Uber
Two-sided marketplace that captures a large slice from riders and drivers; convenience for users exists, but the economic surplus flows to the platform and investors.
Extraction Stage 3
Surplus shifts toward business customers and shareholders; ads, fees, and degradation accelerate.
Uber solved real coordination problems (liquidity, payments, trust signals). For riders it can still feel like surplus—until you zoom out: take rates, surge, and driver-side economics show where value pools. Treat it as stage 3 extraction: useful product, asymmetric capture.
More in Mobility
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DoorDash
3 ExtractionFood delivery marketplace with fees stacked on restaurants and riders; convenience for diners, thin margins and policy fights everywhere else.
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Lyft
3 ExtractionUS rideshare duopoly player; take rates, incentives, and driver dynamics mirror Uber’s two-sided squeeze with regional variation.
