Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
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Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#2>The payout on one of the most richly-funded bets of the past decade or so revolves around whether ride-sharing and delivery firms—which once were part of something known as the “sharing economy” but are better described as the “flywheel economy”—can actually ever live up to their heady promise. The outcome will matter to more than just venture capitalists who backed their growth. Whether these flywheels do gather unstoppable momentum is also of interest to regulators worried about technology’s propensity for winner-takes-all business models, not to mention paid-by-the-gig workers caught in its cogs.
Yaawn another one of these "{insert successful company name here} is not unsustainable because of blahv blahh blah" articles. In spite of endless negative media coverage, Uber is still valued at over $50 billion. I remember all the endless articles from 2012-2018 about all the debt Uber had and how it was not sustinable. If anyone believes that these companies are not sustainable, the opportunity to short them or buy put options on them exists right now. Almost anyone, individual or hedge fund, can stand to profit from the inability of Uber and Doordash to keep defying 'the laws of capitalism'.
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#3Massive wealth consolidation leads to huge piles of capital that are itching to invest in ventures, which leads to entrepreneurs sprouting up to pitch ideas for a piece of the pie. To get the most enthusiastic investments, they don't bother building a productive company but instead pitch dazzling tech startups that operate at a massive loss in order to disrupt and grow to critical user mass, in order to replace a legacy market with a proprietary platform and thus enable indefinite rent-seeking for growth-obsessed investors. The "flywheel" tech companies aren't the point, getting hands on venture capital is the point.
That sounds like good old normal capitalism as I understand it.
Edit: fixed run-on sentence
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#4>The payout on one of the most richly-funded bets of the past decade or so revolves around whether ride-sharing and delivery firms—which once were part of something known as the “sharing economy” but are better described as the “flywheel economy”—can actually ever live up to their heady promise. The outcome will matter to more than just venture capitalists who backed their growth. Whether these flywheels do gather un…
> If anyone believes that these companies are not sustainable, the opportunity to short them or buy put options on them exists right now.
Stocks can remain irrational for a long time. This advice is bad for precisely that reason.
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#5Bypass the paywall -> https://outline.com/TMHXeX
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#6>The payout on one of the most richly-funded bets of the past decade or so revolves around whether ride-sharing and delivery firms—which once were part of something known as the “sharing economy” but are better described as the “flywheel economy”—can actually ever live up to their heady promise. The outcome will matter to more than just venture capitalists who backed their growth. Whether these flywheels do gather un…
Care to elaborate as to why you think Uber is still sustainable, beyond simply telling others to put their money where their mouths are?
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#7>The payout on one of the most richly-funded bets of the past decade or so revolves around whether ride-sharing and delivery firms—which once were part of something known as the “sharing economy” but are better described as the “flywheel economy”—can actually ever live up to their heady promise. The outcome will matter to more than just venture capitalists who backed their growth. Whether these flywheels do gather un…
"the market can remain irrational longer than... " you know the rest.
A high market cap does not invalidate any argument. Enron was highly valued, real estate funds were highly valued, Theranos was highly valued, etc... until they weren't.
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#8This may be a hot take, but I think the gig economy is one thing which could be a pretty solid use of the blockchain.
Uber/DoorDash/Lyft are all pretty simple CRUD apps at their core, and the companies themselves do very little actual work. Unfortunately, due to the Silicon Valley cult of growth, they are still either unprofitable or barely profitable while also taking a pretty massive cut away from actual workers on the ground. Restaurants are stuck with them due to vendor lock-in, and they have to cut their margins or raise prices as a result. The consumer loses, the drivers lose, and the restaurants lose.
Most of the functions of the main delivery platforms could easily be achieved through smart contracts, and then drivers would act as owner-operators instead of "independent contractors". They would also be able to get 100% of the fees associated with the delivery.
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#9This may be a hot take, but I think the gig economy is one thing which could be a pretty solid use of the blockchain. Uber/DoorDash/Lyft are all pretty simple CRUD apps at their core, and the companies themselves do very little actual work. Unfortunately, due to the Silicon Valley cult of growth, they are still either unprofitable or barely profitable while also taking a pretty massive cut away from actual workers on…
The companies exist because there’s a value in a middle-man handling things like vetting drivers, tax and regulatory compliance, and handling disputes like “my food is partially eaten”.
You could use the blockchain in some ways, but I don’t see how the companies themselves could be easily replaced.
Re: Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all
#10I was expecting a data driven argument but the bits of data shared actually contradict the author. These companies mentioned are collectively worth $500B, after taking $100B in venture capital. They are starting to get profitable. Demand for their services is increasing.
This article is thousands of words of the exact same talking points we have been hearing for a decade. What's the "after all" part?