Interview with Amit Sachdev, the founder of Stroll: Building Guam’s leading ride-hailing platform

A bit of background:

Guam is a US island territory in Micronesia in the Western Pacific. Amit Sachdev founded a ride-hailing company Stroll that Triple J Enterprises has recently acquired.

In this company, Amit was responsible for hands-on management of daily company operations, digital marketing, and online branding, as well as managing day-to-day operations.

Interviewer: Could you please tell us a bit about your background, your experience, and the company you founded?

Amit: Sure! I'm a tech entrepreneur with a background in the music industry, but it’s also been eight years for me in the mobility space.

Interviewer: How did you come up with the idea for Stroll?

I came up with the idea of Stroll when I was an audio engineer in LA in the mid-2010s. As someone who used ride-hailing apps, I thought Uber was a crazy experience as a customer. And then I wondered what it was like for drivers. So every time I took an Uber, I would ask drivers about their experience. From talking to the drivers, I got mixed reviews. So then I thought that the only way for me to truly find out is to become a driver. I went through the whole process, and drove for Uber for a couple of weeks.

And then I thought about where I'm from, Guam. Guam has a lot of mobility issues, the bus systems are not the best, and taxis have monopolized the market and created fees that don’t work for everybody and don’t make sense. And so one thing led to another, and I started Stroll. 

Interviewer: Were you excited to work as a driver? Were you fascinated by the idea of Uber?

Amit: I was fascinated by the idea that every person could become a driver and make money and not necessarily need a second job. In Guam, many people have vehicles. That’s a lot of vehicles for such a small island! Whenever somebody comes to Guam, that's what they say: “Wow, I didn't realize how many cars there are!”

So I thought this would be perfect for teachers, moms, students, or anybody who wants to make extra income. Tourism is also a big industry in Guam and has a huge military presence. So these people would be looking for rides, and taxis were never really an option for the local market. It was more of like a last resort if you're absolutely stranded. I also thought that a ride-hailing service could be perfect because we can lower driving under the influence numbers. And that's something that we actually did. We have proven data to show that Stroll did help with that to a degree.

Interviewer: How did your experience as a driver help you in founding Stroll?

Because I got to see a lot for myself, I could say: I like these sorts of features, but maybe these sorts of things we could also tweak and improve. From the beginning, I thought: okay, let me see how this works. I didn’t start with a straightforward plan for how to do things. I was open to discovering new things and ideas.

I think because I took it one step at a time, it actually made more sense as opposed to deciding that you already know what you want to do and don't need to listen to the market because you already know what the market wants.

I think that is a mistake entrepreneurs make and I've made that mistake in the past. You have to understand the market you're in. There could be even some commonalities to a different market, but most markets, and Guam specifically, are unique.

Interviewer: What did the start of your company look like? How was it at the very beginning?

Amit: The first step when you're building a technology company is trying to figure out where you're getting the technology, right? And that's what people usually ask me. And I said, I attended Google University, YouTube University, and I started just putting dots together, reading some books, reaching out to my network of contacts, and one of my really good friends.

He recommended outsourcing development, and that's what I did. And from there, I understood how to work with user experience and user interface. I started building the app around October to November 2015. And from there, I started sourcing drivers locally in Guam. I came up with the commission rate for drivers. So we launched on July 2nd, 2016. So it took about like six to eight months to build out the app.

Interviewer: And we will get back to all the different technology points a bit later. Did you work with the government, was it difficult?

Amit: It was an experience, I will say that. When something is difficult or perceived as difficult, I like to break it down into steps. And in this way, instead of looking at something and being so overwhelmed, I can focus on step one, then step two, step three, step four, and then eventually, in that sequence, I'm gonna end up at the finish line.

I had to understand how the law works, and who creates the laws - I had to create one for Stroll to work. Luckily, everything went well and it took about a year to two years to create this law. It gave a reference point and a guideline to any future ride-hailing companies in Guam.

