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

By: Brad stone
Location: NF338.04 STO 
Genre: Bio, business and technology

I tried UBER at Melbourne Airport- was a total fail, we could not locate each other and I was right where he told me to be, even checked with the locals. Got $10.00 taken out of my account for the fail. Ended up catching a bus for half the price, direct and uber helpful, dropped me closer and gave e great information. I will always catch the bus in Melbourne now! But AirBnB- I am a big user, it is a brilliant service that works, even in the changes and alterations that holidays bring. Then there is online books..... dangerous!!!!

The world is changing right before our eyes. Technology has escaped the confines of our computers and mobile devices and has oozed into the real world. We now press a button and summon a cab. We can rent the spare rooms and spare time of others, any time of day. We don’t just buy books and movies on-line but groceries, prepared dinners, laundry and babysitting services.
This great wave, sparked by the ubiquity of smartphones and high speed internet and cellular networks, has really just started. But the effects and efficiencies of software and the Internet have already upended the industries that once dominated the provision of real-world goods and services. It has minted not just a new set of winners and losers but turned San Francisco into an epicenter of the business world and spawned a new wave of conflict over the inevitable spoils.
There is a specific kind of entrepreneurial personality that thrives during unsettled times like this: brash, clever, and almost preternaturally relentless in their focus. They are eternally optimistic about the long-term benefits of technology and yet clinically paranoid about the short-term obstacles and rivals that stand in their way. They break the rules, betray friends, but can be endearingly loyal to the allies who help them achieve their goals. And they are awfully fun to write and read about.  


“If you want to build a truly great company you have got to ride a really big wave. And you’ve got to be able to look at market waves and technology waves in a different way than other folks and see it happening sooner, know how to position yourself out there, prepare yourself, pick the right surfboard—in other words, bring the right management team in, build the right platform underneath you. Only then can you ride a truly great wave.”