Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
If on the outside chance youre not familiar with Uber, the basics are as follows:
In the past, when you needed to get somewhere, hailing a cab was a nightmare. You either stood
outsidewind, rain, sleet, snow, or shinewaving your hand in the air until you could hail a
cab, or you called a taxi dispatch (if you had their number) and had to wait 20 minutes until a car
arrived.
Once you arrived at your destination, you fumbled to count out the right amount of cash plus a
tip, negotiate with the driver who never had the right change, or who forgot to start their meter,
or whose credit card machine was broken.
All told, very few people viewed finding and using taxi service as something enjoyableit was
simply something that they dealt with due to the lack of an alternative. Before Uber you were
beholden to an entrenched, monopolistic entity, whose sloppy execution and lack of regard for
the customer experience was evident at every touch point.
This poor experience and a perceived lack of ability to change anything about it created pent up
frustration and demand from consumers who were eager to find anything better. Uber tapped into
that frustration and demand exceptionally well.
Uber is completely changing the way getting private transportation is done in several key ways.
First, their smartphone app is integrated with Google maps so that you can see how far away the
nearest cars are, set a meeting point on the screen, and hail a car to meet you there. You can even
see your drivers information (including ratings) as you watch the car get closer to your location.
Uber drivers call or text to confirm that theyre on the way, giving you peace of mind that your
order was received. Once your car arrives (usually within a few minutes), the driver greets you
by name and you hop in. The cars are black cars and SUVs. Uber X, a lower cost version of the
service, is made up of a fleet of well maintained sedans.
Once you arrive at your destination, the app charges your card, and youre free to go on about
your day. Theres no need to deal with cash, change, tips, or receipts. You just hop out. (Source)
Uber has removed the friction from the typical taxi cab transaction, and made it highly enjoyable
in the process.
Bill Gurley sees Ubers key to growth as a simple one: Uber offers a great product. He explains,
The product is so good, there is no one spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on
marketing. (Source) While this is certainly the case, it isnt the only factor driving growth at
Uber. First, lets go back to the beginning and look at some of Ubers early tipping points.
Early Traction
Though the company was founded in 2009, Uber didnt officially launch until June 2010. In
January 2011, just six months later, they had had between 3,000 and 6,000 users and had already
done between 10,000 and 20,000 rides. (Source) So what got them there?
By seeding this audience, they were able to create a growth engine that hinged on the fact that
these adopters would show their friends, who would become new users after their first Uber
experience. Leading to a growing network of passionate customers.
Each of these factors makes driving yourself problematic at best (and in some cases downright
impossible), and cities in which they coexist are especially receptive to Ubers services. Uber
focused on executing in cities where those problems are near constants to drive accelerated
adoption. For example, In Chicagoa city with great nightlife, intense weather, and tons of
sporting events Ubers initial viral growth was double whats typical for them (see viral
growth numbers cited below).
Special events and holidays also provide an opportunity to showcase Ubers model, and the
company was able to deliver on key nights like New Years Eve in San Franciscoa city
notorious for a lack of taxiswhich drove buzz for the new service. These events created intense
demand and pressure to get new users to take their first Uber ride, driving spikes in new riders
and total rides.
local voice is important when youre doing transportation and means you know whats going on
for the city. (Source)
A city in which Uber has seen unprecedented growth is Washington D.C. Kalanick explains,
Were not really sure exactly why, but D.C. really, really likes our product a lot. That is
reflected in our growth, and the sort of overall demand weve seen has been unprecedented. He
claims that, month over month, growth is in the 30 to 40 percent range. When asked if this
growth in D.C. reflects that people are not happy with their alternatives, Kalanick replies, I
think one can make that conclusion. (Source)
Update: As reflected by Noah in the comments, the effort of Uber to support these city launches
is massive and all encompassing, from local events, industry partnerships, business development
and more. Uber makes sure that their marketing and business efforts are in full support of fueling
that word of mouth engine, driving local growth.
people think about transportation, making it less about everyone purchasing his or her own car
and more about purchasing rides (like water or electricity) as we need them.
Understanding this potential, Kalanick envisions Uber as an instant gratification service
giving people what they need, when they need it, whether thats a ride or some other delivery.
As to what this other delivery might be, the possibilities are pretty limitless. (Source)
Kalanick explains, What were doing right now is were in the experimentation phase where
you sort of find some interesting ways to do promotions like Uber ice cream. He continues, Its
very straightforward for us to basically give [drivers] a phone with an app on it and say, Look,
when the thing is blinking, hit the screen and go to where the map tells you to go. And you dont
have to pick them up and take them anywhere, just give them ice cream. (Source)
In fact, so far the company has experimented with:
on-demand Uber Ice Cream
on-demand roses for Valentines day
on-demand barbecue in Texas
DeLorean rides in San Francisco
UberCHOPPER helicopter rides to the Hamptons
partnership with the NFL Players Association to promote safe rides for NFL players
as well as more standard promotional efforts, such as $10 off coupons and the like.
