4 ms·

Uber = Groupon v2?

by apapli 10y ago

Uber = Groupon v2?

rock57 10y ago
I totally agree, I've mentioned in earlier threads that it seems to me that Uber is Groupon v2 having its Zenefits moment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13788642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13788642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13585025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13585025
curun1r 10y ago
Webvan seems like a more apt comparison. Some of Uber's antics remind me of the way Webvan used to act. I remember seeing one of their delivery people pull up and park in a red zone right in front of a cop. The cop told him he couldn't park there. His response, "Are you going to tow me?" was answered with "no, but..." and before the cop could finish, the driver had walked away. The cop dutifully wrote out the ticket. Uber's scale is a lot larger, but the two feel much more similar than either does to Groupon. Groupon was much more a gimmick product that used high-pressure sales tactics to get small businesses into situations they weren't prepared for with dubious benefit. Once word got around and people realized that its benefit to businesses was much more limited than they promised, they got a lot smaller. But Groupon wasn't really burning VC cash to subsidize a legitimately-useful service the way that Uber and Webvan are/did.
- rocqua 10y ago
  > I remember seeing one of their delivery people pull up and park in a red zone right in front of a cop. The cop told him he couldn't park there. His response, "Are you going to tow me?" was answered with "no, but..." and before the cop could finish, the driver had walked away. The cop dutifully wrote out the ticket. I like the concept of an 'economic' crime for these kinds of situations. The idea is that when a misdemeanor has the normal penalty aimed at deterring private usage but was committed for commercial reasons, the penalty is massively increased. This way, you prevent situations where it makes financial sense to park in front of a fire hydrant and just eat the fines.

Uber = Groupon v2?

by apapli 10y ago

Uber = Groupon v2?

I totally agree, I've mentioned in earlier threads that it seems to me that Uber is Groupon v2 having its Zenefits moment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13788642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13788642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13585025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13585025

curun1r 10y ago

Webvan seems like a more apt comparison. Some of Uber's antics remind me of the way Webvan used to act. I remember seeing one of their delivery people pull up and park in a red zone right in front of a cop. The cop told him he couldn't park there. His response, "Are you going to tow me?" was answered with "no, but..." and before the cop could finish, the driver had walked away. The cop dutifully wrote out the ticket. Uber's scale is a lot larger, but the two feel much more similar than either does to Groupon. Groupon was much more a gimmick product that used high-pressure sales tactics to get small businesses into situations they weren't prepared for with dubious benefit. Once word got around and people realized that its benefit to businesses was much more limited than they promised, they got a lot smaller. But Groupon wasn't really burning VC cash to subsidize a legitimately-useful service the way that Uber and Webvan are/did.

rocqua 10y ago
> I remember seeing one of their delivery people pull up and park in a red zone right in front of a cop. The cop told him he couldn't park there. His response, "Are you going to tow me?" was answered with "no, but..." and before the cop could finish, the driver had walked away. The cop dutifully wrote out the ticket. I like the concept of an 'economic' crime for these kinds of situations. The idea is that when a misdemeanor has the normal penalty aimed at deterring private usage but was committed for commercial reasons, the penalty is massively increased. This way, you prevent situations where it makes financial sense to park in front of a fire hydrant and just eat the fines.