Travis Kalanick

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
by Mike Isaac
Published 2 Sep 2019

story_fbid=10155147475255944&id=564055943. 17 in an interview in 2014: Kara Swisher, “Bonnie Kalanick, the Mother of Uber’s CEO, Has Died in a Boating Accident,” Recode, May 27, 2017, https://www.recode.net/2017/5/27/15705290/bonnie-kalanick-mother-uber-ceo-dies-boating-accident. 18 positive relationship with his ex-wife: Taylor Pittman, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and His Dad Open Up on Life, Love and Dropping Out of School,” Huffington Post, April 11, 2016, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uber-travis-kalanick-talk-to-me_us_57040082e4b0daf53af126a9. 18 built an electrical transformer: Swisher, “Bonnie Kalanick.” 18 Donald later told a reporter: Pittman, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.” 19 Travis was a top seller: Adam Lashinsky, Wild Ride: Inside Uber’s Quest for World Domination (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2017), 40. 19 His prize: An enormous trophy: Jesse Barkin, “Valley Conference Basketball Honors Top Students,” Los Angeles Daily News, March 30, 1988, Z10. 20 $20,000 in knives: Chris Raymond, “Travis Kalanick: ‘You Can Either Do What They Say or You Can Fight for What You Believe,’ ” Success, February 13, 2017, https://www.success.com/article/travis-kalanick-you-can-either-do-what-they-say-or-you-can-fight-for-what-you-believe. 20 his commissions growing larger: Sarah E.

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Chapter 3: POST-POP DEPRESSION 27 a starting price of $25,000: “Where Are They Now: 17 Dot-Com Bubble Companies and Their Founders,” CB Insights, September 14, 2016, https://www.cbinsights.com/research/dot-com-bubble-companies/. 28 One fifth of all office space: Matt Richtel, “A City Takes a Breath After the Dot-Com Crash; San Francisco’s Economy Is Slowing,” New York Times, July 24, 2001. 29 “Are you frickin’ kidding me?”: BAMM.TV, “FailCon 2011.” 30 “VC’s ain’t shit but hos and tricks”: BAMM.TV, “FailCon 2011.” 31 he sold Red Swoosh: Liz Gannes, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on How He Failed and Lived to Tell the Tale,” D: All Things Digital, November 8, 2011, http://allthingsd.com/20111108/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-on-how-he-failed-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale/. 32 “It is in the VC’s nature”: TechCo Media, “Travis Kalanick, Founder & CEO of Uber—Tech Cocktail Startup Mixology,” YouTube video, 34:35, June 14, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrp0me9iJ_U. Chapter 4: A NEW ECONOMY 33 seized control of Fannie Mae: Stephen Labaton and Edmund L.

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Chapter 5: UPWARDLY IMMOBILE 44 Casino Royale, the 2006 reboot: Brad Stone, “Uber: The App That Changed How the World Hails a Taxi,” Guardian, January 29, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/29/uber-app-changed-how-world-hails-a-taxi-brad-stone. 44 flourish on Bond’s cell phone: Stone, Upstarts. 46 his personal blog: Travis Kalanick, “Expensify Launching at TC50!!,” Swooshing (blog), September 17, 2008, https://swooshing.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/expensify-launching-at-tc50/. 46 a roomful of young engineers: TechCo Media, “Travis Kalanick, Founder & CEO of Uber.” 47 “VC’s are trying to axe the founder”: TechCo Media, “Travis Kalanick Startup Lessons.” 48 “musings and often controversial aphorisms”: https://twitter.com/konatbone. 49 “respectable clientele”: Garrett Camp, “The Beginning of Uber,” Medium, August 22, 2017, https://medium.com/@gc/the-beginning-of-uber-7fb17e544851.

Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work
by Sarah Kessler
Published 11 Jun 2018

What the Future of Work Will Mean for Jobs, Skills, and Wages. November 2017. https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/future-of-organizations-and-work/what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages. 5   Lynley, Matthew. Travis Kalanick Says Uber Has 40 Million Monthly Users. TechCrunch. October 19, 2016. https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/19/travis-kalanick-says-uber-has-40-million-monthly-active-riders/. 6   Quoted in Dray, Philip. There Is Power in a Union. Anchor Books, 2010, page 248. Index The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook.

