I have doubts that the real estate industry is to blame for urban and suburban sprawl. As someone who works in real estate tech, I'd appreciate if you could unpack that.
However, I do think you're hitting on a real constraint. As far as I know, work brokering service models like Uber have only been successful when there's a large and dependable workforce in close proximity to the consumer base it serves. In order for Uber to scale to suburbs, they don't necessarily have to get suburbanites driving for them--a Lyft driver last week told me that he commutes an hour to SF from Walnut Creek to drive. However, that guy is going to have to see more money coming in than someone who lives in Oakland because his margins will always be much thinner.
There are certain apps with P2P models that escape this supply problem by eliminating the server-served dynamic. They require each user to put in a little bit of work to get value out. Yerdle is one example of this type of model. The hard part there seems to be convincing rich people to spend time participating because they see their time as being more valuable. At the same time, the rich have the most to contribute.
As Jeff Bezos optimistically puts it, today is still day 1 of the internet. Here's to hoping for our future tech utopia!
However, I do think you're hitting on a real constraint. As far as I know, work brokering service models like Uber have only been successful when there's a large and dependable workforce in close proximity to the consumer base it serves. In order for Uber to scale to suburbs, they don't necessarily have to get suburbanites driving for them--a Lyft driver last week told me that he commutes an hour to SF from Walnut Creek to drive. However, that guy is going to have to see more money coming in than someone who lives in Oakland because his margins will always be much thinner.
There are certain apps with P2P models that escape this supply problem by eliminating the server-served dynamic. They require each user to put in a little bit of work to get value out. Yerdle is one example of this type of model. The hard part there seems to be convincing rich people to spend time participating because they see their time as being more valuable. At the same time, the rich have the most to contribute.
As Jeff Bezos optimistically puts it, today is still day 1 of the internet. Here's to hoping for our future tech utopia!