Digital Upstarts – Uber and Airbnb
Uber and Airbnb have been unleashing a new wave of productivity helped by technology to further human connection. Their critics see them as ruthless and callously sowing disruption and treading on the backs of drivers in the case of Uber or local communities in Airbnb’s case.
The Upstarts, the most detailed investigation into the early years of these Silicon Valley upstarts,
Brad Stone a Bloomberg journalist whose last book, a study of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, won the FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the year award in 2013.
His findings explain what made Uber and Airbnb so special and different and what their idiosyncratic founders with tremendous drive and unlimited self-confidence, with visionaries as Travis Kalanick of Uber and Brian Chesky of Airbnb, did to rewrite the rules of business overcoming both ethical and legal obstacles. There were several similar transport startups which are now largely forgotten like Seamless Wheels, Taxi magic. Many lacked imagination believing taxi rules would never change. Uber failed to imagine how much the regulatory environment might change as it is notorious for brash disregard for rules. Initially, Uber was offering exclusive expensive liveried black cars and declined to go into ride sharing. Rideshare successful idea was demonstrated by two Uber competitors, Sidecar and Lyft, which prompted Uber to successfully embrace ridesharing and lobbied regulators in California to legalise the practice. Uber’s competition with a London-based transport start-up Hailo prompted them to include taxis in its app and take a leap into new markets in the US.
Ten years ago, you would think twice before getting into a stranger’s car, or walking into a stranger’s home, and would be considered bizarre and dangerous, but both Uber and Airbnb have changed all that by ushering in a new era redefining and challenging the way governments regulate business and changing the way we travel and redefining our neighbourhoods.
Travis Kalanick was a failing entrepreneur with early dismal experiences of conflict with the music and movie industries, before Uber success.
It was Airbnb’s copycat that prompted them to expand in Europe, which turned out to be the genius business strategy.
Airbnb, as an accommodation company that facilitates travel and home sharing, has been more successful under CEO Brain Chesky.
During 2011-2013, Uber appeared rampaging over local transportation laws when they feared their competitors might capture strategic ground.
Chesky of Airbnb knew his company violated the strict housing regulations of New York City and elsewhere but plodded ahead anyway according to Stone.
“Both CEOs seized the tremendous opportunities before them with steely determination, pausing just long enough to turn around and repair some of the carriages they left in their wake.”
Airbnb valued at $30bn and Uber Valued at $70bn by investors, both remain private and yet to undergo the test of public markets.
Brad Stone refrains from predicting the future of these two upstarts, but certainly offers an insight into the values that will help shape the future of both companies. Airbnb teamed with an illegal hotelier during its early days in New York. Although Kalanick’s role as a member of President Donald Trump’s business advisory council which he resigned, after sparking viral twitter campaign urging users to #deleteUber.
The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb and the Killer companies of the New Silicon Valley are changing the world by Brad Stone Bantam Press £ 20/ Little, Brown $30, 384 pages.