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Francesco Wiedemann is Co-Founder of Kyte, a door-to-door, app-based car rental delivery company that ambitiously intends to become the largest fleet operator on the planet with 10 million trips per month by 2030.

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Join Jim and Francesco as they how Francesco went from winning entrepreneurial pitch contests at Harvard and MIT to co-creating a rental car startup that has raised $300 million to date.

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3 Key Takeaways

Identifying Market Gaps: Francesco and his co-founders realized there was a gap in the mobility market for travel longer than an Uber ride but shorter than requiring a long-term car lease. This led them to create Kyte, a service that fills this gap. For entrepreneurs, the lesson is clear: look for areas where existing solutions are lacking or incomplete and aim to fill that void with a better offering.

Finding the Right Pricing Strategy: Francesco discussed how they initially underestimated the complexity of pricing in their market. Over time, they invested in developing a pricing engine to optimize their offerings. Pricing is often an overlooked aspect of business strategy, but it's crucial for competitiveness and profitability. Entrepreneurs should continuously evaluate and reevaluate their pricing strategy to meet market demands and operational costs.

Help Investors See Your Vision: Kyte secured a credit line from Goldman Sachs despite being a small operation at the time. This was possible because they could convey the potential of their business model and its scalability to investors. Entrepreneurs should focus not just on what their company is now, but also on what it could become, especially when pitching to investors or financial partners.

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Use Kyte’s promotion code for $20 off

On Kyte’s website or in the Kyte app, at checkout use “THEDIRT20” promo code to get a $20 discount on your purchase.

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View This Episode's Summary

Show Notes

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Join Jim and Francesco as they how Francesco went from winning entrepreneurial pitch contests at Harvard and MIT to co-creating a rental car startup that has raised $300 million to date.

‍

3 Key Takeaways

Identifying Market Gaps: Francesco and his co-founders realized there was a gap in the mobility market for travel longer than an Uber ride but shorter than requiring a long-term car lease. This led them to create Kyte, a service that fills this gap. For entrepreneurs, the lesson is clear: look for areas where existing solutions are lacking or incomplete and aim to fill that void with a better offering.

Finding the Right Pricing Strategy: Francesco discussed how they initially underestimated the complexity of pricing in their market. Over time, they invested in developing a pricing engine to optimize their offerings. Pricing is often an overlooked aspect of business strategy, but it's crucial for competitiveness and profitability. Entrepreneurs should continuously evaluate and reevaluate their pricing strategy to meet market demands and operational costs.

Help Investors See Your Vision: Kyte secured a credit line from Goldman Sachs despite being a small operation at the time. This was possible because they could convey the potential of their business model and its scalability to investors. Entrepreneurs should focus not just on what their company is now, but also on what it could become, especially when pitching to investors or financial partners.

‍

Use Kyte’s promotion code for $20 off

On Kyte’s website or in the Kyte app, at checkout use “THEDIRT20” promo code to get a $20 discount on your purchase.

‍

Resources

Learn about how Kyte delivers cars on demand, for any trip longer than a rideshare: https://kyte.com/

Francesco Wiedemann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francescowiedemann/

Stratechery by Ben Thompson is the podcast Francesco recommends to The Dirt listeners: https://stratechery.com/

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About The Dirt Podcast

The Dirt is about getting real with businesses about the true state of their companies and going clear down to the dirt in solving their core needs as a business. Dive deep with your host Jim Barnish as we uncover The Dirt with some of the world's leading brands.

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For more information on how we dig into the dirt check out our other episodes here: https://www.orchid.black/podcast

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About Our Company

Orchid Black is a new kind of growth services firm. We partner with tech-forward companies to build smarter, better, game-changing businesses.

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