The Scooter Wars will be a bloodbath — and Uber will win -- Recode

An Uber reality check by the co-founding CEO of Sidecar

"Like other marketplaces — think Airbnb and Amazon — Uber brings together supply and demand. Demand comes from consumers wanting to go from A to B. Supply comes from drivers giving rides in their own cars. If you have a lot of demand, it’s relatively easy to build out new supply.

So when Uber bought Jump, the bike-sharing startup, it signaled the beginning of the end of Bird and Spin. Why? Because Uber already won the ride-sharing wars and now has a dominant source of demand for mobility solutions. When you combine this advantage with the lessons Uber learned from its first fight, the only hope for the scooter companies is an anti-Uber backlash — or to be bought by Uber. That is why Uber’s deal with Lime — the ride-hail giant is investing in Lime in a new $335 million round that values the electric scooter company at $1.1 billion — is so important. It is likely the first step toward an eventual acquisition."

The Scooter Wars will be a bloodbath — and Uber will win -- Recode