One of the most commonly invoked takedowns of the ever-increasing and
mind-blowing valuation levels the company has achieved — $40 billion at
last count — is this:
"Investors are valuing Uber as if it's bigger than the whole taxi market!"
The implication?
Investors are nuts.
Well, investors are indeed valuing Uber as if it's bigger than the whole
taxi market.
But it turns out that that's not nuts.
In its most mature market, San Francisco, the four-year old Uber is already
bigger than the local taxi market. Much bigger, in fact.
According to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who spoke at the DLD Conference in
Munich on Sunday, the taxi market in San Francisco is about $140 million
per year.
Uber's revenues in San Francisco, meanwhile, are running at $500 million
per year.
That's more than three times the size of the taxi market.
And Uber's revenues in San Francisco are still growing at about 200% per year.
