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That's because the high school kid's expenses are heavily subsidized by VC fund of mom & dad. At some point, they'll likely get sick of footing that bill. The s
by ForHackernews 8y ago
That's because the high school kid's expenses are heavily subsidized by VC fund of mom & dad. At some point, they'll likely get sick of footing that bill. The same goes for Uber and friends.
- sokoloff 8y agoUber and Lyft (and AirBnB, VRBO, and Homeaway) are also subsidized in many cases by “I already own an expensive asset and carry all the fixed costs already, so I just need to make a profit over marginal costs”, which is largely the same as people who take a second or hobby job (including teenagers babysitting). That subsidy is structural, IMO. That we see a lot of full time AirBnBs and full time Uber/Lyft drivers may mean it’s sustainable even outside of VC support. (I have no inside information, but I suspect that ride-sharing is economically profitable long-term at current end-user prices in all established markets.)
- sweeeety 8y agoA lot of Uber drivers I know or had the chance to speak with actually leased/bought a car just for that, whereas Airbnb is a different capital investment.
- sokoloff 8y agoRight. I typed unclearly. The fact that some Ubers are full time and carrying the full cost of a dedicated car suggests that it’s even more sustainable than just covering marginal costs with a profit margin but covering full costs with profit.