Um, so we've had people place the scooters inside, like inside the mud room or whatever it may, and it's like three stairs to get outside. And the guest is actually just like, sorry, I'm not gonna ride that. I don't feel like carrying it outside. Um, so there definitely is a barrier there. But what we've started to do is we actually curated a docking station that the scooter rolls into, uh, it locks it in place and then it charges it. So if you have a property and you want these scooters, you could theoretically purchase this docking station from us. And the scooters could be stationed outside, either in your driveway, um, the front walk, wherever it may be. And then if you're in a small town, you could tell your neighbors, hey, come rent our scooters. You know, these are for our guests, but you can use them too. Um again, speaking to like the many options you you have.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

So let's say you you you rent these scooters out, like let's just say it's an apartment complex, right? And you have them like in a common area. Can anyone rent the scooters even if they're not your guests? And if they do, how do they go about like rich making sure how do you go about making sure they get returned and aren't left like you know just flung around like line bikes?

SPEAKER_01 11:57

It's a really good question. And that's kind of why we're keeping it a closed system right now with just the guests or the tenants. Um, but the app actually works in a way where we geofence your property so that the scooter knows it can only start and stop its rentals from that property. So if a guest or someone rents your scooter, they're have a tutorial in the app, like four scroll through screens that basically tell them how to ride it and that they have to return it. Um so if they don't and they leave it out, first of all, they'll be fined about $1,200 because that's in our terms and conditions sheet. Second, uh, they're actually gonna continue to keep paying for it because they haven't ended their rental. So if it's charging on a per minute basis, that's gonna really add up. Um, so actually to date, no one has left a scooter, not um, has not brought it back. So this the model is working. I think that would be harder for random people trying to rent your scooter, but um your guests definitely take care of it.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

So, like, like would I oh no, I guess that wouldn't work. I don't know. I will ask questions. Like, like if I had my own, like you said, well, you you mentioned a kayak earlier, but like if I had a really nice scooter that I liked and said, I'm gonna put it in my place, I could put that onto your onto your app and use my own scooter.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yeah, so right now our platform is compatible with select scooters and bikes that we've curated, but post our seed raise, which is actually happening right now, we have a device that could you could put on theoretically any type of asset. So it could control the scooters you already own, it could control the bikes that aren't even aren't even electric that you already own. So that's really where we want to get to is no one has to purchase assets. We're really just monetizing the ones you have. Um, we just need some capital to get there.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

No, I love that. I love that. Because I mean, yeah, I mean, if we could all the stuff that we have laying around in our garage, you know, bikes or skateboards or whatever scooters, yeah, we could put them to use and your app helps us do that. That's that's a beautiful, beautiful marriage, right there. Um so so your scooters, I uh I guess that they have the is it like the Limes where they swipe their credit card and then they put in their information, or how does it work?

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yes, so your guest, um, what we give the host actually is like a lot of marketing collaterals. So it has like the QR code to download

Rental process through the Mount app

SPEAKER_01 14:09

our app, telling them they can rent the scooters. So your guest would see all of that upon arrival. They would download the mount app from the app store, and then they're prompted to create an account. So it's their name uh and email that they put in. They also have to put in a credit card information. And then when they go to rent the scooter, all they have to do is actually scan the QR code on the scooter through the app, and then it'll prompt them with payment um options. So the host actually has the ability to either charge a per minute price, which is like what Bird and Lyme do, or you could charge an hourly rental, a four-hour rental, a daily rental. So there are options depending on what type of traveler you get. Um, Miami, for example, their fleet is charging um a per minute rate because there are already scooters there. So we're like, let's just match what they're charging or undercut them a little. Um, and then in Estes Park, for example, we're doing like a four-hour rate in four-hour blocks so that someone can rent the scooter, basically go on a tour of the whole town, stop at lunch and come back. And it they weren't, you know, you don't want to be charged a per minute fee if you're not on this scooter. Um, so they found a lot of success with that.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Nice. And and what what have you seen? Uh, who is like the main scooter avatar? You know, who's the main person who uses these and rents these?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Yeah, we're definitely trying to target the millennial traveler, like someone who's coming into town to basically explore, uh, probably a foodie, you know, that wants to go to the local food shops. They're not someone who is traveling for work because they're most likely not going to leave the property. Um, and then also if you're in that older age range, you're most likely not to get on a scooter just because it's it is semi-risky. Um, so that's really who we're targeting. Is if you know your Airbnb people that come through your property are young and adventurous, um, this is definitely for you. Where we don't really like to launch is metropolitan cities. Like, I mean, Denver was a weird one for us. Denver's very spread out. So we actually didn't launch right in the heart of downtown. We did the outside boroughs, but we don't really like to launch in metropolitan cities, partly because electric scooters are everywhere. Like if we were to launch in Dallas, you know, there's probably already at 2,000 scooters. Um, so there's really no incentive to use ours. But we can go into small beach towns, little uh mountain towns. That's really kind of our niche that we've been seeing is that there's not many micro mobility solutions. Maybe the only way to get around is by bus. And then people are really apt to use the scooters or bikes.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

