Thrifty Thinking: FlightCar

FlightCar is a brand-new car-sharing site to help people save money on rental cars and parking. To use, the owner can make a parking reservation online at flightcar.com. On their day of travel, an owner will drop off their car at our parking lot, which is minutes from the airport. Right now FlightCar operates at LAX, SFO, and BOS. A FlightCar team member will check them in on an iPad, and then drop them off at the airport in a town car. Upon return, the owner can call 1-866-FLIGHTCAR for a pickup or use the web-app. A town car will pick them up from the curb. When they get to our parking lot, their car will be washed, vacuumed, and they will receive a check in the mail if the car has been rented. The parking, car wash, and vacuum are guaranteed regardless of whether the car is rented. Renters can reserve a car online at flightcar.com. The process is essentially in reverse. When they land at the airport, the renter can call 1-866-FLIGHTCAR for pickup or use our web-app. They'll be picked up in a town car. When they get to FlightCar's location, their rental will be ready to go. The average turnaround time for a rental is 7 minutes - really quick. When they return the rental, they are then dropped off at the airport in a town car.

It's a great concept, and was launched by some young entrepreneurs - all 18-19 years old! I had a chance to interview co-founder and CEO Rujul Zaparde:

What was the inspiration behind FlightCar? 

I'd read an article on Airbnb, and the next day, I happened to be at a Panera Bread with my now co-founder Kevin Petrovic. I brought up the article, and Kevin happens to travel frequently. We immediately put 2-and-2 together and realized that if folks would be open to sharing their most valuable asset--their house--they might be willing to share their cars. We didn't initially think this was the basis for a company, as it turned out to be. We've raised just over $6m. Our investors include The Brandery, YCombinator, General Catalyst, Softbank Capital, Ryan Seacrest, Ashton Kutcher, SV Angel, Erik Blachford (former Expedia CEO), and others.

Are there plans to expand to other airports? 

We're looking to expand pretty aggressively later this year. Right now, we're really focused on building out our current markets on Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

What challenges have you faced along the way as young entrepreneurs? 

I think the biggest challenge we have faced given our ages has been skepticism around execution. That's not to say that we haven't struggled with it, but the FC experience is now better than it has ever been. And frankly, we were able to overcome this skepticism and raise multiple rounds of financing by launching, having customers, proving that the concept works, and that we can execute. Results are the best evidence.