Lyft Files for IPO

Re:Lyft Files for IPO by lallysingh on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:04AM (#18619157)

This exactly. I think eventually we could see a Kayak-like service that just compares rates for your trip against a set and books accordingly. Containing Uber/Lyft/local taxi service/etc. It's very easy to enter the market. You just need a map in a UI (mapbox) and a way to charge people (stripe/square). There's probably a decent market for transportation-service-as-a-service. $1000 gets you all setup with a custom app (configured instance of a general app).

Drivers could have something similar where they see all the opportunities and potential fares across platforms in one app. What do they need? A list box to select the fare, then a map with reasonable routing, and a pay processor.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by ovi256 on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:48AM (#18619642)

Wish someone started a list of "Posts on HN underestimating X".

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by deminature on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:37AM (#18619512)

Have you considered you might be glossing over some of the complexity involved in running operations like these?

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by Synthetase on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:48AM (#18619646)

I am private beta testing an app that does exactly what is described.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by deminature on Thursday December 06, 2018 @12:07PM (#18619816)

It seems like there might be a difference between an app that serves a few hundred people and an app that serves hundreds of millions of people.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by aaronharder on Thursday December 06, 2018 @01:03PM (#18620432)

Don't know much about the ride share industry, but am interested and curious. Which parts of this type of app do you think would be particularly difficult to scale?

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by lallysingh on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:38PM (#18625182)

Spatially-oriented, locally-scoped applications pretty naturally shard out by region.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by Synthetase on Thursday December 06, 2018 @02:38PM (#18621300)

The way its built requires no human operational cost.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by deminature on Thursday December 06, 2018 @03:55PM (#18622129)

I'd be skeptical if ridesharing is possible without some human operational involvement. The most complex part is not the 99% of trips that go right, but the 1% that go wrong. The consequences of failure are more severe than say, a SaaS app not working correctly.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by lallysingh on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:09PM (#18625071)

It's not like Uber does a good job here.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by jameslevy on Thursday December 06, 2018 @12:03PM (#18619778)

The only way Uber and Lyft will allow themselves to be relegated to a "dumb pipes" role is if they are forced to with regulation. Otherwise, zero chance of this happening.

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Re:Lyft Files for IPO by IshKebab on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:46AM (#18619618)

Google Maps already has this. Well it doesn't charge you in the map, but it shows you services and gives you a price estimate.

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