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Big tech is built on predatory pricing

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Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#61

Post by jondubois »

I would say that almost all VC money goes towards executing various predatory strategies.

VCs have a monopoly over user attention through their connections to industry influencers. They essentially control all the tech blogs and media channels and they use them to drive traffic to companies that they have invested in.

Bloggers are rewarded for doing writeups on VC-backed startups and they are punished for doing writeups on bootstrapped startups.

VCs also drive up online advertising prices to make it not viable for small players to compete based on CPC.

Finally, VCs have a monopoly over acquisition channels within most large corporations so they can make sure that your startup will never be acquired by a large corporation unless you accept VC funding.

For the last decade, the tech industry has been ripe with corruption and injustice. That's why we have cryptocurrencies now, it's a desperate solution to allow people to sidestep the entirety of the existing system.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#62

Post by mschuster91 »

TheDong wrote: post #56
nicolewhite wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Uber is also safer, cleaner, and more reliable.

I highly doubt that "safer" is correct; on average, buses have fewer deaths per km traveled. Uber drivers are generally decent drivers, but they're still not as well trained as bus drivers, they're more likely to be distracted by e.g. fiddling with the uber or map apps on their phone. Unless you have numbers specifically about uber's fleet being significantly safer than typical drivers, your claim goes against the re…

I believe GP equates "safer" with "no hobos, gangstas, creeps, drunkards or other people creating a nuisance for fellow travellers", and he is absolutely correct on this.

Public transport has the downside of being public, and given the rise of homelessness and the fall of noncommercial venues where e.g. youth can hang around, it's inevitable that they end up in public transport - and create a feeling of unsafeness for other users.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#63

Post by sneak »

jakob223 wrote: post #37
habosa wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: "Express POOL is a new kind of shared ride that begins and ends at convenient Express spots. Update your app today to start riding for as low as $2.” It's not Uber Pool it's some new product I hadn't heard of before he mentioned it. Shared ride with a fixed pickup point. I see the same pricing you see when I use Uber/Lyft.

ergh why are we reinventing buses as an app

Because buses don’t provide the service that people want.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#64

Post by amelius »

jondubois wrote: post #61

I would say that almost all VC money goes towards executing various predatory strategies. VCs have a monopoly over user attention through their connections to industry influencers. They essentially control all the tech blogs and media channels and they use them to drive traffic to companies that they have invested in. Bloggers are rewarded for doing writeups on VC-backed startups and they are punished for doing write…

> I would say that almost all VC money goes towards executing various predatory strategies.

It's not just VC money.

For example, YouTube has been financed by Google search, operating at a loss for many years, driving competitors out of business and raising barriers to entry.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#65

Post by jondubois »

amelius wrote: post #64
jondubois wrote: post #61

I would say that almost all VC money goes towards executing various predatory strategies. VCs have a monopoly over user attention through their connections to industry influencers. They essentially control all the tech blogs and media channels and they use them to drive traffic to companies that they have invested in. Bloggers are rewarded for doing writeups on VC-backed startups and they are punished for doing write…

> I would say that almost all VC money goes towards executing various predatory strategies. It's not just VC money. For example, YouTube has been financed by Google search, operating at a loss for many years, driving competitors out of business and raising barriers to entry.

True, what's particularly unfair about it is that the companies tend to use proceeds from an industry in which they have a monopoly to fund their price war in other industries where they don't yet have a monopoly. The strategy seems to be to monopolise each industry one after another, using the proceeds of the previously captured monopoly to capture the next one.

If this keeps going, eventually we're going to end up with one giant mega-corporation which owns everything. There will be no more government to protect citizens; everyone will work for that company and it will be the most unfair class system imaginable.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#66

Post by n_time »

secabeen wrote: post #55
jakob223 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ergh why are we reinventing buses as an app

One factor is the reputation/blacklist system. If you are harrassed on a bus, you don't have much recourse. Sure, you can complain to the metro police, but all they can do is take a report. On a shared ride like this, Uber/Lyft can increment the "harassment complaint" counter of all of the other riders with you. A regular harasser will quickly add up multiple complaints, and will be banned from the system. Honestly,…

These policies of "harassment complaint", reputation, and recourse systems seem to me a bit like "you will be safe from the unwashed masses".

Paid service apartheid?

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#67

Post by Veen »

crdoconnor wrote: post #43
basseq wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Uber is doing here should absolutely not be allowed. What Uber is doing is called loss leading. It would be very hard to outlaw or regulate in any sort of "fair" way. The result you fear--a monopoly with price control--is illegal and is tightly regulated.

>The result you fear--a monopoly with price control--is illegal Monopolies are not illegal.

> Monopolies are not illegal

No, they aren't. But can you think of any examples of a company that built a monopoly and refrained from exploiting it to the detriment of the market and consumers in the long term?

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#68

Post by Veen »

hknecht wrote: post #48

>> “I’m all for capitalism. But predatory pricing to build market share isn’t capitalism. It’s simply anti-competitive and we must call it out. “ I have to disagree, creating a monopoly is part of the capitalistic process of creating profits in the long term and I would say it’s one of the aims of capitalism itself: when you compete do you want as many competitors as possible? It could be for some reasons but it cert…

> if they prosper the only thing we could do is making sure that customers can access more convenient offers elsewhere

Once they succeed, there isn't a viable "elsewhere" left.

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#69

Post by Veen »

vbrendel wrote: post #16

The article is clearly written by someone who has a vested interest in the incumbents who are now up against Uber and Amazon. Uber burns cash like pretty much any funded startup but there's nothing in the article suggesting their unit economics are flawed. Is the author really suggesting that competition law should force companies like Uber to set their price higher than the competition? It's called disruption for a…

> The article is clearly written by someone who has a vested interest in the incumbents.

How is that clear? Have you researched this author and established that they have ties to competitors, or are you just flinging poo with no justification at all?

> Uber burns cash like pretty much any funded startup

See the title of the article: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

Re: Big tech is built on predatory pricing

#70

Post by mathattack »

habosa wrote: post #2

What Uber is doing here should absolutely not be allowed. Whenever you go to a city where Uber is in it's first year of operations the prices are insanely low. This also happens when Uber launches a new product like Pool. This enables them to crowd out any competition and then raise prices once they've got control of the market. I have a friend in SF who takes Uber to work every day. It's about 3.5 miles. I assumed h…

Drivers aren't locked in, and neither are the passengers.
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