The Upstarts: Uber, Airbnb, and the Battle for the New Silicon Valley by Brad Stone

Finished listening to The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World by Brad Stone. The author talks about how 2 bay area startups Uber and Airbnb emerged into Upstarts disregarding all the traditional rules and hurdles in their respective areas of ride-sharing and accommodations through the crowd. These 2 companies started at the same time disrupting 2 relevant industries taking advantage of the new wave of technological adoptions brought out by the internet, smartphones. Brad focuses a lot on the CEOs, their thought processes, and how they matured over time from being ruthless to well-balanced as their companies grew into new heights.

As I am interested in bay area technology startups, some of this information I found as not new to me. But this may be useful for many other readers. I was expecting a little more tune in the storytelling styles but overall it’s not a bad read.