South Padre Island. Look them up, South Padre Island. I haven't seen any over there.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah, exactly. That's that's on our list.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

Yeah, South Padre. Um, so now I noticed you guys are in a lot of resort towns. Now, have you have you guys partnered with any resorts? Because I know Estes is a huge resort town. Um, have you had luck like partnering with the resorts?

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, so we're not stopping at Airbnbs, we're uh doing resorts, hostels is another one for us, um, and like boutique hotels also. These other places that don't maybe have as much ancillary revenue, or you know, for the resorts, they have fleets of golf carts, you know, that they'd like some data on and to who is using them, but they also have a lot of cruisers, um, and I would see scooters doing very well. So we're targeting some of the resorts on the the east coast that are in like North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia Beach, uh definitely on our list for sure.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

Another town I would say is probably Arlington, but if well, yeah, yeah, I think if you you did the Arlington Entertainment District, that's a really, really good town. Because one, the Airbnbs are still legal in that area, and you have a Dallas Cowboy Stadium right there, and ain't no scooters up there right now.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Oh, very good. That's a hot tip right there.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Yeah, yeah, no scooters up there, so you'd be definitely be in there.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Arlington's a weird one though, man. It's like a crony city, man. They let they let certain people in. You know what I'm saying? They'll let certain people in. Um it's a um so like a car. Y'all can't y'all haven't got to that level where that where I can rent out my I have a spare car, I could just leave it at my Airbnb and then use your app to rent it out.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Not yet. I mean, definitely in the pipeline, but um

WeFunder equity crowdfunding for customers and hosts

SPEAKER_01 18:20

for for now we're sticking with smaller assets, but I don't see why not. I mean, it's a little device that can track it and monetize it. So maybe eventually, but uh that might be a bit more challenging with trying to handle keys and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Yeah, because I I remember that um I think a few years ago, Austin started using those cars where you where you just people just park them where you know certain spots and then another person go over there and swipe their card and use it for you know to get groceries and stuff and park it somewhere and when they're done with it, and then it's like yeah, it's just like uh they're sharing the car, you know, whenever they need it. So it's like like a line. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I that's what I was just wondering. Because instead of having that, well, the only way to do it now would just would I have to put it on Turo and then they'd have to get the Turo app and then download and use it from there, and then Turo takes their big chunk. But yeah, I mean, that's what I was wondering if if there's a way to do it without that.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Yeah, definitely down the line. It's in our pipeline for sure. And it's interesting you mentioned that because I just had a conversation with a company out of Virginia Beach actually, and they uh are Airbnb, but for parking spaces, so you can actually put your parking space online and rent it out. Um I would have I don't remember off the top of my head. Let me pull it up. But uh they were they were pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Parking B.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Yeah, basically.

SPEAKER_04 19:39

Smart though. Dang, uh that's smart. What do they do? Charge you by the hour?

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Uh honestly, I think you could set your own prices. It's very similar to Airbnb, but literally just with your parking space. Oh, it's called um driveway, but W E Y.

SPEAKER_04 19:56

Driveway. Very clever. Might need to get a little shack of a lot and put some stuff on there and put it on driveway.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Definitely. Yeah, we were thinking about putting scooters near those spots because then you know you park your car and you want to get around still, you you know, rent the scooter.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Oh, I love it. You got tons of ideas in your head, huh?

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Oh, totally. I mean, it's honestly all these Airbnb hosts, it's like they want to take the program as far as their brain and creativity will, and you know, we're willing to do it with them. So we love working with hosts like that.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Now, can you can you put your app like on a puppy so they can like have a puppy while they're there?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

That would be amazing. You know, if I can do that, that's like a million dollar idea, right? ID on the park.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah, and a guy can go take the puppy to the park. Hey, what's up? Anyways, um, this sounds really cool. So uh you you keep mentioning something that I'm very interested in. I hear this a lot. That when you the seed raise or the seed, you know, raising seed money. How does that work? So someone comes up with a cool idea like you, and then they start like shopping it around to the sharks and stuff like that, and then you do seed money. So, how how does all that work?

