
Show HN: Damn Simple Carpooling - scootklein
http://www.damnsimplecarpooling.com
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michaelschade
Looks great.

From what I can gather, the carpooling is done on a recurring basis, where it
messages you every week day. I'd love to see a single use option.

My friends and I carpool all the time, but it's neither for school nor work.
So, while a service like this would be extremely helpful (the process has
gotten smoother for us, but it's still somewhat a hassle to coordinate), we
would only have a use for it if we can initiate a carpool group on an as-
needed basis. I'm thinking an interface where the service persists the group
itself (names and numbers), but only sends out carpool messages when one of
the group members requests it.

I suspect that this would also help with user acquisition since recurring
services that text you can scare users away, especially if they're unsure
about the service and want to give it a quick try.

Also: given that the service, as it is right now, does seem to be a recurring
thing, you might want to add some information that makes it clear if/how you
can leave a carpool group at any time. I wouldn't want to submit my number if
I'm subscribing to a lifetime of carpooling reminders that I may no longer
want.

I'll be keeping an eye on this project!

~~~
stevenklein
Thanks for the tip! And as-needed usage is an interesting idea -- definitely
something we'll discuss.

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rhplus
Suggestion: don't use the iPhone for screenshots. I say this because I saw its
chrome on the homepage and my immediate thought was that I'd have to get
everyone in my carpool to own an iPhone and download an app (which isn't
_damn_ simple).

Perhaps show it running on a simple device, i.e. a stylized or even cartoony
phone instead.

~~~
michaelschade
To that end, also give consideration to a screenshot of a (or, similarly, a
stylized/cartoony) browser on Google Voice or a similar service. Don't even
have to have a phone to easily carpool, then.

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geekfactor
This is a great idea and initial execution. Consider K12 carpooling as well.

I've got kids in middle and high school, and in our community most of the kids
get to school and home via carpools. My wife did most of the driving, and it
was a perpetual headache for her. She'd forget when it was her day, kids would
get sick and need to cancel pickup, or kids would decide to walk home. Parents
would trade driving slots and then no one else would know who to contact when
things 'came up'.

We're not carpooling this year, but she would have loved group messaging (msg
parents, msg kids, msg all) and the roll call features. She also would have
appreciated it if you guys kept track of who was driving and if she got a text
message 30 minutes before it was her turn to drive.

Congrats!

~~~
stevenklein
Ah an interesting segment we didn't really consider (parents driving others'
kids). Thanks for the feedback and would you mind if we could ask you follow
up questions in the future?

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ken
OK, it seems like an interesting concept, but I'm totally lost. Maybe my
thoughts will be helpful.

Is it an iPhone-only thing? (It looks like an iPhone thing, but there's no app
store link.) Is it a service which uses iPhone text messaging for its user
interface? A smart phone thing, or a cell phone thing? I've clicked around
every page here (short of actually registering) and I can't tell if I'm even
technically able to use this.

Is it just for people I work with, or for people I know, or will it be hooking
me up with strangers? Will it always be the same group?

The "How it works" page is pretty sparse: it looks like just a feature list,
not an explanation. I was expecting something that takes me from "step 1, I'm
sitting at home in front of my computer looking at damnsimplecarpooling.com"
to "step 10, somebody is dropping me off at work". (All I'm getting from the
screenshots is that I have to buy an iPhone and type "y-e-s" a lot.)

I guess I could probably figure some of this out if I actually register, but
I'm not giving away my phone number to an unknown service just to find out
what it does.

Promoting something as "damn simple" works great if it's something that's
generally known to be complex, but carpooling is already pretty simple. I can
just send email to everybody I work with (or post a message on Facebook) that
says "Who wants to carpool from X to Y every morning at 7:20?". You should
paint a picture for the potential user: how's this going to help me?

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freejack
Neat. Any thoughts on what the revenue model might look like? My first
inclination is that this might not be a big enough problem, but there are a
number of examples of recurring group activities where prior confirmation is
useful - running groups are the first one that immediately came to mind.

I think the core of the idea is more "really simple RSVP" and much less about
carpooling. With that focus, there are probably some really nice ways to
simplify even further...

~~~
scootklein
the tech is definitely geared in that direction. carpooling is first because
we needed it for our own use :)

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iodave
If the tech is geared in that direction, you may want to reconsider the name
of the service. I currently live in NYC, and I never really carpool because
none of my friends need or have cars.

We do, however, meet up at bars, restaurants, and concerts, and this would be
a cool way to get an accurate headcount for things like that. Very cool stuff,
man!

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ams6110
Looks really nice. How many people actually carpool? Where I live in relation
to where I work it's not really a possibility for me, and even if it were I'm
not sure I'd like the constraints, i.e. I can't work late even if I'm really
in a groove on something, I can't run any errands, etc.

~~~
scootklein
fair points for sure. obviously we're hoping the answer is "with this app,
more people than normal".

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k33n
Love the idea, but the name is going to limit your market reach (if this is
actually the final name).

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mrpollo
Maybe the revenue will come from a carpooling discovery standpoint, where you
find people that have a big car where you can ride, or people to help you pay
for gas

~~~
MaxGabriel
Take a look at Jason Shen (and others)' startup, Ridejoy. Its geared towards
ride sharing, not carpooling, but uses the business model you're talking about

<http://ridejoy.com/>

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mitalp
Would love to start carpooling. Looking forward to using this!

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SickAnimations
I'm surprised at how simple you've made it, excellent work.

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carolinem390
Great idea.

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moustachio
Nice use of bootstrap.