Interviewer: Talking about other companies, did you later get some competitors? Did Stroll stand out from these companies later on?

Amit: Sure, I would say imitation is the best form of flattery. Of course, it's a free market. But it’s not an easy space - you have to suffer a lot before you get to some results. And competition gives us an opportunity to improve our system. 

I think what separated us is we understood the market and the drivers. I think in this sort of business what people have to understand is that drivers are a customer base, and you have to cater to both customers and drivers equally. You need to find that equilibrium. 

Interviewer: So who is more important, drivers or customers? Who should we pay more attention to, especially at the start?

Amit: I wouldn't say there's necessarily a priority to one or the other, but I would say, especially in the beginning, it's pretty difficult to have a transportation business without drivers. You can have all the customers in the world but if you cannot supply that demand it doesn't mean anything. On the other hand, if you're so focused on drivers and your customers don't feel valued, then you're also going to run into a plethora of issues. And so you have to find this equilibrium of supply and demand. I think in the beginning, maybe the focus will be on drivers, but it's really both. And you have to do both simultaneously and understand both segments. 

In the beginning, you have to have a strategy for how to acquire drivers, especially if you're doing the business model that we're doing, drivers are not employees, they're contractors. So you really have to understand the difference between contractors and employees. You have to understand what is the relationship between the company and the contractor.

Interviewer:  Do you think that the success of your taxi service is related to the specific geographical location and the people who live there?

Amit: I wouldn't necessarily say it's very specific and curated because we do have the ability and it is in the cards to expand in the region. You have to be able to know how to pick and choose what works. What I like to do is something called contrast traveling where I will go to a very developed place like New York. And then I'll go to a developing place right after, and that helps me understand the market better. 

Interviewer: So you just gather all these different experiences that you can later kind of adjust and adapt to your local market, that’s a great strategy! We have a question from the chat: has your company faced any legal obstacles regarding safety and insurance similar to what USA transportation companies must face? Or was it easier for you?

Amit: We never really had any issues of that sort because we were very focused on our driver SOPs on safety. And we have a very close group of drivers, and we do our best to take care of them and respond to all issues. I wanted to create an environment where people want to be there and face challenges and deal with them.

Interviewer: How did changing to Onde improve your service? Because you’ve had your own app in the beginning?

Amit: Our customer and driver base scaled. Our partnership with different businesses also scaled. It made us more confident to make these moves in the market, and experiment.

Interviewer: What advice would you give to other tech businesses looking for a technological solution?

Amit: Besides just partnering with Onde, would say when you're looking for this solution, you have to take everything into account. Technology can be great, but it’s not the only thing. You also need customer support, you need a trustworthy company, and so on.

Interviewer: Thank you, Amit. And finally, let's talk about your future business plans. Could you share them with us?

Amit: I think it might be a little too early, but I am going to still be involved in the mobility space, we'll just call it that. And I'm looking to do something similar to what I’m doing now, and still with Onde - we’ve been a partner since 2021! I think I can use my experience with the platform and, of course, my experience in the space and my know-how and expand it internationally. And I think there are some untapped market segments and there are unused features. 

But I think also in the logistics side of things, I'm very interested in that as well. And of course, I'm also involved in the music industry, right? I just like making businesses and connecting with people. I am looking forward to connecting with more people in this space, whether that's people who are on the investment capital side or people on the ground in different regions. 

Interviewer: Exciting! And what about Stroll? Has anything changed after the acquisition of the company?

Amit: Yes, so of course I stepped down as CEO of the company. And I think what's really great is it reignited like a new spark in drivers and customers because the company is growing, and now that it's aligned with a great enterprise in Triple J, they can take what we're doing and accelerate and enhance it.

I think this will benefit drivers and customers because Triple J is already involved in the automotive sector, they can give drivers a lot of benefits and incentives. And I think with customers, they can do the same thing as well. I was very happy about this acquisition because I saw where Stroll could be in the next year.