That’s how it all started. There was no business plan behind it.
I just wanted to build a community where people could arrange rides directly, with no middlemen. I had no idea it would turn into something this big.
I was a student. Studying, working summers as a concrete and rebar construction worker. I even had a small side business selling phones. Once, my friends and I tried launching an ice cream truck.
I didn’t have a car of my own yet. And taking
a taxi, like for most students back then, was a luxury.
We only used it in exceptional cases — often we’d just walk, even in minus 50.
helping Or we’d hitch a ride from friends who had cars. Some of them were part-time drivers themselves, cruising around the city and picking up passengers right off the curb. What they earned was just enough to cover gas and food.
It was the golden age of VK (a popular social network in the post-Soviet space) and Twitter. I started noticing people updating their statuses with things like:
“Driving for hire, call or text.”
helpingIt was always cheaper and easier than calling a taxi service. Without much thought, I decided to create a VK group where people could post that they were offering rides — or looking for one. I invited fifty of my friends, they invited theirs, and so on. That’s how it all started.
helpingThere was no business plan behind it. I just wanted to build a community where people could arrange rides directly, with no middlemen. I had no idea it would turn into something this big.
As soon as the group gained traction, I realized there was potential to grow the idea. I asked a classmate to build an app.
helpingHe did, but by that time, other developers had already released more polished and user-friendly ones. So I quickly gave it up. When the group really took off, I felt both proud and scared. There were rumors going around that some taxi companies weren’t too happy with me.
helpingNaturally — my group had cut into their income hard. In fact, it pretty much dismantled their business. I realized something could happen to me — an attack, an “accident,” something shady… And I had no clue how to protect myself.
Over time, the group became the biggest “taxi service” in the city — though it didn’t belong to anyone and didn’t follow any formal rules. Still, it helped a huge number of people.
helpingAnd all that growth was purely organic. Honestly, I think if anyone else had created something similar back then with no commercial goal, the outcome would’ve been the same.
helpingI remember once meeting a driver named Albert. He drove an old Toyota Carib. When he found out who I was, he said he’d be happy to drive me anywhere, anytime, for free. Albert shared his story: at taxi companies, since he wasn’t “one of them,” he always got the worst rides, and the pay was never enough.
helpingAnd he had a family to support. He stumbled upon the group by chance, and once he started using it, his income shot up. There were always enough orders, and he could finally choose where to go instead of waiting around for the dispatcher.
helpingHe was thrilled — he even told me he’d started saving up for his daughter’s university. I think that was the first time I truly felt what it means to change people’s lives for the better.
How did the group turn into a full-fledged service?
Many things just came together.
helpingAt that time, Arsen Grigorievich was looking for new opportunities, and they wanted to draft me into the army. But in the end, I broke my arm and didn’t go anywhere. But I received a good offer, then Arsen Grigorievich invited me to the company.
helpingAnd with the money I got from selling the group, I bought a car. I still have it, it’s in Yakutsk.
I love Japanese cars, they’ve got both reliability and style. In my free time, I enjoy messing around with my Lexus IS200: tuning it, tweaking things, trying out new stuff. For me, it’s both a way to relax and a chance to make the car just the way I want it.
