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Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

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Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#51
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually build a better service, give each user subsidized (or free) rides so they get to experience how much better the new service is, then stop handing out free rides like candy.

You just said the same thing, but framed as a positive. Use VC money to put taxis out of business then jack up the price and let the service level plummet as cheap immigrants become the drivers.

Out of thousands of rides, 90% of the time I get an immigrant cab driver. I find they're perfectly capable.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#52
post #35
post #2

I dont think Uber is going anywhere soon. It has such a strong brand. Everyone I know trusts uber a lot more than there local cab companies.

Yeah, I just tested myself: can I name any of the prominent taxi companies in Sydney (where I live)? Maybe; is Silver Service the name of one, or is it a type of taxi? I'm not sure, but it's the only one that comes to mind.

The real question is: do you care?

I personally don't care which taxi company carries me on my journey.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#53
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually build a better service, give each user subsidized (or free) rides so they get to experience how much better the new service is, then stop handing out free rides like candy.

You just said the same thing, but framed as a positive. Use VC money to put taxis out of business then jack up the price and let the service level plummet as cheap immigrants become the drivers.

What I mean is that they typically give each user their first few rides for free. It's much closer to being a free trial than it is to being a sudden price hike.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#54

Basic rundown of Rev / Loss from reports: Q1.12: 1.4M / 3.4M Q2.12: 2.1M /2.3M Q3.12: 4.3M / 5.4M Q4.12: 8.2M / 7.0M Q1.13: 12.9M / 7.3M Q2.13: 19.3M / 8.1M 2013 (total): 104M / 56M Q1.14: 45.6M / 52.2M Q2.13: 56.9M / 108.8M Rev grew faster than losses consistently all through 2012 and 2013 which is really amazing (2013 is when Uber jumped from a 330M valuation to a 3.5B valuation so investors noticed too)...then los…

So what happens when they've aggressively expanded into all their target markets and are still not profitable and have nowhere else to go? Pure expansion is pretty much the sign of a first-mover bubble company who will collapse with their advantage being copied by calmer second-movers...

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#55
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory if they can lower the costs substantially through innovation over the current taxi model they can grow the market out of private car usage. This would mean all parties (except car manufacturers) will benefit.

Car manufacturers will benefit. What matters is passenger miles driven, not total number of unique car sales. If you open up a new pocket of driving demand because it's easier to get a lift, then the total passenger miles driven goes up. Even more so if it is a pickup/dropoff model with 'empty miles'. More miles driven->Cars worn out faster->more sales. More sales of likely generic cars less obsessed with expensive a…

Car companies would not be happy if fewer people decide to not own a car and just decide to ride share everywhere. More miles in this case mean few cars sold.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory if they can lower the costs substantially through innovation over the current taxi model they can grow the market out of private car usage. This would mean all parties (except car manufacturers) will benefit.

In transportation business major costs are vehicle depreciation/maintenance/consumables (fuel, insurance, tires, etc), wages and you can include domain specific expenses (insurance, driver health chek-ups). * You can't reduce DS expenses. You can offload them to drivers, but that will still be reflected in prices * You can reduce wage cost by eliminating administrative load by having tools (apps, backends) do the job…

The valuation for Uber has got to be based on #2. Specifically that you can drive down wage costs by having a fleet of self driving cars. And that the current app/business model is just to get the app installed onto as many phones as possible.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#58
post #52
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I just tested myself: can I name any of the prominent taxi companies in Sydney (where I live)? Maybe; is Silver Service the name of one, or is it a type of taxi? I'm not sure, but it's the only one that comes to mind.

The real question is: do you care? I personally don't care which taxi company carries me on my journey.

That's probably the reason why I don't know the brands. I don't care; they're all about the same.

I think icpmacdo's comment stands, though. Uber have built an amazingly strong brand that people do care about. To the point where I am willing to wait a few minutes for an UberX to reach me rather than hailing one of the taxis passing by.

Even though UberX is a bit inconsistent in quality, it is at least consistently better than taxis.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#59
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is active pretty much everywhere. They're truly aiming to corner the entire global transport market. They're putting in $1B in India alone. When the dust is settled, you're going to get a company that controls the private transport industry in an area that stretches from San Francisco to Kolkata For an industry that was once dominated by small local players, this is truly mind blowing. I don't think there is a s…

They're spending an awful lot for control of a market that is expected to disappear within a few years when self driving cars mature. Of course, they are aware of it and are investing in being a leader in that market - but they're fighting with global giants over there, not the local Taxi outfits.

'Expected to disappear' within a few years?

Go on, name me a year when there will be significant numbers of driverless cars on the road.

Re: Leaked Uber financials from 2012 to 2014

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is active pretty much everywhere. They're truly aiming to corner the entire global transport market. They're putting in $1B in India alone. When the dust is settled, you're going to get a company that controls the private transport industry in an area that stretches from San Francisco to Kolkata For an industry that was once dominated by small local players, this is truly mind blowing. I don't think there is a s…

>> controls the private transport industry But is their money buying control of anything? They are not buying control over a resource, like "all the tin mines in China" or something. Is it just spend on market creation that a fast follower can piggy back on for free?

no, because of supply on both sides of the exchange.
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