Why we picked Miami first

Every co-ownership platform that has worked has started in one city and stayed there longer than they planned. Pacaso opened a single market (Lake Tahoe) for two years before expanding. NetJets ran out of Columbus, Ohio for a decade. The mistake everyone wants to make is launching in five cities at once. The mistake everyone has made is launching in five cities at once.

We picked Miami first. Here's why, both the soft argument and the hard data.

The hard data

Florida had the highest US per-capita exotic-vehicle registration through 2023, and Miami-Dade County alone accounted for roughly 18% of all Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren registrations south of New York. There are more $250K+ vehicles in zip codes 33109, 33139, and 33143 than there are in entire metropolitan areas of comparable wealth.

Year-round driving. The fleet logs about 280 usable driving days per year in Miami vs. ~165 in New York and ~210 in Los Angeles. That's not a soft difference, that's the operating number behind "32 days a share" feeling abundant rather than constrained. In a city with 165 driving days, 32 days takes you 19% of the year. In Miami, it takes you 11%.

No state income tax. The intersection of high-net-worth migration into Florida (well-documented since 2020) and the LLC tax pass-through means co-owners on the Florida LLC pay nothing at the state level on operations. For New York LLCs, the same structure incurs LLC franchise tax, NY state filing, and the city's UBT depending on member residency. Florida is structurally simpler.

The soft argument

Miami's relationship with cars is different from New York's. New York cars are commute objects, Long Island weekends, Hamptons summers. Miami cars are public objects, driven on Ocean Drive, parked at Carbone, cruised through Wynwood on a Sunday. The car is the social asset. Co-ownership lands harder in a market where the car is meant to be seen.

Miami also has the right density of supporting infrastructure. The certified pre owned market is concentrated (independent and franchise dealers in Doral and Aventura), the photographers and detailers exist, the storage market has multiple climate-controlled options (we partner with one in Wynwood). Replacement parts and service appointments are routine in a way they aren't in cities where exotics arrive on transporters.

And, relevant for boats specifically, Miami is one of three US cities where a serious yacht side can run year-round. The cars and boats verticals share a city, share a member base, share storage. That synergy was a deliberate location choice, not a coincidence.

What we'd lose if we launched elsewhere first

Density. Spreading 20 cars across LA, NY, and Miami simultaneously would mean ~6-7 vehicles per market, too thin for a meaningful portfolio in any one of them. Concentrated launch lets us put 12-15 vehicles in Miami at peak, which is the inventory depth that converts a curious prospect into a member.

Operations leverage. One storage partner, one detailing crew, one set of photographers, one captain bench. Two markets means two of everything; the operational tax is real and disproportionate at small scale.

Brand cohesion. "RYDA Miami" reads tight. "RYDA Miami / LA / New York" reads like a series-A startup that's gotten ahead of itself.

What's next

LA opens Q2 2027, eighteen months after Miami. The fleet at that point will reflect what Miami members actually want (rotating in based on usage data, not pre-filled with our guesses). Same for New York Q4 2027.

We are not going to LA in 2026. We are not going to New York in 2026. We are going to do Miami well and let the second market open from a place of operating confidence, not slide-deck ambition.

The bet

Co-ownership platforms succeed when the first hundred members feel like the member cohort of a club they wanted to join. They fail when the first hundred members feel like beta testers spread across cities, paying full price.

Miami first. Done right. Then the rest.