2004 – 2023
About Ridester.com
The evolution of our company, from founding to where we are today.
Who is Behind Ridester.com?
My name is Brett Helling, and I am the current owner of Ridester.com.
I’ve been a rideshare driver since early 2012, when I signed up as one of the first drivers in my city. After completing many trips for companies including Uber and Lyft, I started a blog to share my findings with other drivers.
In 2014, after my personal blog began to get traction among fellow drivers, I acquired the Ridester.com platform and domain from its founder. I merged my blog into it – creating an educational resource for those interested in learning more about working with or using rideshare and delivery services.
Since that time, I’ve expanded my knowledge-sharing efforts by creating this site, as well as writing the book Gigworker: Independent Work and the State of the Gig Economy, now available for purchase on Amazon.
After doing research for that book, I launched a second site, Gigworker.com, to expand beyond ridesharing and delivery.
I share helpful knowledge about the industry, which is regularly quoted by publications such as Forbes, Vice, CNBC, and more.
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The Evolution of Ridester
Ridester.com was started by Jake Boshernitzan in 2004 as the first-ever online marketplace for ridesharing, a visionary concept that predated the rise of industry giants like Lyft and Uber.
Ridester was more than just a platform; it was a community-centric service integrating feedback ratings, route matching, and a seamless payment system.
After launch, people began to notice. Our legacy includes notable highlights such as features in Lifehacker and CNET Beta of the Day, and appearances in prestigious publications like Time Magazine, Biz Journals, and The New York Sun.
Our innovative approach caught the attention of major players; Zipcar once invested in a consulting arrangement with us, and Facebook recognized our potential early on, inviting us to pitch our business in San Francisco as part of the inaugural FBfund startups.
But as traction grew, so did Jake’s other business ventures. Ridester fell to the wayside, with his efforts being focused elsewhere.
Despite not being actively maintained for several years, Ridester remained a persistent presence online, attracting thousands of users and daily new registrations.
That’s when I took notice, purchasing the domain from Jake and building it out into what it is today.
Once a groundbreaking pioneer in the ridesharing industry Ridester.com has evolved into a comprehensive resource for rideshare and delivery drivers and customers alike.
Ridester At a Glance
A few stats you might find interesting
1,750+
Published Articles
12,500+
Email Subscribers
300,000+
Monthly Readers
450,000+
Monthly Pageviews
Growing Through Acquisition
Since the inception of Ridester.com, our team has had the opportunity to acquire various properties, fueling our company’s rapid growth.
We see acquiring websites that are highly relevant to our readership as one of the most effective ways to grow our site, so we are always looking for strategic acquisitions that we can add to our existing content categories.
Our team is radically transparent, and we have no problem admitting that we don’t know what we don’t know. So, we’d rather acquire a website built by niche professionals – people who have a true, deep understanding of the topics.
Our Acquisitions
Uberdriverdiaries.com
You can now find the information from Uberdriverdiaries.com scattered throughout various content categories around Ridester.
I started driving with Uber in the New York City area in December, 2013. Before I joined, I searched everywhere online hoping to find information from other drivers on what their experiences had been. But I could find absolutely nothing!
So, I decided to create UberDriverDiaries.com to fill that void. The main page is a blog of my own experiences. But there is also a forum (that you can click into on the right where it says Join Our Driver Diaries). This is a place where Uber drivers can share their experiences. They can tell us what it’s like to drive for Uber, how much they can make, how much they have to work, and what their frustrations and delights are.
If you’re an Uber driver, please join us and help us build this community so it can become a real resource for other Uber drivers.
Suite of Udemy Courses
You can now find the information from these Udemy courses on the Ridester YouTube channel, or scattered throughout the content on our site.
As part out our growth, we acquired the full rights to four separate Udemy courses that were created by Sam Choi, a rideshare driver with thousands of rides under his belt – a top 1% earning in the rideshare industry. These included:
- Crash Course to Rideshare: How to Get Started W/ Uber & Lyft
- Elite Rideshare 101: Steps to Becoming a Top 1% Earner
- Full-time Driver: Essential steps to Going Full-time w/ Uber
- Six Star Service: How to Get Most Tips
The acquisition of these courses allowed our platform to continue to be an industry-leading resource for rideshare and delivery drivers alike, helping to further educate drivers on maximizing their time behind the wheel.
Educateddriver.org
You can now find the information from Educateddrier.org within the Education & Training sections of Ridester.
EducatedDriver.org is your one-stop shop for all things related to driver safety. As an independent news source, we cover it all — ride share news, self-driving cars, dash cams, driving apps, traffic laws, and a whole lot more. If it has to do with getting you from Point A to Point B safely, you’ll learn about it here.
Every year, nearly 1.3 million people around the world die in traffic accidents. Our mission is to improve global road safety through education. We believe the vast majority of road crashes are preventable, and lives can be saved when drivers are equipped with the right information, technology, and resources to make safe driving choices.
The best driver is an Educated Driver. Hi Impact.
Our Team
The Team Who Runs the Site
Ridester.com has evolved into a comprehensive resource for rideshare and delivery drivers and customers alike. We run a small team, but you’ll probably see a few of us around the site.
Brett Helling
Owner, Writer, Fact-Checker
Brett Helling is the current owner of Ridester.com.
He focused heavily on the operations and overall strategy of the site, but also helps with tasks like design, fact-checking, and quality assurance, just to name a few.
Sam Choi
Course Instructor
Sam Choi, a top 1% earner in ridesharing for Uber and Lyft, has mastered the trade through extensive experience, research, and analysis.
He shares his expertise through courses acquired by Ridester.com in 2018.
Iona-Catalina Matasaru
Editorial Staff
Iona-Catalina helps to ensure that Gigworker articles are accurate, consistent, and helpful to readers.
Our Responsibility
Editorial Policy Explained
At Ridester, we maintain rigorous standards of quality and research so that you only encounter top-tier content on our site.
- All final content gets a final check by experienced experts. Every one of our 1,250+ articles undergoes a thorough pre-publishing check by a subject matter expert. These are seasoned rideshare and delivery drivers who are familiar with the platforms.
- We trust our own suggestions. Whether we’re recommending a tactic, a piece of gear, or something else, we only recommend the suggestions that we’d use ourselves.
- We update content regularly. We regularly update our posts to include factual information that is not outdated.
Learn About Our Editorial Process →
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