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> I personally wouldn't be shocked to find out Uber never ends up really working as a business. My other comment in this thread [0] is about how I think waymo

by mrep 8y ago

> I personally wouldn't be shocked to find out Uber never ends up really working as a business. My other comment in this thread [0] is about how I think waymo has a good chance of eating all of ubers/lyfts market so I totally agree. However, I still think their current unit economics in established markets are profitable and I can see why investors are interested in the market assuming self driving cars do not work out (which i personally don't). > By your logic, nobody would have given Theranos $1.4 billion fucking dollars without making sure their shit worked. I thought up about this a while and I have to agree with you, they could certainly be pulling a theranos or enron especially since they are not public companies which require regular audits (that I know of but I'm not finance guy). That being said, with more private money being invested in a company, I would assume they would do more personal auditing. Are there any VC guys that can comment? [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17791520 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17791520

wpietri 8y ago
Thanks! I appreciate the thoughtful reply. Honestly, I don't even thing they have to be pulling an intentional fraud, although clearly given Uber's corporate ethics it wouldn't be beyond plausibility. I think they just have to be selling the dream of future profits. "Sure, unit economics aren't in the black now, because like every startup we're working to capture market share. But once things settle down and we are the dominant player we'll be able to raise prices well above costs. Then we'll be minting money like Google or Apple." If that's their line, then extraordinary losses are just more proof of how big they'll be in the end. Transportation is a big market, so they'll have to spend big to become the dominant player. Then throw in a lot of waffle about how cars as assets are underutilized, the shift to a service model is inevitable, and robot cars are the future that Uber will also own, but with no pesky drivers to pay.

by mrep 8y ago

wpietri 8y ago

Thanks! I appreciate the thoughtful reply. Honestly, I don't even thing they have to be pulling an intentional fraud, although clearly given Uber's corporate ethics it wouldn't be beyond plausibility. I think they just have to be selling the dream of future profits. "Sure, unit economics aren't in the black now, because like every startup we're working to capture market share. But once things settle down and we are the dominant player we'll be able to raise prices well above costs. Then we'll be minting money like Google or Apple." If that's their line, then extraordinary losses are just more proof of how big they'll be in the end. Transportation is a big market, so they'll have to spend big to become the dominant player. Then throw in a lot of waffle about how cars as assets are underutilized, the shift to a service model is inevitable, and robot cars are the future that Uber will also own, but with no pesky drivers to pay.