November 25, 2020
I am vehemently against this. While my main career will be in software engineering, Im looking to continue gig driving to earn another stream of income. But none of these gig companies are even close to profitable. Most customers tip inadequately, either ignorant or apathetic to how truly expensive it is to run a car. As such, these companies are forced to shell out copious amounts of money to make their orders worth taking. Its not a sustainable business model. Each of the three main players (Doordash, Grubhub, UberEats), are trying to operate like 19th century Standard Oil. Temporarily incur losses for a while in order to flush out competitors. The issue is that, unlike Standard Oil, none of these companies have a stranglehold on the market. As such, each companys temporary losses might only stop when theyre bought out or dissolved. The last thing I would want is volatile stock in an unsustainable company. Push this proposal in 10 years, and maybe Ill support it then.