Posted on 10/01/2019 9:11:17 AM PDT by C19fan
Tech IPOs have long been viewed as a boon for Silicon Valley workers, ushering in a new era of corporate stability and stock-driven wealth.
That’s not been the case at Uber, where the stock price has fallen roughly 30 percent since going public in May and employees say they’ve noticed cuts to amenities as basic as the brands of coffee available for brewing.
Uber is changing as it shifts from a closely held unicorn start-up to a publicly traded company that appears to be losing investors’ confidence, according to interviews with current and former workers. Those changes include laying off more than 800 workers over the summer.
Meanwhile, stock units are valued at a fraction of what many employees were led to believe. And executives are imposing workflow changes aimed at improving the company’s efficiency, adjustments that strike some employees as stifling innovation.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I saw a youtube video a couple of years ago that said that driving for Uber is a bit like going to a pay-day loan place for a loan. You get some money up front, but after time, gas, wear and tear, etc. It actually cost you money to do it, or you made so little money that it was not worth it. But at least it gave you some WAM (Walking Around Money). Everybody needs WAM, even if payday is three days away.
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving company.
Uber is a trash company, from the C suite, right down to the stinky drivers.
I’ve noticed their stock price has been way below the IPO sale price.
Time will tell if they will ever be profitable. I’ve heard they have a program called Uber Eats, which I think is food delivery by Uber. And I’ve heard they started a division called Uber freight, which apparently is recruiting truck drivers to do commercial delivery.
Had to look up “unicorn start-up.” Never heard it before.
The price of the initial offering was set way too high. This is the adjustment. Reality has set in. Now there’s Lyft which is giving competition. Perhaps Uber needs to think of treating employees and customers better.
Look for an Uber-Lyft merger within five years. You will forget you heard it here first.
“As a result, Uber is “turning [into] an operations company — not a product/tech company,” “
pretty much any fool should have been able to see that Uber always was and always will be nothing but an operational company ... once they’ve saturated the U.S. market with the maximum number of willing drivers and/or maximum number of customers, then what? ... pretty much nothing but operating a ride-sharing service ...
“I’ve heard they have a program called Uber Eats, which I think is food delivery by Uber. And I’ve heard they started a division called Uber freight, which apparently is recruiting truck drivers to do commercial delivery.”
well, if those ventures work as well as their ride-sharing service, i suppose we should expect their multi-billion dollar annual losses to accelerate ...
This younger generation thinks that companies exist to provide them with paid time-off and premium coffee. Making a profit? Pshaw!
No more free coffee?
My employer hasn’t replaced the broken microwave oven in the break room for over 3 months now.
The water thingy has been empty for months and months and half the lights are dead.
We DO have a Keurig K-cup machine though.....with about an inch of dust on it.
For 9 years i did field service IT work around 1995-2004.
The info tech and computer companies i went to.... WOW.
Free sodas, free sandwiches, muffins, pastries, multiple kitchens, couches, comfy chairs, SWIMMING POOLS, gyms, pool tables, pinball, video arcade machines, ping pong, crazy cubicles where employees were encouraged to express themselves..toys, weird crap etc.
EA Madden tournaments going on on the big screen conference rooms while i was fixing their computers...NHL and NBA as well..
YEA....90% of those companies are now LONG GONE.
Cry me a river Uber..
Probably. It’s not a bad model, but one of the problems has been that it has been under attack from several liberal states (such as CA) who hate the idea that people may be making money outside of the reach of the unions.
The drivers are basically self employed, which is what the “gig income” is all about. I was self employed, doing translation jobs I got from internet sources, for years, and sometimes I made very good money at it. And it gave me the flexibility to write on other things, travel, etc. So that’s what the “gig economy” is all about, flexibility and freedom. And even if you pay your taxes, which I certainly did, freedom is what the state hates.
Can we all agree “weak coffee” is an abomination?
I have used their app and like it. I think the innovators were ingenious in finding and upgrading a service that was about as attractive as an ill-maintained public restroom.
After going public, it’s not unusual for a startup’s stock price to drift down as initial subscribers take profits.
The thing that would hold me back from investing is California’s recent State Supreme Court ruling that Uber and others treat their independent contractors as employees, That is a death knell for the Uber business model as it pushes them to convert to a Yellow Cab model which is awful. I see the ruling as a favor to taxi special interests who have been going the way of the buggy whip.
Until this California court ruling is overturned or somehow adapted to without detriment or an end run-around is successfully made, I would not invest in Uber or any Uber type company. Otherwise I would buy the dip.
California is a renegade state and needs harsh treatment.
RENEGADE STATE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z-J0I01QP8
And then Amazon buys them.
The backbone of the company are the drivers, who have been hit with declining rates and increased fees from the mothership. Why should the corporate lounge lizards not face similar cuts to their bennies?
I’ve been driving for UBER and Lyft for over 3 years now, since the company I worked for cut staffing and ‘retired’ me.
In my late 50’s I am very grateful that this soure of income is available—convenient, I make my own hours and can hop on or off, at will.
I’ve made good money doing it. The grousing comes from pro-union activists.
Look for an Uber-Lyft merger within five years. You will forget you heard it here first.
A merger with Uber was all but inevitable for Lyft but management opted to pursue the IPO route instead. It will only prove to delay the inevitable.
That’s how they are conditioned to think when they are dropped into the venture capitol environment of Silicon Valley/SFO. The TV series “Halt and Catch Fire” captured the spirit of quite well...
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