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The only way they survive as such a richly valued company perhaps, my point is they could provide the current level of service with vastly lower spending and be

The only way they survive as such a richly valued company perhaps, my point is they could provide the current level of service with vastly lower spending and be a sustainable company. The financial problems aren't they charge too little for rides, it's that they have thousands of people working on bullshit that brings in little to nothing.

kickopotomus 7y ago
Sorry, but I have to disagree. R&D is the life blood of a tech company. Some problems are hard. Hard problems take a lot of time and money to solve. If they spend $2B solving a problem that allows them to make $10B in revenue long term, I would say that is a worthwhile investment, wouldn't you? Frankly, the R&D spend is the least of their worries. They recently trimmed some fat from their marketing department[1] but the subsidized rides problem continues to be the biggest issue they face financially. [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/technology/uber-job-cuts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/technology/uber-job-cuts....
- josteink 7y ago
  > R&D is the life blood of a tech company. Uber is not a tech company. It’s a taxi-company with a fancy app. There’s literally no reason their operating expenses should be this big.
- jonknee 7y ago
  I'm suggesting that ride sharing doesn't have to be a tech company. I just want to get across town, there's no requirement that the company that does this has to fund flying car research or have fancy offices around the globe.
  - thelittleone 7y ago
    I travel across Asia Pacific for work. The global nature of ride hailing apps are convenient in this context in a similar way to MacDonalds (fast, convenient and you kind of know what you’re going to get). Try hailing a cab in Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia. They will ask your destination and quote you 5-10x meter fare. Use a ride hailing app and you get approximately the meter fare.
    - badestrand 7y ago
      Speaking for Thailand, the ride hailing apps are usually 1.5x - 2x the price of the meter.
      - thelittleone 7y ago
        That's fair but the vast majority of cabs I hail refuse to use meter (sometimes quite aggressively).

kickopotomus 7y ago

Sorry, but I have to disagree. R&D is the life blood of a tech company. Some problems are hard. Hard problems take a lot of time and money to solve. If they spend $2B solving a problem that allows them to make $10B in revenue long term, I would say that is a worthwhile investment, wouldn't you? Frankly, the R&D spend is the least of their worries. They recently trimmed some fat from their marketing department[1] but the subsidized rides problem continues to be the biggest issue they face financially. [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/technology/uber-job-cuts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/technology/uber-job-cuts....

josteink 7y ago
> R&D is the life blood of a tech company. Uber is not a tech company. It’s a taxi-company with a fancy app. There’s literally no reason their operating expenses should be this big.
jonknee 7y ago
I'm suggesting that ride sharing doesn't have to be a tech company. I just want to get across town, there's no requirement that the company that does this has to fund flying car research or have fancy offices around the globe.
- thelittleone 7y ago
  I travel across Asia Pacific for work. The global nature of ride hailing apps are convenient in this context in a similar way to MacDonalds (fast, convenient and you kind of know what you’re going to get). Try hailing a cab in Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia. They will ask your destination and quote you 5-10x meter fare. Use a ride hailing app and you get approximately the meter fare.
  - badestrand 7y ago
    Speaking for Thailand, the ride hailing apps are usually 1.5x - 2x the price of the meter.
    - thelittleone 7y ago
      That's fair but the vast majority of cabs I hail refuse to use meter (sometimes quite aggressively).