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Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

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Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#191

Post by specialist »

capsulecorp wrote: post #162
blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

Progress won. It is infinitely easier, more affordable, transparent, convenient, and the overall experience of riding uber is hands down better than any Taxi experience I've ever had by a an extremely long shot, anyone I've spoken to agrees. Sure there are still improvements, but all in all, as a frequent user, I have to say getting a ride is hands down better with uber than before it.

I found perhaps a dozen other taxi / ride hailing apps when I was making my own proof of concept.

Lyft's innovation was "regulatory arbitrage".

Uber's innovation was burning investor money.

There are times when I've pondered, "Gee, what could have happened if I had finished that POC?" But I don't think I would have ever thought to break the law, burn investors, or exploit drivers.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#192

Post by dnautics »

treis wrote: post #183
blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

>Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. >When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like…

The worst part of the medallion story was how the industry tricked the driver's into investing back into the medallion scheme, thereby becoming small time exploiters the next generation of drivers (n=2) and in any case winding up with often negative assets when the inflated price cratered. Meanwhile the owners of say ticker TAXI and their trust fund kids are probably doing just fine

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#193

Post by pochamago »

blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

I certainly won. In my city of 400,000 we only had one unreliable cab company, Uber is much better than the alternative. Uber Eats also destroys the previous delivery service that was around. They're a really valuable service to me

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#194

Post by zeroonetwothree »

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #180
ghaff wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? If it’s an alternative to owning and parking a car in a city, it seems like something that could be a rational decision especially in the absence of good transit options.

In any city where the economics of car vs uber work out in favor of uber, then necessarily the economics of train + bus vs uber work out in favor of train + bus.

That’s clearly false unless you value your time at $0

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#195

Post by justapassenger »

computerex wrote: post #96
amoitnga wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an investor, no experience, just want to voice my 2c. - facebook and google sure, but how many are there of those who didn't make it? - sounds like a fear of missing out. - Buffet didn't invest in Microsoft because he didn't "get it". His idea, I believe, is: "it's ok to pass on investments". He's looking for "sure things". Personally, I think the entire thing is ridiculous. 120B ? for what? 2 of my friends a…

Don't forget that Uber is in the autonomous driving business. They burnt through cash to get market share, because when self driving becomes a thing, they'll have a huge swing in margins/profits as self driving will get rid of their greatest expense (human drivers).

They are far, far behind in autonomous driving business. They tried to catch up, by being super reckless, and they killed a person.

Using self driving car to justify their valuation is very risky - it's huge project, tons of competition, no idea about when it could even become a product, etc.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#196

Post by justapassenger »

blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

That strategy works, even on public market - check Tesla.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#197

Post by funkaster »

treis wrote: post #183
blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

>Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. >When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like…

> The taxi experience in cities other than NYC, Chicago, and SF got a million times better.

It wouldn't be fair to NYC and Chicago to compare them to SF. In my mind, the completely horrible broken experience of the SF taxi system was what created Uber & friends. I've been living in SF pre-Uber and having moved from a big city, the taxi system just drove me nuts, I could not understand why it was that fucked up. If it were as good as it is/was in NYC, prob we would've never seen Uber.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#198

Post by da02 »

therein wrote: post #189
treis wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. >When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like…

> The taxi experience in cities other than NYC, Chicago, and SF got a million times better. Before Uber in a city like Nashville you call for a taxi and maybe one shows up at some point. Since Uber you can reliably get a ride whenever you want. And that's not even talking about discrimination. That is a good point I hadn't considered until now. I remember back in my college days in Champaign, IL right before Uber's d…

What do you mean by, "and only then this challenge came to an end."? You simply stopped calling him?

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#199

Post by aplummer »

da02 wrote: post #198
therein wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The taxi experience in cities other than NYC, Chicago, and SF got a million times better. Before Uber in a city like Nashville you call for a taxi and maybe one shows up at some point. Since Uber you can reliably get a ride whenever you want. And that's not even talking about discrimination. That is a good point I hadn't considered until now. I remember back in my college days in Champaign, IL right before Uber's d…

What do you mean by, "and only then this challenge came to an end."? You simply stopped calling him?

They mean: only after befriending the cab driver did the challenge of getting to the airport become easy.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#200

Post by dralley »

blunte wrote: post #145

Maybe because I'm outside the unicorn bubble I can't see the magic, but I find something very warped about a business strategy that combines stratospheric valuation, intentional regulatory non-compliance, perpetual capital injections, service misrepresentation, and unprofessional corporate behavior... and results in massive financial losses year after year. When I try to balance the elements, it frankly looks like an…

https://qz.com/1540608/the-problem-with-silicon-valleys-obse...
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