At the end of last month, Uber reach an agreement with two taxi companies in New York City will give app users access to the city’s iconic yellow cabs. The announcement comes as a shock, something as unlikely as a Staten Island pizza company deciding to serve up Chicago worms or a Yankees-Red Sox goodwill tour. After all, for the past decade, two entities have been locked in a feud colorful insultsmany lawsuits, and the country the first group of regulations on ride-hailing services.
Despite the historical drama, the deal seem to make business sense. The taxi epidemic is cut short in New York after years of tourists defecting to ride-hailing apps. Meanwhile, Uber, along with other gig businesses, is facing a shortage of workers. promote by health risks, labor trends and the industry’s notorious lack of benefits. “Will we have enough drivers to meet the demand that we will have?” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi consufused as early as February 2021, when the end of the pandemic seems to be in sight. He was right to worry. A recent analysis shows wait times for Uber and Lyft across 20 markets 50 percent higher in March 2022 compared to October 2021, indicating a worsening of the driver supply problem. Gasoline prices have increased recently did not help.
Of course, the obstacles facing both Uber and taxi fleets are not limited to the Big Apple. Days after their deal was signed, a partnership between Uber and a taxi company in San Francisco has been reported to be nearing completioneven though similar bad blood between those two sides. (At least one Gulf taxi driver put forth an eloquent dissent.)
The alignment of old competitors in an uneasy (and still unclear) alliance says a lot about what the pandemic has done to the business landscape. But it also reveals a more universal truth about startups and disruptors: They can only grow so much before they need to incorporate the traditional formats and ideologies they usually come from. deny. In the case of Uber and the embrace of taxis, it’s a strategic shift that will have big consequences for everyone as cities and offices move to fully reopen. More broadly, though, the ongoing conflict surrounding Uber and its dealings is indicative of a way of doing business that thrives in Silicon Valley’s ideal rooms — and then unleashes chaos. clumsiness in the real world.
Uber is not the first or only company in Silicon Valley to go against its founding model. Even before the pandemic turns everyone’s parents into online shoppers and Zoom experts, digital disruptors need to find new ways to stay afloat and stand out from the crowd. with the old guardians. Online-only luxury brands like Away (suitcase) or Allbirds (sneakers) or Glossier (beauty products), used to be limited in the number of customers they could attract and keep loyal, opened physical stores to give them prestige and visibility, acted as distribution hubs, get customer dataor offer easy direct return. In one of the previous instances of URL to IRL, Warby Parker opening of the first physical retail store in 2013, three years after its online launch, captured millions of eyes and social media feeds.
Other startups chasing new audiences have created beds for strangers rather than Uber Pool — like when a mattress brand sells direct to consumers. issued a 3,000-word manifesto by a trendsetter, or make a party rush out nap rentals in high-traffic city centers. Or when a razor blade subscription company launches a branded magazine with a team of full-time editors to serve. Deep esoteric content.
