241–250 of 333 posts
It's always surprised me that we haven't seem more attempts at co-op like models in spaces like this, and I'm happy to see it. Uber/Lyft strike me as thin businesses in the value that they actually provide both to riders and drivers. Yes, they were responsible for some initial innovation, but now the cat is out of the bag, and the concept could absolutely be applied in a business structure that is more profitable and…
The single benefit of Uber having a global presence likely already outweighs the value of these local coops. You can get off an airplane just about anywhere in the world and get an Uber. That’s huge value.
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It seems like this only works in New York, which is probably a much smaller scale than Uber has to serve.
Which is fine, they could probably franchise the tech out to other cities. In fact, this is how Hailo (an Uber like service headquartered in the UK) used to work, until they were driven out of business by VC backed competitors.
It's always surprised me that we haven't seem more attempts at co-op like models in spaces like this, and I'm happy to see it. Uber/Lyft strike me as thin businesses in the value that they actually provide both to riders and drivers. Yes, they were responsible for some initial innovation, but now the cat is out of the bag, and the concept could absolutely be applied in a business structure that is more profitable and…
Juno[1] tried something like this in NYC back in the mid-2010's. They ended up getting acquired by Gett and discontinued their equity share ethos. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(company) Edit: Typo
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Funniest is that nowadays card payments are likely cheaper to process for merchants than cash - if you account properly for all costs. So credit card companies should start lobbying to allow different pricing based on payment methods.
If you're a large retailer and have been able to negotiate good rates with a payment processor and are in a country where interchange fees are capped (e.g., EU countries), then I can see it. But I doubt that it's the case in the US where those fees have to fund 2% cashback programmes etc.
If I'd start a small business, I would flat out refuse to take cash. (in Europe)
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The single benefit of Uber having a global presence likely already outweighs the value of these local coops. You can get off an airplane just about anywhere in the world and get an Uber. That’s huge value.
> The single benefit of Uber having a global presence likely already outweighs the value of these local coops. That and a willingness to subsidize rides to the tune of billions of dollars per year. A coop is going to struggle to provide rides at a "competitive" rate when the competition is paying people to use their services. "For all of 2020, Uber's net losses amounted to $6.77 billion..." Ref: https://www.cnbc.com/…
Are the drivers actually getting more money than the customers are paying? Are Uber's data center and transaction costs really high? Or is it the armies of lawyers and business development people?
The basic value proposition of ride share seems viable. If Uber's losses are overhead, maybe somebody can compete.
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If the goal is to run infrastructure like Uber or Lyft (or any other big company), it's going to be in the tens or even hundreds of thousands USD per month at least.
Hundreds of thousands to run infrastructure like Uber? That's absurdly cheap. That's probably less than the cost of setting up one restaurant.
It's always surprised me that we haven't seem more attempts at co-op like models in spaces like this, and I'm happy to see it. Uber/Lyft strike me as thin businesses in the value that they actually provide both to riders and drivers. Yes, they were responsible for some initial innovation, but now the cat is out of the bag, and the concept could absolutely be applied in a business structure that is more profitable and…
The single benefit of Uber having a global presence likely already outweighs the value of these local coops. You can get off an airplane just about anywhere in the world and get an Uber. That’s huge value.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
These are real challenges, nice outline of the capital issue. Coops generally have to get money by borrowing rather than equity investment. I'm for increasing federal programs for offering and subsidiziing loans to worker-owned coops -- like we do student loans -- not that that's a model, I realize, student loans don't work well, but just a demonstration that the federal government can subsidize loans in the public i…
>There are also hybrid models possible where workers own some % of the company -- over 50% if you want to consider it worker-controlled -- but investors also own a portion. but why would investors invest in a company that gives them half as much stake (because the other half goes to the workers)?
I'm sure it's a barrier, but it apparently isn't one that rules out all investment, since investors do it with founder-controlled companies, right? There is even entirely non-voting stock, which people invest in.
If it were decided through political processes that worker-owned cooperatives were a public good to be encouraged, there could be additional incentive/subsidy through the tax code or other means for investing in minority stakes in them. (As the government subsidizes/incentivizes homeownership or higher ed tuition. Or for that matter, ESOP's for another route to minority employee ownership).
It’s encouraging that initiatives like this seem to be popping up more often - co-operatives of workers looking to cut out corporate middlemen. It will be an uphill climb, but I hope this is the future. The technical moats of a lot of recently minted tech companies don’t seem to be so great that they can’t be overcome with time and open source work. The inertia and efficiency that comes with scale will be harder to c…
Do others have better experiences with co-ops than I do? I know people love REI, but whenever I go in there to buy anything that requires someone (ski boots, skis, work on skis) - it sucks. There's never anyone available, it often takes up to an hour or more to get helped or waiting in line. Sometimes I have to leave and come back later. Last time I gave up and ordered everything online. It's not like it's crazy pack…