Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jonathanberger 743 days ago
Does a business have to be widely deployed or profitable to be real? The public and private capital markets say "no". If you were to ignore any business that isn't widely available you'd miss the beginning of both Apple and Facebook.

Waymo is a real business serving 50,000 rides each week delivering paying customers to their destination. If you haven't tried it yet, the product is amazing. Private, doesn't cancel, safe, and smooth. I will never take Uber again if I have the choice.
2 comments
Detrytus 743 days ago
Profitability is my definition of "real business" vs. for example, a lot of SV unicorns: if the business cannot sustain itself financially from its core revenue stream, and needs cash injections from "investors" then it's a pyramid scheme, not a business.
link
ripe 743 days ago
How many humans are involved in this so-called driverless service? Waymo won’t say, but Cruise admitted [1] that about 1.5 people were actively monitoring and ready to take over control for every Cruise car. That’s not a sustainable business.

How much money is Waymo bleeding every quarter? Maybe the investors don’t care, but it’s relevant if you want to call it a real business.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38145997

link