Ritu Narayan, the former tech product manager at eBay and Oracle, founded and became the CEO of Zum, an AI-backed electric school bus service inspired by her own struggle with unreliable transportation for her children. Initially, the service was designed to function much like Uber, with vetted private drivers providing the service to parents who could arrange and track rides via a dedicated app.
Zum was well received by Bay Area parents, demonstrating a clear demand for the service. The turning point came in 2019 when local schools offered to contract Zum as a privatized school bus fleet that uses electric vehicles and provides tracking capabilities. Narayan was faced with the challenging decision of sticking to the original vision inspired by her mother, or branching off into a new venture that would involve competition with established bus companies.
Taking the risk, Narayan decided to expand into the new service area, a choice that was later validated as the company is now valued at $1.3 billion. It has contracts worth over $1.5 billion in place with more than 4,000 schools across six states. Reflecting on her decision, Narayan reveals it was a difficult one, fraught with uncertainty and a sense of obligation to her existing customer base. However, she found comfort in knowing she was still serving children and parents.
In the midst of significant change and growth, Zum also had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a shut down of their services. Narayan took this as an opportunity to enhance the product and better prepare for its future operations.
Among her strategies, recognizing “crucible moments” where critical decisions need to be made is topmost. Understanding market evolution, competition, and customer needs are also essential in ensuring business success. She encourages others to seize such moments and make bold decisions that can lead to unprecedented levels of success.
