The costs keep mounting in the gig economy
Published:
The last decade has been the decade of the gig economy. Companies such as Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Airbnb that occupy this space have had access to unprecedented amounts of venture capital that has fueled tremendous amounts of unprofitable growth. Airbnb has raised $4.8 billion dollars since inception and Uber has raised $24.5 billion dollars since inception, neither has been consistently profitable. These companies have hit many speed bumps along the way, some as a result of their - grow at any cost attitude and other regulatory pressures that have altered overly optimistic profitability predictions and valuations. However, COVID-19 and the impending fallout from this crisis is the ultimate test of the robustness of their business models and valuations they command. It is nothing like these companies, let alone anyone in the world - perhaps with the exception of Bill Gates, ever imagined in their wildest dreams was coming.