Uber: The Undeletable App - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 31]

Today, we’re breaking down Uber. Despite a corporate history that spans just over a decade, the ink spilled on Uber could have its own wing in a library. So rather than record with our typical Breakdown format, we decided to host two portfolio managers and familiar guests on the podcast, Mario Cibelli, and Ram Parameswaran, to walk through their bull cases on Uber stock. Uber is the case study for network effects in two-sided marketplaces but a controversial corporate culture, ongoing regulatory battles, and a debate over unit economics has made it a battleground stock since going public in 2019. During our wide-ranging conversation, we cover the opportunity for Uber’s business segments, what deteriorating service means for the product, and what COVID may have revealed regarding Ubers’ financials. While Mario and Ram are clearly Uber bulls, it’s particularly fun to hear where their views align and differ. It’s a great reminder that we can all take very different paths to arrive at the same conclusion. Please enjoy this great breakdown of Uber. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss Show Notes [00:03:16] - [First question] - What they find most interesting about Uber [00:04:40] - Major aspects of the business today in regards to bookings and revenue [00:07:47] - The importance of multiple use cases and what happens by exploring verticals [00:10:47] - History of getting drivers to join the company and what matters on the supply side [00:15:01] - Impact of higher wait times and ride prices and emerging trends in a post-covid era [00:17:48] - Thinking about Uber as a busted but booming model [00:22:31] - The unit economics and journey of $100 flowing into Uber [00:29:32] - Possible concerns and needs for capital Uber may have in the future [00:37:13] - The role that DoorDash plays in this ecosystem and where it’s a potential threat [00:39:01] - Is Lift an equally worthy competitor compared to DoorDash [00:41:59] - What we can learn about labor and regulation when studying Uber [00:43:44] - Thoughts on current management and capital allocation [00:49:56] - Parallels between Amazon Prime and Uber’s membership program [00:52:25] - Using the accumulated data to integrate an advertising model into their app [00:56:33] - The biggest potential threats to Uber’s growing success