PickupPal Blog

It dawned on me last night while watching Primus at the Ottawa Bluesfest - Primus is not for everyone. Then I took it a little further lots of stuff is not for everyone and that is an O.K. thing. I spend pretty much all my day trying to think why everyone does not use PickupPal - everyone needs PickupPal - you are crazy if you don’t just love PickupPal. No the crazy one is me - there are tons of people who will never use PickupPal - won’t even go there - will never rideshare with someone else - and you know what that is totally cool. We are working on making PickupPal even better and we have some awesome new features for V2 and the people who will really enjoy it are the ones who want to use PickupPal. Everything is about making it easier for our members to find others and to streamline the whole PickupPal process. I know that saying “Everything is not for everyone” probably sounds a bit lame - however the design decisions you have to go through to make the site appeal to a mass audience start making it work less for those who really want to use it. So in that spirit we want to stay true to our goal - getting people to ride together and stay on that track - just make it easier to do.

In any event I was just having this total Seth Godin Moment where you realize that you can’t be everything for everyone - but you should strive to be the best for those that want what you got.

NOTE: I love Primus and this YouTube clip was taken by someone who must have been standing right beside me and John Biro - PickupPal’s Security Analyst, (and also one of my best friends) - Primus is not for everyone but for the approximately 10,000 fans last night they put on an awesome show!.

Dear PickupPal Members,

Effective immediately, PickupPal will no longer charge drivers a 7% commission:

No fees, no accounting, nothing but 100% FREE enjoyment of PickupPal!

This also means that any and all commission amounts payable by drivers to PickupPal are canceled and no longer owing, period.

We are scrapping the 7% commission, effective immediately, because of the enormous environmental and user experience benefits that will result.

We have had such tremendous growth and are proud to be the largest internet ride sharing company in the world. We feel that by removing this commission PickupPal will be able to grow even faster and become one of the world’s leading green-house gas emissions reducers.

On behalf of everyone at PickupPal we thank you our valued members for your continued support.

So please, continue to have fun on PickupPal.com – and from now on, you keep the change!

Sincerely,

John Stewart
Founder – CEO

Greenwashing is a phrase that describes the act of pretending to be green just to look good. Greenwashing companies miss-lead consumers about the benefits of their brands, products and services. Generally, they will accentuate minor green attributes whilst downplaying bigger, environmentally damaging effects.

The practice of greenwashing is absolutely rife, most brand-name products are guilty. This is because green, eco-friendly and environmentally conscious ideas sell more units.

It’s fantastic that green issues are now front page news and part of public debate, but unfortunately this also means that companies are cashing-in on this valuable marketing spin.

My fear is not that people will stop talking about climate change. My fear is that they will talk us to Kingdom Come. ( Source: Monbiot )

It could be dubious claims of sustainability, clever use of terms like “green”, “eco”, “organic” or simply excessive use of the colour green. My own personal favourite is British Petroleums re-brand in 2000. At the time I remember thinking how blatant, but at the same time how powerful the effect is. Here is an oil company, the antithesis of green living, assuming the green guise with this bold sun flower logo.