SPEAKER_01 21:03

You know, it's very interesting, and it's an interesting kind of space to navigate, especially as a female founder. You know, we're we're very underrepresented in this industry. Um, so I think you know, Mount took a different approach to it. Typically, what you do is you go to the VCs, uh you know, very notoriously rich white men, you know, that's that's kind of that scene. And you shop your idea around, like you just said, and you know, it's a yes or a no if they like you kind of at this stage, it's very based on the founder, not so much uh traction. And uh, you know, they'll write you a very large check. And it's it's something that's uh very hard to do, it's hard to learn. But I wanted to take a different approach to it because I felt if Mount is really building this massive empire, why would I take this massive idea to a large VC and let them get rich off of what we're doing when really it's the Airbnb hosts that are really making Mount what it is and uh you know, showing us that it works. And so, well, you know, the VCs are definitely needed and I can't do it without them. You know, we're definitely going down that route. I actually opened up a portion of our raise specifically for the family and friends who've come along on this journey as well as our customers. And I the reason we're able to do that is because of this new platform called We Funder. There was a federal rule that was changed, and it basically allows non-accredited investors who to invest in startups. And to be an accredited investor, you have to have like, this is very wrong, but like $200,000 in annual income, which is why only VCs were able to invest previous. So that's what we did. We opened up a portion of our raise on WeFunder. So now our customers and family and friends, for you know, I think the minimum amount to invest is $100. And you get stock and mount eventually. You can now invest alongside the large VCs. And I really like that approach because now your customers are your investors. They're the ones who are driving the growth of the company, anyways. Um, you still can't do it without the VCs, and I know that. Uh, so we still are going down that route, but now you can invest alongside them. So everyone kind of gets the upside. It's not just uh, you know, the old way.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

That's true share economy right there. I loved it. So weFunder is the is the is the uh we funder for mount still open?

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Yes, the we funder for mount is open. It will be closing most likely at the end of June, unless we get a lot of kind of last-minute uh add-ons to the the page, I guess. Um yeah, it's wefunder.com slash mount scooters. Um and yeah, you can basically use a credit card and do it in less than 10 seconds. It's pretty easy. Uh, and we'd love to have more customers and Airbnb hosts on it because we really feel that's who's driving our growth and who we want to give back to.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

So Micah's about to throw a couple G's over there.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

We already know it. You already know it.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

Ground floor, on the ground floor. Nice, sir. So um you you've seen that show, uh Silicon Valley. You've seen that show.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

One of my favorites.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Yeah. So is is it as y'all shopping around? Was it similar to how they went and shopped around of the different different?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

I mean, it was a bit different because of like COVID and everything. It's a lot of Zoom meetings, uh, which made things interesting, but very similar. Yep. You're basically pitching back to back to back and basically a hundred no's to get to the one yes.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

No, no, I one thing on there that was pretty interesting, and and it's a comedy, it's mostly a comedy. It's it's funny as hell. But when they when they were pitching at one place and they said, Oh, they're asking really great questions, you know, they're blah, blah, blah. They they're really they're really digging in. They're all these people writing notes. I think they're trying to steal our idea, man. I think they is it is does that happen? Do they sit there and that you pitch to them and they just they could rip you off and then do it?

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Or you how do we um it definitely depends who you're talking to. And uh this hasn't happened to me, but I have heard stories and like cautionary tales about pitching VCs that maybe have a competitor in their portfolio. So, like if I went and pitched a company that had Bird in their portfolio, uh, you know, that might not be the best thing for me to do because some of the times they'll lead you down the path of investment just to basically understand your business model and then be like, hey Bird, I talked to this company, you should do this. Um, I don't think that happens often, but it is a cautionary tale when you're raising funding that uh maybe don't go talk to the VC that is invested in your competitor.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

Now, are y'all are y'all like having them sign NDAs or anything before you walk in a room or no?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

No, so they actually will not sign NDAs, and if you ask for one, they'll probably laugh you out of the room.

