“We are Uber for X”

The current leader on angel.co for blended metaphors may still be "Mint for X". It seems like "Uber for X" is destined to replace it, but its popularity is still staggering.<p>AngelList has startups which are primarily described as Mint.com for "stocks" (Vuru), "financial institutions" (MoneyDesktop), "banks" (MyJibe), "student loans" (Tuition.io), "education" (Always Prepped), "cloud content" (AnyCloud), "your digital data" (voyurl), "your time" (Meexo Labs), "your career" (Mighty Spring), "your belongings" (Itemology), "relationships" (EvenBetterHalf), "maternal and pediatric health" (HealthyUs), "fitness" (Curl), "health and fitness" (Total Health Card), "medical records" (ExtrinsicCare), "diabetes" (HealthEngage), "legal services" (AttorneyFee), "sales software" (Stride), "enterprise marketing departments" (Allocadia), "small business marketing" (BringShare), "business relationships" (Mosec), "business" (Cheqbook), "consumer utilities" (dropcountr), "energy" (MyEnergy), "energy usage and expenses" (Power2Switch), "mobile payments" (Wallet), "cars" (Price My Ride), "insurance" (PolicyOwl), and "travel" (Superfly).<p>Whew. And I didn't even include the ones that are something else plus Mint.com for X.<p>Honestly, after going through this list I'm not sure what "Mint for X" even means anymore! Cynically, I suspect it means the technology they're hoping to apply is pie charts and snappy web design.

recently launched a mobile app for selling clothes, super hype interface, spend months tuning it, only to realize some time after the release that a simple wordpress e commerce site made in 2 weeks makes ten times more revenue in a tenth of the time ( with the exact same products beeing sold ). Some things really aren't meant to be purchased on a phone, period.

The "mobile first" attitude in the Valley these days always struck me as somewhat misguided. As the article points out, it makes perfect sense in select niches, like Uber's. In many others, the non-mobile web offers a superior browsing experience and if your users prefer it, that's probably where your focus should be. As in all things, know your customer better than anybody else and you'll do well.<p>That, and the interesting fact that "mobile" is a broad term which seems to encompass tablets in most interpretations. Modern tablets often do a pretty good job of displaying sites which haven't been particularly optimized for mobile anyway.

&#62; Plow Me - Uber for Snow Plows<p>Surely this one could have had a better name! (I guess they could pivot into an Uber for...never mind.)

I’m the PlowMe* founder (the Uber for snowplows).<p>At first I didn’t care much for the Uber metaphor, because it's not accurate (it turns out, less than 20% accurate), but I’ve warmed to it, to convey the gist to the listener.<p>We had a mobile-first product, and while getting ad hoc snow plowing is useful the day of a storm (and from the supply-side, mobile solves a problem), most of our business is from repeat customers. That is, snow plowing is a route business, and mobile is a companion (e.g. for one-timers, to get info. on your plowguy’s eta/location etc).<p>Like others, I find the Uber metaphor useful for telling people what we do in 3 seconds, though interestingly, it’s hardly ever to customers. Most of our customers have never heard of Uber in fact, probably not a surprise given their age (many 55+) and where they live (suburbs). I imagine this is different than other Uber for X companies.<p>By the same token, I find it helpful to invert the Uber metaphor to further explain what you’re doing. For example, Uber would be like PlowMe if it had the option of picking you up at the same place and time automatically.<p>*PlowMe is now part of ServiceRoute.

This isn't directly related to the article's point, but I really don't understand this trend of describing companies using analogies like "Uber for X". I imagine people do this because they think it's a simple way to communicate the purpose of their company, but it usually just confuses me. The "Uber for tennis" company referenced in the article is the perfect example. Here's what goes through my head when I read that - "Well I use Uber to book I car so I guess this company books cars for tennis? Hmm, that doesn't make sense......Oh, I guess they help you book a tennis match? Maybe they help you find a nearby tennis partner?". I honestly still have no idea what Uber for tennis is supposed to be. Seems like they would be better served by just saying "We do X"

Hey, I started Tennis Buddy, thought I'd chip in what we had in mind. Everything we built upon is what what Matt Cohler said last year at TC disrupt to the question that the next big thing in mobile is gonna be that you just "push a button and something amazing happens in the user’s world.". <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/21/great-mobile-apps-are-remote-controls-for-real-life/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/21/great-mobile-apps-are-remot...</a><p>That's what the Uber for X is, it doesn't matter if it is cars, services or in our case - people. If you need something, just let everyone know in your area by simply pressing one button and they'll come to you.<p>So for now, you can find someone nearby to play tennis with you, whenever, wherever you want to :)

"Describe your product in 3-5 words. Consider comparing your product with something that people are already familiar with. For example:<p>-&#62; Better comparison shopping (Shopobot)<p>-&#62; Flickr for video (YouTube)<p>-&#62; Group video chat (Tinychat)"<p>- AngelList hover suggestion for writing your high-concept pitch.<p>Here's how I see it:<p>1) There are many, many thousands of startups on AngelList.<p>2) AL explicitly prescribes this exact "X for Y" formula for writing your 1-liner, where X is a well-known success.<p>3) Uber is a well-know success.<p>4) Author points out that "30+" companies chose Uber as their X.<p>This doesn't really seem like a fair characterization. People are following suggested wisdom and 30+ is hardly considerable. Probably about what would be statistically expected, distributing good candidates for X (well-known successes) across AL startups.

At the end of the day.. probably what most people need to know, and few do. Uber is a logistics company. A wide open market with high growth. Just look at Coyote, or any other logistics company that has blown up size in the past few years.

"The “Uber for X” recipe is pretty simple.<p>1. Identify a service-based industry that feels archaic. 2. Recruit suppliers in your given vertical. 3. Create a mobile application with a big green request button."

@arbuge 100% agree that the non-mobile web has advantages over mobile - and that many people have become blinded to that fact. Thanks for the comments!