On entrepreneurship and the sharing economy with JustPark founder Anthony Eskinazi and CEO Alex Stephany (Interview)

Alex Stephany (left) and Anthony Eskinazi (right)

We invite you to read the first material in a series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in Europe and not only, series meant to reveal as many things as possible about the strategies, tactics and management ideas drawn from founding stories about companies which managed to build a path, through innovation and dedication.  

JustPark is a platform that Bucharest definitely needs, starting yesterday even. Each owner of a parking spot can register on the website and offer it for rent to whomever might need it, from people who are in town for a vacation and need a parking spot, people who want to leave town and want their car in a safe place, people who have a business meeting in the area and don’t have time to park too far away, people with temporary residence in a new city etc.

Today, the app isn’t available globally, but their plans surely aim high in this direction. We interviewed JustPark founder Anthony Eskinazi and the company’s CEO, Alex Stephany on their story, the challenges of entrepreneurship, on the sharing economy and we imagined the future of the business environment together. Enjoy your read.

I will not begin by asking why did you feel the need to build this app, because the reasons are more than obvious when it comes to London and the UK in general. We know you are now experimenting in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to your website. What I would like to know is when will you go global or at least European, because it is a service that every capital should benefit from?

Alex Stephany (CEO): Certainly, JustPark can really help large cities all over the world. By cutting out the need for drivers to circle the streets looking for parking, the service not only removes the stress and uncertainty caused by this but reduces congestion and pollution too. Here’s a couple of stats that illustrate the scale of the problem: the average driver wastes 106 days of their life in search of a parking space, and this circling causes 30% of urban congestion. Parking is a global problem – and we believe we have a global solution.

We are very aware of the opportunities for international expansion and how we would execute a launch of the service overseas – this significant development in the business is definitely something that is in our plans going forward. Watch this space is all that I can say at this point in time. The ultimate vision is that if you’re a driver – whether you’re in Manchester or Mumbai – you will use the JustPark app to find parking. We want to be in every connected car in the world and on the smartphone of every driver.

It also says you have a parking spot near the North Pole. How did that happen?

Alex Stephany (CEO): Ah yes, that is a mystery to us as well! Technically, the parking space is not right at the North Pole but in Alaska. Any property owner can list their parking space on JustPark for free, so we like to think that someone living there decided to do so – I’m not sure how many bookings they received though! The listing is no longer active, so unfortunately you cannot book parking there – but you can check it out below.

north pole parking

We read about how you got the idea but please tell us in a few sentences how was the trip between the idea and your first subscriber?

Anthony Eskinazi (Founder): It was while trying to find parking for a baseball match in San Francisco that the idea came to me. There was no space in the car park, but I kept seeing empty driveways outside people’s houses. I realised there was a big win-win opportunity for drivers and homeowners there, so when I returned to the UK I began turning this concept into a reality.

Anthony Eskinazi (Founder)

Anthony Eskinazi (Founder)

I was 23 years old and had very little previous experience. I quit my graduate job after six weeks to pursue the idea, taught myself to code and began building the website from scratch in my parents’ attic. I was utterly broke and £30,000 in debt at one point, and had to take on extra paid work to keep ParkatmyHouse (as it was known then) afloat.

However, people loved the idea – drivers were saving money on their parking and property owners were making money through renting out unused space, so the service quickly accumulated a loyal community of users and received coverage across national news. I managed to get the company to a stage where it was also able to attract investment from BMW in 2011, which was the real key breakthrough moment for us.

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •