I can remember the first time I heard about Uber. I was sitting in a client’s office in Houston a few years ago at a meeting, and the general counsel had just returned from a trip to San Francisco. After the meeting, he told us that when he couldn’t find a cab to take his party to dinner, someone in the group told him about a service called Uber that allows you to push a button on your cellphone and order a car to take you where you want to go, with an estimated arrival time and a fixed cost—all in a cashless transaction. It sounded amazing and he showed me the app on his cellphone. At that time, Houston did not have Uber. Sometime later, associates at the large firm where I worked in Houston told me they used Uber to go to the airport.
As someone who quite enjoys driving, I eventually became an occasional Uber user last year (maybe the last holdout). I enjoy meeting and talking to people, and Uber drivers often have interesting stories beyond that of your typical cab driver, who usually seem less interested in chatting with riders. Last week, I was watching the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie with my kids, when two characters (brothers) were trying to get to a video game convention without their parents knowing. Rodrick (the older brother) explains to his younger brother Greg (the main character) that they should just take an Uber. Rodrick explains to Greg that they could order an Uber and “it’s free.” The movie showed an Uber driver promptly picking the boys up and taking them to the convention. As I watched, I wonder if underage kids could really use Uber to go somewhere without parental permission. Occasionally I hear reports about negative riding experiences (e.g., Uber drivers playing loud music or the time when an Uber driver crashed into my neighbor’s car—my boys still talk about it), but you cannot argue with the economic model. It’s a little more complicated and far more profitable than the character Rodrick argues. Plus, I like insurgent companies and think Uber is a game changer in terms of transportation economics.
