 "Uber draws fresh comparison with Amazon as growth trumps profit")
Uber Technologies Inc, a startup with losses that outstrip revenue, is drawing fresh comparisons with another big tech company that has a reputation for spending: Amazon.
Uber had an operating loss of $470 million on $415 million in revenue in a time period not specified, according to information that's being shown to potential investors in the ride-sharing service. An Uber spokeswoman called the numbers "substantially old."
Getting Uber's car-booking application up and running in cities around the globe isn't cheap. Its major costs include an international expansion, subsidizing rides in new markets, recruiting drivers, hiring engineers, leasing offices and building a lobbying operation.
Similarly, Amazon.com Inc has favored hefty investments in delivery services, new businesses and data centers to woo customers and make its service indispensable - instead of focusing on profit growth.
"They're wise to expand as fast as they can," said Lou Shipley, a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. "I would liken it to what Amazon did with books."
Venture capitalists and academics say that Uber's business demands scale and density within cities - it needs a lot of people placing orders for rides on their smartphones and a lot of drivers to come pick them up. That's something it can only build through aggressive spending on marketing, operations and ride subsidies, and it could take years until San Francisco- based Uber knows whether its business model is sustainable on a global scale.
"For Uber to work, it needs to have enough density that it's faster and more convenient and they're able to do that in large cities, so what they've tried to do is they lose on every ride in a lot of places to achieve that density," said Mike Munger, a professor of economics and public policy at Duke University.
Amazon is becoming a popular point of comparison for Uber. For years, the online retailer has been building warehouses and data centers, adding new products and vendors, and offering new services such as media streaming in a bid to keep customers engaged on its website and reliant on its services.
Amazon's operating expenses are almost equal to what it generates in revenue. In the first quarter, Seattle-based Amazon reported a $57 million net loss. Operating expenses of $22.5 billion were just short of the $22.7 billion the company had in sales.
Like Amazon, for now Uber is forgoing profits in favor of revenue growth. Uber and its investors are betting that as it adds customers in new cities, and tests new features such as messenger services and food delivery, the six-year-old company will become profitable. That's why the ride-hailing startup is raising so much money - it has a valuation of $50 billion - and growing internationally so quickly.
"This is Amazon writ large," said venture capitalist Nick Sturiale. "It's not just winning the current business, it's probably teeing up future businesses."
Uber's plan to hook customers on its mobile app in new cities includes keeping the cost of its rides low. As anyone who has taken an Uber and talked to the driver knows, sometimes the fare collected from the rider is less than what Uber pays the driver. The company uses the same strategy with its carpooling program, uberPOOL.
International expansion is another primary expense for Uber. While rival Lyft Inc. has stayed within the U.S., Uber is raising a pool of money just to compete in China, the Financial Times has reported. The company is also spending money to experiment and innovate with logistics and new product lines, such as trying to figure out how to move around food, not just people.
Uber's model is "Business 101," said Nairi Hourdajian, an Uber spokeswoman. "You raise money, you invest money, you grow (hopefully), you make a profit and that generates a return for investors."
Inevitably, when a technology company is spending profusely and losing more money than it makes, people think of the Internet bubble of the late 20th Century.
Anand Sanwal, chief executive officer of venture-capital researcher CB Insights, worked at delivery startup Kozmo.com - a victim of the dot-com bust - as a manager for strategic growth in 2000. Although Kozmo was great for consumers, the company was spending too much to deliver low-priced items, and profit never materialized, Sanwal said.
"If you're spending more than you're making, it's hard to say the model is proven out."
Sanwal said that it's still an "open question" whether Uber can successfully expand its business model globally.
"It could be one of those things that the model works in New York and it works in San Francisco and it works in certain areas, but I think proving it out in all these different markets is still to be done."
Uber had an operating loss of $470 million on $415 million in revenue in a time period not specified, according to information that's being shown to potential investors in the ride-sharing service. An Uber spokeswoman called the numbers "substantially old."
Getting Uber's car-booking application up and running in cities around the globe isn't cheap. Its major costs include an international expansion, subsidizing rides in new markets, recruiting drivers, hiring engineers, leasing offices and building a lobbying operation.
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Similarly, Amazon.com Inc has favored hefty investments in delivery services, new businesses and data centers to woo customers and make its service indispensable - instead of focusing on profit growth.
"They're wise to expand as fast as they can," said Lou Shipley, a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. "I would liken it to what Amazon did with books."
Venture capitalists and academics say that Uber's business demands scale and density within cities - it needs a lot of people placing orders for rides on their smartphones and a lot of drivers to come pick them up. That's something it can only build through aggressive spending on marketing, operations and ride subsidies, and it could take years until San Francisco- based Uber knows whether its business model is sustainable on a global scale.
"For Uber to work, it needs to have enough density that it's faster and more convenient and they're able to do that in large cities, so what they've tried to do is they lose on every ride in a lot of places to achieve that density," said Mike Munger, a professor of economics and public policy at Duke University.
Amazon is becoming a popular point of comparison for Uber. For years, the online retailer has been building warehouses and data centers, adding new products and vendors, and offering new services such as media streaming in a bid to keep customers engaged on its website and reliant on its services.
Amazon's operating expenses are almost equal to what it generates in revenue. In the first quarter, Seattle-based Amazon reported a $57 million net loss. Operating expenses of $22.5 billion were just short of the $22.7 billion the company had in sales.
Like Amazon, for now Uber is forgoing profits in favor of revenue growth. Uber and its investors are betting that as it adds customers in new cities, and tests new features such as messenger services and food delivery, the six-year-old company will become profitable. That's why the ride-hailing startup is raising so much money - it has a valuation of $50 billion - and growing internationally so quickly.
"This is Amazon writ large," said venture capitalist Nick Sturiale. "It's not just winning the current business, it's probably teeing up future businesses."
Uber's plan to hook customers on its mobile app in new cities includes keeping the cost of its rides low. As anyone who has taken an Uber and talked to the driver knows, sometimes the fare collected from the rider is less than what Uber pays the driver. The company uses the same strategy with its carpooling program, uberPOOL.
International expansion is another primary expense for Uber. While rival Lyft Inc. has stayed within the U.S., Uber is raising a pool of money just to compete in China, the Financial Times has reported. The company is also spending money to experiment and innovate with logistics and new product lines, such as trying to figure out how to move around food, not just people.
Uber's model is "Business 101," said Nairi Hourdajian, an Uber spokeswoman. "You raise money, you invest money, you grow (hopefully), you make a profit and that generates a return for investors."
Inevitably, when a technology company is spending profusely and losing more money than it makes, people think of the Internet bubble of the late 20th Century.
Anand Sanwal, chief executive officer of venture-capital researcher CB Insights, worked at delivery startup Kozmo.com - a victim of the dot-com bust - as a manager for strategic growth in 2000. Although Kozmo was great for consumers, the company was spending too much to deliver low-priced items, and profit never materialized, Sanwal said.
"If you're spending more than you're making, it's hard to say the model is proven out."
Sanwal said that it's still an "open question" whether Uber can successfully expand its business model globally.
"It could be one of those things that the model works in New York and it works in San Francisco and it works in certain areas, but I think proving it out in all these different markets is still to be done."