I remember following Groupon closely and feeling like Groupon was spending a bunch of money teaching people around the world how to use daily deals, only to have competitors come in make it a race to the bottom because the barriers to entry were so low.
I feel like Uber is doing the same: spending a bunch of money teaching people how to hail a cab from their phone. When competitors like Lyft, Hailo, and Via enter the market and compete with them, it starts to look like the same race-to-the-bottom that happened with Groupon.
(Last I heard, both Via and Lyft Line are cheaper than UberPool right now in Manhattan. I suspect both are taking a loss on many rides to compete.)
I feel like Uber is doing the same: spending a bunch of money teaching people how to hail a cab from their phone. When competitors like Lyft, Hailo, and Via enter the market and compete with them, it starts to look like the same race-to-the-bottom that happened with Groupon.
(Last I heard, both Via and Lyft Line are cheaper than UberPool right now in Manhattan. I suspect both are taking a loss on many rides to compete.)