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Looks like Waymo will be the first Alphabet moonshot that will reach 100B valuation in the not too distant future. Just need to hit the most profitable cities a
by laluser 2y ago
Looks like Waymo will be the first Alphabet moonshot that will reach 100B valuation in the not too distant future. Just need to hit the most profitable cities and Uber will have to compete at lower prices, while they're a public company. The nest egg will will be kept full as it's the only working autonomous ride solution out there making any money.
- rwmj 2y agoI think it's great we finally have self-driving cars, but why the huge valuation? Waymo has the enormous capital cost of owning the cars. Unlike taxi companies they don't push that capital cost to their drivers.
- zachthewf 2y agoGinormous market, 10x better product, no competition is currently close. Plus although they have the capital cost of owning the cars they don't have the COGS of paying the drivers so presumably much higher margin per ride.
- valval 2y agoYou’re right that Tesla’s product is so far ahead that it can’t really be called competition.
- zachthewf 2y agoI love Tesla, I own the stock, but I don't think they can be considered comparable until they have a live autonomous taxi service that regular people can call from their phones and regularly rave about.
- valval 2y agoOn one hand, Tesla could roll out a Waymo competitor in all the necessary cities in a matter of months if they wanted to. On the other hand, Waymo will cease to exist as soon as Tesla cracks their robotaxi problem.
- aurareturn 2y agoI think it's great we finally have self-driving cars, but why the huge valuation? Waymo has the enormous capital cost of owning the cars. Unlike taxi companies they don't push that capital cost to their drivers. Ultimately, it's still the riders who pay for the drivers and their cars in a traditional taxi company and Uber. The cost of the car doesn't just disappear.
- rwmj 2y agoUnfortunately that's not always true. Taxi drivers often work for below minimum wage, or even occasionally below cost.
- kernal 2y ago>but why the huge valuation? Uber without the expense or problem of a driver.
- IshKebab 2y agoWell currently Waymo is about double the price of Uber. But yes hopefully one day it will be cheaper.
- xnx 2y ago> But yes hopefully one day it will be cheaper. I also hope it will be cheaper, but it's definitely worth paying more for Waymo because of the better experience: safer, smoother, quieter, no weird smells, or conversation, etc.
- written-beyond 2y agoIf anything Waymos are much more likely to have weird smells than Ubers since the robot can't smell. Nothing is stopping someone from scrapping some dog doo off their shoe onto the carpet to the pleasure of the next rider.
- acover 2y agoUnless the weird smells come from the driver. If a customer causes a smell the car will be cleaned and the customer fined. If the driver is smelly - like from sitting in a car all day - there's nothing to be done.
- written-beyond 2y agoWho can tell who caused the bad smell? If you have a driver they'd know but how will Waymo know which of the 20 or so riders dragged in dog doo, maybe the doggy doo accumulated through the first 10 rides. Who foots the bill then?
- acover 2y agoThe same way as with car shares. You blame the person before the person to report it and have cameras.
- Sivart13 2y ago
- LanceJones 2y agoThe losses are currently in the neighborhood of $1B per year. That may or may not reduce... scaling is hard. For every car they add right now, the worse the loss becomes. So I'm a little skeptical on your valuation estimate.
- Dylan16807 2y agoAre they losing money when they add cars in regions they already support? That's more important than the cost of expanding into new areas.