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Look into the phrase "dumping". Uber and Lyft are allowed to run permanent losses because they have privileged access to cheap capital. If you have a better p

Look into the phrase "dumping". Uber and Lyft are allowed to run permanent losses because they have privileged access to cheap capital. If you have a better platform but you actually need to turn a profit, your ship is sunk before you leave the harbor. And a lot of the people earning "10x" at the RAMJAC companies would almost certainly earn more in equity appreciation in a competitive market. This era is bizarre. All the free market rhetoric from the 1980s is being recycled to defend central planning that is now totally cool because the central planner has a corporate charter.

dantheman 6y ago
Central planning is about risk and force; if someone want to take a risk with their own money then it's not central planning. In fact that there are many different companies in the transportation market: byrd, lyft, uber, taxis, spacex, tesla, nikola, cruise, boring company, etc... Shows it's not centrally planned.
srtjstjsj 6y ago
> If you have a better platform but you actually need to turn a profit, your ship is sunk before you leave the harbor. Why wouldn't a VC fund this amazing platform? > Uber and Lyft Wait, why does Lyft exist if Uber's funding prevents any competitor from existing?
- rmrfstar 6y ago
  VC's won't fund anything in Big Tech's "kill zone", and bootstrapped projects need profits to sustain themselves. It is very difficult to turn a profit while facing a competitor that can run perpetual losses. I find the "kill zone" theory plausible and supported by available evidence [1,2,3]. Others (a large consulting firm) disagree [4]. [1] https://www.aei.org/economics/incumbents-vs-startups-the-case-that-big-tech-is-squashing-small-tech/ https://www.aei.org/economics/incumbents-vs-startups-the-cas... [2] https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/research/events/2018/18ted-haltiwanger.pdf https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/research/events/... [3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-destroy-modemyth-or-reality-11596068322 https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-destroy-modemyth-or-r... [4] https://www.aei.org/economics/a-new-analysis-takes-a-shot-at-the-idea-big-tech-has-created-a-kill-zone-for-startups/ https://www.aei.org/economics/a-new-analysis-takes-a-shot-at...

dantheman 6y ago

Central planning is about risk and force; if someone want to take a risk with their own money then it's not central planning. In fact that there are many different companies in the transportation market: byrd, lyft, uber, taxis, spacex, tesla, nikola, cruise, boring company, etc... Shows it's not centrally planned.

srtjstjsj 6y ago

> If you have a better platform but you actually need to turn a profit, your ship is sunk before you leave the harbor. Why wouldn't a VC fund this amazing platform? > Uber and Lyft Wait, why does Lyft exist if Uber's funding prevents any competitor from existing?

rmrfstar 6y ago
VC's won't fund anything in Big Tech's "kill zone", and bootstrapped projects need profits to sustain themselves. It is very difficult to turn a profit while facing a competitor that can run perpetual losses. I find the "kill zone" theory plausible and supported by available evidence [1,2,3]. Others (a large consulting firm) disagree [4]. [1] https://www.aei.org/economics/incumbents-vs-startups-the-case-that-big-tech-is-squashing-small-tech/ https://www.aei.org/economics/incumbents-vs-startups-the-cas... [2] https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/research/events/2018/18ted-haltiwanger.pdf https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/research/events/... [3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-destroy-modemyth-or-reality-11596068322 https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-destroy-modemyth-or-r... [4] https://www.aei.org/economics/a-new-analysis-takes-a-shot-at-the-idea-big-tech-has-created-a-kill-zone-for-startups/ https://www.aei.org/economics/a-new-analysis-takes-a-shot-at...