3 ms·

Because they desperately need a grown up. Uber doesn't need to be innovative, it needs to execute without continuing to shooting off it's toes.

revelation 9y ago
What exactly does it need to execute on? It's valued at $60B and is losing money with every. single. fricking. ride. It doesn't need someone to "execute" some sort of plan, it needs a miracle only innovation can provide.
- QAPereo 9y ago
  What it needs is a time machine to bring the necessary automotive tech back from 2050.
- valuearb 9y ago
  It needs to re-focus on it's core ride-sharing business and substantially reduce it's burn rate. There is little doubt that ride-sharing will be a massively profitable business, they get paid dollars per ride and their booking costs should only be pennies. The myth that their rides are unprofitable is because they spend money like drunken sailors in a whorehouse. Anyone analyzing their financials has no insight into whether ride sharing is profitable in the US, or other countries because the needed information is not broken out in those reports They have up to 100 side businesses like UberEats. They've spent a ton trying to design autonomous vehicles they don't need now and likely never will need (given they'll be freely available for purchase from Tesla, GM, etc when created). Lastly, they spend huge amounts opening new markets, basically paying drivers to sign up with such lucrative bonuses that Uber gets scammed constantly by them. The plan is pretty simple 1) Kill almost every side business, and do a substantial headcount reduction. 2) Dump the autonomous driving development group and cheaply settle the Waymo lawsuit. 3) Focus everyone left on ride-sharing, improving the brand, and efficiently expanding internationally. 4) Clean house in the HR department and of every remaining harasser. 5) Raise another round to ensure Uber's long term financial stability. Thats a plan that gives Uber a very long runway to achieve full profitability, even without an IPO.
  - jnwatson 9y ago
    Well put. I hope the new CEO reads this.
  - ImSkeptical 9y ago
    If Uber just focuses on ride-sharing, without innovation, it's unclear to me how they could survive. They seem to scale in reverse. That is, an Uber that runs in the US and the UK will cost more to operate than an Uber that runs in just the US. An Uber that runs in one state will cost less than an Uber that runs in a whole country, and so on. The more diverse an area you serve, the more legislation and markets you have to deal with, more hours you'll have high customer support load, and the less well you will be able to analyze and react to trends in individual markets. What stops me, then, in an era where Uber isn't fueled by investor money every trip, from being a competitor with Uber? Raise a few million dollars, get a simple app together with a few friends, and then convince drivers to try (take a lot of short Uber rides and pitch good drivers) and riders to ride. I'd have less staff, less overhead, and therefore less costs. The savings could be passed on equally to the drivers and riders. I could give discounts on nights when there was a big game, I could advertise in local areas, I could poach good drivers from Uber, etc. It seems to me there is no way for Uber to be competitive if they aren't using investor to subsidize the price of rides. There is nothing, that I am aware of, that is impossible or expensive to replicate in their tech.
    - yeukhon 9y ago
      I think we need to make peace with the word innovation sometimes. Innovation should be realistic in the right timing. Surely autonomous car is a really interesting future, but Uber has plenty of organizational problems require urgent and decisive surgery. Abandon the auto project and UberEats (I don't even know if UberEats is even profitable or how many people actually use it) will allow the company to focus on core problems. How can you clean your house if your kids constantly go around the house making a mess? Let's get the house cleaned first then we worry about how to correct the kids' behaviors. Basically, do one thing well enough before moving to another. They really need to focus on growing in cities and countries where they face competitions but already have a strong root. I understand the awesomeness to be the bigges, but look at Uber China, Uber had to parnter with Di Di instead (Uber doesn't run its business in mainland China anymore). Uber also recently shut down its business in Marcu because the drivers were fined so much no one would work for Uber.
- origami777 9y ago
  How do you know it looses money on every ride (genuine question)? Is there proof? Could it be that there are profitable rides in some of its markets that inspire investors that it would eventually be able to make every ride profitable at some point?
  - slouch 9y ago
    > Uber passengers were paying only 41% of the actual cost of their trips https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver-part-one-understanding-ubers-bleak-operating-economics.html https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-delive...
    - valuearb 9y ago
      That analysis is speculative at best. It ignores all of the costs that aren't part of providing Uber ride-sharing, including a large number of side businesses, and it's massive investment in international growth. The financials simply don't provide detail to break down the actual costs of ride-sharing when it's mixed in with so many incidental operations and costs.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  Sure it does. Uber is like Dropbox for cars. WTF are they doing? If you fired 75% of the people, and focused on selling rides and selling cars to drivers, the company would probably coast and make money for years.

revelation 9y ago

What exactly does it need to execute on? It's valued at $60B and is losing money with every. single. fricking. ride. It doesn't need someone to "execute" some sort of plan, it needs a miracle only innovation can provide.