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Uber for alcohol. Uber for cleaning. Uber for courier services. Uber for massages. Uber for grocery shopping. Uber for car washes. Even Uber for weed. Uber itself hinted that it would take its business model far beyond transportation: “Uber is a cross between lifestyle and logistics,” Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Bloomberg. “Lifestyle is gimme what I want and give it to me right now and logistics is physically delivering it to the person that wants it … once you’re delivering cars in five minutes, there’s a lot of things you can deliver in 5 minutes.”11 The presumption was that because Uber’s business model worked for calling cars, it could work for any other service, too.

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And a couple of weeks later, when he got an email that let him know he’d been hired as a teacher, he was ecstatic to be a part of it. He hoped that the gig economy—specifically Leila’s vision for it—would play out in Dumas as it had been conceived in Silicon Valley, that it would serve as a conduit for opportunities that had otherwise left his small town, and others like it, behind. CHAPTER 4 UBER FOR X Travis Kalanick joined his first startup more than ten years before co-founding Uber, dropping out of the University of California, Los Angeles, to work on a peer-to-peer music- and video-sharing startup. Airbnb’s first founders met at the Rhode Island School of Design. Two of Upwork’s cofounders created the freelancing site after working together, but from separate countries, on a previous startup.1 Like most of the people who founded gig economy companies, these founders were experts in creating technology products, not in mobilizing and managing large service workforces.

What's Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy
by Tom Slee
Published 18 Nov 2015

Jordan, Jeff. “Unpacking the Grocery Stack,” n.d. http://jeff.a16z.com/2014/06/16/unpacking-the-grocery-stack/. Kalanick, Travis. “A Leader for the Uber Campaign.” Uber, August 19, 2014. http://blog.uber.com/davidplouffe. ———. “Uber Policy White Paper 1.0.” Uber, April 12, 2013. http://blog.uber .com/2013/04/12/uber-policy-white-paper-1-0/. Kalanick, Travis, and Kara Swisher. Uber CEO: We’re in a Political Battle with an “Assh*le,” May 28, 2014. http://mashable.com/2014/05/28/travis-kalanick-co-founder-and-ceo-of-uber/. Kane, Kat. “The Big Hidden Problem With Uber? Insincere 5-Star Ratings.” WIRED, March 19, 2015. http://www.wired.com/2015/03/bogus-uber-reviews/.

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Airbnb is the ­poster-child for sharing: in its public statements and in its marketing it actively promotes a bucolic “shared city” where “local mom and pops flourish once again . . . that fosters community, where space isn’t wasted, but shared with others.” Uber, as its name suggests, is not interested in anything so soft and fuzzy as community: it projects an aspirational image of status (“Everyone’s private driver”) and its confrontational CEO Travis Kalanick is well known to be a fan of Ayn Rand and her ideology of rugged individualism. Both companies have run into controversy in many of the cities where they operate, running afoul of city regulations and laws, and both have taken the approach of pushing for growth, aiming to present a fait accompli to slow moving and often understaffed city governments.

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It remains to be seen whether BlaBlaCar can keep to its current model when pressure for returns from its investors increases. UBER Lyft may have started out with a message of community and sharing, but its bigger and more successful competitor Uber had no such pretensions. As the name suggests, Uber was about status right from the start. Its slogan was “Everyone’s private driver”; founder and CEO Travis Kalanick said in a 2013 interview, “We just wanted to push a button and get a ride. And we wanted to get a classy ride . . . That’s all it was about.” 16 Uber was never a partner of Peers, and although Uber was founded in 2009 it did not refer to itself as part of the Sharing Economy until 2013. Some Sharing Economy proponents don’t accept Uber as part of their movement,17 but for many people Uber now is the Sharing Economy.

Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy
by Alexandrea J. Ravenelle
Published 12 Mar 2019

Cosmopolitan Culture: The Gilt-Edged Dream of a Tolerant City. New York: Atheneum. Kahn, Lisa B. 2010. “The Long-Term Labor Market Consequences of Graduating from College in a Bad Economy.” Labour Economics 17(2):303–16. Kalamar, Anthony. 2013. “Sharewashing Is the New Greenwashing.” OpEdNews.com, May 13. Kalanick, Travis. 2016. “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s Gridlock Solution? Carpools for All.” Wall Street Journal, June 6. Kalleberg, Arne L. 2009. “Precarious Work, Insecure Workers: Employment Relations in Transition.” American Sociological Review 74(1):1–22. ———. 2011. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States.

