RideCombine
I am looking for customer validation/feedback on a startup idea that I have called RideCombine. I posted a topic a while back on a kiteboarding forum about sharing rides to kiteboarding spots and got an overwhelming response from people looking to share gas money, rent cars together, etc to get to kiting spots that aren't easily accessible by public transit.
So I came up with the idea for RideCombine - basically it would be a website that lets you find a ride or give a ride - the AirBnB of ridesharing. You would be able to enter where you are leaving from, where you are going, and the timing. Then you could browse ride matches by their radius from you, listed price, and reviews of the driver or passenger. Passengers would pay for the ride on the site, and the site would retain a certain % of the price (e.g. 10%).
There are a bunch of competitors trying to play in this space (like Zimride and Pickuppal), but most of them are focused on long distance, city to city travel - whereas this would drill down further to the 'neighborhood to neighborhood' level. It would also connect users' Linkedin profiles to establish trust/legitimacy among early users of the site. Initially I would test it with kiteboarders and skiers (people looking to travel to off the beaten track locations), but then I would expand it further.
I would love to hear any thoughts you might have and any advice. Would you use it? If so you can sign up for early access at http://www.ridecombine.com. I come from a business background so my next step after this is to find a technical person to work with.
Thanks!