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Uber opens at $42 per share

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321–330 of 470 posts

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#321
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood why so many people were/are so bullish on Uber. I understand that ride hailing is a big deal, but it doesn't feel like it's that hard to launch a new ride hailing company. I'm basing that opinion on what I've seen in my city. When Uber and Lyft left Austin, there were lots of alternatives that had existed or popped up to fill the space. Aside from brand recognition, what does Uber have that the…

> When Uber and Lyft left Austin, there were lots of alternatives that had existed or popped up to fill the space. I tried to use one or two of those alternatives. Setup was a pain and I ended up taking a cab. I have at least one coworker who couldn't get a ride because he was in South Austin. Additionally. if your company is only in one city, visitors have to know about, install, and setup a new app just so they can…

Really? I’ve mentioned it on here before but I used Fasten as a rider pretty religiously in Austin whenever Uber and Lyft left and it was just as easy to set up and hail rides as with Uber and Lyft. I switched back to Lyft when they came back only because the rides subsidized by VC money ended up being cheaper but if they were same price I would happily switch back to some other software.

Regarding your second point whenever I travel internationally one of the first things I do before traveling is to search for rideshare on the internet. Whatever pops up I just download that app and set up my payment before I even get there so I can seamlessly hail rides. Often there is a thread on TripAdvisor waiting for me that compares the options.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#322
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it though? Cabs have apps now. What makes them different? If the answer is the price, well, that price is unsustainable and denies thousands of people a living wage.

The answer isn't price (IMHO). It's the quality of service. I'm mostly talking about better cars, friendlier drivers, and rides that show up when they say they will. I haven't used a cab app. Are the taxi apps similar to Uber and Lyft's where it identifies the car and driver and you can track the location of that car on a map? Do drivers and passengers rate each other?

Answer: it depends. When I lived in Malmö they had Taxa97 which was basically the same as Uber/Lyft. You can schedule rides, rate drivers, map view, and see the price of the ride before you take it. same with the taxi apps in Denmark. Other places have not as nice taxi apps. But in general taxis having to compete has generally brought them in line with U/L, at least in most of Europe.

The only major difference with the taxi apps is that the drivers are first party instead of third party so the companies have a perverse incentive to trust their drivers more than the riders. Of course, the more competition you have the less of this behavior you see.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#323
post #282

I mean, let's be real here, is $42 really disappointing? Because from where I sit, this company is going to be bankrupt in short order.

I'll give you 10:1 odds Uber doesn't declare bankruptcy in the next 5 years.

probably not bankrupt, but they will basically become a small ride hailing company with high prices. This will result in their stock falling dramatically.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#324
post #16

probably one of the worst days to IPO given current china/us trade spat

I would think there's a lot more free cash floating as the sell offs continue.

This was used as a lame excuse.

Uber had actually something to win as you said because of all the free cash floating around and the fact that Uber is completely out of China.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#325
post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll give you 10:1 odds Uber doesn't declare bankruptcy in the next 5 years.

probably not bankrupt, but they will basically become a small ride hailing company with high prices. This will result in their stock falling dramatically.

Define 'dramatically', and by when you expect this will happen, and I'll offer you odds as well!

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#326
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already can. I've seen this in 2 cities now. One of the reasons why I prefer Uber/Lyft is to _not_ see the cab ads display.

I've been in an Uber in Boston where this was the case. They had a tablet hanging off the front passenger seat that alternated between trivia questions and ads.

That sounds more like the app they were using had ads built in?

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#327
post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

probably not bankrupt, but they will basically become a small ride hailing company with high prices. This will result in their stock falling dramatically.

Define 'dramatically', and by when you expect this will happen, and I'll offer you odds as well!

In 5 years I expect the MarketCap to be around 10B$ max. If Self Driving cars are a thing then even less than that.

their customer base will be richer//business people ready to pay higher sustainable prices for rides.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#329

There's way too many comments in this thread comparing Uber's non-profitability to Amazon's which I think is quite silly. Amazon lost $2.8 billion over its first 17 quarters while Uber lost $4.5 billion in 2017 alone. Also comparing Uber to Facebook is quite silly too. Facebook had a lot more users than Uber but they are also different types of users. One is a free user with hope for targeted advertisement (in which…

Does Uber even want to encourage people to take more rides if each single one is at a loss? It's hard to envision the strategy going forward.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#330
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify didn't IPO: they did a direct listing.

It was still an IPO, just an untraditional one.

It was not an IPO as there was no public offering. Instead, the company filled an S-1 and was listed on an exchange allowing for secondary trading.
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