
Shuddle (Uber for kids) is shutting down tomorrow - philip1209
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/14/shuddle-the-uber-like-service-for-getting-your-kids-around-is-shutting-down-tomorrow/
======
tgb
> News of the shutdown comes by way of an email sent to customers this
> afternoon, and it all certainly seems pretty sudden — they’ll cease
> operating at the end of tomorrow’s business day.

A service to get your kids to and from school shuts down with 48 hours notice?
That's going to cause a few headaches, and unfortunately is a great reason to
not become an early adopter making such a business even harder to get off the
ground. Shame, seems like it would fill a useful niche.

~~~
pjc50
You don't usually get that much notice when the _school_ is unexpectedly
unavailable. Whether that's a snow day or (as we're currently experiencing in
Edinburgh) catastrophic building problems.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Because those things can't usually be predicted in advance. There's no way
that Shuddle thought everything was fine until they suddenly realized they had
to shut down in two days. They knew this was coming, and they kept it from
their customers, who now have to scramble to get their kids to school.

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hmahncke
Great service. Sad to see it go. I used it every week.

For people asking, another difference between Shuddle and Uber (as I
understand Uber) is that you could schedule your Shuddle rides in advance, and
be confident a driver would come at the appointed time.

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467568985476
Did they spend the $9.6m series A already? The CEO is apparently a cofounder
of Sidecar and has experience in investment banking and at a VC firm. Maybe
they're bleeding money and realized in today's climate they'd never be able to
raise again, and so decided to return whatever is left under pressure from his
friends/investors.

~~~
samcheng
The founder stepped aside and brought in an outside CEO in November. Not sure
how that affected their fundraising chances.

You'd need some awesome growth projections to raise a Series B on what looks
like less than half a million in lifetime revenue!

[http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Shuddle-Uber-
for...](http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Shuddle-Uber-for-kids-
service-reaches-end-7249450.php)

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Aelinsaar
What exactly was the logic with this company? It feels like a fundamental
misunderstanding of the Uber business model, which thrived on the constant
demand and ubiquity of a market. It also, frankly, is cashing in on people who
uber when they know they'll be drinking. That's a giant slice of the market
that, for obvious reasons, kids won't be a part of.

It seems like it would be tough for a "Shuddle" driver to make a lot of money,
during the limited hours when they'd be needed.

~~~
wpietri
The logic is that some parents will happily pay a premium to not have to drive
their kids everywhere, but below a certain age they won't entrust them to
random Uber drivers.

You seem to think that a driver can't do both Shuddle and Uber, but I don't
see why that wouldn't be the case. During peak kid hours, they pick up Shuddle
rides. When they don't have those, they do Uber, Lift, delivery, or one of the
many other things you can do with a car and a cellphone.

~~~
narrowrail
When you think about it though, it seems like a feature of Uber or Lyft. Just
pay an extra fee for extra vetting for sensitive rides where the passengers
need extra attention (maybe it's a monthly subscription?).

~~~
hmahncke
You'd think, but Uber and Lyft aren't doing it.

~~~
jrbapna
But it's somewhat probable that they could (given their mission), and that's
what makes this risky.

And even if they don't do it themselves, I imagine that uber will eventually
release an API of sorts, allowing anyone to tap into their logistical network.

The food delivery startups faced similar risks, it'll be interesting to see
how they fare now that uber eats is gaining momentum

------
eoghan
I invested in this company. I love the idea and the founders. Startups are
hard.

~~~
cpncrunch
How does a company that has made $1.5M revenue and is growing 50% in the last
6 months go out of business? Raise too much money? Inaccurate business plan?
Wishful thinking about future funding to provide economies of scale? Lack of
due diligance by investors?

Not trying to be confrontational or rude, just genuinely curious.

~~~
lalala12399
unit economics

I would make 1.5m in rev so fast if I gave each of my customers $1 for $.90!

~~~
cpncrunch
That's always the risk with a business plan like this. Uber seems to have a
similar business model, but the difference is that Uber is an easily scalable
business that has become a household name. Investors are happy to keep
throwing money at Uber until they have taken over the world, and then they can
worry about profit. Not every business is going to be an Uber, so it's a big
risk basing your business plan on requiring constant injections of cash until
you become a billion dollar business.

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raverbashing
So, maybe now parents can talk directly to drivers they got to know through
the app and cut the middle man

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elwell
[http://www.hopskipdrive.com/](http://www.hopskipdrive.com/)

~~~
lalala12399
oh geez...if only you knew why the new COO from Uber was fired you would not
be promoting this company that clearly did not do a reference check.

~~~
ffumarola
can you elaborate?

~~~
apahwa
his comment is #2 on google when searching 'uber coo fired' and its only been
20min. so 2 takeaways:

1\. google is damn impressive

2\. he is probably just trying to stir shit

~~~
DiabloD3
Don't you hate it when you Google for an answer to your problem, find a
promising StackExchange post, and it's your question you asked a few days ago
and there are still no answers?

~~~
toyg
Obligatory xkcd: [https://xkcd.com/979/](https://xkcd.com/979/)

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Naritai
Very sad. I intended to use this service one my child became old enough to do
so.

~~~
samstave
As a user of uber since they were founded, and a father of three, I was super
exited to start using shuddle, but I could only do so for my eldest child. (My
younger ones are below their requirements)...

But I had planned on using them.

Uber should buy their whole fleet and their drivers.

I WILL use a service like this. I will be sad to see it not exist...

~~~
lalala12399
I mean do you really believe the background checking was much better than
Uber's? What exactly do you think was actually different? Seems like optics to
me.

What if Uber gave you the option of a female driver/highly rated tenured
driver/female tenured driver?

Just curious what'd make you actually feel better about leaving your kids in a
stranger's car.

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jijojv
this really sucks. i was looking forward for my kid to turn 8 in a few months
to be able to use this service daily.

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glibgil
Uber works for kids and provides the same guarantee as the rest of society–
none!

~~~
WillAbides
If only that were true. Uber doesn't allow unaccompanied minors to ride. Lyft
has the same rule.

~~~
taxicabjesus
The taxi company that I drove for required kids who were less than 12 years
old to have a fingerprint-cleared driver, or to be accompanied by someone over
12 years of age. One time I did get a group of siblings who needed to get home
from school, and the oldest one was 11. I asked, and learned that it was an
exception that a manager in dispatch allowed to go through.

Some of the teenagers' case managers [foster care/etc] specified that their
drivers also have a fingerprint clearance. I'm not entirely sure what the
criteria was.

Parents in most cities can certainly contact a local taxi company and arrange
for their kids to be hauled around by fingerprint-cleared drivers.

~~~
glibgil
Cool story, meanwhile Uber and Lyft drivers just look the other way. Works
really well

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bogomipz
I'm surprised at the reactions. Are parents really that cavalier about putting
their kids in some random person's car and entrusting them to some random
person's driving habits?

~~~
PhasmaFelis
What, you mean like a bus driver?

Also, "Shuddle’s main pitch point was their focus on safety: They did intense
background checks on drivers, monitored drivers to ensure they stayed on route
and didn’t speed or text while driving and offered real-time ride tracking to
parents."

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
Turns out to be a school bus driver takes a little bit of work:
[http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-School-Bus-
Driver's-License](http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-School-Bus-Driver's-License)

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Indeed, and so does being a Shuddle driver. It's not (wasn't) the equivalent
of trusting your kid to some random cabbie.

