60: How does micromobility conform to disruptive innovation theory?

This week we have a timely episode with Horace being interviewed by Katie Zandbergen on The Disruptive Voice - a podcast produced by The Forum for Growth & Innovation at Harvard business School a few days after the passing of Clay Christensen. Horace strikes a reflective tone - it’s a great episode that goes into the core of why micromobility is really disruptive assessed against the theory that Clay proposed. For those who are more into the theoretical, this is a wonderful episode. Specifically, they cover: - The impact that Clay had on how Horace viewed the world. - How Horace ended up finding micromobility through this efforts to study disruptive innovation in the auto sector by rethinking through the job that the car was hired to do into trips rather than vehicles, and how that need could be better served by the performance of smaller form factor vehicles. - Why micromobility lends itself to the benefits of software platforms allowing it to iterate faster vs incumbent producers of vehicles. - Horace runs through the paradox of mobility - we use overserving big vehicles for small trips. - Why Horace believes that this market will move towards a franchised model of shared systems, and how this market will develop as the technology and operations improve. - Why micromobility will serve as a bottom up disruption in the majority of the rapidly urbanising African and Indian cities. - Why parking and land use allocation in many cities will change away from parking to better, more economically valuable forms of transport with the rise of micromobility. - Why Horace is involved with Bond Mobility, and his rationale behind the premium end of Micromobility. - Why Horace dedicates all of his work in Micromobility to Clay’s influence. Also, for those of you who are fans of Clay, you’ll know that he holds a special place in our heart here. He’s obviously been a massive influence on Horace and Oliver and how they see the world. If you want to hear one of the best interviews Horace has ever done, we recommend going to check out the interview he did with Clayton on the Critical Path (episode 36) back in 2012, discussing the book ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’. It’s a poignant listen, and a beautiful embodiment of a teacher-student relationship.