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Uber blew as much as $3.2 billion on advertising alone in 2018 on its way to one of the biggest US IPOs on record

2.9K views 43 replies 25 participants last post by  Lowestformofwit  
#1 ·
#11 ·
The positive news about Uber and Lyfdiculous going public is that we now have thousands of analysts and journalists eyes on them examining how they are spending investor capital and what return they are getting from those expenditures.
 
#14 ·
Uber was trying to rebrand itself and prepare for the ipo to the general public. The figure sounds high to me but I do remember seeing uber commercials all the time especially sports.

Too early to tell but seems like they wasted money so far
 
#15 ·
#25 ·
As it is including recruitment of drivers it's about right. That's the cost of doing business.
Uber spends 600 dollars for the replacement of every driver it loses and it adds up.
And how much of the 600 goes into new driver's job training? Ah yes, Uber is a tech company that hires anyone with a vehicle right! No training, no experience, no skills, no knowledge required. Looks like "hiring anyone" strategy works pretty well for Uber.
 
#28 ·
The break down comes down to Advertising for drivers bonus payments to drivers and staff at the hubs to manage new drivers. Uber while figures are leaked though it's S-1 filing I don't think itemised the specific cost per process just the combined total spend and that's very easy to believe when you look at drivers turnover.
At a minimum of 94% of Uber drivers being turned over per annum how many drivers is that per week that need to be replaced? Uber claims 2 million? That's approximately 5150 drivers per day that need be to replaced. That's a lot of advertising and a lot of management.
About 3 million a day spent at 600 dollars per driver? That's a very easy figure to believe.
 
#29 ·
More proof that their model is flawed. In SEC filings uber's growth receding while losses increasing. Uber waited too long to go public and now growth is no longer a factor to attract investors.
Wallstreet realized uber's not a technology company nothing more than a retail taxi dispatcher with a model that's never going to be profitable.
Uber burned through $20+ billion from VC subsidy trying to gain market share. As per IPO filing they admit no path to profitability while burning almost$4 billion annually.
Question is how is uber going to subsidize operations going forward while loses mounting.
IPO capital won't last 2.5 years at current burn rate. How are they going to raise additional capital with $3 billion plus is junk bonds.
 
#32 ·
Uber and Lyft don't understand math. They think that they can throw around money and new people will flock to them.

Over the years Uber and Lyft have alienated MILLIONS of drivers. Say you have 2 million hostile former drivers. Many of those drivers have a spouse. They have 2-3 kids. They have 2 parents. They have 4 grandparents. They have 2 siblings. They have 10 cousins. They have 20 nieces and nephews. They have a dozen close personal friends and co-workers in the office. You have millions of potential riders, but they won't use the service because they know how bad Uber and Lyft treat their driver family member/co-workers/friends.

I may only be one driver, but my recommendation(s) resonate with dozens of family members/acquaintances. Uber and Lyft can make as many propaganda ads as they want, but they'll never succeed until they treat drivers right.
 
#33 ·
Uber and Lyft don't understand math. They think that they can throw around money and new people will flock to them.

Over the years Uber and Lyft have alienated MILLIONS of drivers. Say you have 2 million hostile former drivers. Many of those drivers have a spouse. They have 2-3 kids. They have 2 parents. They have 4 grandparents. They have 2 siblings. They have 10 cousins. They have 20 nieces and nephews. They have a dozen close personal friends and co-workers in the office. You have millions of potential riders, but they won't use the service because they know how bad Uber and Lyft treat their driver family member/co-workers/friends.

I may only be one driver, but my recommendation(s) resonate with dozens of family members/acquaintances. Uber and Lyft can make as many propaganda ads as they want, but they'll never succeed until they treat drivers right.
The theory of diminishing returns by creating oversupply of drivers which has evolved into the most disgruntled labor force in modern history. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
Uber may a household brand. But it's a brand with incredible negative perception. They have caused irreparable damage to their brand.
 
#40 ·
Wow!! Does that really work? If so it definitely would be more lucrative than actually driving.
People like Harry the Rideshare guy and Uberman were doing stuff like this YEARS ago!! :p
 
#43 ·
I presume the propaganda these companies spew out falls under advertising. As for the company reporting it in its filing, it also reported that the take rate was 21.7 which maybe in 2015 it was (which would technically not make this a lie if they didn't disclose the year they were talking about). Either way it is a lie thus any other numbers in the IPO prospectus should be taken with a grain of salt. As we all know, Uber and Lyft seem to be protected from regulators thus lying to drivers, passengers, and investors isn't of concern to them until it ends up in the courts and in the media. I don't believe a single word that comes out of Uber and Lyft headquarters. They have lied to drivers and passengers for years thus the culture of lying is imbedded in their very being.....now that investors are involved though do you think they overnight changed that culture? Of course not.

nothing Uber or Trump does surprises anyone anymore
they both seem to be missing the same ethical and moral compasses