I keep hearing this argument that the barrier to entry is so low for an Uber competitor, but I think people massively underestimate the difficulty of successfully running a system like Uber. Here in Boston where Uber has wide adoption, I just watched a competitor with an impressive team (Hailo) fold up shop as they struggled to gain traction and compete. Where are all these other competitors that are going to come along and easily compete with Uber. Not to mention, there's huge advantages that network affects have in the vertical.
The hailo model seems very different from the Uber/Lyft model. More upscale, so I'm guessing a higher barrier to entry for drivers (and it looks like a smaller driver pool).
I find this ironic. When I used Hailo in Boston, it actually only integrated with taxis then moved to private drives. Uber on the other hand, contrary to what you're saying, started with only black cars then shifted to include taxis, and eventually UberX.
