My Uber driver didn’t know what “turn right” meant but I still use Uber.

A tale of shitty Uber drivers, why I love airbnb and why great brands are inspiring my own company PL8CHAT.

UBER

My Uber driver had no idea what I was saying when I asked him to take a right, but I still use Uber.

Another Uber driver almost killed me as he blew a red light, but I still use Uber.

My Uber driver didn’t have an Iphone 5 charger (only a 4.. wtf) but I still use Uber.

It kinda snuck up on me that Uber was being more lenient on the year/type and condition of the cars they accepted(uber x), and as I got into a crappy 15 year old minivan… Yup, still using Uber.

I would say over the course of a year I take 200 Uber rides and half of them I’m never “fully satisfied” with some portion of the experience. Whether it’s the ride itself, the communication, the smell of the car, etc.. but I am a fan of Uber. When I hear about a sexual assault from an Uber driver, I don’t blame Uber. I blame the person. When someone was stabbed at the West Hollywood Target I go to, you blamed the person, not Target.

Any company that bridges communication gaps, solves inefficiencies and caters to a user base of millions is going to have some collateral damage.

MY APP

When I started my app PL8CHAT, people said “well what if someone uses it to message a license plate and tell someone to “fuck off?” I always say, “Well, ya it’s meant to help people, but sure you could.” The same way when the phone was invented you could either use it to ask your neighbor for some sugar or to “fuck off.”

back to UBER

Ok, back to Uber. What they did was set up such a solid brand, image, a product that could sustain time and issues. When the foundation is strong enough, you have the luxury of building up as high as you want and if you fall a little bit, no issues getting right back up there.

Airbnb for a sec..

It’s the same as airbnb. You can rent a castle(literally) or a shitty shared room bunkbed in a alphabet city 2 bedroom apartment and the brand of airbnb still represents ‘cool’. No matter how much better, unique other home share site are, such as ‘Homeaway’, they will never have what airbnb has. Homeaway even did something pretty cool and built an apartment inside the Eifel tower for a contest and still no one seems to cares. (click here) With that being said, Homeaway may have less legal issues, less problems, but the will never have the brand greatness of airbnb.

Uber and Airbnb inspired PL8CHAT

Uber and airbnb has been an inspiration to myself as it also is what was responsible for me making PL8CHAT. I ran an airbnb and Uber business in LA and it made me understand what was happening and how closer and closer we were getting to one another. The actual exact situation where I decided I wanted to make PL8CHAT came from a night when all of my airbnb properties were rented and I had to crash at a friends apartment in Beverly hills. As I parked my car late at night a woman walking her dog said “hey there is no overnight street parking, you’ll get a ticket.” That moment mixed with a handful of times I had moved my car on street cleaning when I wanted to warn others but had no way to get ahold of them, was the slow creation of what soon came to be my app.

So as I grow the brand and company of PL8CHAT, I constantly follow, and educate myself on Uber and airbnbs successes and struggles past and present as parts of their business assimilate what I have and what I want to do in the future as PL8CHAT transitions from just a simple single solution license plate messenger app, to a major player in the tech/auto industry.