The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World

Well-written book about the rise of Airbnb and Uber, with mentions of Lyft and a short detour to China and Didi towards the end. I found it easy to follow as an audio book. What was most surprising to me was how Stone is able to lay out how all of these companies basically used the same strategies when it came to dealing with local laws/existing companies: ignore, fight, lobby, essentially do anything to allow their service to operate and thrive. This is what you'd expect from a corporation, but it was enlightening to see that the services were near-indistinguishable in terms of tactics. And yet, only Uber was caught in significant / long-lasting bad press (remember #deleteuber?), primarily because of the interactions Kalanick had with show more regulators and the press. Good lessons here around how people perceive a whole company based solely on the temperament of its founders. In this case, actions didn't speak louder than words. show less

Автор бестселлера об Amazon и главред отдела глобальных технологий в Bloomberg News решил рассказать истории двух других знаковых компаний XXI века, расположенных по соседству с ним в Сан-Франциско. Как ни странно, у обеих компаний, Uber и Airbnb, много общего помимо местонахождения штаб-квартир и личной дружбы владельцев-основателей. И та и другая взрывали устоявшиеся за десятилетия сегменты, обе ради роста нарушали show more законы по всему миру, а самое главное, меняли наше представление о том, как можно пользоваться такси и снимать жилье. Книга, написанная без лишних сантиментов и восхищения героями, — настоящий учебник по бизнесу. Стартовать и подвинуть первопроходцев научит победа Airbnb над Couchsurfing. Бороться с имитаторами научат битвы Uber с мастерами этого дела — китайцами. И обеим компаниям есть что рассказать о пиаре, контрпиаре и гибкости в трактовке законодательства чиновниками. Как всегда, особенно поучительны не сами по себе победы, а то, как компании оправлялись от ударов и находили новые ходы, чтобы достичь успеха. P. S. А Uber начался с того, что у основателя появилась девушка из другого района, куда пешком не находишься. show less

How did Uber and Airbnb rise to success? That's the story you will find in these pages. The author also puts their success in context by looking at some of the other competing companies and why they lost. It's fascinating to see how these companies have fought to win despite incredible pressure and opposition from others. It is striking that New York City was a major battleground for both companies. The author also does well in seeking to go beyond the hype about "changing the world" at play here and look at how these companies actually operate.

Given the strong focus on the company leadership, I hope a second edition of the book will address the Uber CEO resigns as CEO in 2017 - less than a year after the end of the events told in the show more book.

The story of the battle for ride sharing dominance in China is one of the great untold stories you will find from this book. show less

A very good intro on the rise of Uber, Airbnb and similar such startups. What fascinated me was the personality of Brian Chesky rather than the rabble rouser Travis. Need to read more about Chesky and his book reccos.

A really excellent book that gives you a flavour of the difficulties and opportunities of the entrepreneurial challenge as well as the force of will required to build successful companies. It is also an enjoyable story as well.

V fun read

Judah Cofer