
Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires - steeleduncan
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/08/uber-freezes-engineering-hires-amid-mounting-losses/?comments=1
======
jfasi
This isn’t bad news. This is exactly the sort of cost cutting and fat trimming
a company in Uber’s position should be performing. From a tactical standpoint,
Uber’s IPO acts as a promise to Wall Street that they will continue their
existing business while slimming down their books.

From a strategic position, it’s not as great. Uber’s rivalry with Lyft is a
war of attrition: given that the two services are perfect complements, right
down to the drivers themselves working both networks simultaneously, growth is
entirely a function of platform-level economics. While Uber is wise to cut
corporate costs before materially cutting driver commissions or raising
consumer prices, it’s not exactly a show of strength to be scaling back
marketing and engineering, the very departments that Uber needs to continue
growing.

That being said, the size of Uber’s war chest doesn’t make me worry about
their ability to continue operating. If I had to prognosticate, though, I’d
say this is a sign that Uber is going to be posting some rough results for a
couple quarters.

~~~
jjeaff
Marketing is definitely important for growth.

But the whole point of technology and good engineers is that you can scale up
without hiring more people.

I see no reason a solid core of engineers couldn't scale Uber out
indefinitely.

------
winrid
I've been at a company that did a hiring/salary freeze. Really hurts moral. We
can expect Uber's services to potentially degrade/not improve much for a
while.

~~~
redisman
Funny how different it is. Smaller companies have a hiring freeze 90% of the
time.

~~~
kjeetgill
At companies this size, in tech at least, you always have a constant flow of
people joining and leaving. A hiring freeze means your shrinking. Your
engineers are slowly evaporating, and you're not replacing them.

------
40acres
Uber needs to head back to luxury, Travis, despite his MANY flaws, always had
an eye on this.

Uber needs to focus on it's most profitable cities and promote the
subscription service. Target families with kids using highly trusted drivers
and extra safety features, expand into medical transport, and "rent a driver"
services.

~~~
dahx4Eev
I wish there were a real uber black service with professional drivers and
better cars.

------
raiyu
Original thread
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20659191](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20659191)

------
burlesona
This feels like the sort of thing no one should be surprised by.

It seems the basic premise of Uber and Lyft was to gobble up market share at
enormous cost while autonomous cars were getting figured out, then switch to
full driverless ASAP.

But full driverless keeps being “just a few more years away,” and it looks
increasingly like that’s going to be too long for Uber to avoid running out of
money.

~~~
dangus
I still can't figure out how Uber actually manages to lose money still.

They take something like a 20% cut of the fares don't they? How is this
insufficient to pay for their platform?

I actually think they should be already be incredibly profitable.

~~~
akmarinov
Fares don’t cover what Uber pays to drivers + all the expenses of being a
worldwide company with hundreds of engineers, marketing, leases, etc.

Basically Wallstreet is subsidizing taxis for people at the moment.

