RSG034: Martin Dasko On Why He Hates Driving But Loves Uber

I first met Martin a couple years ago at a conference for personal finance bloggers and his personality and story immediately stood out to me.  Not only is he a blogger but he’s also a professional wrestler and Uber driver, yes you heard that right!  But as I discovered during this interview, he doesn’t actually like driving that much.

On the podcast, we talk about the reasons why Martin got started with driving and how he was able to leverage his existing platform and knowledge base to continue making money even though he doesn’t drive as much anymore.

Martin Dasko wrestling
RSG034: Martin Dasko On Why He Hates Driving But Loves Uber

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

Intro

Interview with Martin Dasko

  • Lives in Canada, an entrepreneur involved in tons of different areas: writing, blogging, rideshare driving
  • Also a wrestler – just wanted to say yes to adventure!
  • Heard about rideshare driving in 2014
  • Partly started as an experiment for my blog, Studenomics

Starting Out as an Uber Driver

  • One big mistake: not reading the manual!
  • Probably shouldn’t have brought along a friend on his first few Uber trips
  • Read blogs like RSG and read over the manual
  • Remember to keep passengers in mind – make their trips pleasant

Rideshare Driving in Canada

  • Rideshare driving very different in Toronto
  • Taxi drivers in Toronto have a license, similar to the medallion system
  • Protest late last year where cab drivers shut down the roads
  • Very nerve-wracking as a driver
  • Knowing the rules was difficult at first too – don’t want to get a ticket!
  • Got addicted pretty quickly to driving
  • There is still money to be made in driving – definitely depends on the city you’re driving in

Leveraging Rideshare Driving

Studenomics

  • Wrote an article about rideshare driving and found tons of people were very curious about the experience
  • Couldn’t write about it unless he drove for himself
  • Handling passengers, improving ratings, all topics that Martin has covered
  • Many more ways for drivers to get help and information, but information still lacking

Opportunities in the Rideshare Industry

  • Uber book Martin wrote sells more than the other books he’s written
  • Uber article is very popular
  • Clearly, people still need help in figuring out this industry
  • Many drivers have leveraged their Uber experience into starting new businesses
  • Some people have stuck around and continued to drive for Uber
  • So You Want to Drive for Uber? book
  • Do You Even Hustle? podcast
  • Studenomics

Outro

  • Questions/comments for Martin Dasko? Email address is md@studenomics.com
  • Martin’s story really parallels my story in rideshare driving too
  • You might realize rideshare driving isn’t something you want to do forever, but it’s an opportunity to figure out what you like and turn those into new opportunities
  • Check out Maximum Ridesharing Profits – new videos for drivers looking to run their own businesses

Show Notes

Stride Health

This episode brought to you by Stride Health, a company that connects self-employed workers with health coverage and health care for free! Whether you have insurance or not, Stride helps you figure out where to get care & how much you’ll pay – they’ll even help you find your doctors and get you discounts at the pharmacy. I started using Stride recently so I can personally recommend it, and best of all – it’s 100% free. People who purchase health plans through Stride save an average of $400/year on health care. Even if you already have health insurance, once you sign up, you get access to a personal advisor, who will help you with all your health care decisions. Sign up at http://stridehealth.com/rideshareguy.

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

Drivers, what do you think about Martin’s story and the success he’s had by leveraging his driving career into articles on his site and even a book?

-Harry @ RSG