Zimride – a startup with a tagline that reads “A Carpool Community” – sounds exactly like the sort of benevolent Web 2.0 service that will never make a cent. As it turns out, since launching in 2007 and winning fbFund last summer, the company has managed to carve out a nice niche for itself that saves its users money, helps the environment, and actually manages to generate revenue. And, unlike some of its carpooling competitors, it has also managed to avoid getting sued by Canada.
Zimride offers an application on Facebook Platform, inviting users on the same network to meet eachother and share a car trip. Users can also visit the service on its website at Zimride.com and find trusted users through Facebook Connect. After entering their current location and their destination, Zimride will generate a list of potential matches arranged by how far out of the way each one wants to travel. Users can also post a destination they’d like to travel to some time down the line, and receive alerts through Email when a match pops up.
The service is offered for free for up to 50 members per school or company network, but once it crosses that threshold Zimride seeks out the network owner and asks them to pay a subscription fee if it wants to continue allowing its students or employees to use the service. While this sounds a bit risky (Zimride stands a chance at pissing off students if their school decides not to join), COO John Zimmer says that institutions have generally been very receptive to the idea.
The company works with transporation departments and student governments at universities and large companies, and charges universities $9500 a year for the service (they can pay month-to-month). So far, the company has managed to sign up 20 instutitions, including Stanford which has seen over 14,00 new users share 300 rides in three weeks. And aside from earning money as a carpooling company (which is impressive in itself), Zimride is also notable for being a Facebook application that generates revenue through something other than advertising.
making money sounds so sexy when you always hear about those companies not making money coughs twitter
Don’t be mean. Twitter will make money. It took google a couple of years.
why does everyone uses the affirmative case to support their arguments. There is a set of contrary data, which supports the premise that twitter will not be profitable, and unsustainable without a large corporate sugar daddy.
see: flickr, digg, delicious, live journal, facebook. (none of them are profitable)
But Yahoo does make money but everyone here thinks that they will be going under if they do not sell out…
Figure that out???
that should by far be the stupidest comment in the whole wide world Waldo… Maybe your point is that the media doesnt really equate to companies making money or not, which is true, but it needs substantiation…
People think yahoo will go under, but they can easily check out their revenues, and profit, and if it’s green, don’t you think they’ll remain there?
As for Facebook, Twitter, delicious, digg, etc. There’s a fuck load of buzz about them but nothing seems profitable… I just know that LinkedIn is profitable because it just creates value… Other than that, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are not really substantiating their ‘oh so we are going to be profitable soon’… Most, like brad say, are just looking for an acquisition…
Please think first, even Youtube couldnt have survived if it wasn’t bought over by Google… So much bandwidth, so many servers, so little revenue… = deadpool no matter how much buzz or popularity it gets…
Come on. Web companies have started acting like enterprise software companies and we all know it. Absurd valuations, hiring binges, huge campuses – sound familiar?
Meanwhile, the ones that bootstrap it old skool are doing well. They hire only when absolutely necessary, keep lo-profile offices (or keep the team remote), run on open source everything and practice guerilla promotion. This creates a get-it-done team culture: creative, aggressive, hi-energy; a tight clique that’s passionate about the product and building something from nothing.
Lean and mean companies are still the safest bet on the web. And if/when they do sell the farm, they get to keep lots more cash too…
way ahead of you matt! these startups that get ludcrious amounts of funding in the millions should seriously practise bootstrapping… and use funds really when needed… but about running things on open source? man dude that takes guts… at least buy some decent software -.- microsoft bizspark at least support some startups… for free… thing is most of these startups are just like empty cans, most are clones, and i dunno why VCs are still funding stuffs like this… maybe it’s like a culture that if a company sounds sexy and ’sounds’ profitable, theyll just dump money in…
It’s a great service if you’re in Cali. Blame Canada.
http://tr.im/hNWG
ggg
If they ever get an iPhone/mobile app, they might stand a chance. I’m watching Avego more closely at this point.
Very impressive. Carticipate is on the iPhone with a location based social network for ride sharing.
Though Carticipate’s Facebook app still need some polish, the company is offering their source code to companies and organizations either for free (if they share their improvements) or pay they can use on a subscription basis.
Hey, thanks for the Avego plug. Hey, Techcrunch, Avego also makes money! Our business model is better than theirs
Best of luck to the Zimride folks. And y’all are welcome to use our APIs to add real-time ridesharing to your static interfaces…
How do they make sure that people who are on a bunch of different networks either don’t get barred unfairly, or do get barred correctly?
And what is stopping the barred users just setting up a new account direct on zimride.com?
Brilliant, Intelligent, aimed at institutions and makes money. No way, no how. There has to be a catch somewhere!
I got to meet John Zimmer at Stanford saturday when we presented at Entrepreneurtek.. It was one of my favorite companies.
Best thing he said was now college students when asked how they are going to get home for spring break, they said either take the bus or “Zimride it”
That response there means it’ll take off.. Zimride it..
Carticipate with other carticipants, which is called carticipation.
looks really good and great monetization scheme.
Actually not at all.
Their “incentive system” is plain stupid, they must have thought about it for 20 seconds at best.
And the answer to it is so obvious.
It sounds like you thought about your reply for less than 20 seconds…care to elaborate?
20 seconds is how long is took me to realize your comment blows. actually less.
It took Yo Dawgg 20 seconds to decide whether or not to put that extra “g”
Great to see how technology can be used to make lives easier for students without throwing ads in their face. Keep up the great work Zimride!
Great post!
Thanks,
Ben Fryxell
http://macmaniapodcast.com
This is a great company led by some good guys.
There is another way to make money and not charge for ridesharing. Some pretty big sponsors are getting behind the idea http://www.nuride.com/news. It is only available in 6 US markets today but expanding …
This is an interesting concept. Instead of generating revenue by way of one-by-one basis, they are generating their revenue by way of subscriptions. Therefore, reducing the amount of accountants needed to work on their behalf.
Brilliant !
There are ridesharing websites that offer free services to colleges and organizations as well.
Check out http://www.ridebuzz.org for a free service that is being used by municipalities, colleges, and other groups
I browsed through their website but didn’t see any iphone app or android.
ridesharing depends more on an active community than technological gadgets as evidenced by failed technology savvy dynamic rideshare programs that lacked critical mass