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I'm somewhat more optimistic that Lyft will fare better in certain cities than Uber because they seem more willing to work with governments and seem like less o
by yladiz 10y ago
I'm somewhat more optimistic that Lyft will fare better in certain cities than Uber because they seem more willing to work with governments and seem like less of a "bully" (although they did act the same as Uber in Austin recently...), but they also seem to wait until Uber goes into a city and kind of lets them take the brunt of the assault in the hopes that they will fare better.
However, hearing that they're losing up to 50MM per month is quite disconcerting, and it makes me wonder how much time they have and if they will break even. Even at a large valuation ($25 billion if I remember right?) they seemingly can't continue at such a loss without a drastic change to their business model or continuous large outside investment. I think one of better things they could do is really use their positive PR as a strong advantage, because they don't have major blunders like Uber (e.g. Uber gets $3 billion investment from Saudi Arabian investment fund and adds one of their managers as a board member).
- dawnerd 10y agoI've been seeing nothing but ads around here for 50 dollars free and I know some people that have been taking advantage of it. Maybe they should scale that back.
- stephengillie 10y agoCould they be giving away 1 million of these a month?
- yladiz 10y agoIt's probably a combination of those $50 free ride deals, which are likely only available in specific markets, and the loss from having semi low cost rides, as well as heavy marketing.
- dawnerd 10y agoDoubtful but the people I know here don't pay for rides at all. They just keep using the free codes. That and a few have stockpiled coupons from special events.
- stormbrew 10y agoThe other downside of waiting until Uber has done the heavy lifting is that it universally gives Uber a first mover advantage in every new market. Meanwhile Uber is expanding around the entire world while Lyft is still struggling with the US.
- sneak 10y ago> more optimistic that Lyft will fare better heh