Uber, But For Ride Hailing

Uber was truly a neat "killer app" in the early days of smartphones, though being neat does not mean profitable, and I think we're all out of ideas now.

Hong Kong (CNN Business)SoftBank's mega tech funds lost more than $27 billion in the last fiscal year, by far their worst performance on record.

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SoftBank's portfolio companies include South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang (CPNG) and Southeast Asian ride-hailing startup Grab (GRAB), which both went public in record-breaking offerings on Wall Street last year.

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But perhaps one of the Japanese company's most high-profile disappointments lies with Didi (DIDI).

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The Chinese ride-hailing giant went public in New York last summer to significant fanfare, but was swept up just days later into China's historic regulatory crackdown. Its troubles escalated last December, when the company was forced to begin the process of delisting in the United States.

It is just astounding that people looked at the taxi industry and thought, YESSS, THAT'S HOW I WILL MAKE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

Can't lose money on every ride forever, even if you make it up on volume, and people just aren't willing to pay twenty bucks to go a mile.