SPEAKER_04 25:36

So yeah, don't do that. Cutthroat.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Very cutthroat. It is uh, and I I was a I'm a first-time founder, so this was my first time fundraising, and and I definitely learned from the people who came before me, but it is like its own type of knowledge and just things you need to know that I didn't before doing it. So it's the wild west.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

There's a there's a famous story about I don't know if I don't know if you heard about uh Blockbuster video actually had a chance to buy Netflix back in the day for like 50 million dollars or something like that. I don't know if y'all read that one. And they went in there and they kind of laughed Netflix out of the room. We're not gonna pay you 50 million for this, and then they tried to rip them off and do their own version of it, remember? Yeah, and they failed miserably at it and they ended up going bankrupt. And Netflix is like one of the most uh successful companies in the world right now. So it's it's just um that backfired. Good for them. You know, they shouldn't have done that to them, but um yeah, yeah, it's a it's a cutthroat world, like like Micah says.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah, you just gotta move fast and you know, hope you're the lucky one because I mean I think there's a there's

$700 per scooter, sold in packages of four

SPEAKER_01 26:42

a statistic, I don't know what the percentage is, but most startups fail. Um, so you do have to be kind of the lucky one. Timing, you know, your team and just kind of getting people to buy into your story uh is is the big thing.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

That is awesome. So um go ahead. No, I was just gonna um like of the people that you've you've um got scooters over to, how how lucrative I know it's a hard question because it depends on what market and all that stuff. How much could like an owner uh at a 1-1 condo or a 2-2 condo, whatever, expect to make off of one of these scooters?

SPEAKER_01 27:17

We definitely base it off scooters because we sell in packages of four. Um and it really depends on the market. And also it really depends on how much effort the host wants to put in because there's some hosts that just want the scooters and will leave them and won't do anything with them, and then they don't get rented. Um, but maybe they wanted it as an amenity so they could charge more nightly uh or beat out the competitor and get more bookings. So there's also those options, but really what we're projecting annually for four scooters is a few extra thousand dollars in profit after you've paid off your scooters, after you've uh paid the software fee we charge. Uh, you know, so it's sizable. Really, where it gets lucrative is if you operate uh 20 to 50 properties and you have maybe 40 scooters operational at all of your properties, that's where it really starts to compound. And maybe you'll see $30,000 to $40,000 in profit for the year. Um, so it gets more lucrative at scale for sure.

SPEAKER_04 28:16

Oh, $30,000 to $40,000 in profit?

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Profit, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:21

Okay. Because I'm thinking because I think we had talked before and I was trying to get them at one of my Jacksonville units, but that one got shut down. But I have like two houses that are probably like six blocks apart. If I put like four scooters at each of them, and I know it's saying that it is kind of market dependent, how what's the usage on those, like eight of them at two different houses?

SPEAKER_01 28:45

So actually, what I would suggest is potentially putting four at one and then telling the other guests, like, hey, we have these at our like HQ property, if you will, and like go and rent them. Um, so that way you're getting more usage out of just four as opposed to eight that might be sitting idle a lot of the time. Um, where you see the most rentals is definitely on the weekends. So like Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, people want to go to the bars, they want to go, you know, to lunch. Um, that's where we see most of the revenue coming from, is actually on those days. And it is interesting because a rental, you could charge, you know, someone, our average revenue rental, I think, is like $25 per ride, which means the guest is actually using the scooter anywhere from two to four hours. So they really spend a lot of time on it. And then if you really want to take the program even further and make a lot more money, depending on how hands-on you are at the host, how much time you have, you know, we suggest talking to the local community and being like, hey, we have these scooters. If we drive traffic to your restaurant and they show up on a scooter, can we do like a rev share? Can we do like a marketing kind of kickback? Will they get a discount? Um, so it is dependent on how much time. And I know time is like of the essence with Airbnb hosts. You guys are managing a ton of properties. Uh so I would say, you know, although I put out the 30, 40K, that's a lot of scooters. You still do have to put in the effort of telling your guests to rent them, putting up the marketing collateral, and maintaining them. So uh it's it's not for everyone. You know, other hosts are focused on other things. But if you are someone who has the time, wants to make this extra revenue and really make it into a program, you really could potentially take over your little town and be that

Charging a nightly premium versus per-ride fees

SPEAKER_01 30:20

person to offer this experience to anyone.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

The scooter guy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Or doing an Esthus Park.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Yeah, yeah. I might need to do that. So, okay. So you were saying like a value, like it's a value, it's truly a value add, right? I know you're the your your your your Airbnb house is getting paid from renting the scooter, but have like the the larger ones, have they ever told you like, hey, I'm able to charge this much of an upcharge per night because I have the scooters? And like, is that common for them? And like, how much is that upcharge usually if you know?

