Why Uber Might Well Be Worth $18 Billion - NYTimes.com

Excerpt from a "What bubble?..." Uber profile

"And then there is the prospect that Uber isn’t really a taxi or limousine company at all. Some say it is just the beginning of a much larger global delivery service. The company’s chief executive, Travis Kalanick, has talked about Uber as an extensive software platform for shipping and logistics. It’s doubtful that Mr. Kalanick will be taking on FedEx or UPS anytime soon, but in New York, he’s already introduced a messenger service using the Uber app.

“Uber is creating a digital mesh — a power grid which goes within the metropolitan areas,” is how Shervin Pishevar, an early Uber investor, described the company last year. “After you have that power grid running, in everyone’s pockets, there’s lots of possibility of what you could build like a platform. Uber is incorporated in the empire-building phase.”"

Why Uber Might Well Be Worth $18 Billion - NYTimes.com