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Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

bloomberg.com

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Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#91

Post by voltagex_ »

myth_buster wrote: post #53
cm2012 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live out in a relatively remote area of Queens in NYC and never, ever took taxis before (I would have had to call an unreliable, surly car service). Now I spend $100+ a month on Uber, which is never more than 5 minutes away.

OT, the "5 minutes" I believe is an estimation and one reason why we feel that the response is fast. As a thought experiment, if they say your car is "10 minutes" away, it would perhaps be a different experience.

It's been 10 and 11 minutes just outside Canberra, Australia. There are less drivers here.

Interestingly 2 of the local cab companies now have Uber-like apps, which are quite nice to use.

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#92

Post by argonaut »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #78
dopamean wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I previously did NOT use cabs in Austin. I had 2 bad experiences and just never tried again. Over the last year since I have relied on Uber so heavily I have actually sold my car. I still have a motorcycle and I use it for most short trips weather permitting. But if the weather is bad or I need to carry something with me that wont fit on the bike I use Uber.

My argument is that you're an abnormality. Have kids? Have pets? (Can you even get a child seat for use in an Uber) Not selling your car and using Uber for all your transportation needs. Its a solution for 20 something singles. That's not a terribly huge market, and definitely not one worth billions of dollars.

Totally missing the forest for the trees. Uber has billions in revenue, so just on that alone the idea that the market is not worth billions is false.

Furthermore, they said the same things (20 something singles) about Facebook. Now my parents are on Facebook. The key is that Uber has the potential to change market behavior. Well, more than just the potential - it is changing some market behavior, as evidenced by this anecdote. The potential is that it has to potential to change the transportation spending habits of many more people.

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#93

Post by argonaut »

prbuckley wrote: post #7

Lyft "lost $127 million in the first half of 2015 on $46.7 million in revenue, according to the documents. Lyft said last month that it has gained market share in key markets, such as San Francisco, and has a gross revenue “run rate” of $1 billion." I had no idea lyft was losing 3x the their revenue. That is crazy.

You realize that Uber loses even more money per year, right?

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#94

Post by dirkdk »

blizkreeg wrote: post #19

Uber is now too big to fail. Possibly the most important company this decade. I never cease to be amazed by their phenomenal execution across the world. I was in Mexico City last week where I truly came to understand the enormous impact Uber as a company has had in these past few years. The service was highly prevalent, popular, and the experience was completely seamless — just like in the US. It barely skipped a bea…

Mexico city is one of those places where you wouldn't want to dare to get a normal cab, such a bad reputation they have

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#95

Post by rdtsc »

tedmiston wrote: post #47
rdtsc wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most people Uber...? It became a "verb" and well, here we know what that means: "xerox that paper", "google this term"... Nobody is Lyft-ing and everyone is Uber-ing. Once it's verbified, it's hard for competitors to overcome it. I, for one, have used neither. But I have friends and family who travel a lot. Some are in their 20s, 30s, and some in the 60s and they all say they Uber places vs taking a taxi. The…

Disagree that "most people Uber" is the reason Lyft is losing so much money. I'm not exactly sure when Lyft stopped focusing on international markets to double down on the U.S., but I feel like much of the losses are from "failed" international experimentation. With my experience in Ohio, I use both preferring whichever can reach me quickest (a 15-20 minute wait here is not abnormal).

Yeah I went by most people I know (some from Ohio too! btw, but they use Uber when traveling only to other cities) and extrapolated to "most" just by them being average Americans -- non techies, various ages,...

Most tech people I know have both apps installed and use both, like you do. But I don't think that's representative of the general population.

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#96

Post by [deleted] »

funkyy wrote: post #90
toomuchtodo wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, Google and Google Ventures have a Chinese firewall, and Google is competing against its own investment in Uber with its self driving cars.

Unless Google will provide Uber with its technology and cars - after all Uber is working on drive-less cars.

[deleted]

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#97

Post by [deleted] »

funkyy wrote: post #90
toomuchtodo wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, Google and Google Ventures have a Chinese firewall, and Google is competing against its own investment in Uber with its self driving cars.

Unless Google will provide Uber with its technology and cars - after all Uber is working on drive-less cars.

[deleted]

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#98

Post by toomuchtodo »

argonaut wrote: post #92
toomuchtodo wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My argument is that you're an abnormality. Have kids? Have pets? (Can you even get a child seat for use in an Uber) Not selling your car and using Uber for all your transportation needs. Its a solution for 20 something singles. That's not a terribly huge market, and definitely not one worth billions of dollars.

Totally missing the forest for the trees. Uber has billions in revenue, so just on that alone the idea that the market is not worth billions is false. Furthermore, they said the same things (20 something singles) about Facebook. Now my parents are on Facebook. The key is that Uber has the potential to change market behavior. Well, more than just the potential - it is changing some market behavior, as evidenced by thi…

Couple things:

Transportation is going to change regardless. Electric self-driving cars are going to be manufactured by several companies, perhaps operated by those same companies (or leased to others).

Why would Google provide its tech to Uber when Google already has access to the market through Google Maps? Why would Tesla provide its self-driving cars to Uber when it could build them and sell ridesharing directly (which Elon has specifically indicated he wants to do by his response to said questions during investor calls).

Uber is just an app, no more, no less. The Gorillas are the tech companies doing the real work.

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#99

Post by mikeyouse »

dsugarman wrote: post #64

>The number is typically calculated by annualizing a recent week, month, or quarter of the company's gross revenue, which means actual annual revenue may differ substantially. Maybe I am reading this the wrong way but in broader context of this article it reads as they are trying to say that the actual revenue may be much lower. They should explicitly say that for a growth company like Uber, the actual revenue # woul…

Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, etc. all typically report 'Gross Revenue' which is pretty misleading since the majority of Gross Revenue is passed through to the driver / apartment owner -- That may be what that sentence is in reference to. The interesting number is 'Net Revenue' which is how much Uber actually receives to pay their bills, etc.

Quick example, if 10 riders take an Uber and their cost is $20/each, Uber would report $200 in Gross Revenue. Since their driver split is something like 80/20, their Net Revenue would only be $40.

Re: Uber Raises Funding at $62.5B Valuation

#100

Post by douche »

Dirlewanger wrote: post #55
blizkreeg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd disagree with that. It is providing a means of income for many who are unemployed/underemployed. It's much better than nothing. It probably can be better, but most of these drivers aren't complaining.

They aren't complaining yet because 1. they effectively have no collective voice other than social media, and 2. this "gig" industry Uber has propelled into the stratosphere is just too relatively new to see any significant societal fallout. Wait until we see more and more drivers whose only job is Uber no longer able to work. What do we say to the veterans who, after being rejected everywhere else due to a dearth of…

That would be a very financially-imprudent move, in any case. Just extrapolating from my car payment, that's like a $1200 payment. Moreover, are you going to make any more money from fares than if you had bought a used SUV at $20k?
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