4 ms·

Uber will go into bankruptcy, and it will be the starting point of the next worldwide economic crisis.

ghaff 7y ago
What percentage of the US population do you think has taken an Uber in the past month? From January: "According to a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, just 36 percent of American adults say they have used ride-hailing services. Sixty-one percent say they have heard of the services but hadn’t taken a ride." https://www.wired.com/story/uber-lyft-ride-hail-stats-pew-research/ https://www.wired.com/story/uber-lyft-ride-hail-stats-pew-re... Heck. I travel lots and it's probably been a few months since I've taken a Lyft or Uber. I don't think it's as important a company as you seem to think.
- refurb 7y ago
  I think the GP has a point though. It's not as though UBER going under is going to tank the economy, but it will be a major unicorn going under, causing the entire silicon valley money-losing model to be questioned, leading to trouble raising money, layoffs which drag down the rest of the economy. Similar to the 2000 crash.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    That's not the world economy though. It's a bunch of highly-paid software developers losing their jobs and a subsequent (though probably rather delayed) crash in Bay Area real estate. Though that really depends on Google, Apple, etc. more than startups. Not great for devs looking for 6 figure jobs in the Bay Area. But not clear how broad the effect would be--unless they were triggered by more serious external events. And 2000 crash also was associated with other things like 9/11 so it's easy to conflate.
    - refurb 7y ago
      Agree that it’s not the world economy and stable big tech companies wouldn’t be that impacted, but people are looking for any sign that a recession is coming. Several unicorns going bust could be enough to kill confidence in the markets and cause people to prepare for the worst (I.e. sell investments and stop spending). Just a hypothesis!
goobynight 7y ago
What led you to this idea?

What percentage of the US population do you think has taken an Uber in the past month? From January: "According to a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, just 36 percent of American adults say they have used ride-hailing services. Sixty-one percent say they have heard of the services but hadn’t taken a ride." https://www.wired.com/story/uber-lyft-ride-hail-stats-pew-research/ https://www.wired.com/story/uber-lyft-ride-hail-stats-pew-re... Heck. I travel lots and it's probably been a few months since I've taken a Lyft or Uber. I don't think it's as important a company as you seem to think.

refurb 7y ago
I think the GP has a point though. It's not as though UBER going under is going to tank the economy, but it will be a major unicorn going under, causing the entire silicon valley money-losing model to be questioned, leading to trouble raising money, layoffs which drag down the rest of the economy. Similar to the 2000 crash.
- ghaff 7y ago
  That's not the world economy though. It's a bunch of highly-paid software developers losing their jobs and a subsequent (though probably rather delayed) crash in Bay Area real estate. Though that really depends on Google, Apple, etc. more than startups. Not great for devs looking for 6 figure jobs in the Bay Area. But not clear how broad the effect would be--unless they were triggered by more serious external events. And 2000 crash also was associated with other things like 9/11 so it's easy to conflate.
  - refurb 7y ago
    Agree that it’s not the world economy and stable big tech companies wouldn’t be that impacted, but people are looking for any sign that a recession is coming. Several unicorns going bust could be enough to kill confidence in the markets and cause people to prepare for the worst (I.e. sell investments and stop spending). Just a hypothesis!

goobynight 7y ago

What led you to this idea?