2 min read business-development

Hail And Fail

Auction of Medallion
Auction of Medallion

Once a golden chevalier, now under the guillotine.

Taxi owners—once kings of New York’s streets, cloaked in million-dollar medallions—now find themselves crushed by Uber and Lyft, their once-valuable empires in ruin. Taxis collapsed like Wall Street on Black Tuesday, while Uber’s sleek new cavalry took the city. Fasten your seat belt; you’re in for one wild ride.

A medallion used to be a million-dollar ticket to monopoly on New York’s streets, a city-sanctioned license to print money. But with a simple FHV license[1], priced at just $825 [2], Uber and Lyft upended this empire. A few fearless disruptors saw the opportunity, and they didn’t just enter the market—they seized it.

Uber didn’t just swipe passengers from yellow cabs; it snatched the crown. It brought elegance back to New York: arranged trips, personal preferences, and sleek, anonymous cars. No more street-side scrambles or sweat-stained seats. With Uber, you ride in control and style. In branding terms, it's called differentiation. In New York, it was a revolution.

Uber didn’t follow the rulebook on disruption; they shredded it. They didn’t knock on the door—they blew it off its hinges. With the vision to seize opportunity, the creativity to dodge regulations, and a dash of luck, Uber didn’t just topple the old guard—they built a new kingdom from its ruins. We’ve arrived—now step aside while we rewrite the rules.

Still think government intervention is a blessing? Think twice. Artificial markets propped up by price ceilings and floors don’t just create asymmetrical wealth; they’re a dam waiting to burst—or dry up completely. In most cases, it’s the public that pays the price, watching natural market forces get warped, while a few collect the spoils. The taxi industry, once a shining example of exclusivity, became a lesson in the risks of manufactured scarcity.

References

  1. Www.nyc.gov. https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/businesses/for-hire-vehicles.page
  2. Get a TLC Drivers License - TLC. (2023). Nyc.gov. https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/drivers/get-a-tlc-drivers-license.page
  3. R. Glenn Hubbard, & Anthony Patrick O'Brien. (2008). Microeconomics. Pearson Education.

Sam Rad