Incoming Lyft CEO David Risher joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the future vision for Lyft, top priorities, competing with Uber, providing the best rider experience, cutting costs, and the outlook for Lyft.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Well, staying with autos, the battle for the rideshare market is as hot as ever. And Uber's big competitor has a new CEO leading the charge. We're joined by Lyft's incoming chief executive officer, David Risher, and our very own Brian Sozzi as well. A pleasure to have you on the show, David. So I mean, investors are really going to be looking to see where you're taking the company next. What are you going to be your top priorities when you take the helm in April?

DAVID RISHER: So, great to see you, Rachelle. Great to see you, Brian. Listen, our top priority is getting a great experience to our customers. I mean, to a certain extent, it's a focus on the basics. Make sure we pick you up on time. Make sure when you open our app, we're priced in line with the other guys and get you where you want to go. And you know what? Rideshare is a big deal. It's really improved people's lives in so many ways. And I'm kind of OK with you're calling it the battle is back because we're ready to fight and hopefully do pretty well.

BRIAN SOZZI: David, Brian here. Good to see you here. Congrats on this appointment here. Now, you've been on this Lyft board, so you are familiar with the company. What has gotten Lyft to this point? And what do you need to course correct?

DAVID RISHER: You know, I think the thing is, we've got to focus. We have to really focus on rideshare and our customers and our drivers. In a way, it's very simple. The more passengers and riders you have, the more drivers want to drive. The more drivers want to drive, the faster your pickup time. So as long as we're doing a really good job on those basics, that's going to get us part of the way there. And then of course, there are questions that I know you're going to want to ask about where we're going to go in the future. I probably won't be able to say too much about that just yet, but we've got a lot of big plans already brewing.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And I know you said now is going to be that time for that battle. We know you don't want to really compete with Uber and its existing services. So what would the plan be if you're not going to compete in those same spaces?

DAVID RISHER: Well, I mean, look at what Uber is doing. So Uber has decided, I think their business model depends on being able to deliver pizzas and tuna sandwiches and packages and all kinds of other things. The problem that I see with that is as a writer, I'm just not that excited about getting in the car with the tuna sandwich. And as a driver, the idea of double parking outside the restaurant and getting a ticket, and then it's just a different thing and not getting paid as much, by the way, as you do for rideshare.

So I think to a certain extent, this is still a very young market. We're still talking about fractions of people, and by the way, fractions of activity because of COVID. And I think over time, as more people get out, as more people come back together, there's a lot of room for both of us. And I think if we stay focused on rideshare, we're going to do really well.

BRIAN SOZZI: David, your first 90 days in, how will you immerse yourself in the business? Are you going to be-- we've talked to John Zimmer a lot in recent years. He's been driving these cars. And he makes-- he says, look, I'm out there driving these cars. I'm connected with drivers. Do you plan to do the same, and have you done the same?

DAVID RISHER: Yeah, I haven't yet. I did get my car inspected this past weekend. Good news-- it passed. And I also passed the background checks. So I'm well on my way. But look, that's one of the great things about John, is he's been so passionate about making sure he really kind of understands the details of the business. I'll be doing that. I'll be, of course, meeting with employees, as you do. Been talking a lot to investors and to the press to make sure people understand that Lyft is back and that customers have a real choice right now.

And, you know-- and I almost hate to bring this up proactively, but I'll do it. Look, efficiency is also in the air. And so we've got to focus on doing the absolute most important thing so that our drivers and our riders get the best possible experience at a price that's in line with what the competition offers.

BRIAN SOZZI: Well, on efficiencies, David, now Lyft has been very aggressive in cutting expenses. Do you see more opportunities to do that? And then, secondarily, some data out this morning by-- on the sell side, saying, some trends in your business have started to stabilize towards the end of the quarter. Anything you can share there?

DAVID RISHER: Can't really share there. You know, I think you kind of understand why. But I will say that for the last 15 years-- I've been running 14 years-- I've been running an organization that has to solve big problems, in this case, around literacy for Worldreader, but with very, very small budgets. And so I'm very, very comfortable with the idea that, honestly, sometimes you can sort of get twice the team without twice the people. So we're doing a lot of work there to try to figure out how to get our costs as good as they can be.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And I know you do a lot of focus on the customer experience. And during the pandemic, you had a lot of people working from home. At this point, still expecting some sort of long-term hybrid work experience. How will you then grow the company from here if that is going to be the longer term trend?

DAVID RISHER: Yeah. You know, it's interesting. Of course, there are going to be hybrid work environments. There's no question. That's the new reality. But I would say, if anything, I'm feeling a bigger push to say, you know what? Let's get people back out of the house and back to work. And that's not just sort of a philosophical thing. It's a practical thing. Decisions can be made faster. Mentoring happens more.

At a time where consumers are under so much financial pressure, companies like us have to work really hard to make sure we're providing the best value. And frankly, a lot of the time, that happens with people together in front of a whiteboard. So I sort of think it's a mistake to think that we're going to be closer in the future. And not that you said that, but I actually think over time, more and more people will want to get out and back together. That's where the magic happens.

BRIAN SOZZI: To drive that magic, you need drivers, David. Do you have that access to the labor pool that you need?

DAVID RISHER: We do. We do. It's driver supply is always an issue. The truth of the matter is, if you pay well-- and we for sure have to focus on that-- drivers tend to come. It's interesting. I had a great ride with a driver in Atlanta. And he said what I love about driving for Lyft is, I'm never going to go broke. I'm never going to go broke. I just have to drive.

And same with the guy here in San Francisco, Luis. Great, great guy. He said, look, in construction, I made 600 bucks a week. And that was the top. I couldn't go above that. There just wasn't more work than that at my level. But I can drive as much as I want. And then in two weeks, I have the control to be able to go to a bachelor party. So I think for drivers, actually, there's a lot of upside for them still.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And so how do you plan on perhaps streamlining some of these costs while also improving pricing power, not just for the drivers, but also for the customers as well?

DAVID RISHER: Yeah, that's my challenge. You know, and but I'm up for that, right? And I think people think in tradeoffs sometimes, but I think this is one where you don't get to choose. You both have to be price competitive, price in line with where the other guys are. And you've got to deliver a great service. And that's just, I mean, like so many businesses. You just have to figure that out. And we're very focused on making a profitable company long-term. So that's my challenge.

BRIAN SOZZI: David, what do you think the end game is here for Lyft? Is it part of another brand, another company, another tech player?

DAVID RISHER: You know, I mean, look, we always look at options like that and people approach us from time to time. But right now, our focus is on creating such a great service that in whatever configuration, we're going to be relevant, valuable, either as a standalone company or something else.

Look, remember, too, you guys just ran a segment on electric vehicles, which, of course, leads to autonomous. As autonomous vehicles happen and you start to see interesting experiences within rideshare, where maybe it's not a driver in the front seat, but a barista, all sorts of fun things can happen, or a karaoke bar-- I don't know. But if you sort of look way, way out, rideshare networks like this, like ours, are going to be really, really valuable.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Certainly a long play there, indeed, but we're excited to see what happens here. Lyft's incoming chief executive officer David Risher and our very own Brian Sozzi, thank you for joining me in this morning.

DAVID RISHER: Great to see both of you guys. Thanks for the talk.