Its plans for domination seem to revolve around copying Uber.
But first, some background.
Bolt is a genuinely interesting and successful company.
Bolt has improved this massively; it’s possible for you to now get a reliable vehicle, easily.
For all intents and purposes its flourishing.
I feel theres a but coming…
Yup.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Youre not going to beat Uber by basically being it.
To provide some balance, Bolt isntexactlylike its biggest competitor.
One element that Villig pointed to that separates the pair is profit distribution.
While Uber charges around 25 percent of a fare, Bolt only takes a 15 percent cut.
Which,considering Ubers drivers are treated like shit, is a good point of differentiation.
Okay, is copying a successful business really that bad though?
Purists would like to say that copying is terrible, but its part of every aspect of human life.
Without copying original ideas, nothing would ever become perfect.
Fundamentally, theres nothing wrong with looking at Ubers success and trying to refine it.
Apart from the fact Ubers business model is trash.
If you have a moment, Id suggest checking outthis analysis of Ubers prospectus for its IPO from Jacobin.
In summary, it points out that Uber is haemorrhaging money and is overvalued.
Oh, and even worse?
Its existed forten years.
The business model Bolts copying is, to be polite, deeply flawed.
When I put this to Villig, his answer wasnt satisfactory.
He then went onto say Boltcouldbecome profitable again, with only a simple pivot needed.
To support Villigs argument, the presentation Bolt gave us included a range of figures backing up these claims.
And do you believe this?
Is Bolt doomed then?
No, far from it.
Theres also some exciting potential there.
If Bolt wants to beat its biggest competitor, it needs to do more than just copy it.
Ultimately, Bolt is a good business with a lot of room to grow.
Id just like to see it forging its own path, rather than following anothers.
