Idea
Build the USPS change-of-address subscription as a $7-10/mo service
Air Garage's CEO pitches a single-partner business: handle change-of-address and mail forwarding for USPS as a paid subscription. At 5M subscribers paying ~$7-10/month, it would be meaningful new revenue for the struggling postal service.
“somebody should build a business that just does this for USPS. They can make an additional, like, he just did the math on like how many customers they already have and if they just marketed it within their, within their own service, like if they could get 5 million subscribers of this thing at $10 million, $10 a month or $8 a month or $7 a month, like that would be actually pretty significant revenue for USPS.”
Steal thisPick one giant incumbent with a captive audience (USPS) and become the branded subscription service for one painful task (address changes).
Framework
Make one sale equal 50 spots, not one driveway
The peer-to-peer parking marketplace was an awful business model because one sale equaled one driveway, requiring millions of driveways to hit meaningful revenue. The fix was shifting to lots/churches where one sale captures 50-100 parking spaces.
“Because in order to get to meaningful revenue, you need millions of driveways. And on a one-sale-equals-one-driveway basis, it just never would have made sense. And so basically, in May of 2018, we started shifting and saying, how do we make a sale and get 50 or 100 parking spaces.”
Steal thisIf each sale only unlocks one tiny unit of supply, re-target the same product at customers where one sale unlocks 50-100 units.
Framework
Make one sale equal 50 spots, not one driveway
The peer-to-peer parking marketplace was an awful business model because one sale equaled one driveway, requiring millions of driveways to hit meaningful revenue. The fix was shifting to lots/churches where one sale captures 50-100 parking spaces.
“Because in order to get to meaningful revenue, you need millions of driveways. And on a one-sale-equals-one-driveway basis, it just never would have made sense. And so basically, in May of 2018, we started shifting and saying, how do we make a sale and get 50 or 100 parking spaces.”
Steal thisIf each sale only unlocks one tiny unit of supply, re-target the same product at customers where one sale unlocks 50-100 units.
Number
AirGarage rebounded to 80% of pre-COVID, mostly from NEW lots
By August, AirGarage was at about 80% of its pre-COVID high. Crucially, ~80% of last month's revenue came from new parking lots signed during 2020, meaning the recovery is new growth rather than a rebound of old volume.
$80
Share of monthly revenue from newly signed lots · percent
“And actually last month, about 80% of our revenue last month came from new parking lots that we signed on since like basically in 2020, basically since COVID.”
Tactic
Win owners with a 70/30 revenue share and zero upfront cost
AirGarage's pitch against legacy parking operators: a 70/30 revenue split in the owner's favor with no upfront cost, because the system is software-only (no parking machines or gate arms to buy). Legacy operators sign fixed leases, then cancel them when times get bad.
“So we split 70/30 with the owner in favor of the owner. And so we always tell them, you know, this is better for you in the long run because you're gonna see the upside when times are good. And the biggest thing for us is there's no upfront cost to get started.”
Steal thisBeat incumbents who demand fixed leases and hardware purchases by offering an aligned revenue share with zero upfront cost.