Zipcar Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ZIP) successful IPO yesterday has some of the company’s competitors feeling giddy about the future of their own start-ups – with good reason, too. Business research firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts the industry could grow from $253 million in 2009 to $3.3 billion by 2016, Reuters reports.

RelayRides actually takes Zipcar’s idea a step further. Instead of managing a costly fleet of vehicles on its own, the company lets neighbors rent their cars to neighbors. Anyone with a car that has power locks can rent their ride to strangers and potentially pocket more than $7,000 a year in the process for 20 hours of rental time a week.

That idea caught the eye of Google Ventures, which invested more than $5 million in RelayRides in December. RelayRides used the cash to expand from Boston into the San Francisco market, and it’s starting to look like the company might have its eye on the Big Apple next.

In an exclusive with TradingStocks.me, RelayRides’ founder and CEO Shelby Clark took five yesterday to answer questions via email about his company, what gets him out of bed in the morning and whether or not we’ll see a RelayRides IPO down the road:

Q: What’s been the toughest part about getting RelayRides off the ground?

A: The toughest part has been convincing an insurance company to underwrite our insurance policy. It required us to essentially invent a new type of insurance product, and since insurance companies by definition are risk adverse, it was very difficult to get an insurer to step forward and innovate.

Q) Do you see RelayRides as a direct competitor to Zipcar?

A: No. I genuinely believe that Zipcar is more of a complement than a competitor. If you look at the penetration of carsharing in the markets where it is most popular (i.e. SF, Boston, NYC), only about 5-10% of licensed drivers are carsharing members, but I could certainly imagine a day when 40-50% of licensed drivers are carsharing members.

People use carsharing as an alternative to car ownership, so to hit the 40-50% number I think we can achieve, carsharing must become a more attractive alternative to car ownership. The more options, availability, and convenience that is provided by the carsharing industry, the more people will adopt carsharing and the more the entire industry will grow.

Q) RelayRides is obviously less capital intensive than Zipcar’s model. Does that mean you’re closer to operating at a profit?

A: Even though our business is much less capital intensive than Zipcar, we still need to achieve a sufficient scale to reach profitability. Our unit economics are quite attractive, however, so once we do reach scale I’m confident we will have a very attractive business.

Q) What’s the likelihood we’ll see a RelayRides IPO in the near future?

A: Near future? Pretty Unlikely. Eventually? Let’s hope so :)

Q: What gets you out of bed in the morning and into the office at RelayRides?

A: It’s easy to drag yourself out of bed for something you really believe in. I feel strongly that carsharing, and particularly peer-to-peer carsharing, has a very positive effect on our society. Carsharing helps the environment by providing a convenient, affordable alternative to car ownership.

On average, studies have shown that each shared vehicle takes 14 cars off the road because people are able to use carsharing instead of buying a car. Also, when you’re paying for a car by the hour, you think twice before you drive, and studies show you’re more likely to walk, bike, or take public transit. In fact, carsharing members drive 40% less than car owners.

Overall, carsharing is great for our environment. Also, in a tough economic time, carsharing helps ease the burden on our wallets. The average carsharing member saves about $500 per month compared to car ownership since you’re only paying for the car when you use it. Also, car owners can make thousands of dollars a year by letting their neighbors use the car when it would otherwise by idle.

I feel strongly that our work is making our environment a little bit cleaner, our budgets a little looser, and our communities a little stronger. I couldn’t be more passionate about what I do. While nobody said working at a growing start-up is easy, it’s a pleasure to go to the office every day.

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