Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

What We Rent – Party Supplies

This is our second installment in our “What We Rent” series. Considering what time of year it is, it is very appropriate. New listings continue to pour in to iRent2u. It is great to see so much happening so quickly – and look for even more soon. It looks like we may be adding construction equipment, those big inflatable jumpers that kids love so much, and other great stuff such as pinball machines and antique jukeboxes. Who ever knew there was so much cool stuff to rent?

Party Supplies
Today’s topic is party supplies, something that you see a lot of over the holidays. Party Supplies is a pretty broad category, and includes some of the most commonly rented items in the country. You’ll find everything from tables and chairs, to disco balls and lighting equipment, to dunk tanks! Apparently, people all around the US like to party, and when they do they like to do it in style.

Throwing parties is fun, but can require a lot of equipment to do it right. There sure is no reason to go out and buy 20 tables and 100 chairs - when renting is so easy. Most of the party rental companies will deliver everything to your location, and even set it up for you. If you can think of it, there is a company that will rent it to you. Plan on having a lot of people and don’t want them all walking through your house to use the bathroom? Rent out portable toilets! Planning a party in the winter and don’t want to get all your guests sick from the cold? Rent out some propane heaters! Want to make the party a real treat? Get costumes and party props - to fit any theme. You can have an Egyptian party right where you live - and think of how much money you just saved on plane tickets!

Wedding Supplies
For those of you in the Inland Empire, we already have over 1,300 items in our “Events & Parties” category, with much more on the way. You can rent plates, glasses & tableware. You can find barbecues, generators, and all sorts of lighting equipment. Planning a winter wedding? Make sure to get one or two of the nice tents or canopies in case the weather isn’t perfect. Our providers will not only take care of the equipment rentals, but they also provide access to all sorts of services to make the occasion easier and more successful.

Party Planning
Planning a big event can be quite challenging, so when you look through the inventory don’t get overloaded. Probably you don’t really know what you need, but there is help! Submit a request to one of the rental providers and they will get back to you and help you through it. Often times working with a professional will give you a lot of ideas and save you money at the same time, as they will assist you with planning your event.

Have Something to Rent Out?
While we already have a large number of items, there is a lot more that we are looking for. Do you have some neat things that you think others would enjoy having at a party? List them on the site, you could really make someone’s day! I know I plan on listing my karaoke machine – but then again maybe that is just my way of trying to get it out of the house so no one makes me sing. =^)

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Popularity: 22% [?]

iRent2u on SoCalTech (www.SoCalTech.com)

http://www.socaltech.com/irent_u_takes_on_online_rentals/s-0012333.html>

Today iRent2u got featured on SoCalTech news, Southern California’s single most accurate and current source for all information regarding to technology and startup companies. Here is the text from the story.

Friday, November 16, 2007
iRent2u Takes On Online Rentals

Los Angeles-based iRent2u, a small startup created by winners of the 2007 Pepperdine Business Plan Competition, said this morning that it has launched an online marketplace for anyone to lend anything they own. The new service allows people to list anything they own for rental, handles inventory management, contracts, and reservations. Among the small number of listings currently on the firm’s web site are golf clubs, electronics, and private jet charters.

posted on Friday, November 16, 2007

Thanks for the coverage SoCalTech - but I wouldn’t consider access to over 1 million items, with 22 major car rental companies, to be that limited! There is more to come though, and soon.

Plus we have all sorts of people making postings onto the site. We will be featuring some in the days to come. So stay tuned!

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Popularity: 19% [?]

Here is the text from the press release we posted this morning.

You can view it on the wire here.

iRent2u Launches Online Rental Marketplace in the $85 billion Rental Industry

Launching with over 1 million items in over 10 categories, iRent2u is the preeminent destination for all online rentals

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–iRent2u, LLC, the online rental marketplace, today launches www.iRent2u.com where you can rent anything from anyone. iRent2u is where everyone can get more from what they already have. Users can either lend their assets to make money, or borrow from others to save money. The company provides 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping and a built in reservations system. iRent2u facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

According to First Research, the current rental marketplace in the U.S. is in excess of $85 billion and is trending towards consolidation with about 65,000 small companies, each with one to three small stores. Rentals are the most efficient way to fill temporary needs, yet until iRent2u renters faced many obstacles. Items have been hard to find, over priced and inconveniently located. A highly fragmented industry, many rentals are handled by small stores. Often these small rental companies don’t have the expertise or desire to manage a website. In fact most stores do not list the items they lend, show their availability, or accept reservations online. Up until now, the industry has been lagging and inefficient.

iRent2u was founded by three entrepreneurs as they studied for their MBA’s: Roy Bacharach, Tim McCormack and Nils von Bothmer, who then went on to win the 2007 Pepperdine Business Plan Competition. Von Bothmer conceived the idea when he moved to Los Angeles, California and needed a drill to assemble his new furniture. Not wanting to purchase one for single use when there had to be ten within a one mile radius, he knew there had to be a better way.