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Illustrative of the high cost of living in New York City, twelve of the participants listed their household income as $100,000 or more, and seven described their income as between $25,000 and $49,999. Two respondents identified their income category as $75,000–99,999, with the remaining two respondents reporting an income of less than $25,000 a year. Uber The Uber creation story has several versions. According to the Uber website, “on a snowy Paris evening in 2008, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp had trouble hailing a cab. So they came up with a simple idea—tap a button, get a ride.”75 True to its high-end roots, the first iteration—UberCab—was a black car service that allowed a user to call a car by pressing a button on a smartphone or sending a text. The price hovered around 1.5 times as much as a typical San Francisco cab.76 The service ran into regulatory issues almost from the start.

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After an October 2010 cease-and-desist letter from the San Francisco Metro Transit Authority and the Public Utilities Commission of California claiming they were operating an unlicensed taxi service, UberCab removed the word cab from its logo and started to operate under the brand name Uber. On its Facebook page, the company commented that it was “more uber than cab.”77 When Uber began in New York, it also billed itself as an app-driven dispatch service catering to people who were willing to pay more. Early articles describing Uber’s entry into New York included one by CEO Travis Kalanick explaining that Uber’s cost was about 1.75 times as much as a taxi, and that the appeal would lie primarily in the app’s “efficiency and [the] elegance of the experience.”78 In 2012, Uber announced a cheaper version—only 10 to 25 percent more than a cab—that used hybrid cars.79 Later that year, Uber announced a taxi partnership that allowed cabs to use its smartphone app to find potential customers.

Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain
by James Bloodworth
Published 1 Mar 2018

.: The Principles of Scientific Management 17 Tesco 35, 57, 58–9, 62–3 Thatcher, Margaret 122, 123, 146, 174–5, 193, 207, 263–4 Thorn Automation 57 Thorn EMI 59 trade unions: Amazon and 36 B&M and 130, 131 call centres and 160, 181, 184–5, 186 care sector and 88 coal industry decline and 55–6, 173, 174, 263–4 decline of 2, 3, 35 ‘gig’ economy and 230, 257, 261 objectivism and 228 oil crisis (1973) and 122 Thatcher and 123, 174, 193, 263–4 Wales and 144, 149 see also under individual union name Trades Union Congress (TUC) 173 transgender people 40–1 Transline Group 19, 20, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 65–6, 86 Transport for London (TFL) 211, 212–13, 214, 233, 254, 256 Tredegar Workmen’s Medical Aid Society 247 Trefil, Wales 149 Trump, Donald 7 Uber 207, 211–57 ‘account status’ 221 clocking in at 218 corporation tax and 229 customers 221, 222, 226–7, 237–41, 244, 257 driver costs/expenses 214, 217, 233, 241, 246, 253–5 driver employment classification/contract 214–15, 222, 229–35, 243, 245, 250–2, 257 driver hours 221, 226, 230, 232, 233, 236, 246, 253, 255 driver numbers 211–13, 233–5 driver wages/pay 212, 218, 221, 229–30, 235, 236, 237, 240, 241, 244, 246, 252–5 employment tribunal against (2016) 229–34 flexibility of working for 213–14, 218, 230–3, 248, 250–1 James Farrar and see Farrar, James migrant labour and 213, 236 ‘Onboarding’ class 224–5, 238, 241, 256 opposition to 215–17 philosophy of 228–9, 235, 236 psychological inducements for drivers 222–3 rating system 225–7, 232, 238, 239, 243, 253 rejecting/accepting jobs 221–2, 224–5 ride process 219–21 surge pricing 237, 238, 253 TFL and 211, 212–13, 214, 233, 254, 256 Travis Kalanick and see Kalanick, Travis UberEATS 256 UberPOOL 225, 240–2, 253, 255–6 UberX 212, 225, 240, 241, 255 VAT and 229 vehicle requirements 214 unemployment 2, 32, 36, 62, 121–3, 132, 138, 148, 157, 172, 178, 179, 189–95, 199, 218 Unison 88, 108 Unite 55, 160 United Private Hire Drivers 230, 257 university education 3, 6, 61, 62, 123, 150–1, 152, 153–4 USDAW 130–1 Vettesse, Tony 138 Vicky (care sector supervisor) 86, 87 Wade, Alan 121, 123–4 wages: Amazon 18, 19, 37–9, 42–3, 65–6, 68, 69, 70, 159 call centre 155–6, 158–60, 164, 180 care sector 107–8, 117, 118–19, 159 living wage 1, 85, 160, 246 minimum wage 1, 7, 55, 62, 84, 107, 108, 118, 135, 155, 159, 173, 189–90, 209, 212, 235, 236, 245, 250, 262 Uber 212, 218, 221, 229–30, 235, 236, 237, 240, 241, 244, 246, 252–5 wage stagnation 2 see also under individual employer, job and sector name Wealth and Assets Survey 207–8 wealth inequality 18, 73, 123, 125, 207–8, 238 Wells, H.

