Live data from Hacker News

G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

nytimes.com

171–180 of 402 posts

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#171
post #18
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big difference for me is that Lyft allows you to tip in the app that's very telling.

Yes, especially since I've heard horror stories about Uber drivers one-starring customers for not carrying cash.

I suppose I wonder why I would ever want to pay for a service where I will be rated for my qualities as a consumer of that same service.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#173
post #23

The "short-term car rental hubs... where people who do not own cars can pick up a vehicle and drive for Lyft to earn money" is a nice idea in the short-term. I still think Uber has the right idea long-term with a completely autonomous fleet, but once those hit the market, there will still be a pretty large demand for NON-autonomous vehicles -- take my parents, for instance, who refuse to get into a car not driven by…

Of course there is a spectrum of trust when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

I refuse to ride in a car driven by many humans, including quite a few close friends who are terrible drivers. I would be very likely to ride in an early autonomous vehicle, and rely on my adaptive cruise control heavily already.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#174
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point! Very good point - I still think investing in innovation is the only thing that makes sense for GM, the reason the auto bailout worked out is because Ford*, for example, did and is crushing it. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/business/us-signals-end-of... Edit: Ford did not take bailout money so that logically does not hold like I thought it did. Point about innovating still holds fine.

I was under the impression that Ford was the only one that didn't take a bailout.

You are correct.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#175
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Edison who also invented the lightbulb, phonograph, motion pictures, carbon microphone, fuel cell, stock ticker, and alkaline battery.

Well, or scientists working for his firm.

I've read a fair bit about Edison, often Edison came up with the initial idea, and the scientists working for him made his ideas something that could leave the laboratory.

But, the ones that I attributed, at least half of them, I know to have had extensive work by Edison himself.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#176

It is predicted that autonomous cars will reduce America's fleet of vehicles by something like 10-fold [1]. I think it will unfold something like this: FIRST, instead three cars for mom, dad and kid, the average family has one car that drops mom off to work, then dad, and then the teen off to school. SECOND, aforementioned car makes use of its down time to drive strangers around via Uber, Lyft, et cetera. The car's o…

Aren't Uber and Lyft middle-men? Why wouldn't car companies themselves offer a subscription service for access to their cars? You don't pay more to own a BMW, but you do pay more for a BMW subscription over a Honda one. Uber would probably be a cheaper subscription service for 'used' autonomous cars.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#177
post #63
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wondering, do you think the fact that you "poked a bit towards the "unethical" side of things" played any part in you not getting the position?

I wish it was the case (wouldn't that be convenient for my reputation) but it was a more standard culture fit problem, they didn't think we'd work well together. Specifically, the job involved a lot of cross-office coordination and I'm more of a "get the job done", technically focused kind of manager than the more political nature of the managerial role in question (political in the sense that you need to help multip…

Thanks for the insights. Sounds like a fair procedure.

Curious to hear more about what you found cool about their communication methods. I've been thinking about this a lot as I'm surprised how inefficient a lot of Big Corp communication methods can be, especially those with a field/regional organization. Inclined to agree that knowledge radiates outwards, but tinkering with ideas about how to best receive feedback inwards and what are the most effective methods of radiating that knowledge. Easier said than done.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#178
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not being pressured to carry cash is a suboptimal experience? I refuse to carry cash. If I were to take Uber, I'd have drivers one-starring me and giving me a bad reputation for not tipping them. With Lyft, I can tip in the app and avoid all that mess.

Do you have evidence of this? I didn't think it was possible to find out what drivers rated you and it seems odd that they'd expect a cash tip when the point of the system is that it's cashless.

Here's one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uber-driver-complaints-e...

> So we compiled a list of seven things you might be doing to annoy your Uber driver and destroy your rating. Avoid these behaviors to ensure a smooth ride for both you and your driver.

> 2. You don't tip.

From one of the biggest Uber driver blogs: http://therideshareguy.com/should-uber-passengers-tip-their-...

> I often see drivers referring to passengers that don’t tip as ‘cheap bastards’ or ‘pieces of shit’

> As a driver, if tips really are important to you, then you need to educate your passengers about how Uber used to pay a better wage and drivers were ok with not accepting tips and now that rates are lower, more and more drivers depend on tips to make a live-able wage.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#179
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edison being the guy who ripped off Tesla?

Yes, Edison who also invented the lightbulb, phonograph, motion pictures, carbon microphone, fuel cell, stock ticker, and alkaline battery.

I'm far from an expert on all of the details, but I find it amusing how similar Edison was to Steve Jobs: both non-engineers that seemed to have enough technical intuition to facilitate an amazing amount of development within their organizations, all while taking (perhaps) more credit than they deserved and running their businesses in occasionally ruthless ways.

Yet, somehow it's popular to want to emulate Steve Jobs and rant about how mean Edison was to Tesla.

Re: G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government didn't give money, they invested because the market wasn't in a position to do so when the industry needed it. The narrative that the company is only going to do good short-term because the government gave them a lot of money doesn't make sense when the government has since sold it's position in that company for a profit , meaning the market now viewed that company as a more favorable investment then t…

> they invested because the market wasn't in a position to do so when the industry needed it How is this different than "The industry planned poorly and deserves to have its assets liquidated?"

As I understood it, the durable goods industries are the part of an economy that gets hit the most in a recession: Whether B2B or B2C, in the case of an uncertain economic outlook many customers will postpone investments in durable goods (e.g. cars, machining, housing upgrades like better heating/isolation systems etc.) more than they'll do with other products.

So: Many companies were similarly over-leveraged, but those in the durable goods industries were folding over it.

See IIRC Finland as an example: No banking or housing problems in 2007/8, but still in a recession because of the big role durable goods exports play in their economy.

Post reply on HN