When Cool Companies Go Bad: Why Uber’s Dirty Fight With Lyft Makes Me Sad

29 Aug When Cool Companies Go Bad: Why Uber’s Dirty Fight With Lyft Makes Me Sad

I’m a big fan of Uber and  have a 4.9 (out of 5) customer rating with their service, according to the last driver I rode with. Uber has become my go-to car solution. Subway delayed? Tap an uber. Working past midnight and need to get home? Push the button. Landed in a new city. Hail an Uber from the plane to take me to the hotel. Raining and I just got my hair done? Uber please. I love Uber for a couple of  reasons. One is it is an affordable & reliable service. In my dozens upon dozens of rides with them, I’ve only had one quasi-bad trip. A driver and I disagreed on the route to take. And, even with me being frustrated, I think he still garnered a three-star rating from me.

The other reason I like Uber is that I want my company to be like them. A couple of people came up with this brilliant solution to everyday travel and have literally changed the taxi and private car industry for ever. My company is pretty successful here in NYC, but we’re hardly ubiquitous and it may be years before we become the default solution for most of the marketplace. Each time I ride with Uber, I am secretly paying them a compliment and trying to support fellow entrepreneurs. I know how difficult it is to build a start-up and am proud that they have achieved so much success, so fast.

Which is why their dirty business tactics against their competitor Lyft has me so troubled. CNNMoney recently reported that Uber employees ordered and canceled 5,000 Lyft rides in one month tying up their drivers. The NY Times also reported that Uber is actively recruiting Lyft drivers, by riding in Lyft cars and trying to get their drivers to sign up with Uber. These under the belt moves are greying my view of Uber. The company is starting to feel less like the success story next door and more like Goliath or the big bad wolf. Lyft is newer, smaller and not as well funded as Uber. And yes, I would kill for PA For A Day to have amassed a “few hundred of millions of dollars in investment,” as reported by Farhad Manjoo but Uber is sitting on a $1.5 billion perch.

I know business is business, but I guess I expected Uber to focus on being better than the competition by continuing to offer great service rather than actively attacking them. By order rides and recruiting Lyft drivers isn’t Uber essentially saying that Lyft’s service is just as good? Will Uber one day start offering personal assistants as a business extension and actively work to stamp my company out of business? When you play dirty in one area, what’s to stop your from playing dirty in them all?

In writing this post I’ll miss my morning train to work. Normally, I would Uber it to make up the time, but I think I’ll just be a little late today and wait for the next train.