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We, as partners, are simply using a ‘tool to connect Customers seeking Driving Services to Drivers who can provide the Driving Service’,13 as Uber liked to put it. Uber was a tech company that happened to hold a cab operator’s licence. And in some respects it would be a mistake not to admire the initiative and sheer bloody-mindedness that transformed Uber from something that began life, in former CEO and founder Travis Kalanick’s words, as ‘a black cab service for 100 friends in San Francisco’ into ‘a transportation network spanning 400 cities in 68 countries’. The extent to which disrupters like Uber were upending London’s private hire market is plain to see out on the streets. Sat waiting patiently at a set of red traffic lights, as one of Uber’s fleet of drivers you sometimes got the sensation that you were being watched.

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All in all, it was a peculiar sort of freedom. * This could easily have been circumvented by simply logging drivers off but allowing them to log back in again as soon as they were ready. 19 I found out during my first week on the road that the favourite book of Uber’s former CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick is The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. For those unfamiliar with her work, Rand was a Russian–American novelist and philosopher whose system of thought – known as ‘objectivism’ – found expression in her two best-selling novels (the other being Atlas Shrugged). Objectivism stood opposed to all forms of collectivism – the welfare state, trade unions, public hospitals.

Unleashed
by Anne Morriss and Frances Frei
Published 1 Jun 2020

Mike Isaac, “How Uber Deceives the Authorities Worldwide,” Technology, New York Times, March 3, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities. 23. Kara Swisher, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Says the Company Has Hired Former Attorney General Eric Holder to Probe Allegations of Sexism,” Vox, February 20, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/2/20/14677546/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-eric-holder-memo. 24. Special Committee of the Board, “Covington Recommendations” (Google Doc, 2017), https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1s08BdVqCgrUVM4UHBpTGROLXM/view. 25. Sasha Lekach, “Uber Drivers Really Wanted In-app Tipping for a Reason: $600 Million Made in First Year,” Tech, Mashable, June 21, 2018, https://mashable.com/article/uber-tipping-600-million-first-year/. 26.

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In effect, this section is about mastering the inner rings of our empowerment leadership model: trust, love, and belonging. Again, when you get it right, your presence as a leader has progressively positive impact, starting with yourself and then expanding to more and more people. Let’s begin. 2 TRUST On a Friday afternoon in the spring of 2017, Travis Kalanick, then CEO of Uber, walked into a conference room at the company’s minimalist Bay Area headquarters. A wildly talented deputy, Meghan Joyce, general manager for the United States and Canada, had orchestrated the meeting. Joyce was convinced that we could be helpful, but that was not our starting point.

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It’s a model that reveals another foundational truth about leadership: some of your best people don’t always want you in the room. Culture gives you the confidence to exit. Do you have a culture problem? By June of 2017, the mandate to change the culture at Uber could not have been stronger. This was not lost on then-CEO Travis Kalanick. As reported by Mike Isaac in Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, while Kalanick was on leave, he drafted an email to the company that he never ended up sending.a The email was humbled and reflective, mirroring the version of Kalanick we had gotten to know earlier that spring. He opened with a sober take on Uber’s culture challenges: “Over the last seven years, our company has grown a lot—but it hasn’t grown up.”7 Kalanick took responsibility for the company’s cultural missteps, including its emphasis on growth at all costs and its transactional approach to stakeholder relationships.

Uberland: How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work
by Alex Rosenblat
Published 22 Oct 2018

Emmett Penny, “Lectureporn: The Vulgar Art of Liberal Narcissism,” Paste, June 26, 2017, www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/lectureporn-the-vulgar-art-of-liberal-narcissism.html. 34. Johana Bhuiyan, “A New Video Shows Uber CEO Travis Kalanick arguing with a Driver over Fares,” ReCode, February 28, 2017, www.recode.net/2017/2/28/14766964/video-uber-travis-kalanick-driver-argument. 35. Julia Carrie Wong, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Resigns Following Months of Chaos,” The Guardian, June 21, 2017, www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/20/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-resigns. 36. Rosenblat, “What Motivates Gig Economy Workers.” 4. THE SHADY MIDDLEMAN 1. Alex Rosenblat, “How Can Wage Theft Emerge in App-Mediated Work?”

