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Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

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Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#31

Post by im_cynical »

sokoloff wrote: post #9
jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

I think Uber (and Lyft) are absolutely adding value. I now regularly take ride shares when I would previously have driven or extremely reluctantly taken cabs. I also talk to my rideshare drivers and the platforms provide some much needed cashflow (and perhaps day-filling) for people who seem genuinely happy to avail themselves of the income opportunity provided. I see no reason to think that those two companies could…

I heard some economist call Uber "the greatest transfer of wealth in a very long time". What Uber is doing is taking investors money and subsidizing your Uber ride to a restaurant.

They are providing value and I'm a casual user myself. However the consumer price right now is arguably unsustainable against the stated quote above. To survive both of them are going to have to raise prices

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#32

Post by praptak »

sokoloff wrote: post #9
jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

I think Uber (and Lyft) are absolutely adding value. I now regularly take ride shares when I would previously have driven or extremely reluctantly taken cabs. I also talk to my rideshare drivers and the platforms provide some much needed cashflow (and perhaps day-filling) for people who seem genuinely happy to avail themselves of the income opportunity provided. I see no reason to think that those two companies could…

They do add some value. They don't add any value above a taxi company/cooperative with a decent app.

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#33

Post by ellyagg »

buboard wrote: post #20
conanbatt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A billion rides a day in almost every single country in the world.

I dont think uber is very useful outside the US

My wife's family lives in a slum in Caloocan City in the Philippines. When we stayed with them for a visit, it was amazing that I could just pull up my Uber app and get a ride to BGC, which took 1 1/2 hours. There is no other way I could have pulled this off otherwise. It was also amazing it only cost $8.

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#34

Post by ousta »

weare138 wrote: post #7
conanbatt wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude..Uber changed the world.

It's an unlicensed taxi. The only thing Uber has done is somehow make taxi's worse.

yeah because taxi was such a wonderful experience and that is why they lost their market.

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#36

Post by jmpman »

jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

I’ve been using Uber for years. From my perspective, the experience hasn’t changed dramatically. I request a ride, a ride shows up, when I get to my destination, I’m billed. I’ve wondered why ride hailing companies haven’t dramatically slashed their engineering teams if the engineers aren’t able to map their efforts directly back to lowering ride costs. For some reason, >100% the cost of an Uber isn’t being passed on to the drivers and yet the company remain unprofitable. Where are the costs besides engineering and drivers?

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#37

Post by stedaniels »

sokoloff wrote: post #9
jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

I think Uber (and Lyft) are absolutely adding value. I now regularly take ride shares when I would previously have driven or extremely reluctantly taken cabs. I also talk to my rideshare drivers and the platforms provide some much needed cashflow (and perhaps day-filling) for people who seem genuinely happy to avail themselves of the income opportunity provided. I see no reason to think that those two companies could…

Neither Uber nor Lyft are really ridesharing. They are ride hailing apps. Unless you are sharing with other passengers? I didn't realise they offered this?

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#38

Post by crispyambulance »

jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

Uber got to where it is today because Taxi companies weren't able to adapt and ignored the threat until it was too late.

Really, all people want from a Taxi is an easy, reliable way to summon transport and take you to wherever. Everyone hates calling a taxi company on the phone, speaking to a surly dispatcher, giving an address verbally and then waiting for an indeterminate amount of time for the taxi to show up-- and then you had to have cash to pay.

By the time the Taxi companies figured that out, they were already gutted and in a downward spiral because of Uber's brutal, calculated competitive practices.

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#39

Post by joshuamorton »

stedaniels wrote: post #37
sokoloff wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Uber (and Lyft) are absolutely adding value. I now regularly take ride shares when I would previously have driven or extremely reluctantly taken cabs. I also talk to my rideshare drivers and the platforms provide some much needed cashflow (and perhaps day-filling) for people who seem genuinely happy to avail themselves of the income opportunity provided. I see no reason to think that those two companies could…

Neither Uber nor Lyft are really ridesharing. They are ride hailing apps. Unless you are sharing with other passengers? I didn't realise they offered this?

Yes, Uber pool and Lyft line both allow you to share with other riders.

Re: Oracle’s Larry Ellison Calls Uber and WeWork ‘Almost Worthless’

#40

Post by otakucode »

sokoloff wrote: post #9
jgwil2 wrote: post #3

Neither of these companies is actually adding any value at all as far as I can tell. Uber is undercutting taxis/transit with investor-subsidized rides and still has no idea how it's going to turn a profit unless it becomes the only ride in town. WeWork is pure middleman with some good branding. It amazes me that people believe these valuations. However, I can't agree with the cat comment; I'm sure Uber engineering ar…

I think Uber (and Lyft) are absolutely adding value. I now regularly take ride shares when I would previously have driven or extremely reluctantly taken cabs. I also talk to my rideshare drivers and the platforms provide some much needed cashflow (and perhaps day-filling) for people who seem genuinely happy to avail themselves of the income opportunity provided. I see no reason to think that those two companies could…

The problem I see with Uber is that, at the end of things, all they provide is some software running on some servers. While not an easy weekend project, it would not be impossible for a distributed system to replace it, making whatever life they have almost certainly temporary. Every action they take to extract more profit will only increase the pressure toward development and move towards a distributed system. As long as it can present an app to a customer that can hook them up with a driver without being obtrusive, it seems like a service destined to become a commodity and certainly not something likely to be a cash cow for long.
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