It seems unfathomable the rate at which some of these companies lose money. When I think of asking an investor for money, I imagine having a to put together a pretty foolproof plan of action to get a return. How do companies like Uber, Tesla, or even Amazon early on convince investors to lose money year after year? Investors have never struck me as the patient type.
Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
101–110 of 516 posts
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference between taxi fares and Uber/Lyft fares has all but vanished. People were willing to pay taxi rates all along, now they are doing so and getting what is arguably a much better service.
> People were willing to pay taxi rates all along Baloney. The market size of people willing to pay taxi rates for transportation is much smaller that the market sizes currently implied by Uber and Lyft's valuation. Before Uber and Lyft, most people I know would only take taxis very occasionally, for special occasions or emergencies. Once Uber and Lyft started offering such good rates they would use ride sharing much…
In many places it's all but near impossible to get a taxi in a timely manner, money wasn't the only thing preventing people from using them.
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#103Uber emerged into the market as a disruptor in the absolute worst sense of the world - it was challenging an entrenched industry with low efficiency (cab companies make ungodly amounts of money in some markets) but it did so by playing by a different set of rules - skirting both the disingenuous regulations put in to protect cab companies' profit and those in place for the safety of the general public. Even disregard…
> and those in place for the safety of the general public. What regulations are these? Is there any case where taking taxis was or is safer for an average customer than Uber?
Taxi drivers had background checks,
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference between taxi fares and Uber/Lyft fares has all but vanished. People were willing to pay taxi rates all along, now they are doing so and getting what is arguably a much better service.
I think what he is saying is the demand for Lyft / Uber was manufactured by low prices. Now that they are more expensive, people are using public transit more.
Except total rides on both platforms are at all time highs?
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#105Uber and lyft are both on the way down. The price at which they need to operate to be profitable is not a price that most americans are ready to pay. As simple as that. For now they delay this reality by subsidizing rides in order to generate business. In some cities like San Francisco, most incentives were removed and among my friends we all stopped using Uber (unless we really have to). It simply became way too exp…
So what do you use instead of Lyft/Uber in SF? BART / Mini doesn't go everywhere.
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
> among my friends we all stopped using Uber (unless we really have to). It simply became way too expensive. What's been the alternative? Regular taxis? Aren't they just as expensive?
In my case, since nobody else has replied with public transit: SF has a really great bus system that, if you're traveling along any of the frequent lines with bus lanes, is usually the same speed as an uber once you factor in the wait. It's just $2.50 for 3 hours of free transfers, and 24/7 service.
Not on New Year’s Eve or any other major drinking holiday. Try hailing a cab or finding a spot on the bus when you’re in the mission trying to make it to the marina or pac heights at 1:30am. I’ve seen buses filled with people just skip stops because they’re too full. Ridesharing has helped immensely with that excess demand even with surge pricing. Also, not all buses run 24/7
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, they spent $0.5 billion on R&D in a year , and lost $5 billion in a quarter , so I don’t think the R&D is nearly as significant an issue as subsidizing rides.
They booked an expense of $3.1bn in R&D last quarter. Even excluding the $2.6bn linked to stock-based compensation it’s $0.5bn per quarter. But of course that includes useful R&D and not just the flying-cars kind.
"R&D" usually includes all engineering expenses on financial reports, which for a company like Uber is the vast majority of operating expenses.
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and those in place for the safety of the general public. What regulations are these? Is there any case where taking taxis was or is safer for an average customer than Uber?
Taxi drivers had background checks,
They also carry appropriate insurance and have stricter punishments over traffic violations including DUIs.
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#109The most ridiculous thing in Sydney is all the Uber drivers drive for Uber, Bolt and Ola. The same car, the same driver but the only difference is a which button I push on my phone.
So whoever gives me a discount I will use and if no one will I will catch a bus or taxi. Google Maps shows me the estimated cost for Uber and Bolt.
Re: Uber Posts $5.2B Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's say you give me 20 bucks, and I drop it. But only one time. Does that mean I didn't lose your $20?
Let's say I take a piece of paper, tell you that it's worth $20 and give it you. And then you drop it. Did you lose $20? That's a closer analogy to SBC than losing cash.
The other way to look at it is that potentially $3.9B worth of stock could be sold on the public market and further dilute the value of the stock.