[wpietri]

True, but that doesn't necessarily make a company hard to start. There are a zillion niches in transport that could be profitable places to get traction. Uber Pool and Lyft Line might be the future of cheap transport, but as Uber itself shows, you can have a decent business just at the high end of the market. There are several companies in the rides-for-kids department. Taxis do a significant business in hospital-specific transport, both of patients and of urgent medical delivery.

To start a rideshare company, you only need to do reasonably well in one segment in one geographic market. Then you have a basis for expansion into other areas, other segments. Contrast this with a search engine, where people really expect you to be good for everything and covering the entire internet.