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"Because Chariot is a consumer web and mobile startup with a direct relationship to its users through an app" It is hilarious how these companies are called "w
by ucaetano 11y ago
"Because Chariot is a consumer web and mobile startup with a direct relationship to its users through an app"
It is hilarious how these companies are called "web and mobile startups". People have been buying vans, buses and cars and running their own lines in emerging markets for over half a century in a profitable and sustainable way, and taking ride requests over SMS, WhatsApp and what not.
- daveguy 11y agoBut those companies operating for half a century hadn't done it with a cell phone app. It's like pets.com and their unique angle of doing business on the web. Ok, sarcasm aside, the article does point out a lot of quick-adaptation risk-reducing operations -- from not "cowboying it" with the law to getting card info from a critical mass before opening a route. It's an interesting read. Looks like there's a reason they've gone more amazon than pets.com (although it probably can't scale like amazon).
- ucaetano 11y agoI agree with that point, but that's just a different form of market research, nothing new to see here. Instead of doing surveys over the phone or on the street, they're using an app.
- akgerber 11y ago"Chariot is Alexis Van Lines with an app" would also be a fair phrasing. Alexis Van Lines is a longstanding NYC dollar van operator that has also agilely branches out into new routes: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/34/all_rockawaybuswar_2012_08_24_bk.html http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/34/all_rockawaybuswa...