# How Uber Got Lost - NYT



## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/business/how-uber-got-lost.htmlTake away Uber's unbridled bellicosity, and what do you have left?

A cash-burning enterprise with which investors are losing patience. A chief executive on a humility offensive, with the slogan "We do the right thing - period." Stabs at new lines of business, like e-bikes and freight, with far-off promises that they will turn the company into a profitable "transportation platform." Meanwhile, the core business is increasingly commoditized, as customers realize that many imitators are perfectly capable of getting them from A to B.
Mr. Kalanick deserves credit for creating a world-changing company, one that scaled vertiginously from a modest black car service in San Francisco to a global brand in hundreds of cities. Those who invested first saw staggering returns. One frequent customer, Oren Michels, cut Mr. Kalanick a check for $5,000 early on. By the end of 2017, the stake had multiplied in value some 3,300 times, worth more than $15 million.

The issue, as a number of financial commentators have pointed out, is that the gains have been captured almost entirely by pre-I.P.O. investors in the private market. Anyone who bought shares of Uber on the day of its stock market debut is in the red. Mr. Khosrowshahi, the C.E.O., has indicated that the company could lose money through 2021.

On the night of the I.P.O., at a party on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Mr. Khosrowshahi toasted his employees. They were holding Big Macs - a nod to the Uber Eats platform - and glasses of Champagne, and many of them were painfully aware that they personally owned a great deal of the declining stock. Mr. Khosrowshahi attempted to inspire the troops.

"Now is our time to prove ourselves," he said. "Five years from now, tech companies that come I.P.O. after us will stand on this very trading floor and see what we've accomplished."

Using an expletive, he added, "They'll say 'Holy crap. I want to be Uber.'"

They might. The question is: which Uber?


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

Unbridled bellicosity? Scaled vertiginously? Sounds like Uber.


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## Drivincrazy (Feb 14, 2016)

As long as drivers are Uber's "partners/advesaries"...Uber will have serious problems. Dara needs to remove the adversary part...dump the penny gimmicks and pay the drivers the original 75%-80% of the fare. It will take time to make profit, but, at least it will eventually be there. Having Uber haters as your drivers is inherently ill conceived. Quit trying to make profit on rides where the drivers are losing money. WTH...we thought you referred to us as partners...not to be treated like slaves. All Uber executives know exactly of all the above. Your stock deserves to go to $5.


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## getawaycar (Jul 10, 2017)

Drivincrazy said:


> As long as drivers are Uber's "partners/advesaries"...Uber will have serious problems. Dara needs to remove the adversary part...dump the penny gimmicks and pay the drivers the original 75%-80% of the fare. It will take time to make profit, but, at least it will eventually be there. Having Uber haters as your drivers is inherently ill conceived. Quit trying to make profit on rides where the drivers are losing money. WTH...we thought you referred to us as partners...not to be treated like slaves. All Uber executives know exactly of all the above. Your stock deserves to go to $5.


As long as there are fools out there willing to drive for Uber for less and less pay, Uber has absolutely no reason to pay them more.
Uber is in luck because there is no shortage of mindless idiots in America who can't do simple math and are willing to break their backs for a few pennies.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

TemptingFate said:


> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/business/how-uber-got-lost.htmlTake away Uber's unbridled bellicosity, and what do you have left?
> 
> A cash-burning enterprise with which investors are losing patience. A chief executive on a humility offensive, with the slogan "We do the right thing - period." Stabs at new lines of business, like e-bikes and freight, with far-off promises that they will turn the company into a profitable "transportation platform." Meanwhile, the core business is increasingly commoditized, as customers realize that many imitators are perfectly capable of getting them from A to B.
> Mr. Kalanick deserves credit for creating a world-changing company, one that scaled vertiginously from a modest black car service in San Francisco to a global brand in hundreds of cities. Those who invested first saw staggering returns. One frequent customer, Oren Michels, cut Mr. Kalanick a check for $5,000 early on. By the end of 2017, the stake had multiplied in value some 3,300 times, worth more than $15 million.
> ...


That was before or After he let 400 of them go ?


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## wasnotwas (May 3, 2019)

Regulation is not around the corner...it's at the F$*^ing Door! Karma is a Beach.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

Uber has always been lost. They don't listen to anyone.....drivers, riders, government....they only care about looting all the investor money they can and cutting driver pay to fund their lavish lifestyle.


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## XPG (Oct 4, 2017)

uberdriverfornow said:


> Uber has always been lost. They don't listen to anyone.....drivers, riders, government....


 What government? The current U.S. Government never said anything about Uber's slavery system.


