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Is it possible that just having an app doesn't make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?

by boh 6y ago

ProAm 6y ago
They are a logistics and pricing company. If they would license this tech they'd be rich beyond belief. They companies could really be Uber-for-X.
- boh 6y ago
  Most companies prefer logistics/pricing models to be profitable. Being a pump-and-dump for VCs isn't something they can license out.
  - ProAm 6y ago
    Isn't that just tuning compared to the race as a loss leader for market share?
    - boh 6y ago
      No. This isn't a software company.
      - ProAm 6y ago
        Uber isnt a software company?
- umeshunni 6y ago
  That's an interesting thought experiment. At the high level, Amazon is also primarily a logistics and pricing company. They could also license their tech (or white label it a la Shopify) and make a lot of money, but they realized at some point that owning the user relationship was key to unlocking more value than just owning the tech.
  - ProAm 6y ago
    I think Amazon is licensing that tech to all 3rd party sellers now right?
- cercatrova 6y ago
  I'm not sure they'd make as much as owning the network end to end. Vertical integration is hot right now, see Apple. Uber already has delivery via freight as well as getting into air delivery, so why would they need to license it? It just makes more sense to keep the tech proprietary and use it for their various enterprises.
  - ProAm 6y ago
    It's tough to say, I think profitability would come faster than being a taxi company with an app (disregarding freight and air for now). But I think there is a much wider prospective customer base and recurring revenue licensing the tech stack as a SaaS. And that's not to say they have to give up Uber as a taxi company while they do both. It's a much more reasonable moonshot than the autonomous driving experiment they did that killed someone moving fast and breaking things. I see a lot of value there.
willis936 6y ago
Do they even appropriately license now? Gig economy is like Napster but with actual victims.
Barrin92 6y ago
the definition of 'tech' has been hollowed out for a while. Almost all software 'tech' companies are actually just market-makers or middlemen rather than actually driving deep process innovation that delivers extreme efficiency gains. Uber, Airbnb's etc.. model is basically regulatory arbitrage by externalising costs that taxi companies or hotels have to take on themselves to the detriment of workers and the environment.
- astrange 6y ago
  You’re assuming Uber behaves worse than a taxi company, but that’s giving too much credit to the taxi company. They’re just a mini-Uber with a medallion, they don’t necessarily take care of the drivers or the cars.
rachelbythebay 6y ago
Can't speak for Uber... but yes. Just having an app does not make you a tech company. Tech companies tend to build stuff.
mlboss 6y ago
I read somewhere that there are different levels of "tech" company. A truly tech company would work without any human intervention for multiple days without breakdown. A non-tech company involves human in every tasks required for work. Most of the companies fall somewhere in between. Ride services/Food delivery company cannot function without humans.
- neolog 6y ago
  Are there any companies that work for days without human intervention?
  - GavinMcG 6y ago
    Online digital content, like paid courses or an author selling their own books, may come close once a sufficient amount of marketing material is out there. Email funnels can be automated, blog posts can be scheduled (and recycled), payment gateways and whatnot can handle the actual transactions. Simple apps and games don't necessarily need to keep getting better all the time; a successful one could likely coast for some time without needing much intervention.
  - mritchie712 6y ago
    Blogs for sure
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - nhumrich 6y ago
    google search, netflix, facebook, gmail, roomba, apple, microsoft, slack, youtube, AWS, wordpress, github, jira, the list goes on
    - Tarq0n 6y ago
      I'm not convinced any of those would last even hours without an army of SRE's holding them together.
bsder 6y ago
"Tech" is simply a company that you can convince VC's to throw money at in the hopes of unicorn valuations in 18 months. Because we all know that VC's don't invest in non-tech companies anymore.
paraschopra 6y ago
The degree of techness of a company is a function of how long it can survive if you start firing their IT team.
remir 6y ago
Where I'm from, the government bought back the taxi licenses from taxi drivers and changed the law so now Uber doesn't have an advantage over traditional taxi companies.

