TL; DR
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By using open crypto networks, Teleport (the web3 ride-sharing app) could undercut Uber by 60%.
Full story
This is the first ‘killer application’ of a new technology seldom sexy.
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The computer has word processing
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The internet had plain text on a screen
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And smartphones had access to mobile email
(If you ask us, smartphones only became sexy when the Jeremy Renner Fan Club app. No? OK. To proceed).
All this is to say: we think consumer-driven adoption of web3 technology will likely come through a combination of gaming and social applications…
But they won’t be the first from web3 killer application. We already have that – and they are payments. (Sexy? No. Powerful? Yes.)
Specifically: Open payment networks – reaching a point where they are cheaper, faster and easier to access (worldwide) than traditional options.
And it allows new companies to hijack existing third-party networks while remaining dangerously competitive on price.
To take Teleport (the web3 version of Uber), for example:
Teleport and Uber are essentially just pieces of software that match drivers and passengers.
The difference is…
Uber must pay for private infrastructure, real estate, more than 32,000 employees and interest payments on its $9.5 billion in debt — while providing answers to shareholders who want to see month-over-month revenue growth.
That’s partly why Uber takes 45% of every fare – take this!
The other side of that expenditure goes to paying for a vicious downward spiral of incentives and advertising.
Uber drivers feel like they’re not getting paid enough → so they leave at a higher rate → so Uber then spends on marketing to attract new drivers → offers them sign-on bonuses → which comes out of existing drivers’ pockets…
(To repeat).
But the Solana-based TRIP Network does a lot of the heavy lifting right out of the gate…
Developers, like the folks behind Teleport, can come in and build a streamlined app interface, and avoid the need to invest equally heavily in infrastructure, real estate, and workforce.
The mainly The problem Teleport needs to solve is attracting riders, which they have been able to do in early testing, largely through word of mouth.
They can take a 15% fare reduction (as opposed to Uber’s 45%) and pass the savings on to the passengers/drivers.
Which, after just one weekend of testing operations in Austin, helped double their total number of drivers.
Will it scale?
No idea!
But the lower rider/driver costs, while lowering the barrier to entry for competitors to join the TRIP network, provides Teleport with a solid incentive to keep their prices as low as humanly possible.
We’d love to see it!