The company bridges problems like this with a simple, innovative solution, the website www.iRent2u.com, where everyone can get more from what they already have. With 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping, and a built in reservations system. iRent2u makes renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste. iRent2u is eco-friendly, helps prevent over consumption and facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

“Ours is a simple solution that resolves serious problems. iRent2u is where everyone can get more from what they already have,” said von Bothmer, the company’s chief operations officer. “Users can either lend their assets to make money or borrow from others to save money. We make renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste and making the world more efficient.”

Product Benefits, Features and Pricing

iRent2u provides easy 24/7 access for customers to go to the site, browse or search for what they want and view user’s rental listings. Users can stay in control of the entire process — publish prices, or keep them secret; allow discounts for frequent customers or charge everyone the same rate; deliver to them, or have them pick it up.

Users can make reservations, read and approve rental contracts, leave their deposits, and even refer friends from within iRent2u. With a rapidly growing customer list of lenders, iRent2u is a no risk, online listing of rental items including the following features:

• • Inventory management and scheduling – provides an easy system to control assets online which is accessible virtually anywhere.
  • Customer comments and ratings – offers advice from other customers.
  • Reservations – provide an easy way to reserve an item for a future date.
  • Online contract system – allows users to reduce work and save time by managing contracts online.
  • Built in directions and mapping – helps people find each other quickly and easily.
  • Free to try, and no upfront listing fees – users are free to create an account and list items for rent. Once a customer completes a transaction, iRent2u keeps a small percentage of each customer’s transaction fee.

The iRent2u service is absolutely free to create an account and list items for rent. Once a customer completes a transaction, iRent2u keeps only 10 percent (10%) of each customer’s transaction fee plus a $1.00 service fee. Lenders can even reduce their transaction fees to five percent (5%) by referring their friends to the site. Transaction fees drop one percentage point (up to five) for every referral that creates an iRent2u account.

Benefit to Rental Companies

As an online aggregator for rentals, iRent2u provides rental outlets with a way to succeed in a fast changing market, giving small businesses the same tools as larger companies. By gaining more exposure on iRent2u, these companies can increase both rentals and revenues with no additional risk. Rental companies simply pay a small transaction fee once a sale is complete.

iRent2u envisions existing rental companies as resellers, partners or advertisers. Early inventory for the company has been provided by a broad range of companies including BookRenter (textbook rentals for students), Ridester (ride sharing), Amadeus (20+ major car rental companies), and Stratos Jets (private jet charter service).

About iRent2u LLC (www.iRent2u.com)

The online rental marketplace where you can rent anything from anyone. iRent2u offers 24/7 online access to goods, clear inventory lists, easy comparison shopping and a built in reservation system, making renting accessible. People can choose to spend less money and buy fewer products, thus reducing environmental waste and making the world more efficient. iRent2u facilitates the entire process by building a community of people who enjoy helping each other.

Contacts

iRent2u, LLC
805-617-4654
info@iRent2u.com
or
Media Contact:
pr@iRent2u.com

Popularity: 41% [?]

iRent2u is Now Live!!!

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for us upon us. iRent2u is live and ready to tear up the rental industry!

Ok, thats a bit of an exaggeration, but its understandable that we are excited. And from now on you can share in that excitement as you help us build the worlds largest “People Helping People” lending network.

Now instead of screen shots, you can actually go to the site! Create an account, list some items you use infrequently, and get busy borrowing and saving money. Or, if you just like screen shots I put some new ones up here http://blog.irent2u.com/how

Need something you won’t use very often? Rent it and Forget it! Get what you need, get it done, and get on with your life.

For our launch we have a lot of great stuff on the site, with much more to come soon. Turns out its a tough job listing over 1 million items, so we haven’t gotten it all on yet, but that means that you get to see new stuff pop in for the next few weeks.

Have you been waiting anxiously for this day so that you can rent out something you own? Well dive in! List whatever you want. I am sure there is somebody out there who needs what you have as much as you are sick of storing it.

For those who have been enjoying reading the responses from the industry experts, don’t you worry. We got a bunch more where that came from, and you will be seeing more pop up most every day over the next couple of weeks. All sorts of interesting people have weighed in with their thoughts, and it has been great to hear.

Well thats good for now. We will be posting all sorts of fun stuff for you throughout the day, but for now go check out the site. I mean Jeez - what are you still doing here?

Go to www.iRent2u.com Now!

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Industry Experts to Review Site Pre-Launch

In the march to our upcoming launch, we have had a number of people sign up for early access to the site.

