Lyft is a good example for startups that are 2nd or 3rd place (or worse) behind a competing market leader. Perseverance can pay off tremendously. You never know what the market forces will dictate, when your competitor will be tied in some massive scandal, when the #1 market leader will get bought out and have their primary product shut down a short while later, etc.
I'm surprised there aren't rental car counters that are just a bunch of automated kiosks, like they have for flight check-ins. It seems like there's rarely anything that actually requires a human at the desk when I've already booked the car rental a while ago.
Enterprise at LAX has kiosks but every time I try to use one I end up having to go to the counter anyway. Possibly due to using a business travel agent but I'm not sure.
I think Hertz has a VIP feature for frequent renters where they can just walk right to the car.
That is exactly what I had at Hertz at Newark Airport the other day (when I booked via Expedia instead of Hertz direct which would have led to the more convenient “just get in a car and go” experience). I’d rather deal with a human though.
Lyft was the first company to do ridesharing. Uber was actually second or third to the market, also behind Sidecar if I remember correctly. Uber's biggest problems were the problems it caused itself through stupidity, but the new CEO appears to be making a difference in terms of changing the perception of Uber.