Environmental marketing agency TerraChoice recently published the 6 sins of greenwashing:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off
   e.g. paper (including household tissue, paper towel and copy paper): “Okay, this product comes from a sustainably harvested forest, but what are the impacts of its milling and transportation? Is the manufacturer also trying to reduce those impacts?” Emphasizing one environmental issue isn’t a problem (indeed, it often makes for better communications). The problem arises when hiding a trade-off between environmental issues.
2. Sin of No Proof
   e.g. Personal care products (such as shampoos and conditioners) that claim not to have been tested on animals, but offer no evidence or certification of this claim. Company websites, third-party certifiers, and toll-free phone numbers are easy and effective means of delivering proof.
3. Sin of Vagueness
   e.g. Garden insecticides promoted as “chemical-free.” In fact, nothing is free of chemicals. Water is a chemical. All plants, animals, and humans are made of chemicals as are all of our products. If the marketing claim doesn’t explain itself (“here’s what we mean by ‘eco’ …”), the claim is vague and meaningless. Similarly, watch for other popular vague green terms: “non-toxic”, “all-natural”, “environmentally-friendly”, and “earth-friendly.”
4. Sin of Irrelevance
   e.g. CFC-free oven cleaners, CFC free shaving gels, CFC-free window cleaners, CFC-disinfectants. Could all of the other products in this category make the same claim? The most common example is easy to detect: Don’t be impressed by CFC-free! Ask if the claim is important and relevant to the product. (If a light bulb claimed water efficiency benefits you should be suspicious.) Comparison-shop (and ask the competitive vendors)
5. Sin of Fibbing
   e.g. Shampoos that claims to be “certified organic”, but for which our research could find no such certification. When I check up on it, is the claim true? The most frequent examples in this study were false uses of third-party certifications. Thankfully, these are easy to confirm. Legitimate third-party certifiers – EcoLogoCM, Chlorine Free Products Association (CFPA), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Green Guard, Green Seal (for example) – all maintain publicly available lists of certified products. Some even maintain fraud advisories for products that are falsely claiming certification.
6. Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils
   e.g. Organic tobacco. “Green” insecticides and herbicides.
   Is the claim trying to make consumers feel ‘green’ about a product category that is of questionable environmental benefit? Consumers concerned about the pollution associated with cigarettes would be better served by quitting smoking than by buying organic cigarettes. Similarly, consumers concerned about the human health and environmental risks of excessive use of lawn chemicals might create a bigger environmental benefit by reducing their use than by looking for greener alternatives.



At PickupPal we’re very careful to manage the ecological benefits of our product. Fundamentally, our product can improve air quality and have an impact on CO2 emissions, but we need the help of our community to do this. As a company we work in a paper-less and office-less fashion, using technology to reduce our burden on the environment and when the team needs to meet face-to-face we do so in shared meeting spaces.

Nevertheless, our product does come under some criticism. This normally centers around the 7% fee that we charge to Drivers for using our website. We came up with this as a way to pay for and maintain our service, but in an effort to make our service as accessible as possible we’ve decided to abandon the 7% fee, making our website completely FREE for everyone to use. There will be an official announcement on this shortly, but I mention to here to further illustrate our commitment to building a product that is serious about green-issues.

- Jonathan

PickupPal and the Clean Air Foundation are very excited about the government of Canada’s recent commitment to make a difference in getting old cars off the road and recycled properly. Vehicles built before 1995 produce about 19 times more air pollutants than 2004 and newer modeled cars. In fact, one-third of the vehicles driven by Canadians are responsible for two-thirds of the smog created. Canadian Federal Environment Minister John Baird said today the government will give the Toronto-based Clean Air Foundation $92 million over four years to run a national vehicle “scrappage” program - (Details Here). As a Clean Air Foundation partner we want to send out our congratulation’s to the Car Heaven Program team for all of their hard work and we look forward to being part of the solution that helps to reduce harmful air pollutants.

PickupPal was on hand at the press conference this afternoon and we took some pictures - behind the scenes.

Notes: Federal Environment Minister - Hon. John Baird announcing the Canadian governments support of the Car Heaven project and the commitment of 92 million over four years to expand the program.



Notes: Photo Ops in front of the Car Crusher!



Notes: Ian Morton (Founder & Chief Executive Officer - Summerhill Group) and myself.

Notes: O.K. we are on the move people!

Notes: Talking to the guys at Sonshine Auto Parts - “Hey man where do you get those sweet hats with the flames on them?”



Notes: Adam Elliott, Myself, Suesan Danesh from PickupPal. [Notice how I was able to score a sweet hat! - yeah man flames and all!]

Read a nice little piece about ideas and the creative process on A List Apart yesterday:

There is great prestige attached to the word “creative.” Creative people apparently magic up ideas—wonderful solutions to the most complex problems—with the ease of a skilled magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. The gathered crowd goes wild. What skill. How do they do it?

Well, I’m afraid I’m here to shatter that illusion. It’s not magic. These people are no different from you and I. They just have a different way of looking at problems and solving them. The good news is, they use tools that anyone can use.