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## Wolfgang Faust (Aug 2, 2018)

Uber lost when they tried slitting Lyfts throat cutting fares to drive them out of business, while drivers bled out.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

XPG said:


> What government? The current U.S. Government never said anything about Uber's slavery system.


You didn't see the recent news about the indictments for obstruction of justice related to Operation Greyball ?


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## XPG (Oct 4, 2017)

uberdriverfornow said:


> You didn't see the recent news about the indictments for obstruction of justice related to Operation Greyball ?


 That's nothing. The current government came into power in 2016 and since they did absolutely nothing about Uber's slavery system and exploitation. 
President Trump is very vocal about protection labor righsts, but he said nothing about Uber. On top, his campaign staffers and party use Uber. How ironic is this?

https://qz.com/1660231/trump-campaign-gop-officials-love-uber-and-shun-woke-lyft/


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## nouberipo (Jul 24, 2018)

getawaycar said:


> As long as there are fools out there willing to drive for Uber for less and less pay, Uber has absolutely no reason to pay them more.
> Uber is in luck because there is no shortage of mindless idiots in America who can't do simple math and are willing to break their backs for a few pennies.


Uber has no reason to pay them more? How about labor laws in the United States? Do we just label everyone an "independent contractor" so companies don't have to follow labor laws? It is sort of like the cruiseships that have flags of convenience/registered outside the US so that they don't have to follow labor laws. As one who is from the US but has lived around the world, I can emphatically state that two of the primary differences between the first and third worlds are that laws/regulations in the third world are only for those who don't have the money or connections to do their own thing (e.g. Uber). The other is the disparity between the top and bottom earners in society. Either way, the United States is quickly becoming a textbook definition of the third world thanks to companies like Uber who see nothing wrong with exploiting people (drivers, paxoles, and investors) all the while operating as if they are immune to laws/regulations that are put in place for a reason (e.g. corporations not regulating themselves so regulators have to step in.....the genesis for many regulations/laws throughoug history).


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## SurgeMasterMN (Sep 10, 2016)

The old saying a picture says a thousand words could never be so true with this one.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

XPG said:


> That's nothing. The current government came into power in 2016 and since they did absolutely nothing about Uber's slavery system and exploitation.
> President Trump is very vocal about protection labor righsts, but he said nothing about Uber. On top, his campaign staffers and party use Uber. How ironic is this?
> 
> https://qz.com/1660231/trump-campaign-gop-officials-love-uber-and-shun-woke-lyft/


Neither did Obama. Same shit, different day.


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## XPG (Oct 4, 2017)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> Neither did Obama. Same shit, different day.


 Huh ok then.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

XPG said:


> Huh ok then.


Exactly. We've had three standing presidents since the beginning of Rideshare and none of them lifted a finger.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

TemptingFate said:


> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/business/how-uber-got-lost.htmlTake away Uber's unbridled bellicosity, and what do you have left?
> 
> A cash-burning enterprise with which investors are losing patience. A chief executive on a humility offensive, with the slogan "We do the right thing - period." Stabs at new lines of business, like e-bikes and freight, with far-off promises that they will turn the company into a profitable "transportation platform." Meanwhile, the core business is increasingly commoditized, as customers realize that many imitators are perfectly capable of getting them from A to B.
> Mr. Kalanick deserves credit for creating a world-changing company, one that scaled vertiginously from a modest black car service in San Francisco to a global brand in hundreds of cities. Those who invested first saw staggering returns. One frequent customer, Oren Michels, cut Mr. Kalanick a check for $5,000 early on. By the end of 2017, the stake had multiplied in value some 3,300 times, worth more than $15 million.
> ...


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## kevin92009 (Sep 11, 2016)

Drivincrazy said:


> As long as drivers are Uber's "partners/advesaries"...Uber will have serious problems. Dara needs to remove the adversary part...dump the penny gimmicks and pay the drivers the original 75%-80% of the fare. It will take time to make profit, but, at least it will eventually be there. Having Uber haters as your drivers is inherently ill conceived. Quit trying to make profit on rides where the drivers are losing money. WTH...we thought you referred to us as partners...not to be treated like slaves. All Uber executives know exactly of all the above. Your stock deserves to go to $5.


we were never partners , we were always exploitable commodities , their actions towards drivers over the years says it all .


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## XPG (Oct 4, 2017)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> Exactly. We've had three standing presidents since the beginning of Rideshare and none of them lifted a finger.


Lyft has hired Anthony Foxx, who served as President Barack Obama's transportation secretary from 2013 to 2017. He serve as Lyft's chief policy officer and advisor to its co-founders.


