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Learn the key ideas of the book by Brad Stone

The Upstarts

The tech companies that have gone from Startups to Upstarts

The Upstarts tells the stories of Uber and Airbnb, their efforts, sacrifices and the challenges of both these companies that revolutionized the transport and hospitality sectors. Brad Stone highlights the turning moment of the new technology in the sharing economy in which old ways of doing business begin to falter and leave space to new leaders, new types of agreement, new ways of investing, new ways of moving around a city and new systems for overnight stays. In a context of complete change, new tech companies are imposing themselves with extraordinary success, and from small Startups they become Upstarts, structured and successful giants.

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The Upstarts
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Upstart is a term used to refer to major start-ups like Uber and Airbnb

When we talk about an Upstart we usually mean a person that has recently become rich (and is often dismissive of those who have more experience than them and of the traditional ways of doing business), or a company that has had great success over a short period of time.

In the tech world, start-ups are small companies with new business ideas that have reached a point in their growth where, if they are really doing well, they stop being referred to as start-ups and they become Upstarts, bigger, more structured companies.

Companies like Uber and Airbnb that experienced a quick and unstoppable growth are no longer considered start-ups. They are world leaders in the transport and hospitality industries, and their common denominator is the fact that neither of them owns cars or hotels, the main assets owned by the major players in these respective industries.

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The key ideas of "The Upstarts"

01.
Upstart is a term used to refer to major start-ups like Uber and Airbnb
02.
Airbnb and its growth: from a crazy idea to a successful start-up
03.
The early years of Airbnb
04.
Uber’s ability to change has become its strength
05.
Uber was born as a taxi booking app
06.
In Airbnb good quality photos boost bookings
07.
Uber won San Francisco over in spite of a lawsuit against them
08.
One of Airbnb’s challenges was the safety of hosts and guests
09.
2011 was the year of expansion for Uber
10.
Airbnb’s fight in New York against some opportunistic hosts
11.
Being an Upstart involves great responsibilities
12.
Quotes
13.
Take-home message
 
 
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