If the value of Uber went to zero overnight, would that be a Ponzi? People put money into it, and that money was used to subsidize user rides. If it went to zero, then all those investors would have nothing to show for their investment...
Uber has a multi-billion dollar business selling taxi rides.
They may not be running that business well, but it's a business. They have a roadmap for turning those rides profitable, that they may or may not be able to execute on. If you invest in their business, you have the ability to steer it, by using your shares to vote.
The fact that they produce something is the difference between it and a ponzi.
The tera business model was 'sell tokens to people who want to get in on the 20% yield, and pay the yield with the profits of these sales.' And also skim 3 billion for the founder. It's completely circular.
But you are right, this sort of thing is incredibly common in the ICO world.