QAPereo 9y ago
What it needs is a time machine to bring the necessary automotive tech back from 2050.
valuearb 9y ago
It needs to re-focus on it's core ride-sharing business and substantially reduce it's burn rate. There is little doubt that ride-sharing will be a massively profitable business, they get paid dollars per ride and their booking costs should only be pennies. The myth that their rides are unprofitable is because they spend money like drunken sailors in a whorehouse. Anyone analyzing their financials has no insight into whether ride sharing is profitable in the US, or other countries because the needed information is not broken out in those reports They have up to 100 side businesses like UberEats. They've spent a ton trying to design autonomous vehicles they don't need now and likely never will need (given they'll be freely available for purchase from Tesla, GM, etc when created). Lastly, they spend huge amounts opening new markets, basically paying drivers to sign up with such lucrative bonuses that Uber gets scammed constantly by them. The plan is pretty simple 1) Kill almost every side business, and do a substantial headcount reduction. 2) Dump the autonomous driving development group and cheaply settle the Waymo lawsuit. 3) Focus everyone left on ride-sharing, improving the brand, and efficiently expanding internationally. 4) Clean house in the HR department and of every remaining harasser. 5) Raise another round to ensure Uber's long term financial stability. Thats a plan that gives Uber a very long runway to achieve full profitability, even without an IPO.
- jnwatson 9y ago
  Well put. I hope the new CEO reads this.
- ImSkeptical 9y ago
  If Uber just focuses on ride-sharing, without innovation, it's unclear to me how they could survive. They seem to scale in reverse. That is, an Uber that runs in the US and the UK will cost more to operate than an Uber that runs in just the US. An Uber that runs in one state will cost less than an Uber that runs in a whole country, and so on. The more diverse an area you serve, the more legislation and markets you have to deal with, more hours you'll have high customer support load, and the less well you will be able to analyze and react to trends in individual markets. What stops me, then, in an era where Uber isn't fueled by investor money every trip, from being a competitor with Uber? Raise a few million dollars, get a simple app together with a few friends, and then convince drivers to try (take a lot of short Uber rides and pitch good drivers) and riders to ride. I'd have less staff, less overhead, and therefore less costs. The savings could be passed on equally to the drivers and riders. I could give discounts on nights when there was a big game, I could advertise in local areas, I could poach good drivers from Uber, etc. It seems to me there is no way for Uber to be competitive if they aren't using investor to subsidize the price of rides. There is nothing, that I am aware of, that is impossible or expensive to replicate in their tech.
  - yeukhon 9y ago
    I think we need to make peace with the word innovation sometimes. Innovation should be realistic in the right timing. Surely autonomous car is a really interesting future, but Uber has plenty of organizational problems require urgent and decisive surgery. Abandon the auto project and UberEats (I don't even know if UberEats is even profitable or how many people actually use it) will allow the company to focus on core problems. How can you clean your house if your kids constantly go around the house making a mess? Let's get the house cleaned first then we worry about how to correct the kids' behaviors. Basically, do one thing well enough before moving to another. They really need to focus on growing in cities and countries where they face competitions but already have a strong root. I understand the awesomeness to be the bigges, but look at Uber China, Uber had to parnter with Di Di instead (Uber doesn't run its business in mainland China anymore). Uber also recently shut down its business in Marcu because the drivers were fined so much no one would work for Uber.
origami777 9y ago
How do you know it looses money on every ride (genuine question)? Is there proof? Could it be that there are profitable rides in some of its markets that inspire investors that it would eventually be able to make every ride profitable at some point?
- slouch 9y ago
  > Uber passengers were paying only 41% of the actual cost of their trips https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver-part-one-understanding-ubers-bleak-operating-economics.html https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-delive...
  - valuearb 9y ago
    That analysis is speculative at best. It ignores all of the costs that aren't part of providing Uber ride-sharing, including a large number of side businesses, and it's massive investment in international growth. The financials simply don't provide detail to break down the actual costs of ride-sharing when it's mixed in with so many incidental operations and costs.
Spooky23 9y ago
Sure it does. Uber is like Dropbox for cars. WTF are they doing? If you fired 75% of the people, and focused on selling rides and selling cars to drivers, the company would probably coast and make money for years.