Sam Zaid of Getaround #156

TWiST #156 with Sam Zaid of Getaround

Have wheels, won't travel? If you don't need your car on any given day, it can sit in your garage or it can make you some cold, hard cash. That's the aim of startup Getaround--to connect people who need a set of wheels with people who have them. Co-founder and CEO Sam Zaid joins Jason to talk about the car-sharing movement and its eco implications, what life is like at the famed Singularity U and how he stood up to the haters and came out on top.

0:00-2:00 Today on This Week in Startups we have Sam Zaid of Getaround.
2:00-4:00 Thank you to MailChimp for sponsoring the show!
4:00-4:30 Welcome, Sam.
4:30-5:00 Sam, do you use MailChimp?
5:00-5:30 Tell the audience what Getaround is.
5:30-6:15 So I see a Tesla Roadster for $500/day on your site. Has anyone actually ever rented it?
6:15-6:45 How do you know the person isn’t going to destroy the car?
6:45-8:00 What do you do to make the car renters feel at ease?
8:00-8:45 So if I rent a car you ensure it for me?
8:45-9:30 So as we see on the screen, it shows the response rate of the car owners. Why is that important?
9:30-10:00 How do you make money?
10:00-10:30 How much of the fee is to cover the insurance?
10:30-12:00 How can I save money on this as a consumer?
12:00-13:00 $45 a day for a Jeep Wrangler is a third of the price of other rental agencies.
13:00-13:30 How do you handle the gas situation?
13:30-14:00 How did you come up with the idea and when did you start the company?
14:00-15:30 Explain what Singularity University is.
15:30-16:30 How long is the course?
16:30-17:00 Is it free?
17:00-18:30 How many people were in the class? What’s a day like at Singularity U?
18:30-19:30 What’s your background?
19:30-20:00 Who are the investors in your angel round?
20:00-21:00 Did you find the investors at Singularity?
21:00-21:30 Are VCs knocking down your door?
21:30-22:15 As an entrepreneur, how do you go from everybody thinking your an idiot to everybody thinking you’re the messiah?
22:15-23:00 How many cities are you in right now and how do you expand into a new city?
23:00-23:30 How do car dealerships feel about this?
23:30-24:30 How do you control the growth?
24:30-25:00 So you have more people who want to share their cars than you let in?
25:00-26:15 What’s the revenue potential that you’ve seen for the renters?
26:15-27:00 How did you get three Teslas? What’s your relationship with them?
27:00-28:00 Do I have to put my name on the account as an owner?
28:00-29:00 So this becomes enough to cover a person’s car payment?
29:00-30:00 Did you consider other business models like a membership-based service?
30:00-32:00 Discussion of recent documentaries on oil production.
32:00-33:30 Did they talk about peak oil at Singularity? Were you influenced by this?
33:30-34:45 Is this sort of big-picture thinking what Singularity did for you?
34:45-35:30 From the audience: Does Getaround register on rental company’s radars?
36:00-37:30 Thank you to iStockphoto for sponsoring the show.
37:30-38:30 Do you try to get the ok from cities to do this?
38:30-40:00 Question from EP Greg Berry: What if someone returns a car with more than normal wear and tear? What’s my recourse as a car owner for covering damages?
40:00-43:00 How do you verify my driving record?
43:00-44:30 Tyler: What was the biggest mistake or incorrect assumption you made going into this business?
44:30-46:00 What does the car kit do? How much does it cost?
46:00-47:45 Do you have anyone who’s becoming a power renter, like on eBay and Airbnb?
47:45-49:30 What if someone said I’ll only rent my car if I know where it goes and how fast it goes?
49:30-51:00 Tyler, would you rent a car if you knew I could find out where you went?
51:00-52:45 Tell me about the TechCrunch Disrupt experience?
52:45-54:45 Did you get any rehearsals?
54:45-56:45 Sam, we wish you continued success with Getaround. Do you know which city you’ll go to next?
56:45-57:15 We’re taking an Ask Jason question from Milan in Serbia.
57:15-1:01:00 Milan: “I have a successful gaming website and I’m looking to expand it to a worldwide English speaking audience. Do you think that CountdownGames.tv is a good domain name? Or should I use a more unique, short name?”
1:01:00-1:01:30 Sam, are you angry at Getaround knock offs?
1:01:30-1:03:30 Milan, thank you for being a super fan.
1:03:30-1:05:00 Sam, do you have any advice for Milan?
1:05:00-1:06:00 This has been a great episode, thank you Milan and congratulations to Sam.
1:06:00-1:07:00 Thank you to MailChimp and iStockphoto.

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Jason: @jason
Tyler: @steepdecline
Sam: @samzaid
Getaround: @getaround

Special Thanks to the members of the TWiST List Producer Program!

Executive Producers

    Louis-Eric Simard
    Benjamin Gifford
    Jacek Artymiak
    Octavian Mihai
    Will Paoletto
    Geoffrey Clapp
    Eien Hyett
    Jeff Hoffer
    Kyle Lonzo
    Austin Miller
    Rashaun Sourles
    Robb Kunz
    Greg Berry
    Sean Lynch
    Mary Ann Halford
    Jim Joyce
    Morgan Howard
    Margaret Johns
    Kyle M. Brown
    Paul Cole
    Nick Duncan
    Magnus Ingvarsson

Producers

    Eli Coler
    Ted Inoue
    Radek Rybicki
    Hunter Owens
    Christian Owens
    Ben Altieri
    Casey Wach
    Cam Collins
    Ildar Khakimov
    Matti Hallanoro
    Rodrigo Dauster
    Rodrigo Fuentes
    Anthony Ortenzi
    Daniel de la Cruz
    Michael Hofmann
    John Meneses

Associate Producers

    Brad Pineau
    Kat Ganesan
    Nicholas Christian
    Mau Frontier
    Kyle Braatz
    Serena Ehrlich
    Nathan Hangen
    Lauri Hahne
    JD
    Trudy Baidoo
    Ian Gerstel
    Julian Hearn
    Alex Lotoczko
    James Kennedy
    Benoit Curdy
    Asher Nevins
    Mike Kaltschnee
    Paul Higgins
    Patrick Altman
    William Doom
    David Lee
    Jake Kerber
    Sarp Coskun

Supporters

    Ryan Hoover
    Michael Cranston
    Josiah Thomas
    João Fernandes
    Petrus Theron
    Michael Wild
    Adrian Grant
    Dale Emmons
    Kieran McGrady
    Tim de Jardine
    Alejandro Vasquez
    C. Dain Miller
    Joshua Opatz
    Milan Babuskov
    Chris Rowe
    Nelson Melo
    James Dawson
    Toddy Mladenov
    Daniel Torres
    Chris Macke
    Piotr Zuralski
    Armand Konan