Here is a sample of the Industry experts who will be given access to the site Thursday:
(listed in order of sign-up)

Michael Fox-Rabinovitz: Member of Advisory Board at Grunwald Capital Management; Vice President, Portfolio Management & Investment Analysis at Citigroup Private Bank; President at Risk Analytics

Roger Hamilton: Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Contact Science

Dan Garvin: Account Manager at Garvin Media Group LLC; Member, 2007 Board Of Governors at American Biofuels Council; RNIA Advisor at Relationship Networking Industry Association; Co-Founder and VP Sales at Seamless LLC; Advisor - Process Efficiency/Effectiveness at Society of Industry Leaders; Co-Founder at Upstate Entrepreneurs Forum; Lead Moderator at LinkedIn Consultants Yahoo Group; Consultant at Stellar Group Recruiting LLC

Kevin Crosthwaite: Founder & Principal at The Crosthwaite Group, Inc.

Bill Stankiewicz: Vice President and General Manager at Shippers Warehouse Distribution Services; Managing Director-Principal & Owner at Atlanta Supply Chain Inc

Paul Bellon: Internet Business Development Resultant at Kingfisher2

Nina Camp: Independent Distributor at Send Out Cards (Sole Proprietorship); Business Development at Beacon Technology Enterprise Corp.

Marvin Corea: Real Estate Professional at Fairfax Realty; Director of Investment Research at MDCREI; Founder at Intellipedia.NET; Idea Dude at Vocess.com; Member at Active Angel Investors; Investor at TerraCycle; Partner at Corea Ventures; Founder at sharedIntel.com; Founder/Chief Idea Dude at The Succeed Network!; Managing Partner at Corea Restaurants; Principal at Corea Properties, LLC; President/CEO at Esenai Corporation

Joel Block: Owner at Growth-Logic, Inc; Author & Speaker

Abir Bhattacharyya: Co-Founder at Rentalanalytics.com; Co-Founder/Investor at Fasterflats; CEO at A++ Talent Inc.; Recruiting Consultant at A+Talent (A-Talent.com)

Rod Nazari: Regional Recruiter at BT (British Telecom) INS

Giorgio Occhioni: Co-Owner at Vacance à Abidjan (Holidays in Ivory Coast) [temporary name]; Team Leader at Engitech Ltd

Kevin Shepela: VP, Business Development at Ripple (RippleTV.com)

Stefanie van der Poel: Partner Macallan Search Partners

Josh Stomel: Business Development at Low.com; Sr. Business Development /Strategic Recruiter at Oversee.net; Founder at Neohire.com; Commercial Real Estate Investor/Manager at Felfam LTD

Marty Secada: Managing Director at Broad and Wall Advisors

Michael Sheridan: President at Global Debt Exchange; Director of Finance at Management Partners Leadership Committee

Warren Sukernek: Senior Strategist at VML

A big Thank You to everyone who is participating. The names are still rolling in, and even this list is incomplete. We will add a few more names before Thursday for sure.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

We are looking for about ten volunteers in the Inland Empire to try our site, by renting out things you own.

We are looking for volunteers who will let us go with them through their home and choose things to lend out. Anyone willing to videotape the process could be featured on our website. This should be great fun, while also giving you a new way to make money & help people.

To volunteer you need:
1) A computer & Internet connection.
2) Own things you don’t need everyday, that you would be willing to lend to other people for money.
3) You must be at least 18 years of age & have a credit card to use the site.

Please contact us at (805) 617-4654 to volunteer. Ask for Tim.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Inviting 25 Industry Experts to our latest Web 2.0 Start Up: iRent2u.com.

Do You Qualify?
We’re Inviting 25 Industry Experts to a sneak peak of our site.

iRent2u.com is in Live Private Beta set to launch publicly November 15th. We will allow a select group of people early access on Nov 8th. This is your chance to be the first to view this exciting new site.

What is iRent2u.com?
It’s the solution to a problem we all have. A way to get more from less. Its an EBay for Rentals, an Online Rental Marketplace. A two sided market that allows people to lend and borrow private assets from each other. Launching with over 1 million items online, it is sure to make a dramatic impact on the over $100 Billion US rental market.

We are Seeking:
Industry experts in Web 2.0; Online Sales and Marketing, Legal Affairs, Business Development, Venture Firms, Avid Online Users, and of course Bloggers & Podcasters.

Would you like to participate? All recommendations and feedback welcome.

Email: feedback@irent2u.com (subject: industry expert) or reply to this question.

Thank You

Popularity: 24% [?]

iRent2u Prepares for Nov. 15th launch…

November 15th is coming up fast, and we are very excited about it. This is the day that we open up iRent2u.com for the whole world to see. Of course we want to show off our baby a little bit, because we think it looks pretty nice (here’s a screenshot), but we are much more excited for its potential to help people.

