[northerdome]

Uber operates in almost every major US city today. It has overcome years of predictions it would fail. Yet I still can get an Uber in minutes almost anywhere in the country. Will it get more expensive? Probably. Is it a replacement for car ownership or transit? Definitely not. But Uber will live on. It's good enough to ensure sizable marketshare for the long term.

[disgruntledphd2]

How do you see them making a profit?

Like, if you need to exclude stock based compensation (amongst other things) from your adjusted EBITDA metric, then you have problems with your business model.

[djrogers]

> How do you see them making a profit?

By raising prices. There is a point at which the market will bear the cost and Uber can make a profit. It won’t be as cheap as it is now, and likely will be down in scale/volume, but that point does exist - the existence of taxis and all of their medallion cabal bs over the years proves it.

[kelnos]

I never understood why stock comp was included in EBITDA. How does stock comp actually cost the company money? All it really does is dilute existing investors, no?

[northerdome]

Raising prices. Even with higher prices they will still be relevant in much of the country where there is no credible alternative than to drive.

[vb6sp6]

> It has overcome years of predictions it would fail

If you kept getting billions in investment cash, you could could also keep a business that loses money each quarter going for years

[nabla9]

With -30% operating margin and -$2B operating cash flow it will not live on.

[mypalmike]

It's not a problem! I predict flooz will make a comeback and with some clever accounting, those negative dollar amounts can be changed into positive flooz.

[asdff]

Within minutes you say? You must have not used it very recently. My fastest time has been like 25 minutes with the recent lack of drivers.

[kelnos]

I guess it depends on where you are. In Honolulu a few weeks ago it would take 15 minutes just to confirm your ride, and then another 10-20 for the driver to get there. (Granted, they are also experiencing a massive tourist surge, greater than pre-pandemic levels.)

In SF, I still see 5-10 minute driver arrivals from when I click the "request" button.