# What happens if Uber fails?



## FL_Dex (Nov 13, 2016)

The Atlantic has an interesting piece that seems to support my contention that Uber will ultimately not be able to sustain operations.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/03/uber/520302/


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## Tr4vis Ka1anick (Oct 2, 2016)

Over my dead body buddy.

It will be the drivers' fault, plain and simple. Just how Uber corporate blames the drivers for every thing now.

I will sue all of you partners in a class action lawsuit. I will turn the tables and claim victim.

Hindsight being 20/20 I should have went off on that driver they caught me yelling at like the Taco Bell executive did.

That arrogant petulant partner back talking to me like that.

*Should have given that creep five across the eye.*


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

If Uber fails, we all move to Lyft and rates go up to a fair level. Neither company is making a profit and this has to happen sooner or later.


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## Tr4vis Ka1anick (Oct 2, 2016)

Jagent said:


> If Uber fails, we all move to Lyft and rates go up to a fair level. Neither company is making a profit and this has to happen sooner or later.


Bah! What is this nonsense you speak? I will sabotage or commence with a hostile take over of Lyft way before that would happen.

Psst more like *grift*. They have no idea what they are doing.


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## Ca$h4 (Aug 12, 2015)

The End, Failure for Travis and Management and Investors.

*



*


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## Buckiemohawk (Jun 23, 2015)

Lyft would have already gone out of business but Gm saved them. Uber is only lasting because of the evaluation. People are fooled into thinking they are making a profit when they are not.


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## Tr4vis Ka1anick (Oct 2, 2016)

Why do I enjoy watching this (except for the mace part)? I am so frustrated with my "partners" right now.


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## UberwithStuber (Jan 18, 2017)

There were several items in the article that were of interest. One was when Uber came to town, people flocked to it, both riders and drivers. By the time taxi companies knew what hit them, it was too late for regulators to change or enforce laws with out suffering the ramifications of social media and pressure.
_Atlantic _also failed to mention Ubers foray into autonomous vehicle and other futuristic ventures.


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## Ride-Share-Risk-Manager (Mar 16, 2017)

If Uber fails then we will probably see groups of drivers in different cities form their own ride share companies and hire IT and accounting staff to build the app needed to sit on top of Google maps. The technology used by Uber and Lyft is becoming easier to copy and recreate in other places. The only downside would be that passengers could not use their accounts when travelling from city to city or country to country. But, that is only a very small percentage of the ride share marketplace. I look forward to more competition. I would like to have five or ten rideshare companies competing for my services as a driver.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

It will be interesting to see what happens...

If lyft raises rates to a profitible level will people still use the service?

That's my question


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## Taxi Driver in Arizona (Mar 18, 2015)

Tr4vis Ka1anick said:


> Over my dead body buddy.


Fingers crossed.


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> It will be interesting to see what happens...
> 
> If lyft raises rates to a profitible level will people still use the service?
> 
> That's my question


I think they will. The only customers lost due to a rate hike would be the mininum fare pool and line riders. They'll go back to walking, using the bus or staying home. Who cares? I wish those people would stop using the service now. They're just money losing pings.


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## Steven Ambrose (Sep 25, 2016)

If Uber fails, it will be like some of the other companies out there. They will hold your earnings hostage and close up shop..... Just think how many drivers there are and how much is paid out on a weekly basis (think busy times like NYE), when added together, the earnings are not paid out. I hope it never happens, but I only see the drivers dealing with the pain and absorbing it.


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## Jo3030 (Jan 2, 2016)

I hope they keep getting hit over the head.


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## New Uber (Mar 21, 2017)

Well, from the outside it doesn't seem that Uber will fail. But from the inside you can see it will fall apart. That's why all the higher ups have already "abandoned ship"!


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## UsedToBeAPartner (Sep 19, 2016)

Uber will ONLY fail if they keep TK in charge. If Uber gets rid of TK and then fails then no ride sharing service will survive. Uber is the 800# Gorilla in the room and fully capable of being a legitimate, profitable business. This is only going to happen if they give TK enough money to go away and some actual business folks are able to come in and do what's necessary to keep drivers and riders happy.


