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PUBLIC VIEWPOINTS

Markus Villig

Interview participant ·

1 interviews · 3 viewpoints · 1 topics

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Attributed viewpoints, ordered by interview date. A snapshot of these conversations, not a definitive statement of someone’s beliefs.

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Building companies

A better ride-ordering experience encouraged word of mouth

Markus Villig says people shared Bolt’s ride-ordering experience without the company needing to spend heavily on marketing.

Supporting evidence

Original excerpt

So people were just sharing it without us actually having to spend too much marketing.

Markus Villig·

Bolt ft. Markus Villig - From Bootstrapping in Estonia to a Global Leader in Mobility
Context

We started to see some trips happening every day. And it was organically just growing and, and becoming quite viral because the baseline was so bad. So people are just used to having this horrible experience, and the moment experienced, uh, a new way to order a ride—you just tap a button, a car shows up—it was so great.

Open original · 9:08 (opens in a new tab)Transcript source (opens in a new tab)

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Markus Villig
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Building companies

A failed taxi-company meeting helped clarify a pivot

Markus Villig describes a failed negotiation that reinforced the decision to work directly with drivers rather than trying to modernize taxi companies.

Supporting evidence

Original excerpt

So after about 15 minutes, he just told us no, and we walked out—and we were happy we were able to do that.

Markus Villig·

Bolt ft. Markus Villig - From Bootstrapping in Estonia to a Global Leader in Mobility
Context

So we took a seat. We pitched him on why Bolt is a fantastic product and why he should adopt it at his company. Clearly the meeting wasn’t going anywhere. But I think that really brought home the lesson that it’s much easier for us to, uh, not try to work with these dinosaurs and bring these taxi companies to the future, but rather let’s start to work directly with the drivers.

Open original · 10:18 (opens in a new tab)Transcript source (opens in a new tab)

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Markus Villig
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Building companies

City analysis pointed Bolt toward African markets

Markus Villig says African cities rose to the top of Bolt’s analysis because of large populations, transport needs and high unemployment. He saw potential for people to earn extra income on the platform.

Supporting evidence

Original excerpt

After actually just a couple of weeks of this analysis, all the African cities actually turned out to be the top of the list: large population, massive need for alternatives in terms of transportation and very high unemployment.

Markus Villig·

Bolt ft. Markus Villig - From Bootstrapping in Estonia to a Global Leader in Mobility
Context

So clearly millions of people who would like to join these kind of platforms to make additional income.

Open original · 16:05 (opens in a new tab)Transcript source (opens in a new tab)

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Markus Villig
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Statements by interview date1

Statements are ordered by the original interview publication date; differences in wording do not establish a change of position.