A note from the author: This article was written on June 18, 2014 and unpublished, however I was recently motivated to complete it as we continue to see UberX and Lyft make strides in coming to St. Louis, including today’s announcement of Uber Black. A collection of more #stl related links are listed at the end of this article.

Background

It’s June 18th, 2014, I’m sitting in the airport nearing the end of a grueling two weeks of travel to California. STL > LA > STL in week one and STL > SFO > STL in week two. But I can’t complain too much, I was fortunate enough to attend one of the countries best video game trade shows, E3 in Los Angeles and present our company, Pixel Press, to a group of investors in San Francisco just this morning.

Beyond experiencing some of the industries best new games and making some great investor connections, I had the pleasure of using UberX (offered by Uber, the social ride-sharing service, different from Uber Black) and Lyft for the first time.

These rides resulted in some of the most valuable and insightful conversations of the entire trip, which I chronicle below.

I had not even planned to use a car service for either of my trips to California. For LA, a friend picked me up from the airport and let me borrow their extra car for the week. But, I ended up using UberX for a ride back to the airport. For San Francisco, I frustratingly learned that leaving your drivers license at home and hoping to rely on your passport to rent a car is a no go — with Hertz at least — and faced the realization that I would be relying on UberX and Lyft for my entire trip. Further, due to some poor planning on my part, the trip included a one-hour drive from the airport to my hotel at Half Moon Bay, and three more 30-minute rides to various meetings all over the valley.

On it’s most basic level, I pleasantly learned that the cost of using UberX and Lyft was not too much more than renting a car, cheaper than a taxi, and for the convenience factor alone (between easy to use apps, and not dealing with parking a rental) it was we’ll worth the value. But more importantly, what I learned was that the type of people driving the cars provide more value than I ever could have imagined — and it has everything to do with the culture of the product.

I always find myself fascinated with what brings people to do what they do — so you won’t find me hesitating to start, or be part of a deep conversation in a long ride when it involves interesting people. But unlike a typical cab ride, where at best the conversation is focused on where you are coming from and where you are going — a conversation with an UberX or Lyft driver clearly presented a bigger opportunity.

It starts with the fact that an UberX or Lyft driver likely has an interesting story to tell about how and why they became a driver. From my experience, rideshare drivers seem more often than not to be in the middle of a life mission, picking up a side job to help them along the way and probably were motivated to drive in the first place because they want to try something different. All admirable objectives.

Chris

My first ride with UberX (LA Convention Center >LAX) was with Chris, a 32 years whiz that started working for GM immediately after graduating high school and quickly moved up the ranks to become a successful manager. I recall showing a few of my colleagues before leaving a picture of Chris, which shows up when you are matched with a driver, and saying “Check this guy out, he’s clearly a model.” No doubt about it, Chris’ picture was professionally taken and he looked the part of the next Channing Tatum — he even had the great name already worked out — Chris Lowe. I jumped in his black leather car (a common theme with both services) and was immediately drawn in by his passion. Already thinking to myself how much more pleasant this would be over a typical cab ride, I decided I wanted to know more about this guy. I quickly inquired into his background, and to no surprise (we’re in LA, right?) he was an aspiring actor, and he told me how he left his position at GM in Michigan to pursue an acting career in LA. Despite all the stereotypes, Chris did not fit the mold of the typical Hollywood wannabe. Rather than diving into an interview and falling flat on his face, he had spent the first year and a half learning his craft, getting the proper certifications, and working with mentors to learn the industry. He was working to build his skill sets so that when he eventually takes the big casting call, he’d be ready. It was inspiring to hear his story, working hard not only on his craft, but by driving a car to make ends meet. All from your taxi driver? that’s nice for a change.

Nabil

I left my house in St. Louis for a 6AM direct to San Jose. I honestly didn’t think twice about any issues with having just my passport at the car rental — but soon enough the Hertz rep was saying there was nothing he could do to get me in a car without a license. Coming off my experience in LA with Chris, I quickly shifted my attention towards my next rideshare.

I’d seen Lyft once before in San Francisco, finding the pink mustache they put on the car quite comical, and had never used it, But was reminded of the option as Lyft very recently made an attempt to come to St. Louis, unsuccessfully for now.

With my “let’s compare” hat on, I decided to download the Lyft app and give it a try. After a few quick taps of the app I was en route to my hotel withNabil — a long hour ride to my distant hotel. I was ready to make the most of it, especially after spending my flight reading the first half of “Delivering Happiness”, by Kane Hseih (CEO of Zappos) that talked about, among other things, the power of creating real relationships and the potential of them paying off in a karmic way, sometimes many, many years later. So I hoped this will be true with Nabil, who I quickly learned was a corporate event planner spending most of his days moving between company meetings, vendors offices, and eventually event spaces rubbing elbows with some of the tech giants most talented employees. On top of that, he knew all about Pixel Press thanks to some recent press, and now he had met the founder and was excited to tell a few people he had met along the way of this random encounter. Hmm, I thought to myself, glad I left my drivers license at home and found myself in this car, who knows what might come of it.

