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This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end con

by neosat 9y ago

This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end consumers, what exactly does it need Lyft for? Lyft will be a vehicle for Google to kickstart and test this out with a current ride sharing network before Lyft is cut off ...

azernik 9y ago
If Google/Waymo wants to be running the whole business end-to-end, they'll buy up Lyft for its established network. If not, then Lyft will just be the pilot customer, and will probably end up competing with later customers.
bigbugbag 9y ago
To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct comptetitor ? To signal other would be poachers and tech snatchers that you don't mess with the Google ? To experiment outside of the google brand ? To test waters before buying Lyft ? To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people ? There are quite a few reasons for google to be a partner for lyft.
- iplaw 9y ago
  > To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct competitor? I see this as one of the primary motivating factors. > To test waters before buying Lyft? I don't foresee this happening, at least not the current iteration of Lyft. With the rise of autonomy, I can see Lyft pivoting in one of two directions: autonomous fleet ownership and management, or management of the use of individuals' personal autonomous vehicles while they would otherwise sit unused. Google has the capital to purchase a fleet on its own, so I don't see Google buying Lyft if that becomes their primary business strategy. If it's the latter option, Google may see value in the Lyft brand. People are already working with Lyft to grind out supplemental income with their personal vehicles, so it may be an easier sell to potential vehicle-owners to go with Lyft. > To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people? Definitely part of the story.
MarkMc 9y ago
I think you are confusing the long term and short term outlook. In the short term Waymo will have a very strong bargaining position because their technology is so advanced - Lyft cannot buy self driving tech from anyone else. But in 10 years Lyft will be able to choose from a half dozen companies offering self driving tech. 'Ride sharing' will be a cut-throat commodity business like airlines, but Lyft won't be at a particular disadvantage compared to other companies in the industry.
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fragmede 9y ago
And when Facebook came out with Google Plus, we all switched away from Facebook, right? All the engineering genius in the world couldn't do enough for Google Plus (hint: it's not the engineering), why would they do any better with supplanting Lyft unless they copied Uber and lit money on fire by offering free rides for a year like they did with (domestic US) phone calls.
- yohui 9y ago
  Google Voice still does offer free domestic US calls. They kept renewing the one year free offer until they just declared it free indefinitely.
- amyjess 9y ago
  To extend your comparison, look at how much better buying YouTube was for Google than starting Google Video was.
  - MarkMc 9y ago
    Both Facebook and YouTube have very strong network effects protecting them from competition. A self-driving taxi service would have no network effect - a better analogy is to the airline industry.
ipqk 9y ago
But Waymo (and Apple) is no longer building cars, as they partnered with Fiat Chrysler. Turns out building cars is a pain in the ass. If all you're building is the underlying technology, you NEED partnerships for an actual complete solution.
- memmcgee 9y ago
  It's also unlikely a company will just switch over self driving tech. A lot of the technology all these companies have is proprietary and I highly doubt it will all be interchangeable.

by neosat 9y ago

azernik 9y ago

If Google/Waymo wants to be running the whole business end-to-end, they'll buy up Lyft for its established network. If not, then Lyft will just be the pilot customer, and will probably end up competing with later customers.

bigbugbag 9y ago

To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct comptetitor ? To signal other would be poachers and tech snatchers that you don't mess with the Google ? To experiment outside of the google brand ? To test waters before buying Lyft ? To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people ? There are quite a few reasons for google to be a partner for lyft.

iplaw 9y ago
> To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct competitor? I see this as one of the primary motivating factors. > To test waters before buying Lyft? I don't foresee this happening, at least not the current iteration of Lyft. With the rise of autonomy, I can see Lyft pivoting in one of two directions: autonomous fleet ownership and management, or management of the use of individuals' personal autonomous vehicles while they would otherwise sit unused. Google has the capital to purchase a fleet on its own, so I don't see Google buying Lyft if that becomes their primary business strategy. If it's the latter option, Google may see value in the Lyft brand. People are already working with Lyft to grind out supplemental income with their personal vehicles, so it may be an easier sell to potential vehicle-owners to go with Lyft. > To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people? Definitely part of the story.

MarkMc 9y ago

I think you are confusing the long term and short term outlook. In the short term Waymo will have a very strong bargaining position because their technology is so advanced - Lyft cannot buy self driving tech from anyone else. But in 10 years Lyft will be able to choose from a half dozen companies offering self driving tech. 'Ride sharing' will be a cut-throat commodity business like airlines, but Lyft won't be at a particular disadvantage compared to other companies in the industry.

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fragmede 9y ago

And when Facebook came out with Google Plus, we all switched away from Facebook, right? All the engineering genius in the world couldn't do enough for Google Plus (hint: it's not the engineering), why would they do any better with supplanting Lyft unless they copied Uber and lit money on fire by offering free rides for a year like they did with (domestic US) phone calls.

yohui 9y ago
Google Voice still does offer free domestic US calls. They kept renewing the one year free offer until they just declared it free indefinitely.
amyjess 9y ago
To extend your comparison, look at how much better buying YouTube was for Google than starting Google Video was.
- MarkMc 9y ago
  Both Facebook and YouTube have very strong network effects protecting them from competition. A self-driving taxi service would have no network effect - a better analogy is to the airline industry.

ipqk 9y ago

But Waymo (and Apple) is no longer building cars, as they partnered with Fiat Chrysler. Turns out building cars is a pain in the ass. If all you're building is the underlying technology, you NEED partnerships for an actual complete solution.

memmcgee 9y ago
It's also unlikely a company will just switch over self driving tech. A lot of the technology all these companies have is proprietary and I highly doubt it will all be interchangeable.