When Kavous Gitibin looks back on what drove the founding of Go Rentals, he remembers the frustration he and his family experienced at a typical car rental agency.
He remembers waiting in long lines, dealing with missing reservations, getting dirty cars and most of all, not receiving good customer service.
For him and his brother, Kaye, it revealed a market gap and planted a seed.
“We were shocked at how there was no service involved,” Kavous Gitibin told the Business Journal. “It felt like a commodity business. You stand in line, you take whatever car is there and you leave.”
That experience became the foundation of Go Rentals, a Newport Beach-based luxury car rental company the brothers launched in 1995 with “seven vans and a vision.”
“The vision was to be a ‘Yes’ company,” he said. “If someone asks for their car to be delivered to their home, we say yes. If they want to be dropped off somewhere, we say yes. We want to help with every detail and guarantee the exact make and model.”
Nearly 30 years later, that vision helped the Gitibins win a Business Journal Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award during a March 26 ceremony held at the Irvine Marriott.
Kavous accepted the award on behalf of the company, whose core business is serving high-net-worth individuals and Fortune 500 companies using private aviation. Go Rentals provides an assortment of vehicles—from Toyota Camry to Range Rovers and BMWs.
“For us, it was about delivering an experience, not just a transaction,” he said. “If someone wants a specific car, they should get that exact car. If they want it delivered to their home, the answer should be yes.”
Company Culture
The brothers moved to the U.S. from Iran as teenagers in 1982 and built the business together, doing everything themselves. They washed cars, handled customer service and managed operations.
Gitibin says that working together from the start still shapes the company’s culture today.
“My brother and I are best friends,” he said. “We treat our team like family, our vendors like family and our guests the same way. That culture goes in every direction.”
Since then, Go Rentals has become a national brand that focuses on high-end service. They are the only car rental company in the world recognized by Forbes. The company now has 300 locations in 40 states.
But the company’s journey was not easy.
After the 9/11 attacks, travel stopped almost completely, and the business nearly collapsed. Airports closed. Tourism dropped.
“We thought we were not going to make it,” said Gitibin. “We were at the brink of shutting down the company. We had no customers. We didn’t have enough cash. It was a very dark time.”
The brothers had to borrow money from friends and family to keep the business going.
Gitibin said they made it through and, more importantly, learned how to handle tough times. These lessons helped them get through later challenges, such as the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After that, we were ready,” he said. “We knew what to do and what not to do. Every time, we came back stronger.”
Service First Mindset
As the company scaled, maintaining its service-first philosophy became a central challenge. Gitibin said that Go Rentals provides intensive training rooted in hospitality rather than traditional car rental practices.
New employees go through several days of training that covers everything from greeting clients and smiling to anticipating clients’ needs.
Kaye continues to lead many of those sessions.
“We hire people who are passionate about service,” said Kavous. “Then we train them on what five-star hospitality really means.”
That approach has helped the company expand while preserving its identity, he added.
Even after bringing in private equity investment and starting a new phase of growth, Gitibin said their mindset has not changed.
“We still feel like a startup,” he said. “There’s a ton of opportunity ahead of us. We wake up every day excited to grow.”
