The Upstarts is a really well written book about the history of both Uber and Airbnb.
The book is divided in three parts, each one representing the steps each of this companies passed through since the very beginning.
The first part (Side Projects) tells us how Uber and Airbnb started, how both ideas were just side projects for its creators and why these two had success since the early days when comparing to many others that failed , having a chapter just for those and for the reasons that made them fail (SeamlessWeb, Taxi Magic, Cabulous, Couchsurfing and Zimride). This part ends with the launch of both services in the United States.
Then, on the second part (Empire Building), the author tells us the drama behind the journey of Airbnb and Uber: from law and regulation issues to accidents and business problems, every story is really well told and detailed, which becomes almost a novel.
Finally, on the third and last chapter of the book (The Trial of the Upstarts), the author presents us again with some major problems these companies faced later on, but it ends with a positive overview of the state-of-the-art of Airbnb and Uber.
For those who might be asking what Airbnb means, it’s the abreviation for Air, Bed and Breakfast, the original name, in fact. Uber isn’t an abreviation. It just a name that came to one of the founders and stayed.
Nowadays, at least in my country, Uber and Airbnb are legal and the only problems that could appear are probably related with spontaneous situations or with market share, as new companies like these two emerged following the same business model. Some years ago, Taxi companies and Uber fought, sometimes literally, and those were dark times for the american company. Yet, the journey of these two companies was fullfilled with problems and more problems and the book focuses too much on that, to be honest. That’s the only reason I rate it 4 in 5.
Regarding the founders of both companies, Uber (Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick) and Airbnb (Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia), their profiles are the opposite of what some may think a CEO of a tech company is. They’re not anymore the so-called geeks behind a keyboard, programming all day long. They’re entrepreneurs with high soft skills capacities and the age is just a number for them.
I truly recommend this reading to all those who are curious about the ups and downs of Aribnb and Uber, specially those who already used at least one of the services, like me.
Rating 4.0/5
Read in 2021