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Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

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Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#181

Post by kerng »

aviv wrote: post #134
brockwhittaker wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would normally agree but the difference could be around $5 each way for 250 work days a year. A few thousand dollars a year is quite a lot.

If $5 each way is a lot of money, it's a sign you are not making enough money. Optimizing life to save that $5 increase is exactly the mindset that keeps people living paycheck to paycheck. Increase the top line, expenses don't matter if you focus your effort on making more money.

A comment like this reflects being part of the privileged 10%, probably even more like top 1-2%. Many are not that privileged and will never have the opportunity or chances to reach that. In the grand scheme of things it's more like luck, then anything else.

It reflects how distant some are from reality of majority of people. 5 * 2 * 5 * 4=200. For many 200 dollars per month can be a quite significant cut in their paycheck. Recurring and continuous costs like these are exactly what makes the difference

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#182

Post by alimhaq »

Apocryphon wrote: post #168
ithinkinstereo wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's easy to produce "progress" when you're willing to operate with massive losses fueled by other people's money. Take any customer experience that sucks and inject billions of dollars into it and lo and behold the experience improves mightly.

It's a little like saying the theater-going experience has been improved thanks to MoviePass.

This is an incredibly shortsighted view of Uber if you're being serious. MoviePass doesn't alter the end experience of watching a movie at all, but Uber significantly changes the experience of getting a ride. I'm sure most people would agree that even if they had to pay the same price as a cab, they would prefer the Uber experience over the old model.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#183

Post by treis »

blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

>Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. >When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an enormous grift. Some key early investors have probably made out really well, but at what cost to others involved?

I think you're way too pessimistic here:

(1) A whole industry of rent seekers (medallion owners) was mostly run off

(2) The taxi experience in cities other than NYC, Chicago, and SF got a million times better. Before Uber in a city like Nashville you call for a taxi and maybe one shows up at some point. Since Uber you can reliably get a ride whenever you want. And that's not even talking about discrimination.

(3) Uber caused a dramatic decline in drunk driving. Likely because of (2)

(4) It allowed people to make some money with a flexibility that traditional jobs don't offer

For me, Uber/Lyft has definitely had the biggest positive impact on my life out of any tech company in the last decade. The only close competitor would be Android/iPhone. I don't know if Uber is worth the ~60 billion that they were last valued at, but they definitely fill a legitimate role.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#184

Post by memco »

megaremote wrote: post #138
brockwhittaker wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would normally agree but the difference could be around $5 each way for 250 work days a year. A few thousand dollars a year is quite a lot.

If you are regularly commuting via Uber you are doing a lot of things wrong.

Disabled people who are unable to operate a vehicle need to work too. Sometimes jobs are too far for public transportation to be an option. What should they do instead?

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#185

Post by seizethecheese »

simple_phrases wrote: post #167
capsulecorp wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Progress won. It is infinitely easier, more affordable, transparent, convenient, and the overall experience of riding uber is hands down better than any Taxi experience I've ever had by a an extremely long shot, anyone I've spoken to agrees. Sure there are still improvements, but all in all, as a frequent user, I have to say getting a ride is hands down better with uber than before it.

>Progress won That's a unnecessarily simple reading of this situation, don't you think?

No. I think I’m practical terms this is the major impact on the world, the rest of this thread is window dressing.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#187

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

lozaning wrote: post #108
ecshafer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would anyone really care that much. If my company told me to use Lyft over uber or reversed it wouldn't cause any duress. I just need to get from the airport and back or whatever, its hard to have a preference here.

Without status everything is fungible. That changes drastically as your status on any given provider goes up. Making me take anything but United means no business class upgrade, making me take anything but Uber means im waiting way longer to be picked up from anywhere, making me not stay at SPG means no room upgrade or check-in/checkout perks.

You don’t seem to understand that ride hailing service with Lyft is better quality than Uber. Nicer drivers, shorter wait times, better prices, cleaner cars, more premium experience and you get to associate with a company that’s not tacitly defending rapists or sanctioning disturbing violations of consumer privacy.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#188

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

btilly wrote: post #133
bunderbunder wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's not like he just flat out didn't invest all the money he wasn't putting into Geocities and Lycos. He was just putting it into other things, mostly stuff that was less the hot new thing, and therefore less in demand, and therefore more favorably priced. I don't think he regrets his conservatism. From 1990 through now, BRK.A is up 4,200%, while the NASDAQ composite is up only 1,500%.

No, he doesn't. But as https://alphaarchitect.com/2016/10/10/value-investing-got-cr... points out, it looked rather different when Berkshire lost 44% while the NASDAQ gained 145%. Buffett stood by the strength of his reasoning. But the rest of the world didn't.

Until some years later when it did...

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#189

Post by therein »

treis wrote: post #183
blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

>Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. >When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like…

> The taxi experience in cities other than NYC, Chicago, and SF got a million times better. Before Uber in a city like Nashville you call for a taxi and maybe one shows up at some point. Since Uber you can reliably get a ride whenever you want. And that's not even talking about discrimination.

That is a good point I hadn't considered until now.

I remember back in my college days in Champaign, IL right before Uber's debut, I would have to call three separate cab companies a day ahead of time and then the day of to get a ride to the airport, and only one would maybe show up.

I ended up befriending an Ethiopian cab driver that was really kind and responsible and only then this challenge came to an end.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#190

Post by dnautics »

blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

I definitely won! An early driver (2009), I'd just quit a low pay postdoc job, and 1.5x'ed my take home pay. Since I was a Lyft driver, Uber gave me a crazy signing bonus including 50 hours a week at 40 an hour (I found the farthest Starbucks in the service area and worked on coding katas). At the end of the year when I got my 1099 I calculated that Uber lost $8k on me, which is about as much as I put in the crypto currency markets around that time...
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