What does calling your startup “Uber for [something]” actually mean?
9 answers from the community
It typically means that people can order a service through a smartphone and that service comes to them.
Haha I was just wondering the same. Boxbee calls themselves Uber for personal storage and I was like... really? I thought the "beauty" of Uber is being a market maker (ie. they don't employ anyone, they just make it easy to get cabs).
But if you put in the context of mobile service ordering, I can see why Boxbee calls themselves that although it defeats the purpose, because Boxbee doesn't have the leverage that Uber has (ie. Uber can expand anywhere without hiring more than just admin staff in any locale).
I'm the guy you're replying to. Basically, Uber could not exist in the pre-smartphone era. Basically, any service that calls themselves the Uber of something has to utilize smartphones, and be able to deliver a service to people.
I don't think the details matter more beyond that in terms of whether the company employees these service people or not since consumers don't care either way.
I doubt most people know that Uber doesn't actually employ those drivers; that they're basically independent drivers and Uber gets a cut just for bringing them customers.
You're thinking of it from the perspective of an entrepreneur--thinking of the business model. From the point of the consumer it doesn't matter who owns the product and is providing each step of the service, just that it's seamless to them.
It could also mean a sharing economy startup.
That's Airbnb for X
"Uber for X" = I still cannot distill my startup's value proposition into one simple phrase, so I'll use a lame analogy. In many cases, this doesn't accurately describe or gives wrong image of what the startup does. Its also a great way for unconsciously registering your startup as more generic in the listener's mind
So if I have a service where using our app, someone can pick out an escort by swiping side to side and then we deliver her, are we Tinder + Uber for Craigslist?
The Uber of prostitution