driend will probably be viewed as a competitor to Uber/Lyft but the methodology is different. Patent Application was filed in October; this gives us a year to file the full application. driend is based on favors between friends: the latest definition of a friend includes a “friend on a social network” and driend is its own social network which starts for a new user with all their friends on other social networks plus contacts on their phone. Just like Uber/Lyft the user pulls up a map to see available friends needing or giving a ride. If a passenger (or someone who wants goods freighted) does not see any direct friends (green) nearby they will see friends of friends (yellow) or unknowns (red) who are part of the driend social network. The user can then decide if they want to befriend people who are not directly connected after viewing their profile and if accepted they can now ask for a driving favor. There are no charges for these favors but people are recommended to chip-in for expenses (to cover gas, maintenance, cost of vehicle etc). driend also includes a rating system for everyone. Every user will have full view of the profile of anyone on the driend network. The profile will include name, profession, background (in the future this could lead to other favors based on professions), images of person and vehicle(s) and rating from others. Live chat is part of the app so people can instantly communicate. People taking advantage of favors can chip in using credit/debit cards or cash. driend’s revenue model:
1. $5/month for driver module
2. 10% charge for handling of card or paypal transactions
The big difference between driend and Uber/Lyft is that the latter have very high overhead costs such as manage worldwide offices, vetting of 1099 employees. These companies typically charge 20% or more from drivers. Furthermore, Uber/Lyft are generally viewed by authorities as taxis and as such face many requirements and challenges. driend does not employ (1099 or otherwise) any drivers as driend is simply an app where friends can connect with new and old friends and ask each other favors. driend makes it very easy to become a driving friend as the users themselves do the vetting process and decide if they trust the person to drive for them. People tend to trust friends more than unknowns but for the unknowns in the driend network people can evaluate new friendships based upon other friends, profiles and ratings. driend can easily be compared to when a friend or relative drives you to the airport which is perfectly legal around the globe and does not require any special license, insurance etc. Based upon the above driend can operate with a fraction of the cost of what will be viewed as competitors and the largest expenditure is foreseen to be marketing cost. The APP is planned launched end of Q1 2016 and will be available for iPhone and Android.
