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Maybe just the death of the idea that self-driving cars were somehow integral Uber's business model. To the extent that vision was a major driver of valuations
by femto113 9y ago
Maybe just the death of the idea that self-driving cars were somehow integral Uber's business model. To the extent that vision was a major driver of valuations, and given their ongoing need to raise capital then perhaps it could lead to their demise. On the other hand if this gets them to refocus on their current business it might perhaps help their longevity.
- amptorn 9y agoSelf-driving cars never made any sense as part of Uber's business model. What were they going to do, buy a fleet of vehicles, build garages, hire mechanics? They're a software company.
- ineedasername 9y agoMaybe they thought they'd franchise out the tech, lease and loan terms the way they do for their cars now? It's a good point, I dont know what they were thinking, if anything aside from "that'll sort itself out when the time comes"
- CydeWeys 9y agoWhy not? Google started out as a software company and now has plenty of different hardware lines.
- gpm 9y agoIt's not like you drive millions of miles without a small fleet of vehicle. Not only is that what they would do on large scale, it's what they already started to do on small scale. Uber's a company whose current main product is software, that doesn't mean they can't branch out into new things and are forever tied to software. I'd also argue that Uber already has a lot more experience with working with a million different people than most other companies (currently drivers, in the future possibly mechanics, garage owners, etc).