4 ms·

I largely agree with the take that Uber is an inefficient company, but I don't think Uber is as simple as "an app company". Uber's main challenge is people. The

by axg11 4y ago

I largely agree with the take that Uber is an inefficient company, but I don't think Uber is as simple as "an app company". Uber's main challenge is people. They're basically one of the largest employers on Earth (est. ~4 million drivers). They operate across all regions. All of that adds complexity.

authpor 4y ago
however whether the people working through uber are considered uber's employees varies by jurisdiction. so you should only count those drivers in jurdistiction where they've been clearly defined as Uber's employees
AlexandrB 4y ago
> They're basically one of the largest employers on Earth (est. ~4 million drivers). I thought Uber's line was that the drivers were independent contractors. By their own logic Uber only employs the engineers and support staff that actually work at Uber not the 4 million drivers. Edit: > They operate across all regions. All of that adds complexity. I thought the idea was that by operating in multiple regions Uber could leverage economies of scale and deliver ride-hailing services cheaper than traditional taxi companies. Is this hypothesis completely incorrect then?
- sidewndr46 4y ago
  Anytime you bring up the fact that Uber has far too many engineers someone inevitably brings up the a defense along the lines of "you don't understand how complex it is" or "they operate in so many different markets, so of course they need that many". So your theory is probably correct, economies of scale don't exist. This is the same reason why a delivery company in Texas isn't also doing bike courier deliveries in Hanoi. On the surface it is very similar but they really have nothing to do with one another.
- ghaff 4y ago
  I'm not sure I've ever really understood the scale argument. Sure it's not developing the app. And OK--it's a single app and brand in many (though not all) different cities and countries. But how many people are flitting from place to place sufficiently for that to be a significant market? Heck I've been one of those people and I've rarely used Uber/Lyft.
- Jochim 4y ago
  > Is this hypothesis completely incorrect then? Pretty much yes. A local taxi services usually pays for their drivers and a few dispatchers. In my city they'd even introduced basic mobile apps around the same time Uber popped up. There's not really many places for money to go to waste. Uber removes the dispatcher and then introduces software engineers, translators, product managers, SREs, executives, scrum masters, marketing, sales, etc. From a customer perspective Uber is often worse as well. Pre-booking simply doesn't work. A traditional taxi company will make sure they have someone available at the right time for the booking. Uber just hopes someone will be available 30 minutes beforehand. Uber also doesn't seem to make it obvious to the driver that it's a pre-booking as they often show up 15 minutes early and angry that I'm not ready for them.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Someone I know was just complaining about what a crap shoot Uber pre-booking is for airport dropoffs. The taxi services out where I live aren't great either in general so I just eat the cost of a private car.
rchaud 4y ago
> Uber's main challenge is people. Correct. Which is exactly why they go to great lengths to reduce the power of the labour without which the company is a black hole of wasted capital.

by axg11 4y ago

authpor 4y ago

however whether the people working through uber are considered uber's employees varies by jurisdiction. so you should only count those drivers in jurdistiction where they've been clearly defined as Uber's employees

AlexandrB 4y ago

> They're basically one of the largest employers on Earth (est. ~4 million drivers). I thought Uber's line was that the drivers were independent contractors. By their own logic Uber only employs the engineers and support staff that actually work at Uber not the 4 million drivers. Edit: > They operate across all regions. All of that adds complexity. I thought the idea was that by operating in multiple regions Uber could leverage economies of scale and deliver ride-hailing services cheaper than traditional taxi companies. Is this hypothesis completely incorrect then?

sidewndr46 4y ago
Anytime you bring up the fact that Uber has far too many engineers someone inevitably brings up the a defense along the lines of "you don't understand how complex it is" or "they operate in so many different markets, so of course they need that many". So your theory is probably correct, economies of scale don't exist. This is the same reason why a delivery company in Texas isn't also doing bike courier deliveries in Hanoi. On the surface it is very similar but they really have nothing to do with one another.
ghaff 4y ago
I'm not sure I've ever really understood the scale argument. Sure it's not developing the app. And OK--it's a single app and brand in many (though not all) different cities and countries. But how many people are flitting from place to place sufficiently for that to be a significant market? Heck I've been one of those people and I've rarely used Uber/Lyft.
Jochim 4y ago
> Is this hypothesis completely incorrect then? Pretty much yes. A local taxi services usually pays for their drivers and a few dispatchers. In my city they'd even introduced basic mobile apps around the same time Uber popped up. There's not really many places for money to go to waste. Uber removes the dispatcher and then introduces software engineers, translators, product managers, SREs, executives, scrum masters, marketing, sales, etc. From a customer perspective Uber is often worse as well. Pre-booking simply doesn't work. A traditional taxi company will make sure they have someone available at the right time for the booking. Uber just hopes someone will be available 30 minutes beforehand. Uber also doesn't seem to make it obvious to the driver that it's a pre-booking as they often show up 15 minutes early and angry that I'm not ready for them.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Someone I know was just complaining about what a crap shoot Uber pre-booking is for airport dropoffs. The taxi services out where I live aren't great either in general so I just eat the cost of a private car.

rchaud 4y ago

> Uber's main challenge is people. Correct. Which is exactly why they go to great lengths to reduce the power of the labour without which the company is a black hole of wasted capital.