Bounce, Yulu and Vogo in a pandemic

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Editor's note: Asset rental in transportation is a business that has been around for centuries. One that has progressed from donkeys to horses, rickety boats to ships, horse-drawn carriages to bicycles, motorcycles to cars. Even helicopters and aeroplanes. At its very core this business has made money for its owners if they’ve done the following of the four right: Acquire customers without spending a bombAchieve significant utilization of the asset without letting it sit idleCharging a premium from the end customer in need of the asset to pay back the cost of acquisition of the asset as quickly as possible, and then make supernormal profits thereafterGet rid of junk assets as quickly as possible and at a value that would delight the coldest of loan sharks willing to fund such a repeat-use-case business Rinse, repeat.  It is another matter altogether that with the arrival of the internet and the penetration of the smartphone, two life-changing transitions, the business has turned on its head. Instead of a repeat of the good old days, a lot of new companies have ended up busted.  The …