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Comment by greatjack613 | Hacker News Reader

Just want to point out that according to the authors framework for determining if a project is a ponzi, Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and many more gig economy businesses would also qualify as ponzis since they have to spend move to get users then they bring in and have not been and probably will never be profitable

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There’s a still-untested possibility that Uber / Lyft / DoorDash can become profitable when autonomous vehicles scale out and they can stop paying humans for labor and the use of their private vehicles. Hard to model the economics accurately since it’s still so early.

Company that owns that technology doesn't need Uber.

That’s definitely Uber’s biggest obstacle.

But in some ways, until autonomous vehicles can go everywhere, they need a blend of autonomous cars and human-driven cars to be the first stop app for rides. Then they can route an autonomous car or human driven car depending on the ride needed.

Otherwise riders will hit a wall if they request a ride outside the autonomous service zone.

That's why Uber was trying to develop their own self-driving tech. They knew that's where the value lies (if it works).

That's a very fair assessment

Cities where they've allowed their infrastructure to stagnate due to reliance on those private companies are going to be in for a rough time when they inevitably fail or drastically raise their pricing.

What comes next when private enterprises extinguish municipal services with unsustainable business practices? Can the municipalities recover? or are we watching hostile privatization?

Is this in dispute? Obviously these businesses should not be positively valued.

Uber might break even in 2022 and is credibly forecast (by analyst consensus) to turn a profit in 2023.

https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/ubers-nyse-uber-profi...

Not profitable is not the same thing as ponzi. Ponzi means you rely on the next greater fool to buy your bags. If uber stock were advertised in the same way crypo is then you would be right

Although it is telling that the best cryptos are compared with failing and unprofitable companies

But what’s the Ponzi there? Who are the people building wealth by using or driving for Uber? At best, you save money compared to a traditional taxi.

You could save money because either investors were subsidizing it or drivers were getting screwed. The former has definitely ended and drivers are wisening up - Uber nowadays isn't significantly more expensive than taxis.

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