[roymurdock]

Although your overall point is valid - some companies need to lose (read: invest) a lot of money now before they can make a lot of money in the future - I'm not sure the comparison between Uber and Amazon is valid or meaningful as 2000 Amazon and 2016 Uber are completely different companies targeting completely different markets in completely different macroeconomic climates.

[oceanofsolaris]

If a company is investing in production facilities, building up a supply chain or R&D, I can completely understand how losing money is a solid strategy. It is basically taking a loan to invest in being a better company in the future.

On the other hand, losing money by handing out free stuff (cheap rides in this case) only makes sense if you want to either bankrupt your competitors or increase the awareness of your brand. Since Uber is at least not a complete unknown anymore at this point, all signs point towards the "driving out competitors" strategy. This might still be a viable business plan for Uber (though I don't see how to be honest), but certainly not one that should be cheered.

[tdaltonc]

Would you call trying to drown didi in driver subsidies an 'investment'?