Ultimately I found myself happy to be so far outside of the city, as my hotel in Half Moon Bay was just a 10-minute walk from the ocean, so I was able to see the sun set over a beautiful cliff. I enjoyed having the time to reflect on an eventful past week in LA and some of the enjoyable people I had the chance to meet all thanks to this new taxi alternative that I had been haring so much about.

Abdulah

The next morning was a bit of a scramble, I had to be in Palo Alto early for an investor presentation, which was about an hour away, and I found out quickly I had become too dependent on UberX and Lyft. Despite being dropped off by Lyft, I was now out of their range completely, and UberX was intermittently telling me there was a car available, and then there wasn’t. Oh crap! Luckily UberX finally kicked in, finding me a driver, and 15 min later I got a text that Abdulah was arriving… and within a few minutes there he was.

In this third rideshare, Abdulah would solidify my very unscientific assumptions that I would meet interesting and potentially valuable people on rideshares. He began telling me his story of spending many years with Sprint, rising the ranks, and leaving that opportunity to pursue a new challenge. He was leveraging the freelance work with UberX to help make ends meet. At 38, and with a great deal of success now behind him, Abdulah was pursing a new path, and was enjoying every bit of it. We spent the hour talking about his goals, my goals, and more — on top of that, I was delighted and inspired to learn that he also was well aware of my company and had some insightful thoughts about what we are working on and how to build the product for his demographic. It was pretty clear, the $90 1-hour ride was worth it, and cheaper than a taxi.

Marshall

The investor presentation went well and after a quick meal in downtown Palo Alto, and a good four hours to spare before my flight was to depart, I decide to give Lyft one more go and head to the airport to catch up on email before getting on my flight back to St. Louis.

Just 30 seconds after connecting with Marshall on Lyft, he called me directly to confirm my location, a pleasant a reassuring surprise. When I jumped in his car just a few minutes later it was stocked with Starburst in the armrest, and after a warm smile, a big hello, and a few taps on his iPad mini mounted on the dash we were off and he was handing me an ice-cold Coke. Marshall appeared to be about 55 and was clearly graced with the gift of gab, not in an annoying way but a refreshing and inviting way. I quickly learned that Marshall was in this line of work purely for the value of experience. A retired field operations guy who has fully embraced the car service lifestyle, a driver for both UberX and Lyft, and to his delight Lyft has selected him to mentor new drivers. We talked about the rapid growth of both UberX and Lyft over the previous 6 months, the “battle royale” that was coming as all the companies in the space (there are many more) are rising the charts in both customers and value, and how much fun he’s had being a part of it. As we talked during the 30 minute ride to the airport, Marshall asked me questions about my work and I could tell he was making mental notes and was strategically thinking how he could help me out.

To my surprise, Marshall turned off the meter a few minutes from the airport; asked if I would mind if he parked and headed into the airport with me to buy me lunch.

Wait…what?

This was clearly the furthest experience from a typical taxi ride I could ever have imagined, and interestingly enough came pretty naturally based on how we had connected on the ride. I realized just like me, he was getting more out of his rideshare experience than he had ever hoped for and I was sharing in that value with him. Marshall was clearly interested in learning more about myself and my company, and I had some time, so I was not about to turn him down. As we got out of the car, he encouraged me to take handful of Starburst, offering the opinion that the Starburst would be my ticket with the flight attendant to a seat upgrade, I laughed and we walked to the terminal.

Our conversation over the next two hours took us in many directions, I learned more about his past, and shared some of my own, realizing we had a lot of work experience in common, and some people he knew that might be able to help me out. Before too long, he was sorting through the connections he would hope to make for me.

My 4 hours early arrival to the airport was now all but gone, and I had to pull myself away at the risk of missing my flight, but we exchanged contact information, and within an hour he had already introduced me to one of the contacts he mentioned in our discussion.

Value

Months from now, who knows where all of these conversations may lead, but I do believe very much that one of these chance meetings will pay off in the long run, true to Kane Hseih’s theory. Regardless, I imagine my conversions with Chris, Nabil, Adbulah, and especially Marshall will peek their heads into my thoughts many times in the future, and will have an lasting impact on how I approach each and every conversation I have with a stranger, a driver, whoever.

The value of disruptive services like UberX and Lyft are fascinating, but also important to a city — a service that brings like minded and motivated people together, the power of interconnecting people can speed the process of building a community. The values to myself, as an owner of a company and a customer of these car services in my home city would be immense — it could mean attracting talent, gaining customer insight, meeting investors, meeting future business partners, and more. What a complex but huge opportunity.

When I started this piece, I did not set out to make it about St. Louis, and the contentious conversation going on about accepting UberX or Lyft into our community, but I have to think, if we are working to create a community where we are to create a space that is modeled after the next-generation ecosystems around us, should we not make it about the community? UberX, Lyft, and services like it, are part of a culture of change, let’s not miss the opportunity.

Articles about Ridesharing in St. Louis

Aug 4, 2014 — Uber: Taxicab commission wants us to apply for a license that doesn’t exist

Aug 22, 2014 — In fight with taxicab commission, Lyft appeals — and gets denied

Sept 29, 2014 — Uber premium sedan service poised to enter St. Louis market

Oct 7, 2014 — Taxicab commission OKs Uber Black in St. Louis

Oct 8, 2014 — Uber Black service begins in St. Louis today