Bear case for Uber

Forbes lays out the bear case for Uber, noting its recent valuation of $18.2 billion per its $1.2 billion funding round makes it bigger than United Airlines and Hertz:

A world with less pollution and no traffic jams, where taxis are cheap and safe and you never have to wait for a pickup: It’s a rosy vision Uber is peddling, and venture capitalists, those professional optimists, are fully on board.

Several finance experts see those valuations as inflated and say the service could easily lose ground to competitors given low barriers to entry:

The scenario implied by Uber’s valuation is only one way things could break.

Regulators could restrict the company and cities could ban it outright, while black swan events like a driverless car or non-profit collective could pose challenges down the road.