Startup Founders: What can you learn from Uber's Q1 results?

As an investor, it's my job to look beneath the surface when a company reports results. Following their Q1 23 results, Uber's stock was up over 8% as I wrote this. But don't confuse stock prices with fundamentals. Double-click and you'll find some really revealing numbers, such as:

• Trip growth accelerated 24%, including mobility and delivery.
• Double click again and you'll find delivery contributed ~$240m in incremental profitability according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
• Overall the company's business model is starting to look healthier than ever with $549m positive FCF and GAAP profitability predicted this year.

(As a side note all this confirms an economic reality that is challenging fiscal policy to temper inflation - consumer spending has continued to be strong - particularly on services. Let's see if the Fed hikes rates by the expected .25% tomorrow.)

So what can early-stage founders and entrepreneurs learn from Uber as a now well-beyond-startup company?

It all comes down to one thing. Curiosity...

Are you curious enough to really understand the 4Us, the Unavoidable, Unworkable, Urgent, and Underserved problems that your customers face?

Let's start with just the first U, Unavoidable: Get curious and Identify unavoidable pain points or challenges for your customers, and create solutions that alleviate or eliminate them.

In Uber's case, they addressed the unavoidable challenge of transportation by providing fast and convenient rides, making it easier for customers to get from one place to another without the hassle of owning a car.

And in many cities around the world, the public transport infrastructure is also simply unavailable (underserved) or unworkable, and in many cases like Boston unreliable too! 

Not all transportation is unavoidable, but here are 3 examples of where it can be:

1. Commuting to work or school: Many people have to commute to work or school on a daily basis, whether by car, public transit, bike, or walking. 
2. Running errands: People often need to travel to run errands such as grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions, or dropping off dry cleaning. (Note the profitability of the delivery segment of Uber's business in their results.)
3. Medical appointments: Many people have to visit doctors, dentists, or other healthcare providers on a regular basis, often requiring transportation to get there.

Uber kept getting more curious and developing more services such as the now profitable delivery services, called out in their results. This is the key to continuing to grow a successful business. Continuous customer curiosity.

So what about the other elements of the 4U framework - Unworkable, Urgent, and Underserved problems? Are you curious about those? If you follow the Startup Secrets value proposition workshop we believe you'll come up with your own ways to uncover unmet needs, unresolved problems, unsatisfied wants, and underserved prospective customers that can help you start to build a great business like Uber. To find what made companies like Zoom, Slack, Airbnb, and Instacart successful read the rest of this article here.

And if you want to learn more about building your startup, you can jump into the workbook for this class here. (It includes the full video of the Harvard i Lab workshop, with accompanying slides, all the frameworks, examples, and even a canvas for you to download for your own venture.) 

Good luck and share your own inspiring entrepreneurial journey with us!