In: Finance
In 2019 two ride-sharing companies - Lyft and Uber - went public. Whats are the risks that these companies are facing? Are these risks similar or different for both companies?
ANSWER:
Lyft is the ride-hail company which focuses on transportation and
has faced unique risks while going public.
Lyft Risks
1. Lyft faces challenges due to its inefficient autonomous vehicle
technology and its growth in future.
2. Lyft is using open source software, which leads to exposure
to legal risks if the licenses are been interpreted by the courts
in some unexpected procedures.
3. The platform is supported and hosted by the ‘Amazon Web
services’, implying that it has no control which leads to
interruptions, delays, cyber security attacks, natural disasters
and various other acts of misconducts.
Uber has horizontal ambitions, which are going beyond rides, going
into freight, driverless car technology, food deliver and air
taxis. It generates its revenue from three business units,
categorized as Personal Mobility, Uber freight and Uber eats.
Uber Risks
1. Uber faced challenges in getting access to the “most popular
restaurants”, as such Uber Eats was less appealing to the
restaurants and customers.
2. Uber has been associated with instances where the riders has
been raped, assaulted, harassed or in some way harmed by the
drivers. This has adversely affected the reputation, brand and
business of Uber. This has also lead to huge financial loss in
terms of paying penalty.
3. Uber generated about 15% from its booking to and from trips to
airport. The future prospects and financial health of Uber will
suffer if operations in metropolitan areas restrict the links to
airport.
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