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## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

Ah...the good old Uber buyout. I think you're right. It might actually SAVE the CONpany to pay TK and Emil to go away. I think the brand is damaged goods at this point.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

There is no reason they should not be making a profit, They are getting 20 to 25% or more of each fare plus other fees that pax pay. They are running a taxi company which is automated and they have no normal taxi overhead like cars, car insurance for the whole time the car is out and repairs. Drivers in most places are not making a profit either but they keep doing it to have some income but trading off their immediate expenses like gas and their wear and tear on the car and other costs.

Another stupid thing Uber is doing is spending millions on their driverless car model when no such functioning system works and may not even be practical for another 20 years.. Let someone else figure it out and buy their cars in 20 years instead of putting money into research that will only hurt your drivers.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

Uber is not making a profit, most drivers don't make a profit it's a bad system but it's thriving.

Uber does need to increase their fares to be closer to taxi rates, maybe even by 15% because taxi waits are much longer than Uber waits.


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## durwardfarquhar (Jan 2, 2017)

Ride-Share-Risk-Manager said:


> If Uber fails then we will probably see groups of drivers in different cities form their own ride share companies and hire IT and accounting staff to build the app needed to sit on top of Google maps. The technology used by Uber and Lyft is becoming easier to copy and recreate in other places. The only downside would be that passengers could not use their accounts when travelling from city to city or country to country. But, that is only a very small percentage of the ride share marketplace. I look forward to more competition. I would like to have five or ten rideshare companies competing for my services as a driver.


There are tutorials for intermediate software developers to "Make an Uber clone." Presumably these are mobile apps. The back end/server component is another matter: though people who know how to do this can be found, getting it to scale up so it works at high demand levels takes judgement and $$$, as Austin's rideshare companies discovered during a rainy Saturday night at the recent SXSW fest.



Lee239 said:


> ...
> 
> Another stupid thing Uber is doing is spending millions on their driverless car model when no such functioning system works and may not even be practical for another 20 years.. Let someone else figure it out and buy their cars in 20 years instead of putting money into research that will only hurt your drivers.


It seems like I'm seeing at least one news story daily about some mishap with Uber driverless car testing. Beyond that, I don't think an Uber autonomous vehicle service will ever happen, because they will be set further back when the Google/Alphabet/Waymo case is litigated. TLDR: (a) Uber acquired a bunch of Google autonomous vehicle intellectual property when they (b) bought an autonomous trucking startup which had (c) hired a former Google exec who had (d) taken 14,000 of Google's files with him when he left that company.



Lee239 said:


> Uber is not making a profit, most drivers don't make a profit it's a bad system but it's thriving.
> Uber does need to increase their fares to be closer to taxi rates, maybe even by 15% because taxi waits are much longer than Uber waits.


Uber/Lyft have two main advantages over taxis: (1) they're cheaper, and (2) they will show up and you have a pretty good idea of when that will happen. The other advantages (cars are clean, you can see via the app if the driver is trying to milk you with a long route) are nice but 1 and 2 are the differentiators.

Number 2 is moot if you are at a major hotel or event, b/c taxis are waiting for you. But cabs will never overcome (1) because the Uber/Lyft driver is subsidizing the service by providing the vehicle.

I think Uber/Lyft could be profitable (or at least less unprofitable  if they decided the current ridesharing model is what they want their business to be, and optimize for that. By hedging for an unknown future of autonomous cars, they are spending beaucoup bucks when it's unclear who will own, park, and maintain the autonomous fleets ... all of which will add to the cost of providing the service. But hey, at least the autonomous car won't ***** when you ask for an aux cable and blast your Nickelback or The Carpenters ;-).


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

I wonder if these SDC will stop at drive thrus for people  and will they be deactivated if they are rated under 4.4? They better have smell detectors and audible recognition of barf sounds too. 

another advantage that Uber has is you know the fare before you get in, with a metered cab you don't know how much it will cost.


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## Jermin8r89 (Mar 10, 2016)

durwardfarquhar said:


> It seems like I'm seeing at least one news story daily about some mishap with Uber driverless car testing. Beyond that, I don't think an Uber autonomous vehicle service will ever happen, because they will be set further back when the Google/Alphabet/Waymo case is litigated. TLDR: (a) Uber acquired a bunch of Google autonomous vehicle intellectual property when they (b) bought an autonomous trucking startup which had (c) hired a former Google exec who had (d) taken 14,000 of Google's files with him when he left that company.


