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> If true, it should be straightforward for other companies and cooperatives to form and compete with Uber. And that's capitalism at its finest. They'll lack a
by hackuser 11y ago
> If true, it should be straightforward for other companies and cooperatives to form and compete with Uber. And that's capitalism at its finest.
They'll lack an essential capability that comes with economic scale and connections, raw political power:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9771551 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9771551
- prostoalex 11y agoTaxi companies already have all the raw political power they need. Hiring software engineers to churn out software apps and maintain highly available servers should be the easy part then.
- hackuser 11y ago> Taxi companies already have all the raw political power they need. I think if you read the link in my prior post, then I think you might agree that the taxi companies are out of their league facing Uber, their $40 billion, and their massive lobbying effort. Anyway, I don't think the conversation was about taxis in particular, but about any Uber-like startups.
- prostoalex 11y agoThe type of stuff that Uber lobbies for, though, generally opens up the market to a variety of participants. I.e. Lyft, Sidecar, Shuddle and Wingz can quietly ride the coattails of Uber-lobbied regulations. I haven't seen yet some lobbying effort where Uber would try to lock up the market for itself (like car dealerships), but maybe I wasn't looking close enough.