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Lyft Files for IPO

reuters.com

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Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#111

Post by whoisjuan »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #104

I'm not very bullish on these ride sharing companies in the long term. More and more data is coming out that suggests that these ride sharing companies impact transportation and congestion metrics in a negative way that is counter productive to cities' long term transportation goals. Accordingly cities are layering on more regulations that will limit what has made these companies different from traditional taxi compa…

"Ride sharing" is not an accurate representation of these companies anymore. Uber and Lyft are trying to become major mobility and transportation platforms. The core of their business right now relies on ride-sharing, but if they want to become sustainable long-term companies they need to evolve their business. Sadly, drivers are just an input to generate cash flow. They're definitely not indispensable, especially with new short distance tranportation solutions like scooters.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#112

Post by solaarphunk »

inverse_pi wrote: post #91
docker_up wrote: post #63

From a purely investment point of view, why would anyone invest in Lyft over Uber? Lyft has a smaller footprint and only operates in the US (except Toronto). They are more susceptible to economic conditions in a single country, the US, and every point of marketshare they get is a zero-sum game against Uber and presumably expensive because Uber won't give it up for free. Uber has a global operations, is in multiple st…

> Uber has a global operations, is in multiple streams of business and has diversity across business lines This can be a reason why one would be more interested in Lyft. Uber seems like a distracted player who's losing money on many other markets and businesses, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars on self-driving cars (and flying cars?!). Lyft is much cheaper (15B valuation), while Uber is much more expens…

Looks like from the article valuation is going to land between 20-30B.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#113

Post by ThrustVectoring »

docker_up wrote: post #63

From a purely investment point of view, why would anyone invest in Lyft over Uber? Lyft has a smaller footprint and only operates in the US (except Toronto). They are more susceptible to economic conditions in a single country, the US, and every point of marketshare they get is a zero-sum game against Uber and presumably expensive because Uber won't give it up for free. Uber has a global operations, is in multiple st…

If you're bullish on ride hailing apps and bearish on Uber in particular, that gets you there. Plus there's generic diversification arguments - most returns come from a few companies that do really well, so you need to "buy the haystack" to ensure you own the needle.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#114

Post by Jommi »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #104

I'm not very bullish on these ride sharing companies in the long term. More and more data is coming out that suggests that these ride sharing companies impact transportation and congestion metrics in a negative way that is counter productive to cities' long term transportation goals. Accordingly cities are layering on more regulations that will limit what has made these companies different from traditional taxi compa…

Could you link this "more and more data" ? As far as I know nothing substantial has been released. You should recheck your sources.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#115

Post by samstave »

jonthepirate wrote: post #97
empath75 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would anyone invest in Pepsi over Coca-Cola? Why invest in Apple over Microsoft? Why invest in Tesla over GM? There can be more than one successful company in a segment. Also, well, you can't invest in Uber.

Former Lyft eng here of 2.5 yrs.. Lyft is kicking major a. Don't mean to hype it. Even if they weren't IPO'ing I can tell you they are firing on all pistons. I'm pretty sure the financials are in good shape too. Haven't worked there in 2 years though. Fingers crossed.

Were you able to keep options?

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#116

Post by marinman »

spaceflunky wrote: post #31
ghaff wrote: post #4

Question that's somewhere between rhetorical and semi-serious. At what point do one of these companies increase their pricing to the point where they can operate profitably and just let volumes end up wherever they end up (making whatever cost cuts they need to on the way down)? Presumably there's some point where you can make money--but maybe not if you have a basically equivalent competitor who is willing to lose m…

No one has seen all the numbers but both services spend an extraordinary amount on advertising, Rider and driver obtainment, market development/setup costs, and legal costs. Like an absolute shit load. Presumably all of those costs would disappear once someone wins the market or a "truce" is called. Right now both teams are spending like crazy in those areas because they need to have best numbers at IPO time. But onc…

"Presumably all of those costs would disappear once someone wins the market or a "truce" is called."

I'm not sure any single company ever truly wins this market because, as others have mentioned, the barriers to entry are pretty low. Raise VC money to subsidize the most lucrative rides/markets and Lyft & Uber will never be able to stop their spending (either through advertising or through acquiring new entrants).

The ride-share market may wind up like the airlines: heavy utilization but not amazing businesses.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#117

Post by Jommi »

RandallBrown wrote: post #51
lbacaj wrote: post #48

I see a lot of comments on here about the efficiency of Lyft/Uber's and lots of comments about their overspending. The new book by Reid Hoffman, Blitzscaling, was an eye-opener for me as to how these companies operate and what seems as incredibly inefficient now will all be but forgotten tomorrow when they have complete monopolies over all transportation... The nature of technology makes it winner take all almost alw…

Why would ridesharing be winner take all? There's almost no network effect (beyond splitting the cost, but Venmo has largely solved that) and the drivers all drive for all of them. In NYC I think there's at least 4 ridesharing companies and I usually choose which one based on which one has given me a promo.

You need to reread what a network effect is. It's exactly what goes on in a ridehailing platform.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#118

Post by [deleted] »

aaronharder wrote: post #101
deminature wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like there might be a difference between an app that serves a few hundred people and an app that serves hundreds of millions of people.

Don't know much about the ride share industry, but am interested and curious. Which parts of this type of app do you think would be particularly difficult to scale?

[deleted]

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#119

Post by ghaff »

Jommi wrote: post #114
Tiktaalik wrote: post #104

I'm not very bullish on these ride sharing companies in the long term. More and more data is coming out that suggests that these ride sharing companies impact transportation and congestion metrics in a negative way that is counter productive to cities' long term transportation goals. Accordingly cities are layering on more regulations that will limit what has made these companies different from traditional taxi compa…

Could you link this "more and more data" ? As far as I know nothing substantial has been released. You should recheck your sources.

You may not agree with the conclusions, but here is one such study: http://www.schallerconsult.com/rideservices/automobility.htm

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#120

Post by chrstphrhrt »

docker_up wrote: post #63

From a purely investment point of view, why would anyone invest in Lyft over Uber? Lyft has a smaller footprint and only operates in the US (except Toronto). They are more susceptible to economic conditions in a single country, the US, and every point of marketshare they get is a zero-sum game against Uber and presumably expensive because Uber won't give it up for free. Uber has a global operations, is in multiple st…

As a customer experience I prefer Lyft because they let me give tips. I doin't think Uber drivers make a living wage, so I like trying to figure out what can be added to offset the low base/fees so the drivers can do okay.
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