New research calls Waymo the ‘Kool-Aid man’ of the ride-share economy

A new research note just named Waymo the “Kool-Aid man” of the ride-haling economy. And it might leave Uber, Lyft, and Tesla playing catchup.  The study, published on March 16 by Wall Street research firm MoffettNathanson, is a 21-page exploration into how Alphabet’s self-driving car company is poised to disrupt the existing ride-sharing landscape as it continues to aggressively scale.  “Waymo’s incursion into the U.S. rideshare narrative reminds us of the Kool-Aid commercials from our childhood,” the analysis begins. “The Kool-Aid man kicks down walls, causes havoc, screams ‘oh yeah,’ and runs off into the next scene.” In the case of Waymo, it continues, “they’re kicking down the walls of an entrenched industry, wreaking terror on the multiples, and then running off to the next city announcement.” The analysts demonstrate that Waymo has amassed a major head start against other players in the autonomous vehicle (AV) space, and is beginning to pose a competitive threat t