---
id: "quote-bleeding-subsidies"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Commitment Paradox"]
tags: ["attrition", "market-defense"]
related: ["entity-didi", "entity-uber", "entity-wang-gang"]
speaker: "Wang Gang"
speakers: ["Wang Gang"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-116-winner-take-all-diversification"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/in-winner-take-all-markets-diversification-is-a-liability"
sourceTitle: "In Winner-Take-All Markets, Diversification Is a Liability"
---
# DiDi's Commitment Against Uber

## Quote: DiDi's Commitment Against Uber

> "was prepared to keep bleeding subsidies for a few years"

— [[entity-wang-gang]], co-founder/early investor associated with [[entity-didi]] (§ The Commitment Paradox)

**Why it matters:** a live demonstration of credible do-or-die commitment. Because DiDi was focused on China with no easy retreat, the threat of open-ended subsidy losses was believable — and it defeated the globally diversified [[entity-uber-d116]]. Concretizes the [[concept-commitment-paradox]] and [[claim-flexibility-signals-weakness]].

*Enrichment note: widely reported in media coverage of the Uber–DiDi battle.*