Travis VanderZanden
VanderZanden speaking in 2019
Born1979 (age 44–45)
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA[1]
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (BBA)
University of Southern California (MBA)
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forFounder of Bird
Notes

Travis VanderZanden (born 1979) [3] is an American businessman and the founder and former CEO of Bird, a scooter sharing service. Before founding Bird, VanderZanden was Chief Operating Officer at Lyft, then VP of International Growth at Uber.

Education

VanderZanden graduated from Appleton North High School in 1997,[1] he later attended University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1997 to 2002, receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2007.

Career

Early career

VanderZanden worked as a product manager at Qualcomm. After leaving Qualcomm, he was Chief Revenue Officer for Yammer from 2009 to 2011, then left to co-found Cherry, an on-demand car-wash service. He was CEO of Cherry until 2013, when the company was acquired by Lyft, and he was brought on as Chief Operating Officer.[4] He left Lyft for Uber in October 2014. Lyft later sued him for allegedly breaking his confidentiality agreement, and the lawsuit was settled for undisclosed terms, with VanderZanden denying any wrongdoing.[5][6] VanderZanden then left Uber in October 2016.[7]

Bird

VanderZanden founded Bird in the summer of 2017. The company deployed its first scooters that September, before raising a $15 million Series A round of financing in February, 2018.[8] In October of 2018, Bird released its latest edition of the scooter, Bird Zero, which was designed and built in partnership with Okai.[9] As of 2019, the company is now in 120 cities across the globe.[10][11] The company has taken in $415 million in funding. To date, Bird has provided more than 10 million rides. The company currently receives $1.27 on every Bird ride taken, which is inclusive of all costs.[12] VanderZanden was a speaker at TechCrunch's Disrupt SF in October 2019.[13]

During the COVID-19 mass layoff of Bird employees, VanderZanden was criticized for not informing employees in person about their dismissal, rather, delegating the task to the company's Chief Communications Officer.[14]

In September 2023, Bird was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because of its low stock price. Its $7 million market capitalization is less than the value of the $22 million Miami mansion that VanderZanden bought in 2021. [15]

Personal life

In 2020, VanderZanden purchased a home in Bel Air formerly owned by Trevor Noah.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "How Bird scooters CEO Travis VanderZanden went from Appleton to the head of a company valued at $2 billion". www.postcrescent.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.(subscription required)
  2. ↑ "Travis VanderZanden - CEO & Founder - Bird". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  3. ↑ https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/the-electric-scooter-invasion-is-underway-bird-ceo-travis-vanderzanden-leads-the-charge/&ved=2ahUKEwiCtsWqv9rsAhUFi6wKHef_CnsQFjADegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1mIw1Bzf0q3ZxaG7ntLjVu&ampcf=1
  4. ↑ "Lyft Acquires Cherry, Prepares for Lyft-off in Seattle". Lyft Blog. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  5. ↑ Kosoff, Maya (2014-10-06). "Uber Has Hired The Former COO Of Its Biggest Competitor". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  6. ↑ Levine, Dan (2016-06-28). "Uber, Lyft settle litigation involving top executives". U.S. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  7. ↑ Carson, Biz (2016-09-30). "The only executive to hold a high-ranking position at both Uber and Lyft is leaving Uber". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  8. ↑ Loizos, Connie (2018-02-13). "This former Uber (and Lyft) exec just raised $15 million for his controversial e-scooter startup: Bird". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  9. ↑ "Bird unveils custom electric scooters and delivery". TechCrunch. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  10. ↑ "Bird CEO on scooter startup copycats, unit economics, safety and seasonality". TechCrunch. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  11. ↑ Yakowicz, Will (2018-12-10). "14 Months, 120 Cities, $2 Billion: There's Never Been a Company Like Bird. Is the World Ready?". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  12. ↑ Griffith, Erin (2019-07-22). "Bird Is Said to Raise New Funding at $2.5 Billion Valuation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  13. ↑ "Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden to talk scooters, unit economics and a multi-billion-dollar valuation at Disrupt SF". TechCrunch. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  14. ↑ "Bird layoffs". TheVerge. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  15. ↑ "From Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Start-Ups Run Out of Time and Money".
  16. ↑ Mcclain, James (2021-01-26). "Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden Paid $21.7 Million for Trevor Noah's Bel Air Mansion". Dirt. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
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