Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Rath.
Hi Justin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve always had a knack for spotting problems within society. This was exemplified during my freshman year of college when I had experienced the firsthand deficiencies of acquiring a cost-effective tutor in a timely manner. The current model of needing to hire a 40 years old tutor with a PhD was simply outdated and much too pricey. So I created EZtutor, which was a peer-to-peer marketplace that connected local high school and college tutors to local high school and college students in need of tutoring for affordable rates of $15/hr. Essentially, if you had a math test tomorrow, in less than 24 hours, you could hire the smartest kid in your math class to tutor you for $15. After expanding to 6 cities, I ended up selling the company at the age of 20 years old.
Shortly after my first sale, I got a call from my long-time friend Matthew Iommi, where he explained to me the issues he was seeing with group transportation and the societal issues it was causing in regards to congestion & rising emissions. Within 30 days, we came together to begin building my second company Fetii, which we initially coined as the “Uber” of group transportation. Fetii is essentially a ride-share platform that utilizes a network of 15-passenger vans to allow groups and businesses to hail these large vehicles on demand, allowing them to ride together for a variety of transportation needs.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course, in life, or in any business, more often than not the path to prosperity is far from smooth. The biggest obstacle we faced when building Fetii was the Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, we had officially launched our app 45 days before the pandemic hit, so you can imagine the dismay we faced when launched a “group” transportation service at a time like that. But, as Matthew and I have done so many times, we clenched our teeth and kept fighting. A few months later, we acquired a large government contract in which they utilized Fetii’s software for contract tracing, which in turn extended the life of the company. This contract enabled the company to survive until we were able to relaunch our core rideshare business, and the rest is history.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Fetii?
Fetii is a group rideshare platform that provides on-demand transportation for groups and businesses by utilizing a network of 15-passenger vans. Fetii makes it so that groups no longer have to split up and take multiple vehicles, which creates a superior transportation experience while helping the environment by reducing emissions and decreasing urban congestion. To date, Fetii has transported over 500,000 passengers and is operating in Austin, College Station, and Lubbock, Texas with plans to further expand in late 2022.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my 8+ years of entrepreneurship is that very few things are more powerful in business, and frankly life, than optimism. Obstacles are inevitable and starting a business comes with an influx of highs and lows, more so the latter. The ability to keep your mind constantly thinking positive is a driving force that I believe is necessary to have a fighting chance at creating a successful business. The power of the mind is no joke and whether it’s continued personal development or finding a co-founder that you can lean on in tough times, you must find a way to stay optimistic throughout the life of your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fetii.com