Saving the Spark: Developing Creative Ideas

I would love to figure out what the various types of personalities are and how they are mapped to a rational decision making process and those that go strictly with their gut. I am a go with my gut kind of guy. For example here is my decision making process when it comes to cars - I see it and if in the first instance I go yeah! then pretty much I want to buy it. For example today my wife and I went to look - and the operative word is look - at what VW has to offer. Our minivan costs over 100 bucks to fill and keeps going back to the shop for repairs. So a responsible German car like a VW is what we had in mind. Yeah yeah Beetle - not for me - “Nerds on Site” killed it for me, Golf GTI - nahh would get too many speeding tickets, Touareg mmmm I would always be thinking I should have spent more dough and got a Cayenne, Passat - hmm I like that nice and roomy great for the family, then there is the Jetta - not for me - no way Jose - had one when I was in my 20’s and now I am all grown up. But wait look at this one - look at the massive sunroof - uhhhhh yup I will take it. Did not even test drive it - don’t know all the options - did not pop the hood - not sure how the stereo sounds - but man look at that sunroof.

Rational - nope - go with my gut - yup! My wife Portia is the same way - one look at that massive sunroof and all she could think of is convertible! So we say goodbye to the minivan and say hello to a big sunroof.

So what does this have to do PickupPal you ask? - well PickupPal is 100% gut for both myself and John. We do look at all the pros and cons and try and figure out a rational way of making decisions based on the facts - but at the end of the day it comes down to our guts. For example - refer a friend - $5 credit for any friend you refer - all they have to do is sign up and join - you get $5 credit to your account. Everyone, and I mean everyone said “hold on a second you need a maximum - what if someone signs up 100 friends? That is $500 in credit - they will never have to pay - you will go bankrupt!” Well the way we see it - put a cap on the number of friends just seems cheap and dorky - if you have 100 friends and you are willing to tell each and every one of them about PickupPal - well you are definitely a star in our mind - something to be rewarded not restricted! That is one of easily a hundred gut decisions that went into figuring out the path for PickupPal.

Cheers - Eric

I have to set this up - so last weekend I went with some buddies out into the Canadian Wilderness, (Algonquin Park), to get away from things and to experience the great outdoors. The long and the short of it all is that it was at first sunny and warm and then turned cold, sometimes raining and windy. So cold and windy in fact on Monday morning I woke up in my tent after a nighttime of heavy winds and rain to hear my buddy Maher tell everyone that there was a trace of snow blowing. When you lay there in your sleeping bag with it zippered right up and your hat on your head but still cold you know that the day will be long. The trek back to Achray was a good four hours straight into the wind with a few portages along the way. The thing about paddling into the wind is that you are committed - you have to keep paddling - there is no other option but to keep digging in and slowly you get to your destination.

So you ask what does this have to do with a Startup? Well there is a many parallels to setting out on a journey and having to sometimes paddle into the wind. PickupPal started with a handshake between John and I on a sunny day in the fall. Having had a few startups in the past we both knew that saying yes to this challenge was one that you do not take lightly. I think if any of you out there reading this is interested in starting a company there are a few key things in my opinion you have to have to get it off the ground. So from my perspective this is what the key ingredients are:

1. Be passionate about what it is you are doing as a business - if you are doing it for money then I fear you will have a hard time of it all. NOTE: I even wrote a Manifesto for PickupPal at like 4:00 a.m. in the early days - here it is in all its glory - PickupPal Manifesto
2. Partner with someone in business who challenges you and pushes you out of your comfort zone;
3. Partner with someone in your personal life who believes in you and thinks you walk on water - even if you are really just treading water;
4. Conserve your cash on things that don’t matter like: fancy offices, stationary, new computers, box seats, a new car, marketing gimmicks - stuff that does not add to the bottom line;
5. Spend your cash on things that do matter like: an awesome tight team, good legal advice, targeted online advertising, good hosting services;
6. It is a startup not a Broadway Musical - hire only those that you absolutely need - not because you conserve your cash but because the team that you start with has to be tight, empowered, inspired, invested and your A team. Anyone who does not fit in or is not passionate about what you are doing - ditch them;
7. Treat every customer/member as if they are your best client - because they are - everyone wants to know that the organization they are dealing with really does care about what they have to say and if you treat them right they will in turn tell their friends and you can grow your business;
8. Have a vision and focus on it every day. I know that is so overplayed but really there are so many times when you think the road is turning when really it is just a Friday - stay the course - stay focussed - be really really good at what you are trying to do. A Family Doctor gets paid X, a Neurosurgeons gets paid 5X - both are doctors but one of them you pay for the focus and the specialization;
10. Read every one of Seth Godin’s books on marketing - seriously - if that guy does not inspire you then you should give up;
11. An the biggest one of all - Go with your Gut - your primal instinct of what you should do and really hang on to it.

