Uber is the poster-child for the collaborative economy. A unicorn many times over, it is purportedly worth $65 billion. It achieved this status through ruthless determinism, and a willful desire to ignore existing regulations in the hope of winning more customers.
With a wildly loyal customer base, the service has proven itself useful, fast and convenient. When you add affordable to that, then it's a lock.
But can Uber's dominance continue with some of its recent decisions?
Uber has made questionable business decisions over time. Decisions that impact its reputation. But like Donald Trump, not even the most ridiculous and outrageous actions leave the merest dent in Uber's armor. For example:
At some point, Uber's culture and questionable business practices will catch up with them. Uber seems to escape the watchful eye of journalists, for the most part. There's no modern-day Ida Tarbell, who investigated Rockefeller and Standard Oil, leading to its eventual breakup.
Uber has made questionable business decisions over time. Decisions that impact its reputation. But like Donald Trump, not even the most ridiculous and outrageous actions leave the merest dent in Uber's armor. For example:
- Uber sabotaged its competitor Lyft by ordering fake rides and then cancelling them, so it would be able to pick up fares instead;
- It tried to torpedo Lyft's fundraising efforts by telling VCs that it was raising a round directly after;
- It fired 15 drivers by email - over a misunderstanding. To add insult to injury, the email font was Comic Sans.
- It threatened to hire opposition researchers to dig into the private life of journalists who weren't completely pro-Uber.
- It began offering sub-prime auto loans to its drivers;
- Uber cut its drivers' earnings to below minimum wage;
- It blocked drivers on Twitter who spoke out about fare cuts;
- Even as its skimping on paying drivers in the US, Uber is pouring money into China, where it had a 1.5% market share against incumbents and is losing $1 billion a year.
- Uber has been known to be rife with sexism, referring to its service as "Boober," and suffering the embarrassment of Uber France's promotion to offer rides with "hot chicks".
- As it was being sued in a class action suit, Uber hired a secret research firm staffed with CIA and NSA veterans to investigate the plaintiff's attorneys. The presiding judge in the case has already ruled the evidence constitutes "a reasonable basis to suspect the perpetration of fraud."
- And most recently, it is not only undercutting all of its competitors in New York City, but it's undercutting public transportation as it offers UberPool rides for commuters during rush hour. This is the kind of behavior that John D. Rockefeller was notorious for: the CEO of Standard Oil would secretly acquire railroads to control the distribution process and force his competitors to deal with him and his pricing structure.
At some point, Uber's culture and questionable business practices will catch up with them. Uber seems to escape the watchful eye of journalists, for the most part. There's no modern-day Ida Tarbell, who investigated Rockefeller and Standard Oil, leading to its eventual breakup.
But if more consumers understand the behavior of the company, there's going to be a breaking point where no amount of user experience or convenience can make up for its lack of ethics and basic human decency.
If you liked this commentary and the previous one on legal terms of apps, you can listen to them in my new podcast The Full Monty. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spreaker or SoundCloud.
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