It also creates large swaths of potentially lucrative revenue opportunities based on the size of the Uber user base, without the quantifiability of those swaths that you would see in core-product market expansion, or core-product optimization.

The cynic in me says that you can juice Uber with a bunch of these tie-ins, box out competitors by creating these partnerships, and IPO at a valuation based on aspirational performance of these partnerships that would make most people happy.