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Yes, we don't have enough data on that just yet because we've only been operating for about four months with the scooters. Um, but it is something I'm trying to get our host to try because I think really by offering that amenity, the guest doesn't have to pay for as many Ubers. They don't have to pay for a rental car. And so they should be paying a premium because you have this extra amenity. It's like a hot tub. Um, and obviously I'm not I'm not in the like short-term rental space as an owner, so I don't know what you could potentially charge, but it would be worth shopping around the idea to some other hosts and just being like, hey, if I add this amenity, what do you think I could price per night? Um yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

Yes, and and then that's that's also what I tell people when they because a lot of times Airbnb hosts, they'll add an amenity, but they won't charge for it. I'm like, you can charge more than your neighbor. Like you said, if you have a hot tub and they don't, you can charge more. So that's what I was wondering. If people, hey, hey, I got these scooters, I charge like, you know, $50 extra dollars a night for the scooters. Because I feel like if they are sitting idle, at least they're still getting paid for. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Definitely. And I think if you do increase your nightly price, you might consider driving down the rental fee that they have to pay. Um, and that would actually be a good way to bake it in because if they are staying at your property paying an extra nightly price, but they don't rent the scooter, you're still getting that extra revenue from the scooter just in a different way.

SPEAKER_05 32:06

I like it.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Yeah. The many options. I mean, very modular, you know, customizable.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

That's what I was uh getting at was the customizable because sometimes, you know, sometimes we'll get just guests that are there for a weekend, and they, like you said, though the money, the money flows out of their pockets a little faster, you know what I'm saying? And they're like, ah, you know, let's go hop around on the scooters, 25 bucks here, 30 bucks there, whatever. But sometimes I get a travel nurse that's there for two or three months or four months, and it'd be great to offer that to a travel nurse. And can I and I can I adjust pricing to like, oh, I'll, you know, I'll knock it down for you, 10, 15 bucks a day, whatever. I can knock it down to just to make it more, you know, like a viable everyday asset for her or um thing to use.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Yeah. So the back-end management platform is what all the hosts get access to. It's so it shows them their scooters, who's riding them, how much money they're making, and it has that pricing option. So if you really wanted to, you could sit on that platform for every hour and really change the pricing. It's that dynamic. Um, so yeah, we've had hosts upcharge on the weekends for the scooter rentals and then decrease the price on the weekdays to try and get more rentals. But yeah, if you have a long-term guest, you could have them sign up for a membership so they don't have to pay as often, all this type of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

I want my scooter, Maddie. Come on.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

Yeah, so so now my question is okay, so you you can choose like the charge per hour per day. That's how it works.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

Exactly. Yeah, you go in there. We're coming out with a feature relatively soon that'll actually allow you to put in like four options, and then the guest can choose which one they want to do. Um, right now it's only one option, but we figured if we give the guest options, they actually might get on the scooter more, you know, quick run to the grocery store per minute fee, uh, run to lunch. You know, that's probably a daily rate, but they'll have the option to choose.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Can we customize our scooters? Can we get Live Let Thrive on our scooters?

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Oh, totally. I mean, they're yours. So put scoot stickers on them. Uh our our person down in Miami, his company is called 420 B. Uh yeah, that would he that is his headquarter property down there. So he he branded them like uh green and 420 and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

But it's in this, it's in the uh the terms. You can't, you know, be on the 420 and ride the scooters. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

I mean, that is the terms and conditions, but do people listen? You know, not all the time.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Just go real slow on the scooter, man. Oh, that's awesome. So you say you sell you you do the sell them in packages of four scooters, correct?

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

And so I and I I don't have to put all four on one location, I could separate them to four different condos or yeah, you could separate them.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Um, you could probably try and pre-book them if you wanted. So if you had that much time, you could dynamically move the scooters to each property as they were being booked. Um, yeah, really up to you. Once you get them, it is yours to run with.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

That is cool. I like that, you know. Cause yeah, because I guess when you think of scooters, I automatically think of like the limes when when those came out, and people were leaving them up in trees and leaving them out, you know, scooter, um, scooter trash. I don't know, scooter, it's scooter literary. They were they were throwing them everywhere, right? That was a that was a huge problem.

SPEAKER_05 35:15

Well, it still is.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Yeah, and it got them banned from a lot of cities. I haven't seen any in Dallas, Mike. Are they still in Dallas? I haven't seen any over there.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

They have, but they're real strict. They kind of have people picking them up. Um, I don't know if y'all watch this TV show, Shameless. They kind of made fun of the scooters. Uh they were riding around picking them up and then charging people. He they were charging people off the back of a truck to use them. And uh it was pretty smart, but it was funny. Yeah, but yeah, they Dallas has people picking them up.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

So oh, okay, yeah. Because I used to see them everywhere on the streets, just littered everywhere. Yeah, but but yeah, yeah, I won't have that problem because it'd be tied geo uh geofence to that one property. That's cool. And um, we have a lot of questions here. Um let me see. Michael, you guys you got some questions? I'm looking through my yeah, man.

