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Can Uber ever make money?

economist.com

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Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#151

Post by napier »

matchagaucho wrote: post #132
rchaud wrote: post #74

Looking at Uber, WeWork, JustEat etc., I get the feeling there's a growing gap between what we were brought up to believe about entrepreneurship and innovation vs. what the reality is. We're all familiar with the '>50% of small businesses fail' stat (not the real number) and that we should be toiling and not taking a salary for years until we break even, i.e. reach a point where we're no longer losing money on every…

This is really just about the dynamics of mobile hailing and logistics. Of course it's cheaper than actually calling a Taxi dispatcher, verbally providing a pickup location, and paying cash. But how much cheaper? Uber, Lyft, Grab and others are in the business of figuring out those margins... and riders will pay rate increases as supply and demand equalizes.

You've nailed their single differentiating unique selling point.

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#152

Post by dugmartin »

jv22222 wrote: post #108
JimboOmega wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question (with Uber in particular) is that if this business model really covers up a huge ponzi scheme. Before the last decade (or even 5 years?) the amount of money some of these companies have been raising would have been unheard of and required an IPO. But if you can keep finding ever bigger investors to give you ever more money... It's a really weird reality, because typically the worst kind of place to start…

> with huge barriers to entry that requires a ton of money to get started Just a note that the proof of concept stage was very cheaply done. Travis hired someone to make an app and the "dispatch" system was just a single php page. He then tested it out with his friends. That said, I agree that ultimately to get to the position they are today required a ton of cash - just the getting started was pretty cheap. Actually…

You guys ever going to do another episode Justin? I still have Techzing in my podcast app list, hoping it will light up again with a new episode sometime.

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#154

Post by bluGill »

dcolkitt wrote: post #21
tguedes wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber drivers use their cars for stuff other than Uber. It's a way to make additional money from something you already have. That would not be the case if Uber had its own fleet.

Why couldn't the same logic work in the post-self-driving future? If I own a self-driving car that sits in my garage from 8 PM to 8 AM, why not just put it on the Uber network and have it make money while I sleep? As long as people still own cars, why does Uber ever need to own their own fleet? If anything without the actual pain-in-the-ass of actually having to be a driver, I'd think a lot more people would crowdsou…

Who needs a ride from 8pm to 8am? Nobody except drunks. Sure you can send your car out, but you need to plan to get up early every morning to clean the puke out.

Most people follow similar schedules: they go to work at rush hour, ride with co-workers to lunch around noon and then home during the second rush hour. If you are willing to let your car out 6am to 8pm you got some possibilities - but this is when you need/want your car for your own convenience.

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#155

Post by swlkr »

rchaud wrote: post #74

Looking at Uber, WeWork, JustEat etc., I get the feeling there's a growing gap between what we were brought up to believe about entrepreneurship and innovation vs. what the reality is. We're all familiar with the '>50% of small businesses fail' stat (not the real number) and that we should be toiling and not taking a salary for years until we break even, i.e. reach a point where we're no longer losing money on every…

One way to combat this as a small business is to be in it for the long haul, like pinboard

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#156

Post by seppin »

joncrane wrote: post #105
rchaud wrote: post #74

Looking at Uber, WeWork, JustEat etc., I get the feeling there's a growing gap between what we were brought up to believe about entrepreneurship and innovation vs. what the reality is. We're all familiar with the '>50% of small businesses fail' stat (not the real number) and that we should be toiling and not taking a salary for years until we break even, i.e. reach a point where we're no longer losing money on every…

Don't forget the other group of people who benefit: the users of the app.

until the VC-subsidized pricing goes away and they're stuck paying more than they ever did for taxis.

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#157

Post by seppin »

EpicEng wrote: post #139
anthonypasq wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The reality is that a VC-backed company can simply outprice any competitor this assumes bad ideas get enough vc funding to do what uber is doing. they dont.

Elizabeth Holmes would like to have a word

She got 1 VC investors if memory serves.

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#158

Post by bluGill »

gwbas1c wrote: post #50
tjpaudio wrote: post #34

I'm not quite sure everyone discussing this, including the economist article author, is in the loop with why Lyft and Uber are getting valued the way they are. Wall Street is not paying for a taxi company, they are betting that Uber and Lyft are the best poised to first rollout driverless ride sharing, i.e. one of them will own and monopolize patentable tech that the mass public wants to use. The existing experience…

That's like investing in Yahoo in the .com bubble. Uber and Lyft's only asset is the interface between the customer and the driver, not self-driving cars. It's very easy for someone to come up with an app to order a robotic taxi. This is probably the easiest part of the robotic taxi business. It's so much so, that unless Uber or Lyft's service is essentially "free," a robotic taxi business will probably consider the…

I agree, but will it work? If customers stubbornly pull out their lyft app despite the discounts...

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#159

Post by mpweiher »

matchagaucho wrote: post #132
rchaud wrote: post #74

Looking at Uber, WeWork, JustEat etc., I get the feeling there's a growing gap between what we were brought up to believe about entrepreneurship and innovation vs. what the reality is. We're all familiar with the '>50% of small businesses fail' stat (not the real number) and that we should be toiling and not taking a salary for years until we break even, i.e. reach a point where we're no longer losing money on every…

This is really just about the dynamics of mobile hailing and logistics. Of course it's cheaper than actually calling a Taxi dispatcher, verbally providing a pickup location, and paying cash. But how much cheaper? Uber, Lyft, Grab and others are in the business of figuring out those margins... and riders will pay rate increases as supply and demand equalizes.

> cheaper than actually calling a Taxi dispatcher

But we have apps for hailing Taxis...?

These do all the automated hailing, tracking the taxi for pickup (got my anxiety levels down quite a bit, I've had taxis not come for important trips), as well as payment and ratings (optional).

Re: Can Uber ever make money?

#160

Post by charliebossy »

mywittyname wrote: post #87
govg wrote: post #17

I can only see them making money in three ways : - They scale up massively and capture a huge fraction of the ride sharing market, thus allowing them to offer low cost / low margin rides, but making up for it by volumes : At least in India, they are in a good position, but they seem to have conceded the other markets with high potential for growth like SE Asia and China. - They have a premium offering that is actuall…

Pools are where the money is at, IMHO. If they can put together a good predictive transportation model, then I think they will really have a killer app. Personal transportation is just too costly for regular use. But having an "Uber Bus" that shows up down the street from your house right when you need it, then can bring you home right after work for maybe $5/day will have wide-spread appeal.

that's called public transit
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