Today we’d like to introduce you to Mauro Netzahuatl.
Hi Mauro, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I founded Faster Drivers Delivery Service in 2020 and incorporated in 2022 after working for DoorDash from 2018-2020. I was suspended after I was assigned an order the previous driver failed to deliver and it had been assigned to me to try to fix. Since I could not, I had marked it as delivered to continue receiving orders. I made a note to DoorDash to not pay me that delivery fee because I had not completed it. Next day, I was suspended. When I called customer service, they acknowledged that it was the system that wouldn’t let me back in, but recommended that I come back in one year’s time. Since I needed to continue working, I went private and I gave my number to businesses and customers who needed something picked up and delivered. I did really good, maybe too good. The problem was that I could not keep everything organized or handle more orders during busy times. My original idea was to clone the DD app and undercut them, but that impossible and financial unsustainable. Then I pivoted and created a more efficient system while hiring a company (AppyPie) to integrate it with a mobile app. This was the first version of the app built which taught me what work and what didn’t. I spent the next year refining the formula and fundraising to build the next version. After raising about $400K, I hired Crowdbotics to build the current version of the app. Now we are working on upgrading the UI/UX and raising funds to pay for it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No. I lost my marriage when my wife refused to co-sign a PP loan that would have helped us move along. I also have been doing this without having papers/social security number. I was brought as a child by my mother when I was 7, and I have been living in this country as an undocumented immigrant all this time. When I met my wife, we didn’t get married until my first daughter was born, but I did not try to fix the issue because I didn’t see a need to. I wasn’t using credit cards. When DACA came into effect, I was thinking about applying but that turned into an odyssey in itself, and since I had to fix my name situation (Mauro/Mauricio/Maurice) in Mexico, that would have made ineligible to apply if I left the US. So I stopped pursuing that route.
When I worked for DD, I did it under my wife’s name. This was no problem until we got a check from a lawsuit filed against DD for underpaying drivers. My x wife took all of it and I couldn’t do anything about it.
When the pandemic hit, I was in the middle of establishing my company. Since I didn’t know what I was doing, I reached out to the SBA/SBDC to help me. They did and help me establish an LLC. It was here that I found there were options for funding if I had a partner that was a US citizen. Since I was married to one, I could see there was an answer to our problems, and all it took was to ask. My exwife refused to listen or find the answer on her own. She refused to listen to reason, even though we kept falling behind to the point that we ended up sleeping on our car (I still do) but she refused to help me get the financing that was being offered.
In the end, we split up and she took my daughters and went to PA to help one of my cousins run my cousins cleaning service. But, after she left, I found the $160K I need to build the app, thus allowing me to continue moving forward.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My system is going to allow businesses to lower their delivery costs from hundreds, even thousands per month to only $30-$31 per month to connect with all the drivers they need to deliver their products. The app also allows customers to save money by splitting the delivery fee when ordering between 2-10 people. This is to create a bigger, more valuable order for the business while leaving more money in the customer’s pocket. Sending the same drivers as consistently as possible increases the trust and the money customers give to the drivers. They also get a cash back reward to help them offset the costs when ordering individually but it is mainly for them not to underpay the driver in those situations.
Drivers are able to earn $30-$60 an hour and become franchise owners, licensing my software to help them achieve this and they only pay a $100 monthly fee to join.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That I don’t have papers, thus I have no access to financial institutions, which has been the only thing from accelerating growth and adoption.
Pricing:
- $5 to deliver within city limits.
- $1 extra per mile.
- $365 annual business fee.
- $100 monthly driver fee.
- 3% Cash back rewards for customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fasterdrivers.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fasterdrivers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FasterDriversDeliveryServiceLLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fasterdrivers/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FasterDrivers
Image Credits
Mauro Netzahuatl