SPEAKER_04 36:07

I I really I didn't because I'm still thinking of all the stuff. How I would add these as a value to the properties. Um now, how how how has your success been in rural towns? Because I have some in like really rural towns.

Rural areas need electric bikes, not scooters

SPEAKER_04 36:18

Have you guys had had any success there?

SPEAKER_01 36:21

So rural is hard for us because one, the traveler really needs an incentive to go somewhere. So if it's not really next to a local town or shops to go to, they might not get on the scooter as often. And then also the scooter in general really needs like a paved road to be good and really not too hilly. Um, but that's really why we're opening up the platform to bikes and electric bikes, because I think those would thrive really well in the rural areas, um, would be those larger vehicles and then also um other assets. So like your c if you're near a lake, you know, kayak, paddleboard, all that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

Uh what about like a really urban area? Like uh let's say like a class C type area, you know, not in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Oh, yeah. Um, you know, it's a it's an interesting one. And that would kind of be on the host because so let's take LA, for example. That was one of the first places uh Lyman Bird launched. They lost half of their fleet in two weeks due to theft. And uh people just really like destroying the scooters, and uh we're gonna do anything to them. And so LA really isn't a favorable place to launch anymore because it is still in that high theft area. Um, so I think that should just be taken into account by anyone who wants these type of scooters and bikes, you know, what kind of theft is in the area? Um what's gonna happen to me if I lose the scooters, you know, because they are yours. And then if someone steals them, they kind of your program is gone. So uh I we would advise against it, but um really up to the host at that point what they want to do.

SPEAKER_05 38:00

I didn't think about that. No.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

So the other big question, when when can I get my scooter?

SPEAKER_01 38:06

It's a great question. So right now we have a pretty substantial wait list just because people word caught on, and you know, when it does in the Airbnb community, a lot of signups happened. Um, but since we're transitioning to this model where it really is either the lease to own or the buy up front, we can move a lot quicker. So if you're a host out there, you know, take you for example, you want your scooters quicker, come to us and tell us, hey, you're ready to purchase these vehicles up front. They're about $700 a piece. We can actually move you through the system a lot quicker, partly because uh, you know, we're we're in the middle of our seed race. So, you know, we can't be purchasing a thousand vehicles right now. Um but really that's kind of what we're transitioning to. We'll give you options of how to purchase the scooters, um, get you set up a lot quicker. But also right now, everyone out there should know there is a massive shortage of bikes and scooters just because of COVID-19. Everyone wanted the scooters and bikes that you know could get their hands on them. So we do have like a two-week or sorry, a two-month delay just because of that. Actually, it disrupted the supply chain so much that the supply just isn't there for anyone.

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Oh wow. So if I ordered them today, I would expect them in two months, though you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Probably, unless you know things start being expedited because of the restrictions being lighter on COVID.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

But um But you can't get it.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Yeah, electric bikes, yeah. No.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

You you could also um you could also say, like, if I went and got or tell me you could also tell me which one I should go buy of my own, right? I could go buy one of my that would work in your system.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

So right now we facilitate it because we're only compatible with uh select bikes and scooters. So you you would come to us and we would tell you where to buy them. Don't just go buy them off Amazon, they won't work with our system just yet. Uh post raise is when we can work with anything.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

Okay. For example, so you say they're about 700 bucks a piece. If you if I went into you and said, okay, I want to buy one on my own, and you could you would um send me some links, I guess, where I could purchase them or that how it works, and they would be around.

SPEAKER_01 40:04

Yeah, we'd actually uh we'd actually put you in contact with the manufacturer, so you could just buy them straight from the OEM. Um, and we would facilitate it because we have those relationships where we can get you a special deal, we can get you shipping to your property. Um, but really that you'd be getting a high quality scooter that isn't something a consumer could buy. It would be a bit higher end than um anything you could

Two-month supply chain delay on new orders

SPEAKER_01 40:26

buy off Amazon for for that same around $700 price. Exactly. Yeah. And if you're buying more, you know, the price decreases.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Okay. So how much for four do you think?

