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I find it rather interesting to see that one of the investors thinks the valuation needs to be defended in writing. Once drivers find out that you don't make t

I find it rather interesting to see that one of the investors thinks the valuation needs to be defended in writing. Once drivers find out that you don't make the 90k salaries touted by Uber [1] (note: conveniently excluded cost of gas, insurance, tolls, parking, maintenance and repairs, and required more than 40 hour workweeks) driver supply may not match consumer demand. Slashing the prices wasn't exactly beneficial for current drivers either [2] [1] https://medium.com/@felixsalmon/how-well-uberx-pays-part-2-cbc948eaeeaf https://medium.com/@felixsalmon/how-well-uberx-pays-part-2-c... [2] http://uberdriverdiaries.com/uber-slahes-prices-new-york-city-new-jersey/ http://uberdriverdiaries.com/uber-slahes-prices-new-york-cit...

cm2012 12y ago
Uber driving is basically an unskilled job (most Americans know how to drive). A job that an unskilled person can reliably get for $50k take home a year is gold (remember that the US median household income is 50k - and that's for the whole household). This doesn't mean Uber will succeed, but they will never lack for labor.
- nilkn 12y ago
  > remember that the US median household income is 50k - and that's for the whole household That figure includes folks in rural areas where Uber is basically non-existent. I don't think you're going to get $50k annually with Uber right now unless, at the very least, you're in a major metropolitan area. That said, I still can't deny that $50k (if that number is realistic and already includes expenditures like gas) is a good amount for what amounts to borderline unskilled labor.
  - cm2012 12y ago
    The New York City median annual family income is actually lower than the nation as a whole - $49k ish.
- xorcist 12y ago
  In most large cities knowing how to drive is not the hard part of driving a taxi. That would be the local knowledge, which places even exists in the city, and where the GPS routes are dead wrong. It has been said that London cab drivers even have an enlarged hippocampus due to the large spatial knowledge. I don't know how true this is, but I've heard the examination is a brutal one to pass.

cm2012 12y ago

Uber driving is basically an unskilled job (most Americans know how to drive). A job that an unskilled person can reliably get for $50k take home a year is gold (remember that the US median household income is 50k - and that's for the whole household). This doesn't mean Uber will succeed, but they will never lack for labor.

nilkn 12y ago
> remember that the US median household income is 50k - and that's for the whole household That figure includes folks in rural areas where Uber is basically non-existent. I don't think you're going to get $50k annually with Uber right now unless, at the very least, you're in a major metropolitan area. That said, I still can't deny that $50k (if that number is realistic and already includes expenditures like gas) is a good amount for what amounts to borderline unskilled labor.
- cm2012 12y ago
  The New York City median annual family income is actually lower than the nation as a whole - $49k ish.
xorcist 12y ago
In most large cities knowing how to drive is not the hard part of driving a taxi. That would be the local knowledge, which places even exists in the city, and where the GPS routes are dead wrong. It has been said that London cab drivers even have an enlarged hippocampus due to the large spatial knowledge. I don't know how true this is, but I've heard the examination is a brutal one to pass.