Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lyft Files for IPO

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 319 posts

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#261

Post by speby »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #252
the_reformation wrote: post #200

The most exciting implication here is that we can finally pour over the financials of a major ride-hailing company. Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question.

> Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question. I don't think there are many people who doubt that ride hailing apps can be done profitably. I think the big question is (a) is it a commodity business (I personally believe it is) and (b) can potential profit margins support their astronomical valuations. I think the main problem (though MUCH more so for Uber than fo…

> but I think the reality is that it will turn out to be much more like the airline business - basically a commodity business where raising prices is extremely difficult.

I believe you are onto something there. What did people do before Lyft/Uber? They walked more. They biked. They took public transportation. Maybe they drove themselves. Maybe they drove/carpooled with a friend. Maybe they took a good old fashioned taxi.

Faced with a price hike attempt, those options are again always on the table.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#262

Post by lallysingh »

deminature wrote: post #70
Synthetase wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am private beta testing an app that does exactly what is described.

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.

Spatially-oriented, locally-scoped applications pretty naturally shard out by region.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#263

Post by pbreit »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #252
the_reformation wrote: post #200

The most exciting implication here is that we can finally pour over the financials of a major ride-hailing company. Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question.

> Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question. I don't think there are many people who doubt that ride hailing apps can be done profitably. I think the big question is (a) is it a commodity business (I personally believe it is) and (b) can potential profit margins support their astronomical valuations. I think the main problem (though MUCH more so for Uber than fo…

When you say you think it's a commodity business could you imagine a new entrant in a mature Lyft/Uber market? I couldn't. Pockets would have to be very deep.

The basic economics of Uber/Lyft-style transportation is very profitable. The biggest economic challenges are 1) entering a market and 2) pools. And Lyft & Uber fighting each other.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#264

Post by pbreit »

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 has huge upside, Uber has none.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#265

Post by metildaa »

pmart123 wrote: post #256
glitch003 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Instead of buying 19-month-old scooter company for $2B Actually, Lyft has a scooter program that is the result of an acquisition. "It wasn’t until July, when Lyft acquired Motivate, the nation’s largest bike-share operator, that the company began to send signals that it was considering joining the frenzy." https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17824040/lyft-electric-sco...

Interesting. 2.5x revenue though and has exclusive city contracts. I still view this differently than paying $680M pre-revenue for Otto. On the scooter side, at $300/scooter, Uber could buy 100k scooters and stick an UberScoot button on their app and probably can more ridership than any of the year old startups.

This assumes those scooters aren't impounded, damaged or left with dead batteries. There are no human drivers constantly maintaining these scooters, at best a random person may come by and charge them (for a fee OFC), but no quality assurance or maintenance is happening in a timely manner. This is why scooter companies are seeing their average scooter break after 4 months, there is no maintenance plan and they aren't built to be on the street, unsheltered 24/7.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#266

Post by mreid »

kondro wrote: post #246
mreid wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thing to add to your learnings for the day is the difference between “metaphor” and “onomatopoeia”. The latter is only for words that are related to a particular sound they are describing, e.g., “quack”, “bang”, “sizzle”, “whoosh”. “Pour over” is the sense you describe would be a metaphor.

So it’s strange I hear it as a sound describing the action then?

I never thought of it as onomatopoeic before but, if I string the sound out – pooooooour – making the “o” noisy and its pitch rise slowly it does remind me of the sound of a cup being filled from a tap.

Ok, I still think it’s an unusual example but you’ve convinced me.

I retract my earlier comment and replace it with a “today I learned” for me. :)

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#268

Post by 0x8BADF00D »

the_reformation wrote: post #200

The most exciting implication here is that we can finally pour over the financials of a major ride-hailing company. Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question.

Unit economics don’t really matter in this case. Lyft and Uber could be hemorrhaging money but the paradigm has fundamentally shifted. Ownership as we know it will become meaningless. Sure, you could buy a self-driving car, but do you need to? Waymo One’s launch will determine the future of ridesharing companies, not unit economics.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#269

Post by rorykoehler »

pbreit wrote: post #263
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question. I don't think there are many people who doubt that ride hailing apps can be done profitably. I think the big question is (a) is it a commodity business (I personally believe it is) and (b) can potential profit margins support their astronomical valuations. I think the main problem (though MUCH more so for Uber than fo…

When you say you think it's a commodity business could you imagine a new entrant in a mature Lyft/Uber market? I couldn't. Pockets would have to be very deep. The basic economics of Uber/Lyft-style transportation is very profitable. The biggest economic challenges are 1) entering a market and 2) pools. And Lyft & Uber fighting each other.

Setting up an airline isn't cheap either but plenty of people do it.

Re: Lyft Files for IPO

#270

Post by nl »

0x8BADF00D wrote: post #268
the_reformation wrote: post #200

The most exciting implication here is that we can finally pour over the financials of a major ride-hailing company. Whether these companies have the unit economics to succeed is, remarkably, still an open question.

Unit economics don’t really matter in this case. Lyft and Uber could be hemorrhaging money but the paradigm has fundamentally shifted. Ownership as we know it will become meaningless. Sure, you could buy a self-driving car, but do you need to? Waymo One’s launch will determine the future of ridesharing companies, not unit economics.

Unless the patience of investors is infinite (HT to Keynes there) unit economics would appear to matter eventually.

Note for example Amazon, which didn't turn a profit for years, had extremely good unit economics and invested in growth.

Post reply on HN