Lee and Mark discuss:

• Parallels between tennis coaching and business ownership

• Mark’s balance of technical and creative endeavours

• How we’ve been poorly served in data analysis, and how modern methods have iterated

• The challenging mission of shifting transport demand within cities

• New, localised challenges with a launch in the US and a European presence

Links & references

Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/

Mark Nicholson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdenicholson/

VivaCity: https://vivacitylabs.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/vivacity-labs/

Get in touch: lee@extrology.com

Episode highlights:

“They didn't really have the core technology, until computer vision AI came along. Then you can start to understand data in much the same way an autonomous vehicle knows ‘That's a cyclist, that's a pedestrian, that's an e-scooter, that's a car’.” - 16:30 - Mark Nicholson

“There is always more perpetual demand for more transport, so the challenge for authorities is to transition some of that to other modes.” - 20:20 - Mark Nicholson

“There’s about £10bn spent in the UK every year on changing road infrastructure. Through guiding some of that £10bn spend, we can incrementally improve that network to help people get around better. That’s where data becomes valuable.” - 33:30 - Mark Nicholson

“I think every market is unique. There are always localisation challenges and differences. I think, given that we sell to governments, there is a particular challenge in government structures, which are just fundamentally very different in different areas. ” - 40:30 - Mark Nicholson

“We need to do more for the great people doing innovative things. We need to spend more focus and time on making change, not just on how much of a bottom line they’re generating.” - 59:40 - Lee Cooper

“In terms of exploring new technology and the benefits of that new technology, I think it's one thing to talk about a flying taxi from a luxury perspective, it's another to imagine an air ambulance, with no humans on board. That feels like a very justifiable innovation.” - 1:03:55 - Mark Nicholson

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