I even see google haveing same fate too. Once workers start looseing job to computers there will be a revolt.

These tech companies are all about themselves and people are starting to see it.


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## Ride-Share-Risk-Manager (Mar 16, 2017)

*Striking Uber And Ola Drivers Are Now Planning To Launch Their Own App*

Posted on March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 by OfficeChai Team

This is something Karl Marx would've been proud of.

Uber and Ola drivers had done everything in their power to get the cab-hailing companies to reinstate their bonuses. They'd been on strike in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore; they'd approached the government and the courts; and some drivers had even taken the drastic step of taking their own lives. But now they're taking matters into their own hands.










Uber and Ola drivers are now looking to develop their own app that'll take on Uber and Ola. The heads of several drivers' unions have formed a core-committee that'll look into the development of the app. "The app will be ready in a month and we are working on other logistics like office space and also hiring people for customer service, among other things. As of now, 8,000 cab drivers are supporting this idea," said Tanveer Pasha, President of the Ola TaxiForSure and Uber Drivers' Association.

The app seems to have some backing from the corridors of power - former Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy is funding the app's development, say the drivers. He's also reportedly promised to help the drivers hire engineers. ""Kumaraswamy told us not to bow down to the rules laid across by foreign companies and be our own masters," the drivers association said.

This isn't the first time that taxi drivers have attempted to build their own app - last year, taxi drivers in Mumbai attempted to take on Uber and Ola with their own app which they called 9211. The app had generated a lot of buzz, but had ultimately failed to take off. Developing a ride-hailing app is not as difficult as it was a few years ago, but there are many more pieces to the puzzle to launch a successful business - there's the matter of quality control, customer service, and making sure the operation runs smoothly. The app will also need significant initial capital for its initial promotions.

But if the drivers can pull this off, it'll be an incredible achievement for Indian ingenuity. Cab aggregator drivers across the world are unhappy with the way big companies have been treating them - there have been strikes against Uber right from Qatar to Paris to New York. And India has shown the way in empowering workers in the past - Amul is a great example of how power was transferred to ultimate producers by cutting out the middleman. Cab drivers too form the fundamentals of the taxi business - it's about time they took control of their own destiny.

- See more at: https://officechai.com/news/striking-uber-ola-drivers-now-planning-launch-app/#sthash.2SvvxDKt.dpuf


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

I think Uber should stop wasting money on self driving cars and concentrate on making the app profitable for themselves and drivers. SDCs are at least 10 years away and Travis is estimated to be worth $6 billion dollars right now. How much more money does he need?


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## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

He needs another $6bil?


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## uberlyfting123 (Mar 16, 2017)

If Uber or Lyft fails. I'm sure they will be another company to take its place. I figure until they figure out this whole autonomous car thing out, we will have a job side driving for the time being.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

Jagent said:


> I think Uber should stop wasting money on self driving cars and concentrate on making the app profitable for themselves and drivers. SDCs are at least 10 years away and Travis is estimated to be worth $6 billion dollars right now. How much more money does he need?


No one needs that much, it's just greed and a numbers game after that to see how much money they can die with.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

FL_Dex said:


> The Atlantic has an interesting piece that seems to support my contention that Uber will ultimately not be able to sustain operations.
> 
> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/03/uber/520302/


If they are smart they will go public before the bottom falls out.


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## Taxi Driver in Arizona (Mar 18, 2015)

Lee239 said:


> If they are smart they will go public before the bottom falls out.


If they were smart they'd be turning a profit right now.

Protip: they're not smart.


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## nomogmos (Feb 6, 2017)

FL_Dex said:


> Uber will ultimately not be able to sustain operations.


That's what they said about amazon. In Amerikkka, they're already "Too Big To Fail", and taxpayers would have to bail them out, anyway.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

nomogmos said:


> That's what they said about amazon. In Amerikkka, they're already "Too Big To Fail", and taxpayers would have to bail them out, anyway.


No amazon is not too big to fail, neither is Uber. Banks and auto makers are too big to fail.

