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How come Lyft is doing much better - comparatively? At one point, they were considering a selloff.

alasdair_ 7y ago
> How come Lyft is doing much better - comparatively? At one point, they were considering a selloff. My guess: Lyft let Uber make all the mistakes, learned from them and only spent money on things that avoided the worst mistakes that Uber made.
- mandeepj 7y ago
  > My guess: Lyft let Uber make all the mistakes, learned from them and only spent money on things that avoided the worst mistakes that Uber made. If Uber is serious then they should learn from that and become Uber 2.0
  - EForEndeavour 7y ago
    "Ubest"
- wasdfff 7y ago
  You paint them as wise and restrained while they are actively in a price war with less money than uber. The candle is lit from both ends.
syshum 7y ago
My Guess would be 1. Lower Expenses, they seem to be just interested in being a Car Service, not developing Self Driving Tech 2. Better Service, almost everyone I know has stopped using Uber due to service issues, most people seem to like Lyft better 3. Less PR Controversies
- a_t48 7y ago
  Lyft is interested in developing Self Driving, but not directly, only as investors/partners.
- mandeepj 7y ago
  > 1. Lower Expenses, they seem to be just interested in being a Car Service, not developing Self Driving Tech Sorry, that's not true. Please check - https://level5.lyft.com https://level5.lyft.com
- flyinglizard 7y ago
  Lyft develops self driving tech.
- jquery 7y ago
  >2. Better Service, almost everyone I know has stopped using Uber due to service issues, most people seem to like Lyft better My experience with Lyft was cars in generally worse condition and fewer PoC drivers and the dumb fist thing. I stopped using Lyft a long time ago so I'm sure that's changed. Uber has been rock solid for me and has only gotten better. UberEats has especially improved a lot in the past year. EDIT: The PR controversies pretty much disappeared along with Travis and along with Uber's hyper-growth. I question that avoiding the "PR controversies" was the right move, sometimes.
- pishpash 7y ago
  2. You realize they're the same drivers on both platforms right, just different stickers?
40acres 7y ago
I think it all comes down to Lyft being a smaller company, last I checked Lyft only had operations in the US and Canada. They are not a player in the delivery market either.
mkolodny 7y ago
What makes you think Lyft is doing better than Uber? The biggest chunk of Uber's non-stock losses came from Uber Eats. They're sacrificing profits for growth right now in food delivery. The ridesharing business is more stable than food delivery. So both Uber and Lyft have better ridesharing profits. Uber theoretically has more potential value than Lyft (food delivery/freight). To capture that extra value, they're spending more money. Joel Spolsky has a great blog post about "Land Grab" companies: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-ben-and-jerrys-vs-amazon/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-...
djsumdog 7y ago
They're not. If (when) Uber does eventually collapse, I bet Lyft will have to switch to more standard Taxi rates (they already do in a lot of places) in order to not go under themselves. They're operating with losses as well. Lyft has bought up a lot of bike share, e-scooter rental and other alt transport companies. So that might shore them up for a bit longer.
- wasdfff 7y ago
  Uber has scooters and bikes now too
malandrew 7y ago
beating or coming up short on estimates just means you were bad at giving the market guidance. doing better or worse than a competitor is a matter of underlying economics and the efficiency of the business. once you remove future investments (eats, freight) and just compare the core ridesharing business, Lyft is doing worse than Uber.

> How come Lyft is doing much better - comparatively? At one point, they were considering a selloff. My guess: Lyft let Uber make all the mistakes, learned from them and only spent money on things that avoided the worst mistakes that Uber made.

mandeepj 7y ago
> My guess: Lyft let Uber make all the mistakes, learned from them and only spent money on things that avoided the worst mistakes that Uber made. If Uber is serious then they should learn from that and become Uber 2.0
- EForEndeavour 7y ago
  "Ubest"
wasdfff 7y ago
You paint them as wise and restrained while they are actively in a price war with less money than uber. The candle is lit from both ends.

syshum 7y ago

My Guess would be 1. Lower Expenses, they seem to be just interested in being a Car Service, not developing Self Driving Tech 2. Better Service, almost everyone I know has stopped using Uber due to service issues, most people seem to like Lyft better 3. Less PR Controversies

a_t48 7y ago
Lyft is interested in developing Self Driving, but not directly, only as investors/partners.
mandeepj 7y ago
> 1. Lower Expenses, they seem to be just interested in being a Car Service, not developing Self Driving Tech Sorry, that's not true. Please check - https://level5.lyft.com https://level5.lyft.com
flyinglizard 7y ago
Lyft develops self driving tech.
jquery 7y ago
>2. Better Service, almost everyone I know has stopped using Uber due to service issues, most people seem to like Lyft better My experience with Lyft was cars in generally worse condition and fewer PoC drivers and the dumb fist thing. I stopped using Lyft a long time ago so I'm sure that's changed. Uber has been rock solid for me and has only gotten better. UberEats has especially improved a lot in the past year. EDIT: The PR controversies pretty much disappeared along with Travis and along with Uber's hyper-growth. I question that avoiding the "PR controversies" was the right move, sometimes.
pishpash 7y ago
2. You realize they're the same drivers on both platforms right, just different stickers?

40acres 7y ago

I think it all comes down to Lyft being a smaller company, last I checked Lyft only had operations in the US and Canada. They are not a player in the delivery market either.

mkolodny 7y ago

What makes you think Lyft is doing better than Uber? The biggest chunk of Uber's non-stock losses came from Uber Eats. They're sacrificing profits for growth right now in food delivery. The ridesharing business is more stable than food delivery. So both Uber and Lyft have better ridesharing profits. Uber theoretically has more potential value than Lyft (food delivery/freight). To capture that extra value, they're spending more money. Joel Spolsky has a great blog post about "Land Grab" companies: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-ben-and-jerrys-vs-amazon/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-...

djsumdog 7y ago

They're not. If (when) Uber does eventually collapse, I bet Lyft will have to switch to more standard Taxi rates (they already do in a lot of places) in order to not go under themselves. They're operating with losses as well. Lyft has bought up a lot of bike share, e-scooter rental and other alt transport companies. So that might shore them up for a bit longer.

wasdfff 7y ago
Uber has scooters and bikes now too

malandrew 7y ago

beating or coming up short on estimates just means you were bad at giving the market guidance. doing better or worse than a competitor is a matter of underlying economics and the efficiency of the business. once you remove future investments (eats, freight) and just compare the core ridesharing business, Lyft is doing worse than Uber.