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How much wealth was redistributed upwards? Who benefited from Uber other than the founders and maybe 1% of the entire business? I find it highly unethical for

How much wealth was redistributed upwards? Who benefited from Uber other than the founders and maybe 1% of the entire business? I find it highly unethical for such a business to be able to ignore so many laws most of which protect the have nots to build a system that moves most of the profits to the haves. Then dump the broken business to IPO for fools to buy up and loose as well.

jamiequint 7y ago
That’s a pretty cynical and inaccurate way of looking at it. They did create hundreds of thousands of part-time to full-time jobs which presumably did not benefit only the 1%. They did drastically lower the price of point-to-point transportation, thereby massively expanding the market for it which presumably did not benefit only the 1%. etc
- sschueller 7y ago
  But all of that was temporary. The jobs go away when Uber falls apart and the cheap point to point transport paid for by VCs is also gone. However the taxi companies that existed are now gone as they could not compete with Uber and the ones that could compete are working for less than before.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    Whatever the companies/brands are, we'll still see app-dispatched taxis, at least until such time as door-to-door self-driving shows up--which IMO is going to be a very long time. It's true that prices probably go up relative to where they are today which presumably reduces the demand and makes these services less viable in less dense locations.
  - umeshunni 7y ago
    In the long term, everything is temporary.
  - jamiequint 7y ago
    The rides business is EBITDA profitable and very close to generally profitable. Uber may be valued too highly, but their core business is not going anywhere.
AJ007 7y ago
Riders and drivers who got subsidized rides and income, were probably the largest beneficiaries. Uber employees, VC partners, on the Silicon Valley side. A lot of other tech workers have benefited from the upward price pressure exerted on developer salaries not just in Silicon Valley but around the world. Who got screwed, if Uber’s valuation never recovers - late stage investors, companies doing similar things such as in food delivery.
- alteria 7y ago
  I was a big fan of the $25 referral bonuses in the early days. Probably saved a few hundred dollars overall.
meekstro 7y ago
Taxi and delivery customers benefited. That’s why there were 10 billion uber tickets sold in 2018. Maybe siting in a taxi shouldn’t be a $100,000 a year job. The only benefit I see between a uber driver and a licensed taxi driver is that the uber is exponentially easier to heil. So much better than phoning some droll dispatcher for a slower service. Licensed taxi operators used to do exactly same thing with a slower more expensive service. If they were better Uber wouldn’t have sold 10 billion tickets in 2018. Uber adjusts Taxi fares to supply of drivers and demand. Licensed taxi drivers restricted supply to charge the more for a worse service. Uber can do this because they are a now a verb. Customers love Ubering and that’s all that matters. If legislation changes to increase driver pay Uber will still have network, cost and brand advantages over it’s competitors in the growing taxi market. Ignoring laws broke taxi cartels globally. I think that is forgiveable. And they aren’t forcing anyone to drive Uber but uber does provide an low barrier autonomous employment option that never existed to millions of people. The fact this works in their favour is irrelevant because customers love Uber. It’s not like there’s a training opportunity cost to driving uber. You use a car you have and know how to drive anyway and you drive it in your spare time or on a full time basis to deliver people or things. The cost to secure this employment is $30 for a police record check. Don’t even need to write a cover letter. They mightn’t be the straightest company in the world but neither are taxi cartels so they had to go to the edge of the line to displace them for the greater good.
- abvdasker 7y ago
  > The only benefit I see between a uber driver and a licensed taxi driver is that the uber is exponentially easier to heil. You mean "hail", right? Right?
  - meekstro 7y ago
    Yes it does accidentally fuhrer my argument though. People have forgotten how to spell hail.

jamiequint 7y ago

That’s a pretty cynical and inaccurate way of looking at it. They did create hundreds of thousands of part-time to full-time jobs which presumably did not benefit only the 1%. They did drastically lower the price of point-to-point transportation, thereby massively expanding the market for it which presumably did not benefit only the 1%. etc

sschueller 7y ago
But all of that was temporary. The jobs go away when Uber falls apart and the cheap point to point transport paid for by VCs is also gone. However the taxi companies that existed are now gone as they could not compete with Uber and the ones that could compete are working for less than before.
- ghaff 7y ago
  Whatever the companies/brands are, we'll still see app-dispatched taxis, at least until such time as door-to-door self-driving shows up--which IMO is going to be a very long time. It's true that prices probably go up relative to where they are today which presumably reduces the demand and makes these services less viable in less dense locations.
- umeshunni 7y ago
  In the long term, everything is temporary.
- jamiequint 7y ago
  The rides business is EBITDA profitable and very close to generally profitable. Uber may be valued too highly, but their core business is not going anywhere.

AJ007 7y ago

Riders and drivers who got subsidized rides and income, were probably the largest beneficiaries. Uber employees, VC partners, on the Silicon Valley side. A lot of other tech workers have benefited from the upward price pressure exerted on developer salaries not just in Silicon Valley but around the world. Who got screwed, if Uber’s valuation never recovers - late stage investors, companies doing similar things such as in food delivery.

alteria 7y ago
I was a big fan of the $25 referral bonuses in the early days. Probably saved a few hundred dollars overall.

meekstro 7y ago

Taxi and delivery customers benefited. That’s why there were 10 billion uber tickets sold in 2018. Maybe siting in a taxi shouldn’t be a $100,000 a year job. The only benefit I see between a uber driver and a licensed taxi driver is that the uber is exponentially easier to heil. So much better than phoning some droll dispatcher for a slower service. Licensed taxi operators used to do exactly same thing with a slower more expensive service. If they were better Uber wouldn’t have sold 10 billion tickets in 2018. Uber adjusts Taxi fares to supply of drivers and demand. Licensed taxi drivers restricted supply to charge the more for a worse service. Uber can do this because they are a now a verb. Customers love Ubering and that’s all that matters. If legislation changes to increase driver pay Uber will still have network, cost and brand advantages over it’s competitors in the growing taxi market. Ignoring laws broke taxi cartels globally. I think that is forgiveable. And they aren’t forcing anyone to drive Uber but uber does provide an low barrier autonomous employment option that never existed to millions of people. The fact this works in their favour is irrelevant because customers love Uber. It’s not like there’s a training opportunity cost to driving uber. You use a car you have and know how to drive anyway and you drive it in your spare time or on a full time basis to deliver people or things. The cost to secure this employment is $30 for a police record check. Don’t even need to write a cover letter. They mightn’t be the straightest company in the world but neither are taxi cartels so they had to go to the edge of the line to displace them for the greater good.

abvdasker 7y ago
> The only benefit I see between a uber driver and a licensed taxi driver is that the uber is exponentially easier to heil. You mean "hail", right? Right?
- meekstro 7y ago
  Yes it does accidentally fuhrer my argument though. People have forgotten how to spell hail.