SPEAKER_01 40:37

So no, sorry, I meant more in like the quantity of 50 or 100.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

Oh, okay. So I can't just start off with one scooter.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

No, the minimum is four.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

Even even if I go buy my own, I still have to start off with four.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Yeah, four is the minimum. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 40:54

And I'm happy you brought that up because I was thinking if you put one scooter at a place, every time you see people on scooters, usually in a group. You know what I mean? I'm like, yeah, would it even be worth it to put one scooter? Even two. Like most people, when they're on the scooter, it's two or more people. Okay, so you do four. That's smart.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

Yeah, it's exactly what we found too, is probably typically it's an average of a group of four or more. Um yeah. I mean, if you're a group of ten people showing up in an Airbnb, you're not gonna just be the lone straggler not on a scooter.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

And it might be smarter, like, because like let's say a lot of our our condos and stuff that we arbitrage are one bedroom, one bath. And we get, and for the most part, it's two people traveling, you know, it's sometimes it's one, sometimes it's three or four. But right, it's usually two people. So it might be smart if I bought four to put two at one property and two at another property.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Exactly. And yeah, I mean, just to reiterate, that's not the best scenario because if your two guests don't want to rent the scooters, then you're not getting money, um, unless you're having a higher higher nightly price. So that's why it does do better in areas where maybe you have four units right next to each other and you can put in the two scooters. But um, I mean that that speaks to the hotel model as to why hotels have like five bikes and they're always gone, is because they have like 200 people.

SPEAKER_04 42:10

See, and that's why I was asking about the resort model because they have a whole bunch of people there, and you can just put them out there and go. Um, yeah, I do like the four model because even if you do a one bed, one bath, most people do heads and beds. They'll put a bedroom set in one room and then they'll have the pull-out couch. And now you already have your four people. So yeah, I like that. That's actually a really good model. It fits perfectly with the Airbnb space.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

And you just plug these directly into the any outlet in your house, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Exactly. Yeah, they just take four hours to charge when completely dead. And um, otherwise, you know, you plug it in when you're not using it, charge it overnight, all that type of stuff. But yeah, normal outlet.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

Dang, that's so cool. Yeah, I can see the I can see all the TikToks being made on these scooters at our places.

SPEAKER_01 42:54

I know, right? All the marketing.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

Now I have a question. Have you guys uh started doing stuff like that, like having people do TikToks, Instagram tags, and things like that to kind of promote it?

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Yes, so our Instagram is pretty big right now. It's it's mount underscore locks, actually, which is a weird handle. Um so you can find us there. And actually, we love working with the hosts because we'll actually post photos of your scooters, we'll be like, hey, here's a spot recommended by us. Go stay there. We'll list you on our website as a partner of ours. Um, so a lot more marketing opportunities. I am getting into TikTok. You know, I am 23, so I should be good at it, but I find it very challenging.

SPEAKER_04 43:31

Yeah, TikTok is that's that's one day I'll go viral.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_04 43:36

TikTok is a new one. We had a TikTok couple on here who was pretty pretty fa TikTok famous, and man, they killed it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

Killing it, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

Well, I gotta get them on the scooters then.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah, we'll put we'll put you in touch with them.

SPEAKER_04 43:50

Yeah, they'd be good because they have like I think a million followers or something, Steve. Something crazy.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Something crazy, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Um what are and it's a little bitty um lake or uh yeah, a little um river lake community, whatever where they live. So it's perfect just to hop around the little places there. Look them up totally.

SPEAKER_04 44:06

The in-between Texas. The I N N between T X, look them up and just tell them Mike and Steve from Live Let Thrive sent you. They'll yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

They'll order all the scooters you

Expanding to hotels, offices, and apartment complexes

SPEAKER_02 44:16

got. They they they are TikTok and then they'll TikTok for you. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:23

Scooters and sh in exchange of TikToks. I I I'm here for that.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

Yeah but I love that idea where you partner with the hosts and then shout their place out. That is that's next level. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

Yeah you'll see our 420 BND scooters on our uh Instagram because they're very active this is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

This has been a great great episode Matty that we we we appreciate you hopping on. And what what's next for you? What's next for you? I know you got this I mean you there's the sky's the limit with this right but I mean what what next big things you got in store from Mount?

SPEAKER_01 44:55

Yeah I mean really the sky is the limit really what we like to say is that um the platform is industry and vehicle agnostic. So like I said we can work with kayaks paddleboards golf carts. So we started with the Airbnbs we love the community it really works well but we don't want to stop there. We're going to go into hotels, hostels, apartment complexes, office buildings. So eventually you know five years down the line you can walk down to a small town and mount scooters are going to be at your offices apartments and really connecting all of these private real estate uh properties with a mobility solution but it will be no chaos no vehicles left in the middle of the street and you know who knows it could it couldn't might not even be a bike or a scooter it'll be the next thing that comes out um a hoverboard you know yeah like from back to the future I love those nobody will get hurt on those um totally so that this is what I thought about automatically when you were when you were talking about oh you know you could just leave them out outside of the house or outside of the apartment and then you know and people can use them there.