With this site we have big plans. Specifically we are going to give people a way to change their worlds. Many people would like the chance to change the world, but it is hard to know where to begin. Well we say, start in your garage. Start by taking all those valuable items that you purchased but are now just waisting away in storage and put them online. Take that power drill, that bike you never use, your super 100 foot hose you bought last year, and your extra set of golf clubs. Take those items, and about ten minutes of your time, and put them online for the whole world to use.

By allowing other people to use your valuable but rarely used possessions, you not only make a little money for yourself, you also help your friends and neighbors save a lot of money. Then someday in the future when you need something, you can also borrow it from one of your neighbors saving time and money. The website makes it easy to find what you need, and helps everyone get more from what they already have, be that money or possessions.

Change Your World

A lot of people talk about changing the world. Usually it is a big idea that has the potential to make everyones lives better. We hope to create a system to do this, but in reality it is not a big change, it is a series of many small changes. Last night I saw ‘Evan Almighty’. In the movie, a politician campaigns that if he is put into office he is going to change the world, but when he wins and gets into office he doesn’t know where to begin. At this point God speaks to him and tells him that the way to change the world is by one random act of kindness at a time.

This is what you will be able to do through iRent2u.com. Each time you create a listing for your items on the site you are doing a small act of kindness, creating a way your neighbors can benefit from what you own. Then every time someone borrows something they save money, and you know you helped someone. Add to this the safeguards that ensure your item is returned in the same condition you lent it, and the bonus that you get paid for lending your items, and you have the perfect system. Everyone is helping each other, and they all are better off for it.

People Helping People

We call this our ‘People Helping People’ lending network. And it is our little way to change the world. And once many people start to use it, together we can take all these little changes and create a real movement, and truly make the world a better place to live.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. In some regards the launching of this site is the end of one thousand mile journey, as we have been working on this a long time. On November 15th we start another journey though, and this one will be a lot more fun because we get to take all of you along with us. We can’t wait to hear your stories of how you used the site, or your ideas for how together we can make it better.

Just the Beginning

The site, as it will launch in a couple weeks, is only the beginning. It will shape and grow over time into whatever you want it to be. We know that people are inherently good. They enjoy being able to help their neighbors, reduce pollution, and save money. They enjoy finding ways to meet new friends, and share their experiences. We know that if we give people the right tools, and then give them the power to improve them, we will all be better off for it.

We already know that ‘Together We Have More’. On November 15th, we finally get the chance to put it into action.

Popularity: 73% [?]

California Wildfires

iRent2u.com would like to take this moment to tell everyone in California our hearts are with you through these terrible wildfires.

This appears to be some of the worst fires our state has seen in a long time, too long to remember. The amazing thing about these horrible situations is the ability for people to band together and help each other. While it is hard to see now, as everyone is too busy evacuating and worrying about their homes, all across the state heroes are emerging to help their fellow man.

The true heroes of your community are the people that go out of their way to lend a hand in your time of need. We may be millions of people living separate lives, but during hardships we come together in an instant bond of friendship, united in a single goal - helping each other.

It is a bit of this power, this spirit of giving and help, that we hope to capture with our new business set to launch next month. By creating a powerful People Helping People lending network, we give a way for people to help each other everyday, to get items they need and save money for what is more important.

Of course it is hard to think about our website when fires are looming down on your property. For those in the path of those horrible blazes we wish for the best, and know that your wonderful community of friends and neighbors will be there to get you through.

A special thanks as well is due to our heroic firefighters, who time and time again go to the most dangerous places, battling on the front lines to keep us safe. To all of you we are truly grateful.

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Popularity: 27% [?]

New Screenshots!

A lot is happening at iRent2u.com right now, and to all of you who aren’t presently alpha testers we would like to give you a little peak behind the curtain.

We will migrate these shots over to the “How” page, but we wanted to get them out as quick as possible. We have made a lot of changes, and in all things are working to make the site as easy to use as possible.

Here is a shot of the home page. Not too much new here, but it’s always nice to start the day at home.

Home Page

Next we have a sneak peak at Search Results page. Again, the changes may not be immediately obvious, but they are important. We have adjusted the results by user feedback, added more icons for ease-of-use, and improved the way search results and categorized.

Search Results Page

Next we have a peak at our message center. Of course our users want the opportunity to chat to each other about the different transactions they are executing.

Message Center

Another sneak peak is of our Lending Wizard. Many of our users said that they want the process of listing an item to be as easy as possible. We listened, and created a great listing wizard to walk users through the process of putting their items online.

Lending Wizard

Our final new screen shot for the day is of the view you have of your own item once it is listed on the site. From here you can easily see the details of the item, when it is available, and either make it available or take it offline.

Item Management Screen

Hope you like the new screen shots. If you are interested in being one of our alpha testers, let me know. We are pretty stingy about who we give these invites out to, but if you make a good case I might be able to sneak it by the team. =^)

Popularity: 9% [?]