Louis Paulucci

Louis Paulucci is the founder of YUR Drivers Network — a bold new ridesharing startup that launched in New York City in July 2025. YUR Drivers Network is on a mission to empower both drivers and passengers through a fair, transparent, and community-driven platform that fundamentally redefines how the industry operates. Louis brings a rare combination of seasoned executive leadership and hands-on field experience, having personally completed over 1,700 rides to truly understand the needs of those at the heart of the rideshare economy. In a space long dominated by corporate giants, Louis is disrupting the status quo with patented technology, an innovative revenue-sharing model, and a deep commitment to fairness and empowerment. With over 40 years of leadership across diverse sectors, he’s not just building a company — he’s building a movement. Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path? Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my story with your readers! My journey into the rideshare industry was completely unexpected. For the past four decades, I’ve been fortunate to lead successful companies across various sectors, starting a ridesharing company was never part of the plan. However, I have always been a keen observer of my surroundings. As a frequent business traveler, I logged a lot of passenger hours with different rideshare services, and I began to see the flaws and areas for improvement in the ridesharing app and rider experience. During countless conversations with my drivers, I heard the deep frustration they felt, being overworked, underpaid, and generally mistreated. I felt bad that they were being treated so unfairly. So, I began asking friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else I knew, about their experiences and attitudes as rideshare passengers — and their responses mirrored what I’d heard from the drivers. This informal research made it abundantly clear to me that the rideshare industry is stuck in a ditch, and there is a significant opportunity to improve it. There is a chance to create a service built on fairness for everyone involved: drivers and passengers alike. That vision is the driving force behind YUR Drivers Network. Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive? The rideshare industry is stacked in favor of huge public companies who I believe take advantage of drivers and passengers. For example, these companies charge passengers higher “surge” prices during peak times or when the weather is bad. Passengers are being needlessly overcharged, yet a lot of the time the drivers do not get paid that extra money. It’s unfair to the passengers, and unfair to the drivers. To put it simply, YUR Drivers Network is going to revolutionize the industry. We believe in respect and fairness, and we have implemented a number of different ways to accomplish this. For example, we have a no-surge policy. We don’t need that because we are a startup and do not have the massive overhead costs that the public companies do. As a result of this, we never overcharge passengers, and we can also pay our drivers the highest rate in the industry. YUR Drivers Network is also introducing a revolutionary and patented revenue-sharing app that pays a 5% commission when riders and drivers that you refer use the service. Every time a ride is completed by one of your referrals, you receive 5% of the fare. This creates a continuous ripple effect of rewards, allowing users to build a consistent, residual income stream. Passengers can redeem their commissions for cash or use them to pay for future fares, while drivers earn an additional 5% on top of their already industry-high rates, when they refer others. It’s literally a stream of income — a cash register constantly ringing for you — and we believe that it will be a huge disruption in the industry. We also have a patented Biometric Identifier that confirms the driver’s identity through facial recognition. Prior to every pickup, the driver’s face is scanned and verified electronically, then the passenger receives an “all clear” notification on his or her app confirming it’s safe to proceed to the vehicle. It’s like having a digital doorman, verifying the driver’s identity, so you will get into your ride with the confidence of knowing exactly who’s behind the wheel. We believe these and other features of YUR Drivers Network will set a new standard in the rideshare industry. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? Of course! Once I committed to creating YUR Drivers Network and launching it, I thought it would be a quick trip, maybe six months to a year. Yeah… no. What I thought was a straight shot turned out to be a five-year off-road adventure through every startup pothole imaginable. I made more wrong turns than I care to admit, but instead of slamming on the brakes, I saw each mistake as a pit stop: a moment to refuel, fix what wasn’t working, and start again. The biggest lesson? There’s no express lane when you’re disrupting an entire industry. But if you stay buckled in and keep your eyes on the road, even the detours get you where you’re meant to go. We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact? Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to know many successful people who were incredibly generous in sharing their wisdom and experiences. Dr. Vincent Lanteri is a great example. He is a surgeon in New Jersey who has been a close confidant for almost 20 years. Dr. Lanteri has been instrumental in teaching me how to navigate the world of investors. Five years ago, we needed seed money to start the company. Dr Lanteri knew that I had done my research and had come up with a unique idea to start a company that would disrupt the rideshare industry, so he was passionate about it from the start. He taught me everything I know about investors, and we started raising the needed funding. Like most new startups, we first approached family and friends. But then Dr. Lanteri took it to the next level and connected with his colleagues…and even a few of his patients! Watching him has been a great learning experience for me.