Shuddle (Uber for kids) is shutting down tomorrow

[tgb]

> News of the shutdown comes by way of an email sent to customers this afternoon, and it all certainly seems pretty sudden — they’ll cease operating at the end of tomorrow’s business day.

A service to get your kids to and from school shuts down with 48 hours notice? That's going to cause a few headaches, and unfortunately is a great reason to not become an early adopter making such a business even harder to get off the ground. Shame, seems like it would fill a useful niche.

[celticninja]

At least it is a Friday and the end of the week, so you have the weekend to find an alternative solution.

[pjc50]

You don't usually get that much notice when the school is unexpectedly unavailable. Whether that's a snow day or (as we're currently experiencing in Edinburgh) catastrophic building problems.

[PhasmaFelis]

At least they didn't write a rambling letter about how happy and excited they are to be kicking their customers to the curb. That's a common enough experience when you rely on a startup service. http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/

[hmahncke]

Great service. Sad to see it go. I used it every week.

For people asking, another difference between Shuddle and Uber (as I understand Uber) is that you could schedule your Shuddle rides in advance, and be confident a driver would come at the appointed time.

[467568985476]

Did they spend the $9.6m series A already? The CEO is apparently a cofounder of Sidecar and has experience in investment banking and at a VC firm. Maybe they're bleeding money and realized in today's climate they'd never be able to raise again, and so decided to return whatever is left under pressure from his friends/investors.

[samcheng]

The founder stepped aside and brought in an outside CEO in November. Not sure how that affected their fundraising chances.

You'd need some awesome growth projections to raise a Series B on what looks like less than half a million in lifetime revenue!

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Shuddle-Uber-for...

[Aelinsaar]

What exactly was the logic with this company? It feels like a fundamental misunderstanding of the Uber business model, which thrived on the constant demand and ubiquity of a market. It also, frankly, is cashing in on people who uber when they know they'll be drinking. That's a giant slice of the market that, for obvious reasons, kids won't be a part of.

It seems like it would be tough for a "Shuddle" driver to make a lot of money, during the limited hours when they'd be needed.

[dbcurtis]

Ummmm... well, in California, anyway, anybody that works with kids needs to be fingerprinted and pass a Livescan and keep it current. My daughter's 80yo violin teacher has to keep her Livescan up to date, FFS. Now, how many Uber drivers have ever even heard of Livescan, much less have submitted to one? And jumping through all the hoops required to do activity sign-out, that is a bunch of paperwork, too. So the safety and security part of the equation is what makes it different from Uber. The regulatory landscape for a kid-oriented service is totally different.

But there are long-standing competitors like Kid's Kab, etc. Mostly they are a scheduled service, like to/from gym every Tuesday and Thursday at 4:00PM or something, not a ride-on-demand like Uber.

[wpietri]

The logic is that some parents will happily pay a premium to not have to drive their kids everywhere, but below a certain age they won't entrust them to random Uber drivers.

You seem to think that a driver can't do both Shuddle and Uber, but I don't see why that wouldn't be the case. During peak kid hours, they pick up Shuddle rides. When they don't have those, they do Uber, Lift, delivery, or one of the many other things you can do with a car and a cellphone.

[nsxwolf]

This business model has existed forever in the taxi industry. It is often school districts contract with taxi companies to fill gaps in bus routes.

[eoghan]

I invested in this company. I love the idea and the founders. Startups are hard.

[cpncrunch]

How does a company that has made $1.5M revenue and is growing 50% in the last 6 months go out of business? Raise too much money? Inaccurate business plan? Wishful thinking about future funding to provide economies of scale? Lack of due diligance by investors?

Not trying to be confrontational or rude, just genuinely curious.

[ec109685]

Why didn't you feel Uber would eventually be able to serve this niche?

[raverbashing]

So, maybe now parents can talk directly to drivers they got to know through the app and cut the middle man

[elwell]

http://www.hopskipdrive.com/

[gjolund]

They aren't far behind shuddle, they will be gone in 6 months.

[lalala12399]

oh geez...if only you knew why the new COO from Uber was fired you would not be promoting this company that clearly did not do a reference check.

[Naritai]

Very sad. I intended to use this service one my child became old enough to do so.

[samstave]

As a user of uber since they were founded, and a father of three, I was super exited to start using shuddle, but I could only do so for my eldest child. (My younger ones are below their requirements)...

But I had planned on using them.

Uber should buy their whole fleet and their drivers.

I WILL use a service like this. I will be sad to see it not exist...

[jijojv]

this really sucks. i was looking forward for my kid to turn 8 in a few months to be able to use this service daily.

[glibgil]

Uber works for kids and provides the same guarantee as the rest of society– none!

[WillAbides]

If only that were true. Uber doesn't allow unaccompanied minors to ride. Lyft has the same rule.

[bogomipz]

I'm surprised at the reactions. Are parents really that cavalier about putting their kids in some random person's car and entrusting them to some random person's driving habits?

[PhasmaFelis]

What, you mean like a bus driver?

Also, "Shuddle’s main pitch point was their focus on safety: They did intense background checks on drivers, monitored drivers to ensure they stayed on route and didn’t speed or text while driving and offered real-time ride tracking to parents."

[dav]

You are technically misusing the word random, and that is the crux of the matter.

[burkaman]

Yeah, it's like babysitting, but with better background checks and oversight.

[rmah]

When I was a little kid, I walked or rode my bike. Everyone did. And back then, crime was multiple times higher than today.