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Teleport — Bring your friends to you via Uber
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@rrhoover It’s a huge concern of ours! No, I’m kidding of course, but in all seriousness, Uber has been a great partner and we’ve been in constant communication with their API team. We’re constantly impressed at their responsiveness and willingness to try out new things.
I like to remind myself that we’re not building a transportation service, we’re just trying to make people… better friends. Uber’s API is enabling and allowing us to create a fun interaction, and I want to explore more ways that we can bring people to our service with the social value we provide. We’re mutually benefitting each other with parallel but different missions, and I like to think that Uber sees it the same way!
@nivo0o0 Please share any novel uses you might come up with! Love hearing interesting ways people are using Teleport.
@shlomofellig our newest update on Thursday will allow you to send a teleport to anyone! Not just to those in your phone book. It even lets you send it to anyone on any messaging platform with the keyboard app.
@bobawu Thanks for circling back! I deleted the app without the feature, but I will give it another try. Congrats.
So simple, I love it! When Uber first rolled out in Boston I remember I got my girlfriend an Uber from South Station back to her sister's apartment in the North End...but I was in Manhattan. She got in around 1am so I wanted to be sure there was someone waiting there for her. And then I had the peace of mind knowing she got home to her sister's safely.
I wonder how you will monetize a user? Do you take a percentage on top of Uber?
@rajamatage Thanks for the love! That's a perfect use case. With Teleport it's even easier to take care of your loved ones. We aren't monetizing users and we don't take a % from Uber now, so its the same cost as a normal Uber ride. Outside of social use cases, there are also corporate use cases (interview candidates, clients, execs) that we may focus more of the monetization on in the future.
Cool bolt on to the Uber platform. We'll see if they manage that effectively (i.e. don't suffer from the 'platform creep' that Twitter succumbs to).
Next step - recurring rides. Commuting as a service. My car costs me $300 + $100 insurance + gas + maintenance. If I could commit to a spend of $500 per month and guarantee getting to and from work, could be huge.
Is this supported by Uber. A lot of the product is built on the trust of knowing the rider and the driver and seeing the ratings of each. If I call a teleport for a drink friend who does that rating go against?
@jmacias We are integrated with Uber's API so yes it is supported by Uber. The rating currently goes to the sender of the Teleport. The cool part is that your "drink" friend doesn't need to be a Uber user in order to accept the Teleport! Hence no way of having a rating for someone off the platform.
This looks really cool. Question - I have a friend who is visually impaired. They can use a smartphone with accessibility options. Can I Teleport them @bobawu? Or more precisely, how does it work for the visually impaired?
@alexsalkever Great question. We don't currently have voice activated features, but we are thinking of innovative ways we could implement them. We definitely want to support use cases like the one you mentioned.
My friend Bob's been building Teleport in stealth mode from NYC until today. Congrats, Bob and Michael & team!
Earlier this year, Bob sent me a Teleport (for an Uber driver, but from Bob's Teleport) from one part of NY to another for an early afternoon coffee & it worked beautifully. On that note, it's easy to see potential, low-hanging fruit use cases: a generous & kind gesture, whether a date with someone you'd like to impress, an important work meeting, or just a catch up with a friend in town (in my case w Bob).
Q: From my understanding, Uber only recently allowed 3rd party developer access to its API, a few months back. How did the partnership with Uber come about, and what's the biggest learning from working closely with the Uber API team?
@suzywillow is Bob on PH so he can be added as Maker? Until he is added, I think I can only comment as a reply to your initial post.
The concept seems sound (but I still have yet to try it, which I'd like to). I actually have been frustrated on many occasions trying to call an Uber or Lyft for the person I'm departing from (for various reasons).
@suzywillow Really like the idea, had so many arguments with friends whether we should come to them or they to us. Curious to hear your thoughts on first dates? Invite your date to your place?
@suzywillow I think this makes sense for sure :)
I wonder if this works if you want a friend to LEAVE your house... 'accidentally' call them an Uber so they gotta go!
@suzywillow Thanks for hunting us! Hi, I'm Bob, a co-founder of Teleport App. We are excited to be one of the first start-ups building a company on top of Uber's API. We were able to work closely with Uber primarily because we demonstrated to them that we could build beautiful products and that we were dedicated to using the Uber API platform in a unique way. The Uber API team is super supportive and really wants to work with start-ups and developers to find new use cases.
Am I missing something here? Uber already let's you pick up a friend from their location. I open up the Uber app, request an uber to my friends address. They get picked up and brought to me. My Uber account is charged?
@aaronlumsden Check out our FAQ at www.teleportapp.co, but basically it's an even better experience to send an Uber to your friend with Teleport. You don't need to know their address. You don't have to be in constant communication with your friend. You don't need to troubleshoot if the driver can't find the passenger. Your friend also gets a map of their route to you and ETA etc. Hope that helps.
@insamshead Thanks man! UberPOOL is definitely something we're considering! Btw, it was awesome seeing you that day we TP'd you :)
I can definitely see myself using this. One step closer to actual teleportation 🙌
Hey @bobawu congrats on the launch! Me and a friend had a similar idea 2 months ago except ours was an integration between Snapchat + Uber. We thought offering a free ride to a friend, colleague, client, or family member, through Snapchat would be a fun/modern experience. If done through Snapchat, chances are you are already having a conversation about or negotiating a meet up. When ordering a ride for someone I think it's great to still keep in touch while you are waiting for your friend to get there. Anticipation + updates are important i think. It's easy to see how this can be a really cool fun experience using Snapchat.
Considering that Uber would benefit a lot by building this as a feature within their app, what are the other main differentiating features or areas you are looking at that will set you apart?
@madebyildi Thanks for the support! We are thinking of ways we can easily integrate with Snapchat, Line, WeChat, Tinder, and any other communication/social platform, especially because as you mentioned you are already having a conversation about meeting up. We have a great relationship with Uber's team, so want to make sure that both sides benefit in the long term.
My co-founder @mkwng mentioned this previously: I like to remind myself that we’re not building a transportation service, we’re just trying to make people… better friends. Uber’s API is enabling and allowing us to create a fun interaction, and I want to explore more ways that we can bring people to our service with the social value we provide. We’re mutually benefitting each other with parallel but different missions, and I like to think that Uber sees it the same way!
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