
Uber and the Delicate Business of Creating a Platform - kareemm
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/uber_and_the_delicate_business.html
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viscanti
Uber's dynamic pricing is an interesting system, and I think some of it's
subtler points are overlooked in this article. Uber did a poor job of
providing good messaging about what prices would be last New Years Eve. That's
changed. They're a startup and they seem to be learning as they go.

The article argues that overall prices should be increased to help offset
costs for high demand times. That's missing the point of dynamic pricing (or
"surge" pricing). The point is that you can almost always reliably get a ride,
regardless of demand, but at times with the highest demand (like New Years
Eve) you have to pay more for that. In return, Uber is able to pay their
drivers more, and are able to better fill those high demand times (otherwise
you'd just sit around waiting for a car, but would never get one because
they're all already filled). It's the right move from a platform perspective.
It's not putting the interests of drivers above passengers, but instead
balancing both sides (passengers have an increased chance of getting a ride if
they absolutely need it, but may have to pay more for that).

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paulgb
To those who read the comments before the article, this is really about
building a market, not a platform in the sense that the word is usually thrown
around here.

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tbundy
Not to down play the consumer experience issue, but I couldn't help but
chuckle a bit when the author spoke about the issues on NYE.

"Consumers who were used to easy clicking missed the notice and became
(reasonably) upset when the bill arrived."

I wonder how many drinks those consumers has consumed when they were ordering
their ride home.

