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Preface: I'm a huge fan of Uber & AirBNB and use (and love) both extensively. That being said, I have to say I'm impressed/shocked/in awe of their respective
by nlh 12y ago
Preface: I'm a huge fan of Uber & AirBNB and use (and love) both extensively.
That being said, I have to say I'm impressed/shocked/in awe of their respective strategies. One of their biggest innovations isn't necessarily their use of tech (which is huge of course), but the adoption of their regulatory strategy, which is basically:
"Screw the law. We'll do what we want, get people to love us, then appeal to the masses / out-lobby the politicians when the governments attempt to enforce the law"
I bet most attempts to start AirBNB/UberX/Lyft (in their current form) would have been met by "Sure, great idea, but it's totally against the law, and you'll get shut down." And that would have stopped most people.
So, I suppose, kudos to the respective founders for taking a different (and bolder) approach. Like it or not, it seems to be working through sheer brute force.
- Loughla 12y agoHonest question; If a chemical start-up took the same approach - make an awesome product and ignore all safety and health regulations - what would you think?
- Jach 12y agoYou mean like Soylent? (They've had FDA approval as a food since January, but plenty of people wanted it before then without worrying about an official stamp saying there aren't any health risks.)
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- avz 12y agoSharing a ride or renting a property is a high risk proposition and humans have traditionally relied on trust networks and connections like families and friends to find good customers and providers. I think the true innovation of the sharing economy is using technology to scale up these trust networks with rating and reviews to the level required by a modern city. These mechanisms have of course been known for a long time in the internet, but sharing economy realized its full value for renting and sharing rather recently.