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The Upstarts

How Uber, Airbnb and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley are Changing the World

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The Upstarts

By: Brad Stone
Narrated by: Dean Temple
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Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Upstarts by Brad Stone, read by Dean Temple.

New York Times bestselling author of The Everything Store Brad Stone takes us deep inside the new Silicon Valley.

Ten years ago, the idea of getting into a stranger’s car, or walking into a stranger’s home, would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it’s as common as ordering a book online. Uber and Airbnb are household names: redefining neighbourhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business and changing the way we travel.

In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, a new generation of entrepreneurs is sparking yet another cultural upheaval through technology. They are among the Upstarts, idiosyncratic founders with limitless drive and an abundance of self-confidence. Young, hungry and brilliant, they are rewriting the traditional rules of business, changing our day-to-day lives and often sidestepping serious ethical and legal obstacles in the process.

The Upstarts is the definitive account of a dawning age of tenacity, creativity, conflict and wealth. In Brad Stone’s highly anticipated and riveting account of the most radical companies of the new Silicon Valley, we find out how it all started, and how the world is wildly different than it was ten years ago.

Business Development & Entrepreneurship Business Ethics E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Management Management & Leadership Workplace & Organisational Behavior Business Commerce Thought-Provoking Leadership Silicon Valley Inspiring Technology
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Critic reviews

Readers will find plenty of food for thought in Brad Stone’s The Upstarts, the most detailed investigation yet into the early years of these Silicon Valley prodigies. It’s an entertaining and well-crafted account... a careful character portrait of both Uber and Airbnb. Read it and you will be able to judge them for yourself.
A fun, briskly told narrative… Mr. Stone’s reporting is excellent. The Upstarts is not the end of the story but an excellent history of the beginning.
Excellent... an unusually gripping business book.
Stone brings a big dose of truth serum to the marvels and machinations of the sharing economy and its founders.... 'The Upstarts' is rich with inside details.
Technology writer Brad Stone chronicles [Uber and Airbnb's] swift rise to the corporate stratosphere, juxtaposing visionary zeal with the often deep impacts they've left in their wakes... The book is a timely reminder that pushing the digital realm into the physical can disrupt communities as well as the competition.
A richly researched and highly readable narrative that provides additional layers of insight by weaving in contrasting stories of competing companies that failed. (Walter Isaacson,)
A colourful and enjoyable read ... Compelling.
In The Upstarts, Brad Stone has vividly captured the cultural and economic upheaval brought about by the latest generation of Internet superpowers. His book is a magnificent expose of how companies like Uber and Airbnb came to be, the people that profited and lost out along the way and the ramifications that this technology will have on the world for decades to come. Stone remains the preeminent chronicler of the Internet Age and a master storyteller.
[Stone] amply illustrates that for every tech champion there is a forgotten crowd of decapitated competitors, pissed-off investors, defenestrated founders and unrewarded early employees ... where Stone really succeeds is in providing the reader with the visceral experience of the start-up enterprise. (Antonio Garcia-Martinez)
A fascinating account of the founders and leaders of each company, each of whom have moulded the companies into their own images in many ways... [Stone's] telling is especially artful. These books are great primers for aspiring entrepreneurs as well as those who are simply interested in what makes entrepreneurs successful. (Peter High)
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Started strong - and it as clearly very very well researched - but i have to admit it did get a little tedious in the second half. Still a good book if you are interested in the formation of huge companies.

Started strong

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Good story, and understanding of these entrepreneurs - although could be more take away lessons, still the emotions you feel about the companies and how ruthless you need to be as an entrepreneur in some industries is quite a great lesson.

Good story, and understanding of these entrepreneurs

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This is a great read that tells the story of both companies in detail. Riveting and full of valuable insights for entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to understand the truth about how the new wave of tech companies got started. Includes the obstacles both companies faced and how they dealt with them.

Detailed and revealing

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A little too focussed on two companies and gets a little boring towards the second half of the book. The history of these two companies is still relatively short.

It still makes for very interesting reading however.

Interesting but can be a little dull in parts

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Definite must read for all entrepreneurs with big dreams. Great insight into big mistakes not to make or how you should or shouldn't run a business.

Definite must read for all entrepreneurs

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