Is it possible that just having an app doesn't make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?

by boh 6y ago

Is it possible that just having an app doesn't make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?

ProAm 6y ago

They are a logistics and pricing company. If they would license this tech they'd be rich beyond belief. They companies could really be Uber-for-X.

boh 6y ago
Most companies prefer logistics/pricing models to be profitable. Being a pump-and-dump for VCs isn't something they can license out.
- ProAm 6y ago
  Isn't that just tuning compared to the race as a loss leader for market share?
  - boh 6y ago
    No. This isn't a software company.
    - ProAm 6y ago
      Uber isnt a software company?
umeshunni 6y ago
That's an interesting thought experiment. At the high level, Amazon is also primarily a logistics and pricing company. They could also license their tech (or white label it a la Shopify) and make a lot of money, but they realized at some point that owning the user relationship was key to unlocking more value than just owning the tech.
- ProAm 6y ago
  I think Amazon is licensing that tech to all 3rd party sellers now right?
cercatrova 6y ago
I'm not sure they'd make as much as owning the network end to end. Vertical integration is hot right now, see Apple. Uber already has delivery via freight as well as getting into air delivery, so why would they need to license it? It just makes more sense to keep the tech proprietary and use it for their various enterprises.
- ProAm 6y ago
  It's tough to say, I think profitability would come faster than being a taxi company with an app (disregarding freight and air for now). But I think there is a much wider prospective customer base and recurring revenue licensing the tech stack as a SaaS. And that's not to say they have to give up Uber as a taxi company while they do both. It's a much more reasonable moonshot than the autonomous driving experiment they did that killed someone moving fast and breaking things. I see a lot of value there.

willis936 6y ago

Do they even appropriately license now? Gig economy is like Napster but with actual victims.

Barrin92 6y ago

the definition of 'tech' has been hollowed out for a while. Almost all software 'tech' companies are actually just market-makers or middlemen rather than actually driving deep process innovation that delivers extreme efficiency gains. Uber, Airbnb's etc.. model is basically regulatory arbitrage by externalising costs that taxi companies or hotels have to take on themselves to the detriment of workers and the environment.

astrange 6y ago
You’re assuming Uber behaves worse than a taxi company, but that’s giving too much credit to the taxi company. They’re just a mini-Uber with a medallion, they don’t necessarily take care of the drivers or the cars.

rachelbythebay 6y ago

Can't speak for Uber... but yes. Just having an app does not make you a tech company. Tech companies tend to build stuff.

mlboss 6y ago

I read somewhere that there are different levels of "tech" company. A truly tech company would work without any human intervention for multiple days without breakdown. A non-tech company involves human in every tasks required for work. Most of the companies fall somewhere in between. Ride services/Food delivery company cannot function without humans.

neolog 6y ago
Are there any companies that work for days without human intervention?
- GavinMcG 6y ago
  Online digital content, like paid courses or an author selling their own books, may come close once a sufficient amount of marketing material is out there. Email funnels can be automated, blog posts can be scheduled (and recycled), payment gateways and whatnot can handle the actual transactions. Simple apps and games don't necessarily need to keep getting better all the time; a successful one could likely coast for some time without needing much intervention.
- mritchie712 6y ago
  Blogs for sure
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- nhumrich 6y ago
  google search, netflix, facebook, gmail, roomba, apple, microsoft, slack, youtube, AWS, wordpress, github, jira, the list goes on
  - Tarq0n 6y ago
    I'm not convinced any of those would last even hours without an army of SRE's holding them together.

bsder 6y ago

"Tech" is simply a company that you can convince VC's to throw money at in the hopes of unicorn valuations in 18 months. Because we all know that VC's don't invest in non-tech companies anymore.

paraschopra 6y ago

The degree of techness of a company is a function of how long it can survive if you start firing their IT team.

remir 6y ago

Where I'm from, the government bought back the taxi licenses from taxi drivers and changed the law so now Uber doesn't have an advantage over traditional taxi companies.