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Comment by blizkreeg | Hacker News Reader

Uber is now too big to fail. Possibly the most important company this decade. I never cease to be amazed by their phenomenal execution across the world.

I was in Mexico City last week where I truly came to understand the enormous impact Uber as a company has had in these past few years. The service was highly prevalent, popular, and the experience was completely seamless — just like in the US. It barely skipped a beat. Their execution is likely a prime business case study in that no other company has built a technology business that has a huge, real-life logistical component this fast — and in dozens of cities around the world, spanning an equal number of ways of doing business and cultural barriers.

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The interesting thing is they are still in the mailing DVDs phase of their Netflix plan. The company will almost assuredly be completely different in a decade or two when self driving cars are prevalent. Although it seems that exciting potential future is already priced into these valuations.

The most important company this decade? I'm not saying you're wrong but I have to ask... what makes Uber so important?

Their spread, the value of the service, how they've completely transformed an industry. It's practically on its way to becoming a monopoly in many parts of the world.

Not saying that's good or bad. Just my opinion.

The most successful redefinition of labour relations since the begining of overseas manufacturing.

Successful for the company. Not necessarily the population.

I'd disagree with that. It is providing a means of income for many who are unemployed/underemployed. It's much better than nothing. It probably can be better, but most of these drivers aren't complaining.

But that can change quickly, history has lots of examples of how asymmetric power relations between the owners of the means of production and the workforce can end in conflict and a heavy push for a regulatory framework.

They aren't complaining yet because 1. they effectively have no collective voice other than social media, and 2. this "gig" industry Uber has propelled into the stratosphere is just too relatively new to see any significant societal fallout.

Wait until we see more and more drivers whose only job is Uber no longer able to work. What do we say to the veterans who, after being rejected everywhere else due to a dearth of skills took out a car loan on a new $60k SUV to drive for Uber, only now to get injured? Who's going to take care of them? Won't be Uber, who will just be shoving the middle finger in their faces. And I don't think you can call this a strawman, given how aggressive Uber is with vets.

Sure. But why don't we blame literally every other company who is worse and isn't giving any better opportunity. It would be fantastic if everyone had hundreds or thousands of options and they could compete for the best opportunity, but for some people that's not the case. I'd blame every other company before I blamed the one doing the most to help provide a compelling opportunity.

That would be a very financially-imprudent move, in any case. Just extrapolating from my car payment, that's like a $1200 payment. Moreover, are you going to make any more money from fares than if you had bought a used SUV at $20k?

> It's much better than nothing. It probably can be better, but most of these drivers aren't complaining.

This sounds strikingly similar to the working conditions undocumented immigrants encounter in US agriculture.

It's NOT better than nothing. In a proper first world country, you'd have a real safety net for people to fall back on instead of being exploited by shitty technology companies.

It is better than nothing. Consider the most extreme case, child labor (and I don't mean teenagers working at their parent's business). Enough people thought this was not better than nothing and thus pushed to end the practice. In some places this worked (more through economic pressure than laws if memory serves). The children who ended up with nothing found that they were worse off and many turned to the world's oldest profession to make money. They ended up worse off because nothing is worse than being exploited.

Ooh, better than nothing. Sounds enticing.

100% agree. Pushed goverments to review their approach to labour law.

For the most part, the fares seem to gravitate toward uber. Drivers likely do better with uber than with local taxi cos who at times act like extortionists (kickbacks or no dispatches, car rental charges, medallion charges, etc.)

It's because they've replaced Facebook as the go-to company for describing your new startup. So, instead of saying 'I'm doing Facebook for gerbils' you have 'Its like Uber for buying marmalade' and so forth...

> a technology business that has a huge, real-life logistical component this fast

What? Nearly all the big and global freight/logistics operators like DHL, FedEx, TNT et al have a huge and sophisticated tech infrastructure to service their clientele and if I dare to say more advanced and demanding than what's in Uber's possession.

I think the point he's making is that they achieved this in a much shorter time frame and they basically used cell phones to accomplish it. The companies you listed have been around for decades.

I think Uber will fail, as will all other businesses that profit from bottling up the network effects of information.

Uber is so valuable because they control the network with the most riders and drivers. Their app isn't special. Their network is.

Decentralization shifts the profits of information network effects from companies to the public where they belong. We now have the technology to build decentralized application protocols that don't require a middleman to connect people for a fee. Instead, multiple companies will use the same network and compete to provide the best experiences. The profits to be had from facilitating networks will drop drastically when anyone can compete on a network no one controls.

Billions of dollars disagree with me, but I think those dollars don't see what's coming. Blockchains have kicked off a decentralization renaissance, and it's coming for everyone.

Mexico city is one of those places where you wouldn't want to dare to get a normal cab, such a bad reputation they have

More Important than ALPHABET?

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