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> "competing with Uber might seem intimidating, but in many respects the company is a paper tiger. Its massive valuation, which stood at $62.5 billion in Januar
by dotBen 10y ago
> "competing with Uber might seem intimidating, but in many respects the company is a paper tiger. Its massive valuation, which stood at $62.5 billion in January, comes from intellectual property — its brand and data — rather than from tangible assets."
Right... except that the brand is what creates the demand side of the market, the data is what makes the platform efficient and the IP provides strong defense against 3rd parties like this one.
Just to point out this is a thought-piece in a very socialist political magazine - and while I love Bernie as much as the next guy, this piece is a political folly and not really grounded in any business or technical fact.
- rdiddly 10y agoUber's brand did not and does not create the demand for catching a ride. The 400-year continuous existence of some form of ride service, starting with horse-drawn hackneys, tends to indicate a pre-existing demand, as does the fact that "taxi" is the same word in different languages all over the world.
- srtjstjsj 10y agoUber's brand created supply: before Uber, most customers would not choose to satisfy their demand by paying $10 to an unlicensed stranger.
- jonknee 10y agoI would argue Uber has definitely created demand for catching a ride. I use Uber tons more than I have ever used a taxi. That's because it's faster, cheaper, cleaner and has better customer service.
- morgante 10y agoYou were able to pay a stranger to drive you around long before Uber came out. Even today if you loiter around any major airport you'll have plenty of people approaching you to offer a ride. The difference is that I have 0 trust in a random person offering me a ride. I trust the Uber brand though.
- glup 10y agoIf by 'not really grounded in business or technical fact' you mean not how things are typically done now, that's sort of the point. But there are some important precedents: Publix supermarkets for example, a Fortune 100 company with 170k workers, is wholly employee-owned.