Scott Gorlick

I think when we talk about unit economics, I think like at scale, we always kind of knew that the margins would correct themselves at scale if we could kind of rationalize the competitive playing environment, right?

I think when we talk about unit economics, I think like at scale, we always kind of knew that the margins would correct themselves at scale if we could kind of rationalize the competitive playing environment, right?

Yeah, so I would say the biggest difference on the unit economics over time was we had to play the game on the field. There were a lot of competitors in different markets. And at the same time as we were raising money, SoftBank was pouring money into all the different competitors, right? So even though we were in 2014 and the business was five years long,

Yeah, so I would say the biggest difference on the unit economics over time was we had to play the game on the field. There were a lot of competitors in different markets. And at the same time as we were raising money, SoftBank was pouring money into all the different competitors, right? So even though we were in 2014 and the business was five years long,

Yeah, so I would say the biggest difference on the unit economics over time was we had to play the game on the field. There were a lot of competitors in different markets. And at the same time as we were raising money, SoftBank was pouring money into all the different competitors, right? So even though we were in 2014 and the business was five years long,

like the unit economics as we launched UberX and had more competitors actually got worse over time because you started spending so much money to acquire drivers, to acquire riders. And until the competitive market like rationalized, right? And SoftBank sort of like pulled back a little bit or decided or Uber decided exactly like where we wanted to play.

like the unit economics as we launched UberX and had more competitors actually got worse over time because you started spending so much money to acquire drivers, to acquire riders. And until the competitive market like rationalized, right? And SoftBank sort of like pulled back a little bit or decided or Uber decided exactly like where we wanted to play.

like the unit economics as we launched UberX and had more competitors actually got worse over time because you started spending so much money to acquire drivers, to acquire riders. And until the competitive market like rationalized, right? And SoftBank sort of like pulled back a little bit or decided or Uber decided exactly like where we wanted to play.

It was very challenging to basically be like, hey, Harry, we're going to cut all driver incentives tomorrow. We're going to cut all rider incentives because we would have seen that market share reflected and that would have stopped our growth.

It was very challenging to basically be like, hey, Harry, we're going to cut all driver incentives tomorrow. We're going to cut all rider incentives because we would have seen that market share reflected and that would have stopped our growth.

It was very challenging to basically be like, hey, Harry, we're going to cut all driver incentives tomorrow. We're going to cut all rider incentives because we would have seen that market share reflected and that would have stopped our growth.

Yeah. There was a point in San Francisco, and don't quote me on this number, is over time, right, like we were paying $25 or $50 for referrals in Atlanta. And then we started paying like $250 to each side, the driver that referred and the driver that signed up. And then we escalated to 500, 500.

Yeah. There was a point in San Francisco, and don't quote me on this number, is over time, right, like we were paying $25 or $50 for referrals in Atlanta. And then we started paying like $250 to each side, the driver that referred and the driver that signed up. And then we escalated to 500, 500.

Yeah. There was a point in San Francisco, and don't quote me on this number, is over time, right, like we were paying $25 or $50 for referrals in Atlanta. And then we started paying like $250 to each side, the driver that referred and the driver that signed up. And then we escalated to 500, 500.

And I think there was a point in time where in San Francisco and a couple of other very competitive cities, we were paying $1,000 to each side. So $2,000 for driver acquisition. We would put some sort of thresholds around that, right? The new driver would have to do X amount of trips and maintain this quality rating and do this sort of acceptance rate.

And I think there was a point in time where in San Francisco and a couple of other very competitive cities, we were paying $1,000 to each side. So $2,000 for driver acquisition. We would put some sort of thresholds around that, right? The new driver would have to do X amount of trips and maintain this quality rating and do this sort of acceptance rate.

And I think there was a point in time where in San Francisco and a couple of other very competitive cities, we were paying $1,000 to each side. So $2,000 for driver acquisition. We would put some sort of thresholds around that, right? The new driver would have to do X amount of trips and maintain this quality rating and do this sort of acceptance rate.

But there was a period of time, probably like 2014, 2015, 2016, where things got very gnarly.

But there was a period of time, probably like 2014, 2015, 2016, where things got very gnarly.

But there was a period of time, probably like 2014, 2015, 2016, where things got very gnarly.