In order to deliver big returns to investors, Uber and its ilk have to thread a very narrow needle. They need business models that obliterate labor costs while at the same time upending a market whose size makes it worthy of disruption. They need a model that’s simple enough to be replicated everywhere while assuring a virtual monopoly. They have to envision to a brave new world and then actively push consumers there. And they need to make profits—eventually.
Owen Davis & Avi Asher-Schapiro in Quartz