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

Drivincrazy said:


> As long as drivers are Uber's "partners/advesaries"...Uber will have serious problems. Dara needs to remove the adversary part...dump the penny gimmicks and pay the drivers the original 75%-80% of the fare. It will take time to make profit, but, at least it will eventually be there. Having Uber haters as your drivers is inherently ill conceived. Quit trying to make profit on rides where the drivers are losing money. WTH...we thought you referred to us as partners...not to be treated like slaves. All Uber executives know exactly of all the above. Your stock deserves to go to $5.


100% correct

but

As long as Uber will keep pushing for the self driving cars delusion, they'll only use the drivers as a vehicle to build a great Uber brand, not a successful Uber business.

Cheap rides would attract cheap riders from public transit into Uber cars, and as long as those cheapos will continue to use the service, all those Uber executives are going to dream for the robots. The rates went ridiculously low because Uber doesn't need to deal with the reality today (no drivers no Uber anymore) but because they kept fantasizing about autonomous cars, and their investors still want to believe the dream is true (ignoring the outrageous drivers' situation but thinking about themselves as visionaries that will empower a great transportation transformation/disruption and get rich beyond their dreams at the same time).

The moment people will wake up and understand the scam and accept the self-driving cars are only smoke and mirrors, Uber will have no other option but deal with the reality, raise the rates and make the cheapos understand how transportation with a private car is a commodity that requires higher rates, while public transit is what you can use to travel for pennies.

With no drivers, there are no cars, and with no cars, even if Uber will continue to pay the riders to use their service, there would be no service anymore.


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## TPAMB (Feb 13, 2019)

1.5xorbust said:


> Unbridled bellicosity? Scaled vertiginously? Sounds like Uber.


I love $25 words.


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## SurgeMasterMN (Sep 10, 2016)

jocker12 said:


> 100% correct
> 
> but
> 
> ...


FU&$ing Globalists


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

TPAMB said:


> I love $25 words.


I don't like having to google definitions.


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## Wolfgang Faust (Aug 2, 2018)

XPG said:


> Lyft has hired Anthony Foxx, who served as President Barack Obama's transportation secretary from 2013 to 2017. He serve as Lyft's chief policy officer and advisor to its co-founders.


And Eric Holder works for Uber.


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## SurgeMasterMN (Sep 10, 2016)

Wolfgang Faust said:


> And Eric Holder works for Uber.


Another Globalist


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

SurgeMasterMN said:


> FU&$ing Globalists
> 
> View attachment 349941


Globalism is killing capitalism, because globalism is monopoly, while capitalism is competition.

We need to stop big companies mergers/consolidation and, by contrary, encourage dividing them into much smaller entities with higher competitiveness. At the same time encourage the small businesses to compete and filter toxic business behavior out of the markets.

This guy gets it -

https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/28/20837692/steve-wozniak-says-apple-should-have-broken-up-years-ago


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

1.5xorbust said:


> I don't like having to google definitions.


The act of being belicose.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> The act of being belicose.


Couldn't find belicose. But I found bellicose.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

1.5xorbust said:


> Couldn't find belicose. But I found bellicose.


I have trouble with double and single letters as well as double and single letters


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> I have trouble with double and single letters as well as double and single letters


Sounds like dysllexia or dyslexxia.


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## KevinH (Jul 13, 2014)

uberdriverfornow said:


> You didn't see the recent news about the indictments for obstruction of justice related to Operation Greyball ?


That was my post about a _"dream" _I had. There are no indictments yet. Keep crossing your fingers.


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## Stable Genius (Jul 28, 2019)

TemptingFate said:


> "Now is our time to prove ourselves," he said. "Five years from now, tech companies that come I.P.O. after us will stand on this very trading floor and see what we've accomplished."
> 
> Using an expletive, he added, "They'll say 'Holy crap. I want to be Uber.'"


Meanwhile they're standing there hoping to be Amazon. :frown:?


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

TemptingFate said:


> Sounds like dysllexia or dyslexxia.


Dog bless!


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## itsablackmarket (May 12, 2015)

Uber is a trash company run by clowns who have zero concept of reality. It will go bankrupt soon. Sell now while you can.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

KevinH said:


> That was my post about a _"dream" _I had. There are no indictments yet. Keep crossing your fingers.


ya i know i wrote that before you let me know in the original thread


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## nosurgenodrive (May 13, 2019)

The fact that Uber is doing the right thing is why I stick with them. I'm giving them time to figure it all out.


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