If Uber can't make the economics work with an assload of venture capital to be able to take huge losses, how would a (presumably?) less well funded competitor succeed? Uber too big/slow to adopt the second-comer's strategy?
It's a game of musical chairs with the ultimate goal of dumping on retail investors. If not that, at least dump it on other VCs.
I've heard some horror stories about a rideshare rider paying inflated surge prices while the driver just gets the normal rate, for example. (not sure which service this was)
Theoretically it should be dirt cheap for Uber to leverage its customer service and app for any new market to compete on razor-thin margins, but in practice they could be wasting most of that money and leaving the door wide open to a really lean competitor
- Drivers are full-time employees, not contractors. They don't care about waiting or not showing up for short/long rides - they get paid either way.
- Currently, you can only schedule rides in advance. Rides are available in 15 minute intervals. Doesn't work for a lot of situations but is perfect for going to the airport - the drivers always show up on time and will happily wait (for a small per minute fee) as long as necessary. WAAAAY less hassle than booking an Uber.
- All vehicles are owned by the startup itself.
It's essentially a taxi company with electric cabs and a good app.
- Also no surge pricing. Pricing is fixed by a rate chart based on KM travelled.
The only issue right now is availability. From Delhi airport it is OK but when I tried to book one from the hotel to a friend's place the earliest availability was after 4 hours whereas Uber was 5 mins.