| The No-Go IPO:
Public Offerings for the Money Pit
in the Ride-Hailing Industry |
|
_______ The 14th Annual SNS New York Dinner with Mark Anderson and
Special Guest Omar Hoda 
Vehicles have become the central platform for the most important technologies
of our era - from AI, 5G, and computing to energy, materials science, computer vision, and infrastructure. Join us to be among the first to know how and why
this trend will affect countless businesses and national governments in
the coming year, and how to survive on the new battleground. | |
A Cocktail Reception and an elegant meal will be followed by Keynote talk:
Cars, Energy, and Infrastructure:
Driving the Technology Agenda
Mark Anderson
CEO, Strategic News Service
Followed by:
A Centerpiece Conversation with
Omar Hoda, Principal, US Transportation Leader, Deloitte
TECHNOLOGY IS DRIVING CARS -
WHAT'S DRIVING THEIR ECONOMICS?
Sign up now!
Lotte New York Palace Hotel
455 Madison Ave., New York
Thursday, April 25, 6pm-10pm
Many thanks to SNS Gold Platinum Partner Oracle
And to Deloitte for its generous sponsorship of this special evening:
Publisher's Note: If one were to boil down the combination of financial lunacy and Valley optimism to a single contest over the last decade, it would be encapsulated in the IPOs of Lyft vs. Uber. Perhaps since Andreessen and Horowitz first entered the VC sweepstakes by paying 4x any number, there has been not only an accelerated shift of wealth to the 1%, but also a generally accepted rule that investors should pay for, and create, businesses that make no money but sell for billions.
Few, if any, of the patrons of either of these ride-share companies mind that all of their past few years of trips have been subsidized, at the rate of about 50 cents for each dollar spent, to get us where we want to go. Thank you, we've all been thinking - and perhaps you'll get paid back some day.
That day began this week for Lyft investors, as the IPO soared above estimates and then rapidly came back down, as the idea quickly began to sink in that perhaps this was less a "disruptive" business than a VC-driven train wreck.
One must admit that, at least until now, comfort and general improvements of riding with either service has been so much better, in so many ways, that their ultimate market triumph was inevitable. But given their ongoing huge losses, one could also ask: would you not prefer a gold-gilded coach next ride, or just having to pay nothing at all?
In this week's Global Report, Evan Anderson takes a cold look at this tulip-bulb story, and comes up with answers that all SNS members will want to read before jumping into the investor mosh pits. - mra
