[QuixoticQuibit]

I have not completely understood why Uber is at all a reasonable investment nor why it ever received so much VC funding.

There is no business model. Uber doesn’t have anything unique, least of all self-driving tech. There won’t be any sort of sticky network effect since consumers can simply switch to a different ride hailing app with the lowest price. When (if?) AVs become reality, the car manufacturers themselves can become their own Ubers or AV-subscription service with no need for a middle man.

[dawg-]

I'm surprised that you don't see the network effect of Uber/Lyft as being very sticky? It's not as simple as everyone just migrating to another app. It would be really hard to start a new ridesharing company from scratch because of a chicken-and-the-egg type of problem. New riders won't use the app if there are no drivers, and new drivers won't use it if there are no riders. Back when Uber and Lyft first came out, they had the luxury of being first which gave them more wiggle room; people were probably more willing to go out on a limb and use the app even if there was a sub-optimal amount of riders/drivers. But a brand new app wouldn't have that privilege. Would people be as patient as they were with Uber and Lyft? Or if it takes more than 5 seconds to find a ride would they just switch to Uber where they know they can have a ride as soon as they push the button.

One way the market could be more competitive is if there was some sort of protocol for ridesharing where you could access drivers from all the different services on a central platform. Then the services would have to compete to see who can offer the best prices and the best availability at certain times/locations. It would give room for new services to pop up because the transition between using Uber and whatever new service would be seamless. Or rather, there wouldn't really be a transition at all. Today I use Uber, tomorrow I use Lyft, the next day I use whatever, just based on what ride is closest/cheapest at the moment I want to use the app.

[moooo99]

Especially considering the OEMs advantage when it comes to vehicle pricing, maintenance cost etc. Uber seems like an odd investment. Waymo seems to have the advantage when it comes to self-driving tech, although its currently only tested under ideal conditions. And they have partnerships with plenty of OEMs like Fiat Chrysler.

If AVs become a reality, cost and therefore the pricing for the consumer appears to be the only thing that will matter for the success of the app.