WEBVTT - Free Snacks In Your Next Uber Ride

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<v Speaker 1>Free snacks in the backseat of your next Uber. What's

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<v Speaker 1>going on. I'm rich Dmiro. This is rich on tech.

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<v Speaker 1>Uber is partnering with a startup named Cargo to offer

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<v Speaker 1>free and paid snacks in the backseat of cars. Cargo

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<v Speaker 1>has been providing ride share drivers clear little boxes filled

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<v Speaker 1>with all kinds of products that they strapped to their

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<v Speaker 1>center consoles. They've been doing this for about a year now,

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<v Speaker 1>but this new partnership is a big deal because it

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<v Speaker 1>will expand their reach. Passengers use their phones to scan

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<v Speaker 1>a QR code on the box and shop for stuff inside.

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<v Speaker 1>The driver then hands them their goods when it's safe.

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<v Speaker 1>Recently I talked to Cargo co founder Jeff Kreipe. He

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<v Speaker 1>explained how he came up with the idea.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So the idea behind it was, you know, twenty fifteen,

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<v Speaker 2>Uber was really starting to boom. Everybody was taking more

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<v Speaker 2>ride chair vehicles. I personally was spending so much time

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<v Speaker 2>in ride chair vehicles, and it just occurred to us

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<v Speaker 2>that like, there, you know, that we hadn't really sort

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<v Speaker 2>of innovated much on the experience of being in a car.

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<v Speaker 2>Uber made it incredibly easy to hail a car, but

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<v Speaker 2>the you know, the side of the you know, of

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<v Speaker 2>the car. The cabin of the car hadn't really changed much.

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<v Speaker 2>So we said, what can we do to sort of

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<v Speaker 2>provide a better experience to passengers, bring them arms length

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<v Speaker 2>convenience and put things that they need on a daily

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<v Speaker 2>basis at their fingertips while they're in transit, but do

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<v Speaker 2>it in a way that actually drives incremental earnings for

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<v Speaker 2>drivers as well. So it's you know, it's essentially sort

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<v Speaker 2>of like a mini like two sided marketplace inside the car,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's away for passengers to get what they need,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, easily affordably on the go, and for drivers

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<v Speaker 2>to make you know, anywhere from uh, you know, I

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<v Speaker 2>think one hundred dollars on average to our top drivers

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<v Speaker 2>earning about three hundred dollars a month.

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<v Speaker 1>Each cargo box averages about ten different items, about seven

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<v Speaker 1>or paid, three are free. I tried purchasing a few

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<v Speaker 1>items and I love the selection. It's all very simple.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no app to download, there's no sign up or

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<v Speaker 1>log in. You use your mobile browser and mobile payment

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<v Speaker 1>something like Apple pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo to

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<v Speaker 1>check out in seconds.

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<v Speaker 2>So we do have those daily essentials breath fresheners if

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<v Speaker 2>you're going on a date, charge you know, if you've

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<v Speaker 2>been out all day and your phone is dying. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>energy energy drinks and things like that. If if you

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<v Speaker 2>need sort of a pick up, we have all those things.

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<v Speaker 2>But we also have early premium like electronics like earbuds

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<v Speaker 2>if you're headed to the airport and forgot your earbuds.

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<v Speaker 2>We have really cool beauty products in the car at now.

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<v Speaker 2>We actually have Patrology face masks for your face and

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<v Speaker 2>lips so that you can actually like turn your Uber

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<v Speaker 2>experience into a spaw experience while you're on the go.

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<v Speaker 2>We have fun beauty products we have. We have other

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<v Speaker 2>new sort of like snacking innovations that big companies like

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<v Speaker 2>Mars regular Kelloggs will launch and hopefully get into your

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<v Speaker 2>hands and have you fall in love with, as well

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<v Speaker 2>as things from sort of like cool emerging snack companies

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<v Speaker 2>like our x bar.

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<v Speaker 1>So what does this new partnership between Uber and Cargo

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<v Speaker 1>mean for the company.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we launched the business about thirteen months ago,

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<v Speaker 2>and over the past thirteen months, we now have about

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<v Speaker 2>seven thousand drivers on the platform. A little over we've

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<v Speaker 2>distributed over a million products to passengers, and we've paid

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<v Speaker 2>out our drivers over a million dollars and this is

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<v Speaker 2>totally risk free and cost free for drivers. If you

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<v Speaker 2>sign up, it doesn't cost you a thing. You don't

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<v Speaker 2>buy products. So we've made that like a really nice

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<v Speaker 2>experience for drivers. And Uber, who we've been in contact

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<v Speaker 2>with for the past couple of years, I think, has

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<v Speaker 2>seen us to build the fleet, get into you know,

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<v Speaker 2>seven of the top ten ride share markets in the country,

