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As far as war chest goes, Uber basically has no competition. As far as their routing and vehicle management algorithms go, there already exist companies with mo

As far as war chest goes, Uber basically has no competition. As far as their routing and vehicle management algorithms go, there already exist companies with more sophisticated routing systems than Uber. Uber's routing algorithm is basically nearest neighbor search at a massive scale - which is perfect for the on-demand nature of their business; the companies that I'm referring to can support on-demand routing as well as scheduling rides days and weeks in advance. More knowledge of future rides -> better optimization -> better margins. Once self-driving cars finally come around, it's going to come down to fleet size and routing optimization, and while Uber can win in the first category, there's no guarantee they can win in the second category.

jacques_chester 10y ago
> As far as war chest goes, Uber basically has no competition. Google has more money coming in half year than Uber has ever raised, and it's from profits. The major car companies also have billions of dollars of revenue and collectively they hold hundreds of billions, possibly trillions, of dollars of fully depreciated assets.
- vitaminbandit 10y ago
  You're right about the cash available, but how much is Google (and its investors) willing to lose to compete with Uber? Are Google's investors willing to put up with another [vastly more expensive] Google Plus? Because when I say war chest, I mean Uber is willing to lose it all. Rides are Uber's only revenue source, whereas Google has never made a cent in that industry.
  - nojvek 10y ago
    Is Uber really willing to lose it all? Investors have put money in it expecting 10x return. Google can just right it off as their moonshot project while Uber as as a company goes poof and burns
  - jacques_chester 10y ago
    Google's investors don't have a choice. Brin and Page have voting control. In any case, it's hypothetical. Uber's unit economics are made of losses and there is no structural moat around their business. They'll run out of money and that will be that.

jacques_chester 10y ago

> As far as war chest goes, Uber basically has no competition. Google has more money coming in half year than Uber has ever raised, and it's from profits. The major car companies also have billions of dollars of revenue and collectively they hold hundreds of billions, possibly trillions, of dollars of fully depreciated assets.

vitaminbandit 10y ago
You're right about the cash available, but how much is Google (and its investors) willing to lose to compete with Uber? Are Google's investors willing to put up with another [vastly more expensive] Google Plus? Because when I say war chest, I mean Uber is willing to lose it all. Rides are Uber's only revenue source, whereas Google has never made a cent in that industry.
- nojvek 10y ago
  Is Uber really willing to lose it all? Investors have put money in it expecting 10x return. Google can just right it off as their moonshot project while Uber as as a company goes poof and burns
- jacques_chester 10y ago
  Google's investors don't have a choice. Brin and Page have voting control. In any case, it's hypothetical. Uber's unit economics are made of losses and there is no structural moat around their business. They'll run out of money and that will be that.