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Algorithmic management is a system that works for the company—simple, efficient, and bureaucratic. But its drivers suffer as they are forced to accept the odds that Uber has designed in its own favor. While drivers had long been aware of Uber’s ham-fisted treatment of them, a video capturing Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in an encounter with an Uber driver showcased this dynamic to a wider public in February 2017 (see figure 9).32 Figure 9. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick leaning in for a heated debate with his uberBlack driver. This is a screenshot of the video about the incident posted on YouTube in 2017. The driver’s dashcam recorded the interaction: The driver says he’s bankrupt after investing ninety-seven thousand dollars in a high-end car to drive for uberBlack, because rates have fallen and the demand for uberBlack has dropped, given the availability of cheaper Uber services.

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Douglas MacMillan and Newley Purnell, “Smoke, Then Fire: Uber Knowingly Leased Unsafe Cars to Drivers,” Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2017, www.wsj.com/articles/smoke-then-fire-uber-knowingly-leased-unsafe-cars-to-drivers-1501786430. 84. Mike Isaac, “Uber’s C.E.O. Plays with Fire,” New York Times, April 23, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/04/23/technology/travis-kalanick-pushes-uber-and-himself-to-the-precipice.html. 85. Julia Carrie Wong, “Uber’s ‘Hustle-Oriented’ Culture Becomes a Black Mark on Employees’ Résumés,” The Guardian, March 7, 2017, www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/07/uber-work-culture-travis-kalanick-susan-fowler-controversy. 86. Susan J. Fowler, “Reflecting on One Very, Very Strange Year at Uber,” February 19, 2017, Susan Fowler (blog), www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber. 87.

Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy
by Jeremias Prassl
Published 7 May 2018

Erin Hatton, ‘The rise of the permanent temp economy’, The New York Times (26 January 2013), https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/the- rise-of-the-permanent-temp-economy/, archived at https://perma.cc/2D7S- B68Z. Kalanick subsequently apologized: ‘Travis Kalanick’s Uber-apology’, The Economist (3 March 2017), https://www.economist.com/news/business-and- finance/21717810-many-woes-ubers-boss-travis-kalanicks-uber-apology, archived at https://perma.cc/NMN9-UV4X 50. Duncan Bythell, The Sweated Trades: Outwork in Nineteenth-Century Britain (St Martin’s Press 1978), 168, and sources cited there. 51. James Schmiechen, Sweated Industries and Sweated Labor (Croom Helm 1984), 102–3, 189. 52.

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Ibid. See also Daniel Hemel, ‘Pooling and unpooling in the Uber economy’ (2017) University of Chicago Legal Forum, forthcoming. 66. Jennifer Smith, ‘ “I’m ashamed”: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick issues grovelling memo to staff admitting he needs to “grow up” after video surfaces of him yell- ing at one of his own drivers’, Daily Mail (28 February 2017), http://www. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4269350/Uber-CEO-Travis-Kalanick-lashes- driver-video.html, archived at https://perma.cc/5F8F-WWCD 67. Christine Lagarde, ‘Reinvigorating productivity growth’, IMF (3 April 2017), http://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/04/03/sp040317-reinvigorating- productivity-growth, archived at https://perma.cc/84CC-9TCH 68.

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The critical question facing humanity today is whether we choose to support and scale up national and local systems of sharing, or whether we allow them to be further undermined and disman- tled by those who are ideologically opposed to putting sharing at the centre of policymaking.41 * * * Rebranding Work 43 For the vast majority of platforms, however, ‘informal sharing’ or ‘peer-to- peer collaboration’ is about as alien a concept as ‘promoting social equity’ and ‘strengthening the social fabric of communities’ might be to Uber’s abrasive co-founder Travis Kalanick—for the whole point of informal com- munity assistance is that it cannot be scaled up and monetized. It can be hard to escape the jargon—and it’s even more important not to be fooled into fuzzy thinking by a communal or ‘sharing’ spirit: the gig economy means business. Writing in the New York Times, Natasha Singer expresses her problems with the industry’s twisting of language, from ‘sharing’ and ‘peer’, to the ‘people’ and ‘collaborative’ economy.

Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
by Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Published 9 Oct 2017

Mike Isaac, “Uber C.E.O. to Leave Trump Advisory Council after Criticism,” New York Times, February 2, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-trump-advisory-council.html. 17. Eric Newcomer, “In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver over Falling Fares,” Bloomberg, February 28, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-28/in-video-uber-ceo-argues-with-driver-over-falling-fares. 18. Travis Kalanick, “A Profound Apology,” Uber Newsroom (blog), February 28, 2017, https://newsroom.uber.com/a-profound-apology. 19. Mickey Rapkin, “Uber Cab Confessions,” GQ, February 27, 2014, http://www.gq.com/story/uber-cab-confessions. 20.

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She quit, leaving for the online payment company Stripe instead. One Sunday the following February, she decided to tell her story. She published a painstakingly detailed, 3,000-word post to her personal blog outlining precisely what had happened.10 The internet went wild. That same day, CEO Travis Kalanick released a statement calling Fowler’s experience “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in,” 11 and claiming this was the first he’d heard of the problem. By Monday, he’d hired former attorney general Eric Holder’s law firm to investigate sexual harassment at the company, and he said that investor Arianna Huffington and others would be reviewing findings shortly.12 Within days, two more stories of sexual harassment and humiliation at Uber had been published, and countless others confirmed that the company culture was as they described it: aggressive, degrading, and chaotic.

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Fowler (blog), February 19, 2017, https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber. 11. Everett Rosenfeld, “Uber CEO Orders ‘Urgent Investigation’ after Allegation of Harassment, Gender Bias at Company,” CNBC, February 19, 2017, http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/19/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-says-orders-urgent-investigation-after-allegation-of-harassment-gender-bias-at-company.html. 12. Steven Overly, “Uber Hires Eric Holder to Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims,” Washington Post, February 21, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/02/21/uber-hires-eric-holder-to-investigate-sexual-harassment-claims. 13.

After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win It Back
by Juliet Schor , William Attwood-Charles and Mehmet Cansoy
Published 15 Mar 2020

Details of our analysis can be found in Cansoy and Schor (2019). The statistical technique is hierarchical linear modeling. 41. Quattrone et al. (2016). 42. Cox (2017). 43. Three richest Americans and top four hundred from Collins and Hoxie (2017). 44. Wolff (2017, table 2). 45. Saez (2019). 46. Travis Kalanick net worth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Kalanick; Brian Chesky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Chesky; Nathan Blecharczyk : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Blecharczyk; Joe Gebbia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Gebbia. 47. See Schor (2017). 48. Educational attainment figures are author’s calculations from BLS data for 2017: www.bls.gov/emp/tables/educational-attainment.htm. 49.

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Many talked about the social and environmental benefits of the work. Their stories resonated with much of what the platforms promised: good earnings, flexibility, and the chance to be an entrepreneur. The public vibe was similarly upbeat. Sure, there were sporadic protests from taxi drivers, but as Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick rightly recognized, Taxi is the industry everyone loved to hate.9 Sharing was cool. Ten years later, there are still plenty of people who love the platforms, especially consumers and those with valuable assets to rent. But the gauzy optimism of Devon and Bev has been tempered by the ways companies have prioritized growth and profitability.

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In the late 2000s, San Francisco software entrepreneur Garrett Camp was at war with the taxi industry. He couldn’t find rides, had been blackballed by dispatchers for his frequent cancellations, and got charged $1,000 for a private driver on New Year’s Eve. Before long, he teamed up with fellow entrepreneur Travis Kalanick to found Uber.24 Lyft’s story started in Zimbabwe, where Logan Green saw passengers using shared minivan taxis, a common practice in many Global South countries, as well as some low-income neighborhoods in the U.S. Impressed by this example, Green and John Zimmer started Zimride (from Zimbabwe), focusing on long-distance travel to and from college campuses.

How to Fix the Future: Staying Human in the Digital Age
by Andrew Keen
Published 1 Mar 2018

As I write this, in late June 2017, the tech community is once again embroiled in a series of scandals over its disgraceful treatment of women, with two high-profile investors, Dave McClure of 500 Startups and Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital, forced to step down because of their persistent and well-documented attempts to sexually assault female entrepreneurs. Earlier this month, Travis Kalanick, the cofounder and CEO of Uber, was forced to resign because of a long history of ethical controversies at the ridesharing company in everything from rampant sexual harassment of its female engineers to threatening tech journalists to spying on its customers. “What is most interesting is that Silicon Valley remains in a cognitive bubble, reluctant to engage with legitimate public worries over monopoly, privacy and tech related job disruption, not to mention its own culture,” the Financial Times’ Rana Foroohar wrote in July 2017 in response to this latest round of Silicon Valley scandals.6 So, yes, it’s certainly not bad news that three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—Facebook, Amazon, and Google—have joined a self-policing alliance of Big Tech companies committed to “ethics, fairness, and inclusivity” in the development of AI products.

