Why didn’t anyone think of the Uber concept before?
The rise of Uber: How Google contributed in the making of Cab-Tech
When you were first exposed to the concept of Uber, did your mind also say: “Why didn’t anyone else think of this before?”
I mean it’s as simple as-
This simple idea has fetched billions not only for Uber but also for other companies like Lyft, Ola, etc. This simple 3-iconed figure!
So, fasten your time machine’s seat belt, we are departing into the history to witness the creation of this beautiful idea.
Year 2005: Google Ride Finder
Seed: Google Maps, launched February 2005
Fertilizer: Vettro excels in mobile services for request management
Now you are here in 2020, with cool ideated startups bursting out like popcorn. But, in the mid-2000s, when the internet wasn’t as penetrated, the process of brainstorming over the inception of new revolutionary ideas was a privilege exclusive for the large established companies.
Hence, the question here narrows down to: “Why didn’t FAANG thought of this before?”
Now going deeper into FAANG, every company except Google wasn’t that much into these kinds of C2C, service-based tech-savvy products. And, as the title says, yes, Google adhered to its responsibility in this space. Google has been long trying, failing, and succeeding in experiments with Maps. Well, Google Ride Finder is one of the oldest graves in Google Map’s cemetery.
What was Google Ride Finder?
Google Ride Finder takes a new approach to helping users find a ride: showing you where the vehicles are. We work closely with a variety of companies to get this information, then we present it in the form of a map of your area, complete with little balloons (color-coded by company) to represent each vehicle’s up-to-date location. Based on this info, you then just call the provider you’ve chosen to reserve a ride.
Announced in a casual blog post by Google, Ride Finder was launched on May 31, 2005. The process wasn’t exactly as C2C as Uber but more of a C2B2C model that involved travel agencies and bundles like Tranware(which has now evolved as a Google Ride Finder in itself).
With Google Ride Finder, you can tell us where you want to find a ride and we’ll show you the actual positions of participating vehicles in that area, along with a phone number you can use to contact the fleet operator.
Fleet operators, being the only “B” in this model, can sign up to show their dots on the map using a registration form-
Now apart from some online form based websites of fleet operators and bundles, there was no other player except Google to conceptualize a location-based cab-hailing service.
Well, apart from strategic concerns, Google Ride Finder failed majorly because of its web-only based client. We had Blackberrys and iPhones post-2007, that were smart enough to request a cab.
Well, this grave wasn’t just another failure of Google, the soul after its death in early 2009 was still alive!
Now, looking at the year 2009, a name must have popped up in your mind- Uber. Well, have a look at the ghost story timeline-
R.I.P Google Ride Finder: January 2009
Birth of Uber: March 2009
I mean it seems pretty obvious that Uber took Ride Finder’s soul, filled the loopholes, built an app, and ruled the market.
But wait a minute!
Do you believe in ghosts?
Well, I don’t. I believe they are just mental reoccurrences of living/dead people we are possessed about.
Hence, let me pull the curtains for you and present another player- Taxi Magic(formerly RideCharge)
Year 2008: Taxi Magic
Seed- Launch of iPhone, especially the App Store
Fertilizer- Rise of service request management platforms.
Taxi Magic, launched by George Arison, came out as a successor to the nearly dead Ride Finder. The model was almost the same, except they went with the majorly smartphone-based platform, topped with a better marketing effort than Ride Finder.
Mainly focussed on the corporate space, Taxi Magic was a huge success initially, witnessing over 30,000 downloads in a day after it’s launch in 2008.
But, where was Uber?
August 2008
Location: Co-Founder Garrett Camp’s computer.
I see a Blackberry, do you?
Well, Uber’s core idea wasn’t exactly the same when it was first conceptualized. They were a more reformed version, in fact at that time, not a better version of Taxi Magic, the same app that Garrett Camp found useless.
Myth: Uber has become the largest taxi service without owning any cars ever.
Reality: Uber wasn’t C2C initially. Yes-
Well, it seems like just another travel agency, but with a difference. They didn’t have an app back then. In fact, an Uber can be called directly through SMS too.
Apart from the user experience and ease of payment, the major difference was- Algorithm
The point that differentiated UberCab from Taxi Magic was their algorithm to assign the drivers-
TaxiMagic- Assigns the driver who has been idle for the longest time.
Uber- Assigns the driver who is nearest to the user.
Which sounds logical from the user’s perspective?
Yeah, the one that made billions! Lesson learned: If you are using technology, use it at its best!
As apparent from the above slide, UberCab didn’t have an app initially and rather worked through web/SMS. In fact, the app was launched later in 2010.
Year: 2010, Uber goes C2C
A guy working on the above-mentioned UberCab meets a business guy, who is fed up from the cab pricing already-
He urges him to stop buying their own cars and think of something different instead. And they start brainstorming on the core problem- 2-way unavailability. They come up with an idea of helping a large number of drivers and started analyzing the potential-
And not long after this, they test their idea-
Yes, the same idea that ate the lunch of other services like TaxiMagic, Cabulous, etc. according to their respective CEOs at that time.
And the rest is history!
Uber was valued at a whopping $120 Billion. Back in 2008, did the founders predict this?
Let’s have a look-
Why didn’t anyone think of the Uber concept before?
The guys at Mountainview did! The magic idea has actually evolved through time and Uber was lucky and innovative enough to implement the right things at the right time. Before 2008, designing the exact C2C model must have been technically very difficult.
Well, in the ride-hailing domain too, Google did its part. Not only with the Ride Finder thing but interestingly, Google invested ~$258m in Uber in 2013. A tree worth millions whose seed was sown by the buyer itself back in 2005.
Uber is just another example of “Fundamental Idea went Huge”. But it is also another evidence that such ideas don’t click overnight. It takes years of hard work, improvisations, and sacrifices. Garrett Camp sold his Stumbleupon to eBay in 2007, a move that bought him time for the next big thing.
P.S.- I have put a lot of effort in researching for this post, show some love by clapping and sharing. If you have any thoughts/clarifications regarding any of the points, please comment or reach me out directly.
About the author
Vishant is an undergrad student at IIT Varanasi. He loves tech and enjoys learning about new technologies and their use cases in various domains. A curious technocrat since childhood, he has worked on various projects involving different technologies like AI, AR, Blockchain, etc. You can find him on LinkedIn. Ohh wait, he loves food too :)
You can reach me out at- vishant.batta.phe17@iitbhu.ac.in
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