Category Archives: Uber

My next ride: Uber

 

Uber logoThe news from here is that I am starting something new. I am psyched to be joining Uber, working  in Business Development/Partnerships, focused on creating and managing partnerships with geospatial content & technology suppliers worldwide.

Uber has a vision for changing the way people move around. At the core of that vision is a clear understanding of location and place; of understanding where things are and how to optimize the logistics of transportation.  And that means maps and geospatial data.  Uber’s focus on maps and geospatial analysis to solve these problems is a huge part of what attracted me to the company and the position.  I’m looking forward to working with the team there.

This means that I’ll be shutting down Prioleau Advisors.  I’ve been doing this for six years…about five years and six months longer than I thought when I started.  I started in 2009 when location was just starting to have an impact on mobile applications. It  has been a great experience, giving me the chance to look at many aspects of the broader location business.  The technology has evolved and as it has, so have the businesses and opportunities. That’s made it a great place to focus. More importantly, I’ve had a chance to talk to, meet with and work for many of the extraordinary people who make up this business.  To those who have supported me in the past six years, a heartfelt thanks.  The experience exceeded my expectations.

The great thing about this is that it isn’t a goodbye.  In my new role, I’ll continue to be deeply involved in the geo world, albeit from a different angle.  This’ll be fun.

 

 

2007 Redux? Mapping back in play

Screen Shot 2015-05-10 at 8.43.15 AMBuying and selling map companies is back in the news so I am back on Bloomberg.  I really enjoyed this interview with Emily Chang and Cory Johnson on Bloomberg West.  We covered a lot of ground and they had very good questions.  My reference in the title refers to the year both major map companies were acquired, NAVTEQ by Nokia and TeleAtlas by TomTom.  My prediction for 2015 (made and witnessed in January) was that 2015 would be a repeat of 2007; both HERE and TomTom Licensing would turn over again.  I have high confidence that I will be at least half right and there’s a good chance I will be 100% right. Continue reading 2007 Redux? Mapping back in play

Why Uber bought deCarta


UberCarta

Big news for the day in the geo-world:  Uber bought deCarta, the long-time LBS platform company that at times powered the likes of Google, Yahoo!, NIM, TeleNav, TomTom and many more.   In their statement, Uber states that they “will continue to fine-tune our products and services that rely on maps — for example UberPOOL, the way we compute ETAs [estimated times of arrival], and others — and make the Uber experience even better for our users.”  This is also the first announced acquisition by Uber.  Terms were not announced but it is suspected that Uber’s war chest of $5.9B raised remains largely intact.

(Disclaimer:  I worked at deCarta six years ago and am a shareholder under non-disclosure.  Sorry, no secrets here.) Continue reading Why Uber bought deCarta