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“We trust Reid Hoffman,” Bracken, who has worked with Hoffman in the past, said to me. We trust him to know that with agency comes responsibility. So what about the ethics of Big Tech’s other multibillionaires—the Cooks, Zuckerbergs, Benioffs, Bezoses, Pages, and Brins? None, of course, are as immature as Travis Kalanick. Nor are they as Kantian as Reid Hoffman. Their morality is, instead, a complicated question. Sometimes we can trust these plutocrats, sometimes we can’t. Some, like Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who at the time of writing has a net worth of $83 billion, making him the second-richest person on earth after Bill Gates, are simultaneously cutthroat businessmen and selfless philanthropists.

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I ask her what distinguishes her and Mitch from the other plutocrats of Silicon Valley. They’ve obviously invested tens of millions of dollars in the Kapor Center. But it’s more than the money. After all, Mark Zuckerberg had, in theory at least, given $45 billion of his personal wealth to “charity.” And every Silicon Valley tech notable—even Travis Kalanick, the Randian former CEO of Uber—talks a good game when it comes to respecting the rights of minorities and women. But what Kapor Klein is doing in Oakland, particularly in terms of the networks the Kapor Center is building with the local community, seems so much more genuine than Zuckerberg’s meretricious altruism.

The Network Imperative: How to Survive and Grow in the Age of Digital Business Models
by Barry Libert and Megan Beck
Published 6 Jun 2016

Orchestrated well, with ongoing development of customer relationships—and not customer transactions—as the key performance indicator, each customer revisit will generate greater affinity and value for the customer as well as greater clarity and value to the firm. PRINCIPLE 7 EMPLOYEES From Employees to Partners Employment in society has overstretched itself. —Charles Handy, author and philosopher WHEN UBER PASSED THE MILLION-DRIVER MARK (that’s right—one million drivers) in late 2015, CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in the Economist, “I realised that sharing-economy companies really are pointing the way to a more promising future, where we have more power over when, where and how long to work. It’s a shift that has the potential to give people more flexibility, more freedom and more control over their lives, their jobs and their incomes.”1 One might think that this quotation is self-serving, given that Uber’s digital network business model is based on a network of freelance drivers.

…

On-demand home delivery of movies with no late fees was a revelation for the market; it constituted a major disruption. This new business model took down Blockbuster and has forced movie theaters to adapt and find new ways to lure customers off their sofas to the big screen. Today this story is familiar and can be seen in many industries. Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, did the same thing when he created a ride-sharing service using mobile technologies to connect drivers and riders directly, where existing black car and taxi companies didn’t. Founder of Angie’s List Angie Hicks connected homeowners to share reviews of local businesses and service providers, creating enormous value over traditional listings like the Yellow Pages.

…

Principle 6, Revenues 1. Brent Leary, “Amir Elaguizy of Cratejoy: Good Subscription Business Models Focus on Relationships Not Transactions,” Small Business Trends, August 14, 2015, http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/08/elaguizy-cratejoy-subscription-business-models.html. Principle 7, Employees 1. Travis Kalanick, “The Charms of the Sharing Economy,” Economist, The World in 2016 (single issue), November 6, 2015, http://www.theworldin.com/article/10631/charms-sharing-economy. 2. Ernst & Young, Study: Work-Life Challenges across Generations, http://www.ey.com/US/en/About-us/Our-people-and-culture/EY-work-life-challenges-across-generations-global-study. 3.

The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction
by Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham
Published 17 Jan 2020

In the former system, clients and workers typically post information about their jobs and skills on a profile – allowing buyers to bid for workers and (more commonly) workers to bid for jobs. In the latter system, prices are fixed and no negotiation is possible. Uber and Deliveroo, for instance, don’t allow drivers to negotiate their mileage rates. Fiverr conversely allows workers to set fixed prices for clients. Uber’s former CEO, Travis Kalanick, once noted1 ‘We are not setting the price. The market is setting the price … We have algorithms to determine what that market is.’ This selective framing conceals a lot of what platforms actually do. They are much more than just the matching infrastructure. Other core functions that they perform are facilitating payments, establishing trust mechanisms, surveillance of workers (and, in some cases, clients), and myriad sector-specific features like driver routing or panic buttons.

