
Uber Is Raising Another Couple Billion, at a $62.5B Valuation - kevindeasis
http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/03/uber-is-raising-another-couple-billion-at-a-62-5-billion-valuation/
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cat-dev-null
Global taxi market revenue is around $30B/yr.

And from an investor's perspective, capitalizing at 6.25x supposed annual
revenue, not profit, seems a bit ex _über_ ant.

Plus, Über isn't even close to ubiquitous yet. Good luck tracking down the one
part-timer in Chico, CA, whom doesn't work weekends. It's probably due to
about a dozen taxi companies already in to Chico / Paradise area already
offering comparable rates, so there isn't really motivation to move into
tertiary markets. This cash injection could easily lead to too aggressive
over-expansion into too many low-margin markets, followed by layoffs /
contraction, which is a common antipattern of investor pressure to "go big or
bust".

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j3sinclair
Was Über the first rideshare program, or were there other, lesser known ones
attempted before?

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nuand
Zimride came first and eventually changed its name to Lyft. Zimride offer a
carpooling ride sharing matching service.

