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Lyft Files for IPO

reuters.com

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Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#171

Post by CPLX »

cartsagis wrote: post #102
a13n wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of network effects. To start a new ridesharing company, you have to get drivers and riders. You'd have to offer them a ton of incentives to start driving/riding with your service, when the existing options are well established. For drivers, Lyft and Uber have incentives (lower fees) if you do the majority of rides with their service, which incentivizes you to only drive with one service. When's the l…

The future of ridesharing is uber pool/lyft line in order to increase efficiency. The network effect is huge.

Have you ever, like, actually used the shared ride options?

It can be handy when you're not in a hurry, but as long as people are involved, and they aren't always where they say they are going to be, there's a pretty hard upper limit to how efficient things can get.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#172

Post by rhizome »

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…

They are more susceptible to economic conditions in a single country

Taking Lyft to be a single-purpose undiversified company, isn't the opposite true? I'm no economist nor MBA, but aside from cashflow wouldn't a smaller company be more resilient to conditions due to lower resource demands?

every point of marketshare they get is a zero-sum game against Uber

Is this...true? First, because there's more than two players in the industry, and second because there can be more demand than cars among all of them.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#173

Post by novia »

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…

Buy Lyft now, profit later when Uber buys them out.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#174

Post by reaperducer »

benj111 wrote: post #87
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 takes the flack, gets the law changed, creates the market. Lyft sails in and gets most of the benefits, without those costs. Uber doesn't have a massive moat. Drivers can have both apps, users can have both apps. You attract drivers by paying them more, you attract riders by charging them less. Uber for now can afford to beat everyone on both those fronts, but eventually they will have to start making a profit.…

Uber for now can afford to beat everyone on both those fronts

As someone who drove for both platforms, this is not true. Lyft pays drivers more than Uber in the market I was driving in.

Most drivers would abandon Uber in a heartbeat if Lyft just had more users. The problem was that for every Lyft request that came in, you'd get 10 to 20 Uber requests.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#175

Post by rococode »

whoisjuan wrote: post #111
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 wi…

At this point Uber and Lyft are really just taxi companies with nice apps. Add the driver reviews, GPS locations, and requesting a ride via an app to a traditional taxi system and it's the same. The only major advantage they have right now is that Uber/Lyft are standardized throughout cities and suburbs, whereas taxi companies are mostly local to one city.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#176

Post by selectodude »

abrowne wrote: post #103
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…

Lyft recently acquired Motivate, the bike share company. I know they run the NYC bike share and now the Minneapolis one.

And Chicago's.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#177

Post by jessriedel »

deepakhj wrote: post #168
jessriedel wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is just a matter of semantics. Are you saying we should call a black-car hailing service "ride sharing" simply because you booked it with a smart phone app rather than calling a number? (Remember that Uber didn't even use a novel business relationship; there have long been dispatchers with a single phone number that distribute the rides to multiple independent black car agencies.) To me, the key change d…

Sidecar beat both Lyft and Uber with people using their own cars. It launched in September 2011. Uber launched UberX in June 2012. Lyft launched in June 2012. Give Sidecar credit where it's due.

I'm happy to, and in fact wasn't giving anyone credit for being first. I was just trying to point out that Lyft beat Uber.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#178

Post by Scoundreller »

reaperducer wrote: post #170
hunter23 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can guess few of their story points (hard to know until they release their numbers): 1) The market can support multiple players running profitable (i.e it's a 2 player or 3 player market). Think of the drugstore industry (Walgreens & CVS). 2) Lyft focuses on profitable higher income markets like the US and Canada so they can have a higher margin and not get into pricing wars with massive foreign players (Didi, Oola…

2) Lyft focuses on profitable higher income markets like the US and Canada so they can have a higher margin and not get into pricing wars This, I think, is more important than many people realize. When I was driving for Uber and Lyft (for about eight months, two years ago), Lyft had an entirely different clientele. Uber was for the poors, the frat boys, and the average Joe Lunchbucket. Lyft was a decidedly better cla…

Any idea what drives Lyft riders to be better behaved?

Is Lyft more expensive in your locale?

I’m in a new Lyft market, so their pricing makes them the cheapest with their discounts often.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#179

Post by Scoundreller »

benj111 wrote: post #87
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 takes the flack, gets the law changed, creates the market. Lyft sails in and gets most of the benefits, without those costs. Uber doesn't have a massive moat. Drivers can have both apps, users can have both apps. You attract drivers by paying them more, you attract riders by charging them less. Uber for now can afford to beat everyone on both those fronts, but eventually they will have to start making a profit.…

> You attract drivers by paying them more, you attract riders by charging them less.

The network effect favours the larger player: less dead-heading between rides and better “pool” load-factors.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#180

Post by ksec »

reaperducer wrote: post #170
hunter23 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can guess few of their story points (hard to know until they release their numbers): 1) The market can support multiple players running profitable (i.e it's a 2 player or 3 player market). Think of the drugstore industry (Walgreens & CVS). 2) Lyft focuses on profitable higher income markets like the US and Canada so they can have a higher margin and not get into pricing wars with massive foreign players (Didi, Oola…

2) Lyft focuses on profitable higher income markets like the US and Canada so they can have a higher margin and not get into pricing wars This, I think, is more important than many people realize. When I was driving for Uber and Lyft (for about eight months, two years ago), Lyft had an entirely different clientele. Uber was for the poors, the frat boys, and the average Joe Lunchbucket. Lyft was a decidedly better cla…

How much more do Lyft changes as compared to Uber?

( Sorry Lyft was never in my region )

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