Hey @bradybecker and @nottil - one thing I'm curious on is how you plan to roll Blucar out to additional cities. Any news you want to share there re: where it will be coming next?
@bradybecker (hey dude!) looks like you are starting in second tier cities, are you also going to offer similar services as the others (car wash, oil change, gas fill up, etc.) or are you looking to differentiate in a different manner?
@_jacksmith Our approach is different compared to other apps. BluCar is a SaaS model which allows local parking management and valet companies to quickly be up and running with on-demand services. Additionally, the market is still wide open (i.e. it does not have yet have a clear winner
like UBER). We also believe customers want to continue to park with the companies they’ve been doing so for many years, and believe those trusted relationships are very important. BluCar enables that though partnerships.
@_jacksmith@bradybecker Even uber is getting beaten badly in India.
EDIT: Meaning, just because there's a giant in the market already doesn't mean you shouldn't enter it. Beat 'em.
@bradybecker ok. doesn't that make your service really expensive? as the main advantage of luxe etc is that it's way cheaper than existing valet services as far as I'm aware.
@cpwt We are currently partnering with existing valet and parking companies in cities that make sense to expand into. Right now we have plans to open in Seattle, Los Angeles and Nashville in the coming weeks. Our first partner ACE Parking, is currently parking 200,000 cars in 10 states with 3,000 valets, we have plans to add BluCar to each market.
Hi @micah! Our initial start is in second tier cities but we're launching a few tier one cities very soon. Yes, the plan is to offer services (car wash, oil change, gas fill up, etc.) on top of parking. One big difference is BluCar strategically works with city officials to provide a safe and legal on-demand solution, offering a unique safety feature that visually maps buildings, safe zones, and hazard areas within the app. If a customer sets a drop-off pin on a building or hazard area, the app will move the pin to the closest safe zone. This allows for a safe hand-off between the valet and customer. It also solves the problem of requesting a drop-off in the center of a building requiring the attendant to circle the block looking for the customer.
For those of you in the Denver and Boulder area, we are doing two weeks of free service. We'd love to hear your feedback here: https://blucar.wufoo.com/forms/b...
Hustle X