Jonathon Barkl: Building AirGarage from 'Airbnb for Driveways' to Parking Powerhouse
Sep 23, 2024
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Jonathon Barkl, the CEO and co-founder of AirGarage, shares his transformative journey in the parking industry, starting from college frustrations to revolutionizing parking with tech innovations. He discusses the shift from 'Airbnb for driveways' to partnering with real estate owners, unlocking underutilized spaces. The conversation covers dynamic pricing, the importance of understanding parking occupancy, and how a technology-first approach can enhance user experience. Jonathon’s insights challenge outdated systems and highlight the future of seamless parking.
AirGarage evolved from a simple idea of renting driveways to a comprehensive tech-focused solution addressing inefficiencies in the parking industry.
The company's revenue-sharing model aligns the incentives of property owners and operators, encouraging collaborative success and efficient management practices.
AirGarage aims to transform urban parking by leveraging data analytics to optimize space use, ultimately leading to smarter city designs and better driver experiences.
Deep dives
The Origins of Air Garage
Air Garage originated as a response to common parking frustrations faced by college students, particularly at Arizona State University, where high parking pass costs and inconvenient locations were significant issues. The founders began brainstorming solutions in late 2016, realizing that renting driveways from local homeowners offered a practical alternative. This approach not only addressed their parking needs but also sparked wider interest among fellow students, leading to the idea of creating a marketplace for parking. This initial concept underlined a broader entrepreneurial spirit fostered by the founders' backgrounds in families of small business owners.
Evolution from Driveways to Parking Management
The transition from renting driveways to managing parking lots began when Air Garage collaborated with a local church that needed a better system for managing parking revenues. The founders took a significant risk by stepping into transient parking management, which was a new territory for them, but it quickly proved successful. They faced challenges, such as overcoming skepticism about their credibility, but a referral from the church established their reputation in the community. This opportunity not only expanded their business model but also emphasized the importance of clever marketing and partnerships in growth.
Leveraging Technology for Parking Optimization
Air Garage aims to revolutionize parking by applying technology to streamline operations and enhance the user experience. Traditional parking operations often involve outdated methods and cumbersome systems, but Air Garage provides a modern solution that includes customizable software and real-time data analytics. By automating processes such as payment collection and occupancy tracking, they offer property owners insights that were previously unattainable. This forward-thinking approach positions them as both an operational partner and a technological innovator in the parking space.
Revenue Sharing for Aligned Incentives
A key aspect of Air Garage’s business model is the revenue-sharing structure that aligns the interests of parking operators with those of property owners. Unlike traditional operators who charge fixed management fees, Air Garage only earns a percentage of the gross revenue generated from parking, incentivizing them to maximize income while minimizing expenses. This model fosters a collaborative approach, where both parties benefit financially from improved management practices. Owners are reassured by knowing their operator's profits depend on high performance and effective management strategies.
Future Vision: Building Better Cities
Looking ahead, Air Garage envisions transforming urban landscapes by effectively managing existing parking real estate and optimizing its use. By collecting data and insights on occupancy patterns, they aim to enable property owners to reevaluate how their spaces can serve the community better, potentially repurposing lots for non-parking uses. This forward-looking strategy seeks to enhance the efficiency of urban environments and improve the overall experience for drivers. Ultimately, Air Garage aspires to lead a paradigm shift in how cities operate, leveraging their solutions to create smarter, more accessible urban spaces.
Season 1, Episode 10: On this episode of No Cap by CRE Daily, we sit down with Jonathon Barkl, CEO and co-founder of AirGarage, to dive deep into his journey from college student to revolutionizing the parking industry. Jonathon shares the origin story of AirGarage, starting as an "Airbnb for driveways" and evolving through a series of pivots into a full-stack, tech-first parking operator.
We explore AirGarage's progression from working with a local church parking lot in 2018 to partnering with real estate owners across urban areas, unlocking underutilized real estate in churches, hotels, and businesses. Jonathon explains how AirGarage is rethinking the parking experience from the ground up, challenging the status quo of a fragmented industry plagued by misaligned incentives and outdated technology.
TOPICS
00:00 - Intro
01:26 - Solving for Parking on Campus
05:10 - Learning How to Sell is the Most Important Skill
09:49 - Growing Up with Entrepreneurs
12:17 - Renting Out Parking Lots
16:56 - Downloading an App to Park?
19:53 - Making Parking Seamless
22:34 - First-Principles Approach to Parking
26:06 - Developing Full-Stack Technology for Parking
29:26 - Why Understanding Your Parking Occupancy is Important
34:34 - Challenges to Adoption for AirGarage
41:15 - Technology Approach to Parking Lot Property Management
44:55 - How Not to Get Lost in a Parking Lot
46:28 - AirGarage’s Process of Scaling
54:42 - The Future of Parking
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily
About No Cap Podcast
Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate.
About CRE Daily
CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.
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