RSG037: What Can A Financial Blogger Learn From Doing 500 Uber Rides?

Today’s guest isn’t your typical Uber driver profile.  Sam is a fellow full time blogger but in the personal finance space and his site is trafficked by millions of visitors each month.  But even though he’s a very successful blogger and former Wall Street guy, about a year ago, Sam actually started driving for Uber.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before he had some thoughtful insight into this industry and after reading some of his posts about his experience, I knew I had to have him on the podcast!

This was one of my favorite interviews to date and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.

Ep037 Financial Samurai

Intro

  • Interview with Sam from Financial Samurai on his atypical Uber driving experience
  • Today we’ll discuss the strategy and money-making side behind what it’s like being an Uber driver & Sam’s experience
  • If you haven’t checked out our video training course yet, Maximum Ridesharing Profits – you should!
  • Stay tuned for an exclusive 50% off code for a book Sam wrote on how to engineer your layoff!

Interview with Sam from Financial Samurai

  • Originally started in the financial services industry, but became disillusioned with it
  • Biggest reward is being an entrepreneur and seeing a correlation between effort and reward
  • Now runs the successful site Financial Samurai

Experience Driving for Uber

  • Heard about Uber in 2010 while living in San Francisco
  • Uber Ambassador program offering a $50 free gift card for gas
  • Wanted to make extra money and write about Uber from not only a passenger perspective, but also a driver’s perspective

Uber and the Gig Economy

  • Uber isn’t a full-time job, but it’s a good side job
  • Gig economy is the democratization of making side money – anyone can do it, doesn’t have to be driving for Uber or Lyft
  • Requires hard work, effort, and planning: control what you can control

How Uber Could Improve

  • The same way many companies could improve: recognition for hard-working drivers
  • Hire former drivers to be full-time Uber employees
  • Not all about hiring people from prestigious colleges who can read case studies
  • When Uber Drivers Make More Than Uber Corporate Employees
  • Lyft does currently hire former drivers to become full-time employees, and it’s reflected in how they treat drivers

Why He No Longer Drives for Uber

  • Why I’m No Longer Willing to Drive for Uber post on Financial Samurai
  • Learned to keep on going, to be humble
  • Learned a lot about controlling emotions and motivating others
  • Most enlightening story involved a ton of Pine-Sol, learning to be grateful for what you have

Outro

  • Firsthand accounts and the information provided by Sam was incredibly value – I took away a lot from our conversation, and I hope you did too
  • So many basic Uber skills can also make you a great entrepreneur or businessperson, too
  • Recognition goes a long way too, and a lot of business don’t seem to understand this
  • Pitch me if you want to share your story – some of our best podcasts have come from you guys and your suggestions!

If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here

Drivers, what do you think about Sam’s experience driving for Uber and do you agree or disagree with his takeaways?

-Harry @ RSG