Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
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Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#2There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the technology is ready it will be commoditized, and Uber will have no advantage.
As a rider, it's great to use it while you can, but there is no actual business there.
Airbnb on the there hand has all the advantages people like to see in a business.
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#3There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the tech…
I disagree. Uber facilitates the process of becoming a driver, therefore there will be a larger supply of drivers. I believe the price of a fare will decrease due to the increased competition.
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#4There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the tech…
My impression is that Uber is making money of the rides.
It loses money on all its other research and investment schemes.
I don't know if there are any actual facts out?
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#5There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the tech…
I disagree. Uber facilitates the process of becoming a driver, therefore there will be a larger supply of drivers. I believe the price of a fare will decrease due to the increased competition.
Amortization over say 20 fairs per day * 20 days a month * 12 months a year, reducing the cost by 1 cent per ride per ~50$ dollars in cost savings. Suggests it's just not a meaningful savings.
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#6So how do the "rest of us" profit from these IPOs?
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#7There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the tech…
My impression is that Uber is making money of the rides. It loses money on all its other research and investment schemes. I don't know if there are any actual facts out?
No, "Uber passengers paid only 41% of the cost of their trips for the fiscal year ended in September 2015." Prices have not changed much since then, so they are a long way from break even.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability/true-p...
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#8So how do the "rest of us" profit from these IPOs?
I don't think these IPOs are designed to make profits for the rest of us.
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#9So how do the "rest of us" profit from these IPOs?
Pick the right growth candidate, hold your nose at the valuations, buy and hold for a few years until the growth catches the fundamentals up. Or wait until (assuming) the market drops at some point and buy the growth at dramatically more reasonable valuations. I'd also say buy what you know; that is, if you have experience with a company and know that their products are particularly good, providing the company a likely advantage over time assuming they're well run. I don't know much about Zuora for example (so if I want to buy it, I'll spend a lot of time on research), but I plan to stalk DocuSign for a reasonable entry point as I know their products well and I like their position.
Re: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Prepare for an I.P.O. Wave
#10There are some good and some not so good among these companies. Uber is a taxi company with an app. Cars still cost the same as before to run, drivers still cost the same as before, all costs are the same as before. So once the subsidization by VCs stops, Uber rides will be as expensive as any other ride. Self-driving cars will not save Uber either. There is no network effect with self-driving cars, and once the tech…
I disagree. Uber facilitates the process of becoming a driver, therefore there will be a larger supply of drivers. I believe the price of a fare will decrease due to the increased competition.
Also facilitates becoming a rider through ease of use/payment. And more riders, more revenue even with the same margins.
The app is much smoother than the 2011-era cab experience — call a phone dispatcher, hope a cab shows up eventually. (Of course, Lyft provides exactly the same experience for consumers and even taxi companies are attempting to provide an app nowadays.)