So that is my advice - it is a lot like camping in the wilderness - you start out with a vision and a dream and you dig in and get it done. It is not always sunshine and it may not go the way you planned everyday but it you love what you do you will find yourself loving every minute of it even if it takes up every last minute of your day.

Good luck and go with your gut!

Cheers - Eric

NOTE: This is not groundbreaking news however it is pretty funny.

I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that PickupPal will be providing Ridesharing services for Virgin Festival Canada 2008 by Virgin Mobile in Calgary but we are also going to have a booth at the Eco-Village on site. As soon as it was decided to have the booth John Stewart, (CEO and co-founder of PickupPal), recalled that he had a display booth at his Brother’s office in Kingston. The challenge was, when was John going to come down to Ottawa some 3 hours away and drop off the booth?

We talked about going down to pick it up or possibly having it shipped but that was going to be a big hassle. Then it dawned on John – Ummm don’t we run a company that has the mantra “a global eco-friendly transportation revolution that connects drivers, passengers, and PACKAGES with the places they need to go”? Well after we laughed for a while John posted the Pickup request and sure enough the call was answered within hours and the display booth arrived safe and sound in Ottawa – right to my doorstep - safe and sound.

So the moral of this story is even if you don’t remember to use PickupPal all the time, don’t feel bad, we forget sometimes as well. I think it is because we are so conditioned to do things the old way that we sometimes forget that we now have more options available to us right under our noses!

Cheers - Eric

When we were in the early planning stages of PickupPal we always had the idea of having member profiles and encouraging members to post their photo. Having your photo along with your profile is actually way more important than you think. I have some statistics to back this up - of the Drivers that get accepted offers, 94% post their photos. The number of Drivers within PickupPal that have photos is currently at 41% and the number of Passengers that have photos is at 36%. So I am not a math wizard but there is a high correlation between having your photo as a Driver and having your offer accepted. It stands to reason - if you are going to accept a ride from someone you want to know what they look like first.

So this brings me to another part of this post which is that when we first designed PickupPal we thought - “Ohh we better have some way of reviewing the photos to make sure there are no offensive ones” - so we built an administration tool to do just that. To be honest before we launched we thought this might be a big issue to deal with so we built and administration tool to review all the profile pictures that are posted. Well having done it for a few months now I can truthfully say that there are very very few questionable photos. The funny thing is that I love reviewing them and approving them but so too does Suesan - our fanatical Customer Support Lead and Community Builder Super Star here at PickupPal. So I log in early in the morning to review the ones that came in over night before she gets to them - she however does it throughout the day so she sees more of you than I do. In any event - each one of them I think are great! When you are helping to build a great community like PickupPal it is such a privilege to see who is joining - as if to say welcome. I know that probably sounds really crazy but I am serious it is great to see you as you join in.

So please post your profile picture - it greatly improves your chances of getting offers and having your offers accepted, also Suesan and I really like meeting you.

Cheers - Eric

Well what a week!

To kick things off we had an awesome article in the Toronto Star, (Here), front page Business Secton. A huge thanks to Tyler Hamilton for writing such a great article about PickupPal! So now that it is out there and we have seen the final product - there is a massive relief. Tyler is not some easy push over - he calls it the way he sees it and I was not sure what the article was going to be like at all before it was published. It turns out he likes what we are doing and that means a lot to us because he does not suffer fools gladly.

In any event the purpose behind this post is to showcase the craziness of making things look easy. I just had to post this picture from the photoshoot because we had to pretty much run around in traffic for 20 minutes without getting killed to get the right shot. The photographer - Bill Grimshaw - was awesome to work with. We had this shot of us almost getting hit by on coming cyclists and cars and it is totally real - John wanted me to get to the curb and I thought it would be best if I book’d it across the street to the other side. You see John and I are just a bunch of grown up kids - doing something we really love and having fun with it all.

For more press this week - John is going to be on GlobalTV at 8:30 a.m. on Friday May 2nd. They are covering PickupPal and we are excited to see how it all turns out.

Cheers - Eric