I just moved to San Francisco and obviously I am dependent on buses, trains and Uber for the last mile.  Almost every uber driver I have met so far has had a deep understanding of the technology scene in San Francisco.  One of them even told me that they have read about Agentdesks somewhere and was gracious enough to recommend features that we might implement.

Here are some amazing ways in which they help Founders

1)  Recruiting

One driver in the city (his name was Alex) said he meets at least 10 software engineers every day.  When they are going to office in the morning, out for lunch, getting to late night parties.  He just rambled on names of tech giants and how each of these engineers hated working there and are looking for new jobs.  So, I asked him recommend Agentdesks to the next iOS developer who comes in and gave my card.  He said, he will do it.  What if all the drivers were recruiting officers for startups.  Think about it!

2)  Client acquisition

Another driver in San Mateo, has a lot of real estate agent friends.  He took 10 of my business cards so that he can pass it on to his friends.  Perfect, right?  Context – I run Agentdesks.  Agentdesks is a sales application for real estate agents.

3)  Ideas

When you discuss with San Francisco drivers, it’s usually productive.  Some great ideas came out of a conversation I had with a driver this week.  He said, I should think about providing our agents with insurance plans and make that part of their lives easy.  That will create loyalty as well.  And many more ideas!

4)  Fund raising

You pick an uber driver in Menlo park.  Rest assured, he has dropped 2 other founders in the same day at different VCs.  You can expect questions like “what’s your cap?” / “what are your biggest costs?”  /  “who is your target audience” from your driver.  Great practice!  Also, they recommend more VCs that you can meet.

5)   Uber pool

When you are in the city, always Uber pool.  9/10 you will meet another software engineer.  He/She could be your next engineer.

So, do it.  Uber everywhere.  Don’t buy a car.