Pitched Unfairly

UberCab

Push a button. Get a car.

Next-generation car service. Concept deck, December 2008.

Cabs in 2008

Getting a cab means calling and hoping.

And when it comes, it's a Crown Victoria doing 14 mpg.

Calling cab dispatch

45 min
waiting

  • HailBy hand or by phone
  • DispatchRadio, one way
  • Where is my cab?No GPS
  • ETANo idea
  • PayCash, probably

No pickup guaranteed

The medallion system

The medallion costs $500K. The driver makes $31K.

Nobody in that system is paid to make your ride better.

Taxi medallion

$500K

Driver pay, a year

$31K

Why now

Your phone just learned where you are.

GPS in the pocket makes the street hail optional. We call it the digital hail.

  • iPhone
  • BlackBerry
  • Symbian
  • Any phone, by SMS

The concept

On-demand cars for professionals. The NetJets of car service.

The convenience ofA New York cab
The experience ofA private chauffeur
Members onlyUberCab

1-click car service

One click. Pickup here in 5 mins.

  • Guaranteed pickupUnlike a yellow cab.
  • See each otherRider and driver photos on the app.
  • No cashPre-paid, cashless billing.
Hyde St Market St
S550
Mercedes S550Your UberCab

Herearrived

Operating principles

Luxury on demand, profitable by design.

  1. 01Luxury service, on demand
  2. 02A modern, fuel-efficient fleet
  3. 03Customer-focused, computer-coordinated
  4. 04The best end-user experience possible
  5. 05Statistically optimized response time
  6. 06Pre-paid, cashless billing
  7. 07Profitable by design

The fleet

A nicer car that burns half the gas.

SF beta clients ride in a Mercedes S550.

Miles per gallon

Today's cab or town carFord Crown Victoria
14 to 16
UberCab StandardLexus GS450h or E320
23
UberCab PremiumMercedes S400 BlueHybrid, 2010
30

The market

$4.2B a year, and nobody owns it.

The top four players together hold just 22% of US taxi and limo revenue.

Market a year$4.2B

Potential outcomes

Even the worst case is a great ride.

  • Worst case 10 cars

    100 clients in SF. A time-saver for San Francisco executives.

  • Realistic $20M+

    5% of the top 5 US cities, $20 to 30M+ a year in profit.

  • Best case $1B+

    Market leader, with over a billion a year in revenue.

StartSan FranciscoNew York ThenLos AngelesChicagoHoustonPhiladelphiaDallas Half the US market

Progress to date

15 clients, zero cars. Demo on Feb 1st.

  • ubercab.com and the "ubercab" SMS code
  • California LLC, trademark filed
  • iPhone developer license, applied Nov 28
  • Provisional patent filed
  • 5 advisors and 15 clients recruited