The goal for Uber Elevate to begin operations in 2023 seems very challenging for the business. How does having a goal that near in the future impact on the performance of those working on making Uber Elevate a reality? Is innovation enough to sustain the future of Uber, or does it need to think about raising passenger prices to reduce its losses? What other options are available to the company for improving profitability?

When Uber decided to go public with its IPO (Initial Public Offering) in May 2019, the company had never come close to turning a profit.' In 2018 the company announced net losses of US$1.8 billion, and with the ridesharing industry increasing in competition, the need to innovate and find new revenue sources is increasing. How is Uber planning to turn the tide and find a way to become profitable? A review of their investments and relationship building reveals a lot about what the company intends to do, and when Bell Aerospace announced that its Nexus VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) was the preferred platform for Uber's Elevate air taxi program," the planning behind the hype of the company's IPO becomes a little clearer. The more recent innovations for Uber, including Uber Eats and Uber Freight, are relatively small when considering they are extensions of the original Uber ridesharing business model and take advantage of the data generated by the Uber ridesharing app. However, announcing that the company is preparing to take to the skies, with a technology that is yet to reach maturity, is a bold move that demonstrates the company wants to build on its reputation for radically changing the way people think about short trip transportation. Uber has announced its intentions to launch its Uber Elevate services in 2023, despite the technology not yet demonstrating it is airworthy. Is this a grand gamble of the company's future, or is Uber simply trying to generate hype prior to the company's shares being offered to the public for the first time? With other aviation manufacturers, including Boeing and Airbus, investing heavily in developing their own 'drone taxi' prototypes, it appears that the technology will be here in the foreseeable future. To turn its aspirations to reality, Uber will likely require the capital raised in the IPO to build the infrastructure required to operate the Uber Elevate network, leverage their data and knowledge for existing Uber transportation users, and work closely with aviation safety regulators, cities and local governments to smooth the way for drone taxis to become a reality to a neighbourhood near you.