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Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

nytimes.com

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Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#341

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

froo wrote: post #302
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By having an open system, since there is no longer a corporate middleman entity which takes a cut off a profit, and since anyone can compete, therefore prices will get pushed down. But just like any other perfectly-competitive system ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_competition ), the price in equilibrium will approach the marginal cost when marginal cost equals marginal revenue, not get pushed down indefinite…

In an open system, how do you ensure basic safety needs are met - eg, do drivers have licenses? I sure as hell am not getting into a car with an unlicensed driver

a reputation system.

Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#343

Post by tomcam »

tomcam wrote: post #42
rexreed wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way is the ride-share market any sort of monopoly when there's little barrier to entry. In fact, I see new entrants in this market all the time. Hardly any chance to be a real monopoly unless they can somehow carve their way to exclusivity in a market, which is never going to happen.

Their long-term play is driverless cards--buy or lease fleet cars, then charge people a subscription to commute or use the cars a certain amount per month. The current business is building brand awareness and inertia.

Ahem. "cards" = "cars", "inertia" = "momentum"

Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#344

Post by supster »

eru wrote: post #222
stefanstokic wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2015/03/25/how-ventur... "the Uber CEO got upset with Sacca for trying to repeat his Twitter move of buying up secondary shares in Uber from other initial investors."

I wonder why management would want to keep anyone from bidding up the share price?

It starts to create a secondary market for the shares, which means over time a price gets set. So the next time they try to raise money, this price becomes an anchor point rather than whatever arbitrary price Uber tries to set based on perceived supply & demand.

Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#345

Post by iofj »

madebylaw wrote: post #193
tlrobinson wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only strategy I can see A more cynical version: they're trying to pump up their valuation, IPO, and dump their stock before anyone notices.

This investment didn't change their valuation.

Maybe it's the old "have some shares, then pay yourself $1M/year" racket then ?

Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#346

Post by eru »

supster wrote: post #344
eru wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why management would want to keep anyone from bidding up the share price?

It starts to create a secondary market for the shares, which means over time a price gets set. So the next time they try to raise money, this price becomes an anchor point rather than whatever arbitrary price Uber tries to set based on perceived supply & demand.

Yeah, probably. Even though at first the secondary market props up the price, it is indeed a price.

Re: Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5B Cash Infusion

#347

Post by Myrmornis »

nilkn wrote: post #322
Myrmornis wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No normal ( :) ) person cares about getting a fantastic experience when taking a taxi. They just want to get from A to B reliably and safely and without messing about with tipping.

Geez, yes, they absolutely do care. That's the entire reason why Uber took off to begin with. Taxis suck and entirely normal people hated them because of that. "Normal" people are going to get upset when they need to be at the airport and their taxi that they called 30 minutes ago is still not there, so they call again and are informed that there are no taxis available in the area, then call again and suddenly one is…

We're mis-communicating, sorry. I agree with you. I really like Uber, hate old taxis for the reasons you say, and don't like Lyft because they force me to think about tipping and I think tipping is a nasty way to give everyone people a little moment of power where they can judge someone else's monetary worth.

By fantastic experience I meant bottled water and stuff. It seems that we agree that the main things are: reliable, easy to book, no messing about with money or tips.

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