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Drivers Co-op is doing a kickstarter to expand their Uber alternative thats owned by the drivers.
(www.kickstarter.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
As a customer I'd rather use a platform that is not owned by drivers.
How come?
Because in any dispute between a driver and a customer, drivers will protect drivers.
Do you care more about the credibility of a business that you do have an ownership stake in or one you don’t have an ownership stake in?
The drivers have a collective interest in maintaining the credibility of their app regardless of how the ownership is structured. There will be a similar management structure to ensure customer satisfaction regardless of ownership structure.
Moreover if you’re an individual driver with an ownership stake you have a greater interest in maintaining the credibility of your business vs a business that some one else owns.
So in theory there should be slightly greater incentive to provide good service under this structure.
In real life, people are subject to biases and heuristics even if they think that they are acting in their best interest. This is what many economic theories fail to take into account. Moreover, within the organization different subjects would have different economic interests and means to achieve them.
Right, I see what you mean, so there'd be a power imbalance there. From my perspective, if drivers buddy-buddied with each other to that degree, customers would just flock back to Uber and the business would tank pretty fast. It would be more beneficial for the drivers to treat their customers well.