The funny thing about Uber was that it was estimated to be worth $66 billion at one point which is worth more than the big american auto makers and many other top corporations.


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

FL_Dex said:


> The Atlantic has an interesting piece that seems to support my contention that Uber will ultimately not be able to sustain operations.
> 
> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/03/uber/520302/


Uber's already a failure. Next.


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## FL_Dex (Nov 13, 2016)

nomogmos said:


> That's what they said about amazon


Amazon is a terrible company to use for a comparison. Amazon was never subsidizing 60% of their product price. Imagine that Amazon tried to solve it's space issues by leasing millions of garages from private homes. That, in essence, is what Uber is trying to do with the backseat of your car. It's an idea that works great when ride sharing is a community. It's a terrible idea when it's an enterprise.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

FL_Dex said:


> Amazon is a terrible company to use for a comparison. Amazon was never subsidizing 60% of their product price. Imagine that Amazon tried to solve it's space issues by leasing millions of garages from private homes. That, in essence, is what Uber is trying to do with the backseat of your car. It's an idea that works great when ride sharing is a community. It's a terrible idea when it's an enterprise.


That's actually a fascinating idea you have...

I would totally do it if amazon wanted to pay me by the cubic foot to store/receive/resend goods.


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## Trebor (Apr 22, 2015)

Ride-Share-Risk-Manager said:


> If Uber fails then we will probably see groups of drivers in different cities form their own ride share companies and hire IT and accounting staff to build the app needed to sit on top of Google maps. The technology used by Uber and Lyft is becoming easier to copy and recreate in other places. The only downside would be that passengers could not use their accounts when travelling from city to city or country to country. But, that is only a very small percentage of the ride share marketplace. I look forward to more competition. I would like to have five or ten rideshare companies competing for my services as a driver.


Its already been done. Check out Dashride


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

*Q:* What happens if Uber fails? (Title of topic)

*A:* Another TNC takes its place.



Tr4vis Ka1anick said:


> *Should have given that creep five across the eye.*


Youdda' made 'im see those STARS then, -eh?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Steven Ambrose said:


> If Uber fails, it will be like some of the other companies out there. They will hold your earnings hostage and close up shop..... Just think how many drivers there are and how much is paid out on a weekly basis (think busy times like NYE), when added together, the earnings are not paid out. I hope it never happens, but I only see the drivers dealing with the pain and absorbing it.


They will rob drivers for sure !


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## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

So why are all you guys driving for a living and not running a massive company?

Bunch of MBA's on this board.



tohunt4me said:


> They will rob drivers for sure !


How are they going to rob you? My earnings are downloaded for free everyday.


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## nomogmos (Feb 6, 2017)

FL_Dex said:


> Amazon is a terrible company to use for a comparison. Amazon was never subsidizing 60% of their product price. Imagine that Amazon tried to solve it's space issues by leasing millions of garages from private homes. That, in essence, is what Uber is trying to do with the backseat of your car. It's an idea that works great when ride sharing is a community. It's a terrible idea when it's an enterprise.


amazon doesn't work the way you describe - YOU are misinforming people! amazon lets OTHER corporations AND individuals buy, warehouse, carry, and pick nearly ALL of "amazon's" profferred items.



Red Leader said:


> So why are all you guys driving for a living and not running a massive company?
> 
> Bunch of MBA's on this board.
> 
> How are they going to rob you? My earnings are downloaded for free everyday.


Righty "logic". ...buncha' ******* fascists here, too. Red Leader is Right!



Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> That's actually a fascinating idea you have...
> 
> I would totally do it if amazon wanted to pay me by the cubic foot to store/receive/resend goods.


They, _kind of_, WILL! You can go sign up with them Right now! YOU pay, or sometimes some other schmuck, for the garage, inventory, insurance, and all associated labor.

uber doesn't pay you for your car, garage, maintenance, most insurance, offline time, etc. They pay you (as minimally as possible) for the miles you "deliver" to their customers.

Troll is Right!



Jagent said:


> I think Uber should stop wasting money on self driving cars and concentrate on making the app profitable for themselves and drivers. SDCs are at least 10 years away and Travis is estimated to be worth $6 billion dollars right now. How much more money does he need?


If he split that money between all the uber drivers in the U.S., they would EACH get about $40,000.


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