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<v Speaker 2>and realize that this is really like an innovation that

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<v Speaker 2>benefits both of their key customers, you know, writers who

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<v Speaker 2>get better convenience and an upgraded in car experience and

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<v Speaker 2>drivers who are obviously earning more money with us. And

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<v Speaker 2>you know, we kind of put our heads together and

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<v Speaker 2>that said, you know, we feel like this is really

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<v Speaker 2>the right time to launch a partnership, you know. So

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<v Speaker 2>so today we're announcing a partnership with Uber, which is

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<v Speaker 2>really exciting it, you know for me as you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as a founder thinking about sort of the next stage

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<v Speaker 2>of growth for our business. Obviously, Uber has access to

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<v Speaker 2>tremendous you know amounts of drivers not only throughout the US,

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<v Speaker 2>but throughout the world. So this is a global exclusive

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<v Speaker 2>deal with them, so you know are we're launching LA

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<v Speaker 2>in San Francisco today with them UH. These boxes and

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<v Speaker 2>sign up for drivers will now also be available in

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<v Speaker 2>their green light hubs in San Francisco UH and in

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<v Speaker 2>Los Angeles, which are areas where drivers can go in

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<v Speaker 2>for support, for rest, bit, to pick up some coffee,

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<v Speaker 2>and now to sign up for cargo.

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<v Speaker 1>I wondered about safety because these products are inside a

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<v Speaker 1>box that only the driver can access. The driver has

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<v Speaker 1>to open the box, retrieve the goods, and then hand

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<v Speaker 1>them to the passengers. They're supposed to be stopped when

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<v Speaker 1>they do this, but what if the passengers get the

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<v Speaker 1>munchies and try to reach in and grab something themselves.

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<v Speaker 2>Take you know, precautions at every stage of our interaction

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<v Speaker 2>with a driver, from the moment they sign up to

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<v Speaker 2>you know, frequent communications we have with them, to communications

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<v Speaker 2>in the text messages. That product should only be distributed

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<v Speaker 2>when the car is safely parked. And I'm very proud

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<v Speaker 2>to say that we've we've processed over five hundred thousand

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<v Speaker 2>transactions and we've never literally had a single complaint from

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<v Speaker 2>a passenger about safety, which is terrific. But also you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we have made this device really easy to take in

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<v Speaker 2>and out of the car. All you have to do

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<v Speaker 2>is strap it down to the center of the center

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<v Speaker 2>console with you know, strong straps that we provide and

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<v Speaker 2>buckles that we provide that are attached to the box,

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<v Speaker 2>so you can actually, you know, at night, if if

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<v Speaker 2>you live in an area and you don't think you'd

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you'd like to keep this in the car

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<v Speaker 2>because there are headphones and other things people might want.

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<v Speaker 2>You can just toss this in your trunk or you know,

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<v Speaker 2>bring it in at night and you know, put it

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<v Speaker 2>back in the morning and twenty seconds or less.

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<v Speaker 1>There you have it. Expect to see some more snackage

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<v Speaker 1>on your next Uber ride. And the free sample aspect

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<v Speaker 1>is just brilliant because that makes people curious. They want

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<v Speaker 1>to know what they can get for free, and that

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<v Speaker 1>gets them comfortable interacting with the boxes. Because even to

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<v Speaker 1>get the free stuff, you still have to scan the

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<v Speaker 1>QR code and check out on the mobile browser. If

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<v Speaker 1>you've ever been on Virgin America, it's kind of the

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<v Speaker 1>same thing. Even if you want to order something on

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<v Speaker 1>the touch screen, even if it's free, you still have

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<v Speaker 1>to order it and then the flight attendant brings it

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<v Speaker 1>to you, and keep in mind this program is optional.

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<v Speaker 1>Drivers are not required to sign up for it, so

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<v Speaker 1>if they're worried about people making a mess in their car,

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<v Speaker 1>they can just avoid it all together. Thanks so much

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<v Speaker 1>for listening. I'd love it if you could spread the

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<v Speaker 1>word about my podcast. Just take a screenshot of you

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<v Speaker 1>discover it, and be sure to tag me. I'm at

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<v Speaker 1>rich on tech on Instagram. And by the way, if

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<v Speaker 1>you're interested in seeing what the world's largest chevron looks

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<v Speaker 1>like with ninety six pumps and a fifty thousand square

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<v Speaker 1>foot convenience store, well it just opened outside Las Vegas

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<v Speaker 1>and I did a road trip there to check it out.

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<v Speaker 1>You can see my blog post and video on my website.

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<v Speaker 1>Just go to richon tech dot tv. I'm Richdemiro. I'll

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<v Speaker 1>talk to you real soon.

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<v Speaker 2>M