Though these are primarily marketing promotions, they are also ways to test the market for
demand, and they hint at the companys potential direction for growth. Though nothing is set in
stone, many interpret Google Ventures whopping investment in Uber as an indication of whats
to come. Google is, after all, in the process of making the self-driving car a reality, which means
the prospect of a fleet of driverless cars shuttling us to and from work, school, fun, errands, and
home is no longer purely in the realm of science fiction.
way for Uber in new cities, and the local and national press coverage helps Uber reach more
potential users who hear about an innovative new company recreating a transportation
experience that is nearly universally disliked by people everywhere.
What did we miss? What else was key to their growth in both the early days and today? Share
your thoughts and insight in the comments, and help us make this the definitive piece on Ubers
meteoric rise.
Found this great nugget on the design of the Uber app. Awesome annecdote:
http://bryce.vc/post/64889707700/most-people-wont
Quoting from an interview with Elle Luna:
So I was using Uber all the time in San Francisco, even though I hated the design. And
then I went to the Crunchies awards ceremony and at a post-ceremony event, where I was
in a ball gown, I saw the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, sitting at the bar. I was three
whiskeys deep at this point and I walked up to him and said, I use Uber all the time and
I absolutely hate the app. I think you should bring me in to fix it. He replied, Oh, yeah?
What are the three things youd fix about it? I said, Id redo the logo, redo the entire
app, and change the rating system. I think there was something about being in a dress
that empowered me to say such things (laughing). And do you know what he said? He
said, Be at the Uber office at 9am on Monday. I told him I couldnt do it alone and he
said hed have a team for me.
I thought the offer was bogus, but I went to Ubers office on Monday at 9am, laughing to
myself, and Travis led me back to a project room with two other designersthey were
from outside of Uber and he had flown them in from New York! We took on the Uber
app and redesigned it in three weeks. In fact, one of the guys he flew in from New York,
Shalin Amin, ended up staying on full-time. The app is gorgeous and last night it won the
Fast Company 2013 Innovation By Design Awards for the transportation category,
beating out Mars Rover and Tesla.
I just want to emphasize the importance of Uber having localized growth teams in each
city. The amount of local events and partner outreach that they partake it is pretty
amazing. Every new city is a new launch and a new community that gets created from the
ground up. While the Uber brand helps, its still on the biz dev/ partner growth teams to
hustle and cultivate growth.
Check out the Uber city blogs to see the array of events and partnerships Uber uses to
spur growth: http://blog.uber.com/cityblogs/
Great point Noah. We probably didnt emphasize the importance of the local
growth teams enough. I agree that they really seem to be relentless in their drive
to create traction in each market.
0 Log in to Reply
o
Hey Noah,
Thanks for the comment. I just added your thoughts under our city-by-city roll out
section. Great insight.
Morgan
0 Log in to Reply
He expressed his gripes to a friend who suggested he try signing up for Uber. My driver
said Uber is much more professional toward their drivers and even invites then to attend
events. More importantly, he found that he could get an Uber rider request usually within
a minute or two of dropping off another passenger. In fact his income became so
predictable that he was confident enough to lease a pretty nice Mercedes (which he uses
as an Uber x driver). Contrast this to the only pink mustache car I saw in sf today it was
a crappy old car that looked to be from the late 90s.
Given that Uber is such a positive experience for the drivers, theyve not surprisingly
attracted a pretty large fleet. Our wait for an Uber driver today was about one minute
from the time I ordered it.
Ive often thought that Uber isnt a very defensible business whats stopping a driver
from signing up for multiple services? But after todays conversation I now understand
that it is a winner take all situation. Drivers dont need to have multiple services if Uber
is keeping them busy on its own.
1 Log in to Reply
Anyone know if they are only offering it for a short period of time when they seed a new
market? Im based in Orange County, CA and Uber only recently expanded here. Figure
maybe more established markets arent seeing this offer.
1 Log in to Reply
o
Why and where are these writers getting their facts in regards to the monies being made
by Uber Partner drivers? There is a reason for Uber hiring 20,000 new drivers per month.
It could be because they are losing that many per month! After a driver realizes that no
matter how they cut it, with only using the 20% Uber retains per ride and the gas paid out
by a driving partner, the driver is netting below MINIMUM WAGE! Perhaps more
writers should ask the drivers current and past what they are in fact pulling in. $4-5 per
hour would be a common response! This figure represents 44 rides, 35 hours, a net after
gas only.$421.00 bucks! Sounds like a pyrimid scam to me! Keep signing up those
driver partners, Uber!
1 Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback Rachelwere with you, we love Uber. Theyve totally
changed the game.
0 Log in to Reply