In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of shade thrown at the “Uber for X” business model. Drawing on parking startup Luxe as an example, the New York Times’ Farhad Manjoo discussed how few industries are positioned for disruption in the same way the taxi industry was, with its inflexible pricing, protectionist attitude and low customer satisfaction.
Manjoo’s argument, in short, was that in order to be the “Uber for X,” you also need to unlock some massive market efficiency and bring down prices for consumers. Otherwise you’re just a luxury service for people with more time than money.
Maybe so. But there’s tons of market needs out there that can benefit from an Uber for X disruption. In order to help make your life more convenient, we’ve rounded up a few of them here.
Birther
The Uber for remembering birthdays
If you’re the kind of person who cares deeply about your friends and family, and like to remind them that you’re thinking about them every now and then, you have to check this out. Based out of New York, this startup will sync with your Facebook calendar, figure out which of your Facebook friends you care about most deeply based on metadata, and have someone call them for you on their birthday. Chip in a little more, and they’ll print out a photo of the two of you and write a heartfelt note as well. Thoughtful.
Wip3r
The Uber for “I only just now realized I’m out of toilet paper”
We’ve all been there. As you reach for the toilet paper, you come to the horrifying realization that you’re out. Now there’s an app for that. Wip3r is an on-demand delivery service that specializes in bathroom tissue. No need for that panicked feeling ever again. Neat.
Stocker
The Uber for putting away groceries
If you’re anything like me, putting your groceries away is the last thing you want to do after spending like 15 minutes in line at Whole Foods and then carrying them all the way home. Thank God for Stocker. With a single tap, you can get a vetted professional to come to your house to put all your groceries away. With its built in photo analytics and advanced machine learning algorithms, the app also learns where all your groceries go in the fridge or pantry. Organized.
Finder
The Uber for figuring out where your remote went
We’ve all had an idiot roommate who places the remote somewhere impossible to find. And for some reason, my remote has kept disappearing even after that guy moved out. Finding the remote can take minutes — who has time for that? This company will send a professional Finder to your apartment, equipped with advanced statistics on where everyday objects like remotes most commonly disappear to. It works for other stuff like chargers and keys too. Efficient.
Uber
The Uber for “where the hell am I and what do you mean the trains stopped running at 2 a.m.?”
Don’t have a car? Not in a state to drive? This scrappy San Francisco startup wants to give you a ride from point A to point B whenever you need one. Turns out there’s a number of competitors in this so-called ridesharing space, so it’ll be exciting to see if these guys will be able to scrape together funding. Hope it works out.
Vapor
The Uber for backing up your cloud storage to a different cloud storage
Do you wake up in a panicked sweat sometimes wondering if your cloud data is safe? Maybe you should back your cloud up in a different cloud. Next time that feeling hits you, hit up Vapor’s cloud engineers, and they’ll clone your cloud data to a randomly chosen different cloud. Word on the street is that the cloud is big right now, so this thing is probably going to be huge. Plus they’re located offshore, so no need to worry about pesky cloud taxes. Comforting.
Dipr
The Uber for adoption
Few industries have benefited as much from hardcore lobbying as the adoption racket. At its core, adopting a child is a simple transaction. So why does it require hours, if not days, of paperwork? Dipr lets you find a baby and get it delivered to your doorstep, like the stork used to deliver them in the old days. Fulfilling.
rUbber
The Uber for taking pictures of yourself having a blast with VR
If you’ve shelled out hundreds of dollars for a VR headset, you’re definitely going to want to rub it into your friends’ faces. Unfortunately, no one ever visits people’s houses anymore, and it’s really hard to get a good selfie game going while wearing a headset that completely obstructs your vision. This startup will send a social media specialist to take pictures of you having an awesome time and share them through your personal channels. Awesome.
Images via Shutterstock, Uber and Built In LA.
.jpg)
