<story><title>Is the Ride over for Uber?</title><url>https://www.smartcompany.com.au/opinion/adam-schwab-is-the-ride-over-for-uber/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aetherson</author><text>The problem with Uber Eats is exactly the same as the problem with Uber&amp;#x27;s rideshare: there&amp;#x27;s no difficult-to-copy element of it.  It&amp;#x27;s been clear for at least seven years that it&amp;#x27;s easy to spin up a food delivery service, just the same way it&amp;#x27;s easy to spin up a rideshare service.  The basic technology is something a small team can conjure up out of nowhere in a few months, the two sided marketplace is heavily incented to abandon a given platform if another platform gives a better deal, and all the bells and whistles that a large development team can add to it don&amp;#x27;t really move the needle in terms of value, enough to make the marketplace sticky.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>addicted</author><text>Let’s say there was just 1 delivery service.&lt;p&gt;Could they charge enough delivery fees to actually build a sustainable business?&lt;p&gt;How much fees would you need to charge? $4&amp;#x2F;delivery means having to make a delivery in 15 mins to be able to pay the delivery person minimum wage. Plus Uber’s profit, plus the cost of the car and maintenance expenses + tickets, accidents, etc,&lt;p&gt;It’s hard to see how a monopoly can also make money, without charging so much that people would rather pick up and restaurants would rather offer their own delivery.</text></comment>
<story><title>Is the Ride over for Uber?</title><url>https://www.smartcompany.com.au/opinion/adam-schwab-is-the-ride-over-for-uber/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aetherson</author><text>The problem with Uber Eats is exactly the same as the problem with Uber&amp;#x27;s rideshare: there&amp;#x27;s no difficult-to-copy element of it.  It&amp;#x27;s been clear for at least seven years that it&amp;#x27;s easy to spin up a food delivery service, just the same way it&amp;#x27;s easy to spin up a rideshare service.  The basic technology is something a small team can conjure up out of nowhere in a few months, the two sided marketplace is heavily incented to abandon a given platform if another platform gives a better deal, and all the bells and whistles that a large development team can add to it don&amp;#x27;t really move the needle in terms of value, enough to make the marketplace sticky.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bamboozled</author><text>Which wouldn&amp;#x27;t have been a problem if they hadn&amp;#x27;t spent such an obscene amount of money building it?&lt;p&gt;If it was a small team of good engineers, designers  humbly building a product, then keeping it attractive to investment would&amp;#x27;ve been a lot easier.&lt;p&gt;Now as you said, there&amp;#x27;s so much competition, it&amp;#x27;s not really sustainable at it&amp;#x27;s current size.</text></comment>