Fasten – Challenging Uber & Lyft. Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders’ fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30% commission charged by its competition, would help differentiate it and gain the necessary traction in an ostensibly concentrated market between Uber and Lyft.
Despite both Uber’s and Lyft’s valuations skyrocketing to $50 billion and $5.5 billion respectively, heavy investment in top notch Silicon Valley software developers and technological innovations such as autonomous vehicles, aggressive marketing strategies, and cutthroat poaching practices—all of which forced number three competitor Sidecar out by January 2016—Fasten’s leadership felt confident their 17 years of experience in Russia’s car services industry positioned them well to truly understand their customers and ultimately expand to other major cities.
But with limited budgets to acquire talented and expensive platform developers, Fasten needed to ensure its core IT services could compete, and that its word-of-mouth approach to attract the essential network of drivers and passengers could get it the vital foothold it would need to grow. Define the problem/challenge in the case. Fasten – Challenging Uber & Lyft. You may consider and research developments and outcomes since the case was written. What are the recent trends and performance of the company since the case study? Apply learnings of agility, business models, digital transformation, technology as an enabler for change, and platforms to this case study. Provide recommendations and consider alternatives.
Your recommendations should focus on how strategy and technology can be applied to understand and improve business outcomes. The re-statement of facts from the case should be brief. Narrow the focus of facts that support your analysis, recommendations, and consideration of alternatives. Fasten – Challenging Uber & Lyft. Additional questions to consider as you analyze the case and make recommendations with alternatives: What explains the growth of ridesharing companies? How did Fasten’s business and technology strategies compare to other organizations? What is the impact of new or emerging technologies? 8 pages minimum. Turnitin and AI report needed. Use APA referencing style.