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Re:Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires by untog on Saturday August 10, 2019 @11:04PM (#20665961)
But... They're losing money. They can't do that indefinitely.
Re:Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires by muzani on Sunday August 11, 2019 @04:45AM (#20667129)
They don't have to. They just have to do it longer than the competition.

Remember, Facebook and YouTube made big losses for a while, especially after the 'exit'. YouTube outlived Vine and started putting in more intrusive ads. Facebook IPO seemed like a flop, but it went very well and they acquired all their competitors instead of outwaiting them.

Re:Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires by untog on Sunday August 11, 2019 @08:28AM (#20667853)
Uber isn't Facebook or Google, though. Plenty of Uber drivers work for more than one company, and there's nothing to stop a new arrival from poaching a ton of Uber drivers, as long as they give the right incentives. Facebook was protected by network effects, YouTube by the large video library. From the end user's point of view Uber has no such protection.
Re:Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires by dougabug on Sunday August 11, 2019 @08:39AM (#20667902)
Lyft doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon in the US. If anything, Lyft is much larger than it was a few years ago. In China and a number of markets where Uber invested heavily, the competition won the war of attrition.
Re:Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires by Marazan on Sunday August 11, 2019 @05:00AM (#20667185)
Really a reply to muzani

Facebook lost money for 2 years, right at the start. That's it.