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Austin police are now impounding drivers in the peer-to-peer ridesharing group
Austin’s transportation saga just keeps getting more interesting. Last week, we wrote about a 30,000 member Facebook group that had formed in Austin to help facilitate ride requests in the absence of Uber and Lyft. Riders posted requests, drivers responded, and people got where they needed to go. One problem – the drivers and riders were not using an official service to… Read More
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Ousta is driving ride-hailing expansion in Egypt
With its major cities congested with traffic — taxi cabs, public transports and, lately, ride-hailing and ride-sharing apps — Egypt apparently still needs more when it comes to transportation. Catering to a population exceeding 90 million, international market players Uber and Careem launched in Egypt in 2014; a third player soon followed — a local ridehailing app called Ousta. Read More
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Wype will come clean your car where it sits
Recently, I wrote about Wyper, the Tinder of car shopping. That prompted Andy Kim, co-founder of Wype, to contact me. His business is one letter off from Wyper, after all, so in the interest of disambiguation, here’s the scoop on the car-detailing company that is more like Uber than Tinder in the app comparison game. Wype is based in Southern California, where cars are shiny and water… Read More
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Non-profit RideAustin looks to fill void left by Uber and Lyft
Charity or opportunism? It’s so hard to tell, sometimes. In RideAustin’s case, it looks to be a bit of both. It’s a non-profit car-for-hire service that’s happy to abide by the city’s rules — and adds a layer of budget- and conscience-friendly features that may help it stay differentiated (and alive). Read More
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Lyft will now let you schedule trips ahead of time
Ridesharing platform Lyft heard the people and the people wanted to schedule rides ahead of time. Starting today, Lyft is adding a new feature to let you schedule in advance that ride to the airport or crucial business meeting for which you need to be on time. Gett, a ridesharing service in New York, has offered this feature for more than a year and we’ve heard rumors Uber has toyed… Read More
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Bar Roulette routes your Uber to a random bar nearby
Want to go party the night away but not sure where to go? Bar Roulette’s brand new iOS app has you covered. Press a button to summon an Uber, and it will take you to a bar picked from the highest-rated bars on Yelp and Foursquare. The twist? The app won’t tell you where you are going until you arrive. It aims to break you out of your routines and add a bit of adventure to your life. Read More
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How consolidations will play out in the transportation, food and entertainment industries
There has been no shortage of thoughtful articles exploring a bubble in technology. I would argue that the world has already been transformed, and there is no bubble in the purest sense. Instead of massive flameouts that leave everyone burned, I think we are going to see a wave of beneficial consolidation and rationalization in industries that appropriately have seen exceptional venture… Read More
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Uber Offers get merchants to pay for your ride
Uber wants to be your car, and the billboard. It’s turning its frequently used app into a surface for external commerce promotions in hopes of rewarding users with special deals. If Uber will give you $20 off for shopping with its partners, you might stick with it over competitors. Eventually, pushing riders to make purchases could potentially earn Uber referral fees that might boost… Read More
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Now some Ubers will only wait 2 minutes before charging you, not 5
Better sprint outside, because now Uber can ditch you if you’re just two minutes late for your ride, or start charging you before you get in the car. Previously, people got a five-minute grace period to get to the car after it arrived, or to cancel their trip after they sent a request. But now, Uber is telling some users to “Request When You’re Ready” or face fees… Read More
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As VCs enroll the startup class of 2016, it’s RIP for ‘me too’ companies
Many of the world’s legendary tech companies got started just as the public markets were cooling off; Microsoft, Apple, HP, IBM, Oracle, FedEx, etc. The most recent case in point is the startup class of 2008-2009: Dropbox, Airbnb, Pinterest, Uber and Tiny Speck (Slack) all got their early funding in those dismal years. And, while not everyone agrees that there is a massive downturn in… Read More
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