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FWIW, I heard they convinced investors that economy of scales will make their pricing profitable in the future. At least that's what somebody said in this other

by qb45 9y ago

FWIW, I heard they convinced investors that economy of scales will make their pricing profitable in the future. At least that's what somebody said in this other Uber thread here. Whether their calculations will pan out is another story. Whether such tactics should be allowed - yet another.

Marazan 9y ago
What economies of scale? Uber distribute the car maintenance costs onto the drivers - making it the most inefficient way to have a fleet of cars. The Uber model is anti-econonmy-of-scale. It is a non scalable human wave approach.
- netsharc 9y ago
  I suppose the words "pyramid scheme" has been mentioned before... hah, you gotta love the way technology does it, shall we call it Pyramid Scheme 2.0? Promise everyone profits, investors and workers alike, but scam the workers, and maybe there'll be profit for the investors, somewhere in the future.
  - phire 9y ago
    It's more like a Ponzi scheme than a Pyramid scheme. For investors, the promise of profitability is continually just over the horizon, as long as you keep investing money. Everyone can see the company is potentially very profitable, but nobody can see a route there. Though for the drivers, it looks a lot like a multi-level marketing scheme. Be your own boss, choose your own hours, work hard and you will be rich.
celticninja 9y ago
I don't see what scales, their costs are per person/vehicle there is no way with their model to see a reduction in costs by acquiring new drivers. Even if you remove the driver and can have fully autonomous cars the costs are perhaps marginally reduced in the long term. The way they burn money I don't think they have that long of a term in them. I always believe their intention was to become big enough and ubiquitous enough that they could become a monopoly supplier and therefore set profitable prices without the risk of being undercut, having consumed or removed their competition through subsidised rides.
delazeur 9y ago
Making a loss on every sale, but making up for it with volume?

by qb45 9y ago

Marazan 9y ago

What economies of scale? Uber distribute the car maintenance costs onto the drivers - making it the most inefficient way to have a fleet of cars. The Uber model is anti-econonmy-of-scale. It is a non scalable human wave approach.

netsharc 9y ago
I suppose the words "pyramid scheme" has been mentioned before... hah, you gotta love the way technology does it, shall we call it Pyramid Scheme 2.0? Promise everyone profits, investors and workers alike, but scam the workers, and maybe there'll be profit for the investors, somewhere in the future.
- phire 9y ago
  It's more like a Ponzi scheme than a Pyramid scheme. For investors, the promise of profitability is continually just over the horizon, as long as you keep investing money. Everyone can see the company is potentially very profitable, but nobody can see a route there. Though for the drivers, it looks a lot like a multi-level marketing scheme. Be your own boss, choose your own hours, work hard and you will be rich.

celticninja 9y ago

I don't see what scales, their costs are per person/vehicle there is no way with their model to see a reduction in costs by acquiring new drivers. Even if you remove the driver and can have fully autonomous cars the costs are perhaps marginally reduced in the long term. The way they burn money I don't think they have that long of a term in them. I always believe their intention was to become big enough and ubiquitous enough that they could become a monopoly supplier and therefore set profitable prices without the risk of being undercut, having consumed or removed their competition through subsidised rides.

delazeur 9y ago

Making a loss on every sale, but making up for it with volume?