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I am not sure how price sensitive Uber riders are. But I use Uber exclusively and I would be willing to pay more if that’s what it took for it to be a viable o

I am not sure how price sensitive Uber riders are. But I use Uber exclusively and I would be willing to pay more if that’s what it took for it to be a viable ongoing concern and pay the drivers more. I spoke to a few Uber drivers and a few have told me how much they make for a ride and I tell them how much I was charged. The discrepancy is ridiculous. I have no idea why Uber is losing so much money.

ghaff 4y ago
The prices have drifted up to the point where there's often not much of a difference between taxis and Uber/Lyft. Uber can even be more. But, yeah, I never really understood why the Uber strategy forced them to undercut taxis by so much when they were often a better service--especially after it became obvious to just about anyone that large-scale autonomous driving in the dense cities where the economics work best was at least a ways off.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  There’s benefit to getting regular people to regularly use Uber. To do that, it can’t be a premium-priced product (such as a taxi fare is). Uber gets big fast if rides are perceived as low-friction and low-cost. You’ll experience that once and do it again and tell your friends. If it’s “eh, a little better than a taxi”, there’s much less word of mouth excitement.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    But if you can't maintain that lower pricing (as they haven't been able to) there's little reason to tease a luxury product at a loss to people who can't afford it once you yank the subsidies.
    - sokoloff 4y ago
      If it helps you quickly reach one or both of the following, it could still be worth it: A vibrant two-sided network. You need riders for drivers and drivers for riders. Subsidizing one or the other side at various times might be needed. Word of mouth (and media coverage) to reach all the riders who can afford it and get them to try it. There’s no way I’d rely on cabs to commute to work. I’ve shared several Ubers with people who use it to commute to/from work.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        How has growth hacking worked for any tech company since Facebook over a decade ago? By “working” I mean les to a sustainable profitable tech businsss?
        sokoloff 4y ago
        AirBnB?

ghaff 4y ago

The prices have drifted up to the point where there's often not much of a difference between taxis and Uber/Lyft. Uber can even be more. But, yeah, I never really understood why the Uber strategy forced them to undercut taxis by so much when they were often a better service--especially after it became obvious to just about anyone that large-scale autonomous driving in the dense cities where the economics work best was at least a ways off.

sokoloff 4y ago
There’s benefit to getting regular people to regularly use Uber. To do that, it can’t be a premium-priced product (such as a taxi fare is). Uber gets big fast if rides are perceived as low-friction and low-cost. You’ll experience that once and do it again and tell your friends. If it’s “eh, a little better than a taxi”, there’s much less word of mouth excitement.
- ghaff 4y ago
  But if you can't maintain that lower pricing (as they haven't been able to) there's little reason to tease a luxury product at a loss to people who can't afford it once you yank the subsidies.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    If it helps you quickly reach one or both of the following, it could still be worth it: A vibrant two-sided network. You need riders for drivers and drivers for riders. Subsidizing one or the other side at various times might be needed. Word of mouth (and media coverage) to reach all the riders who can afford it and get them to try it. There’s no way I’d rely on cabs to commute to work. I’ve shared several Ubers with people who use it to commute to/from work.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      How has growth hacking worked for any tech company since Facebook over a decade ago? By “working” I mean les to a sustainable profitable tech businsss?
      - sokoloff 4y ago
        AirBnB?