SPEAKER_02 46:03

The only problem with that like we do arbitrages out of apartments and condo places whatever and and they they probably wouldn't want you to leave stuff outside you know and so I I'm automatically thinking if the way it works with with y'all I mean and I and I've and I've been um and I do have like a short term rental um property management company but I was thinking I I was thinking of should I just get my real estate license and and and turn it into like a like a you know a a legit a long term you know where I could where I could be a property management at an apartment complex or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

And if I was I would really talk to the owners about putting these at the apartment and that would separate you from the rest of the pack big time you know definitely not only you you provide your your you know every all the amenities for a thriving apartment community but to provide scooters too I'd be like I want to sign a contract now you know oh totally yeah that's kind of where we're headed and we're we're talking to some real estate developers who are developing the actual complexes as well as the commercial real estate like giants that own them um basically to put scooters in the the lobby areas and then docking stations you know at the local ice cream shop at the mall so that you can take your scooter and dock it, have it be charging, then when you're ready to go home bring it back.

SPEAKER_04 47:16

See I think that's that that's a way better model than Lyme because you know Lyme got scooters everywhere instead hey these are for the residents here. Yeah I think this is a way better idea. I like this I yeah I wish you nothing but success with that.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

That that was that's smart you know thank you yes that's where we're headed for sure and I mean the Airbnb hosts could do that themselves the the property management company in Estes Park plans on doing that. They're going to talk to all the local shops and property owners and be like hey can I put a docking station here um so it's not it's not too far off.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

And we didn't even mention the fact um cutting down on you know um greenhouse gases and and yeah carbon emissions is a big one carbon emissions you know that's that's um that's huge I mean this could be like uh this could really change things definitely and we aren't going to anger the any city governments either because if you're driving traffic to local communities and local businesses you know that's what they're all about so that's actually what we try to do is work with them to help the um the small businesses of the town and city don't worry you'll you'll anger some city officials what always happens yeah they they need to uh speed up an innovation but they need everybody needs to take a take a night take a bite take a nibble you know that's just how business works yeah uh back to Arlington um well yeah well thank you for hopping on this is amazing uh wefunder.com slash uh mount scooter if you'll want to invest in this that's pretty cool i i want to look into investing in this and then the ig mount underscore locks that's um i i got a link up with the ig page too and i gotta get my scooters i'll be hitting you up definitely you can find us on our website which is mountlocks.com you can actually sign up for scooters directly on the website sweet all right yeah maddie thank you for coming on i'm definitely uh my place is in rural territory town so we're gonna have to hop back in another call maybe i'll we'll we can see what we can work out so i can get some you know get a couple scooters uh but yeah thank you for hopping on and much success and much success to you yes thank you guys so much this was an absolute blast and uh yeah nothing but the best for you guys as well thank you so much thank you uh thank you bye bye bye man that was maddie or madison rifkin with mount mount scooters or mount mount scooters with mount scooters that was a really cool that that was a really cool idea i like dang she's only 23 and came up with that idea dang man that's crazy so yeah that that's pretty dope man started at 12 with their first patent that's cool oh dang that's like a walking prodigy right there so yeah that's mountlocks.com yeah I'm gonna check it out you can order some scooters i i gotta see how it works with the rural areas but i'm i'm gonna see i'm gonna see how it works i'm i'm gonna i might order four see how they work um after i get my profit first fully off the ground and see you know start investing in little things like that and see how you can really ramp up revenue you know cool cool hey stay on after the cast and we'll chat at you real quick all right but yeah that was episode number what episode was that 169 we're almost to 170 man that's a that's a huge milestone yes sir i can't wait man we're moving yeah we have like uh a million more to go definitely be at 200 before the end of the year well all right man where can people find us find us at live let thrive.com send us an email at live let thrive at gmail.com follow us on IG we always have some good preview episodes come popping off so uh definitely and thank y'all for continuing to listen to us been doing this for what four years now 2017 crazy journey crazy journey yeah crazy journey thank y'all but yeah thank y'all for continuing to listen and uh keep living letting and thriving and we are out later peace thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Live Let Thrive be sure to tune in next week for all the latest in the world of Airbnb and all that entails by