…

Over time, Uber has taken a larger and larger slice of every fare’ (Slee, 2015: 65). This is how Uber makes money with the platform: by taking a commission from every journey that a driver makes. The success of Uber is also partly explained by its engagement with regulation and transport policy. As Travis Kalanick (2013) – the former CEO of Uber – explained: In most cities across the [US], regulators have chosen not to enforce against non-licensed transportation providers using ridesharing apps. This course of non-action resulted in massive regulatory ambiguity leading to one-sided competition which Uber has not engaged in to its own disadvantage.

…

MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(2): 23–32. Kalanick, T. (2013) Uber Policy White Paper 1.0. Uber. Available at: http://www.benedelman.org/uber/uber-policy-whitepaper.pdf Kalanick, T. and Swisher, K. (2014) Uber CEO: We’re in a political battle with an ‘assh*le’, Mashable, 28 May. Available at: http://mashable.com/2014/05/28/travis-kalanick-co-founder-and-ceo-of-uber/ Kalleberg, A.L. (2009) Precarious work, insecure workers: Employment relations in transition. American Sociological Review, 74(1): 1–22. Kaplanis, I. (2007) The Geography of Employment Polarisation in Britain. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. Kessler, S. (2018) Gigged: The Gig Economy, the End of the Job and the Future of Work.

Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation
by Paris Marx
Published 4 Jul 2022

Schwantes, “The West Adapts the Automobile: Technology, Unemployment, and the Jitney Phenomenon of 1914–1917,” Western Historical Quarterly 16:3, 1985, p. 314. 2 Ross D. Eckert and George W. Hilton, “The Jitneys,” Journal of Law and Economics 15:2, 1972, p. 296. 3 Ibid. 4 Travis Kalanick, “Uber’s Plan to Get More People into Fewer Cars,” TED, February 2016, Ted.com. 5 “Fireside Chat with Travis Kalanick and Marc Benioff,” Sales-force, September 2015, Salesforce.com. 6 Sam Harnett, “Words Matter: How Tech Media Helped Write Gig Companies into Existence,” in Beyond the Algorithm: Qualitative Insights for Gig Work Regulation, ed. Deepa Das Acevedo, Cambridge University Press, 2021. 7 Dana Rubinstein, “Uber, Lyft, and the End of Taxi History,” Politico, October 30, 2014, Politico.com. 8 Gregory D.

…

Elon Musk graced the covers of major magazines and was profiled repeatedly as the entrepreneur who was going to “save the planet” with his sexy electric sportscars, before promising trains in vacuum tubes and a large-scale tunnel system to solve traffic congestion. But he was not the only one with big plans for mobility. Uber’s chief executive Travis Kalanick had a measurable impact on how we get around after he introduced a taxi service hailed from a smartphone, and then used that success to build grander visions where drivers were automated and flying cars finally became a reality. Google also got in on the future transport hype as its co-founder, Sergey Brin, promised cities completely transformed by autonomously driven pods, and as those companies were praised and rewarded with venture capital, they inspired a whole host of other founders to dream up big ideas of their own and try to make them a reality.

…

The jitney was dead, but that did not mean the streetcar returned to its dominant position. The popularity of automobiles continued to grow, especially in the aftermath of World War II when state investments explicitly promoted their sale and use. But could history have taken a turn in a different direction? In 2016, Uber co-founder and then-CEO Travis Kalanick showed up at a TED conference to spin the tale of Uber and impress upon the attendees why his company was essential for the future of urban transportation. But he did not start with his rapidly growing company; he started with the story of the jitney. In Kalanick’s telling, jitneys were an innovative, entrepreneurial service choked out by “the trolley guys, the existing transportation monopoly.”4 He argued that the regulation of jitneys ultimately killed a shared future of mobility in favor of one that centered around personal ownership—which would come to dominate mobility in the twentieth century.

Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future
by Ben Tarnoff
Published 13 Jun 2022

,” Mind Matters, May 27, 2020. 121, The data has both an operational … “Attracts venture capital …”: Niels van Doorn and Adam Badger, “Platform Capitalism’s Hidden Abode: Producing Data Assets in the Gig Economy,” Antipode 52, no. 5 (2020): 1477. 121, Whether this growth will … “One of the greatest …” and First Round Capital: Scott Austin, Stephanie Stamm, and Rolfe Winkler, “Uber Jackpot: Inside One of the Greatest Startup Investments of All Time,” Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2019. Goldman Sachs: Wilfred Frost and Hugh Son, “Goldman Sachs Dumped Its Entire Stake in Uber Late Last Year,” CNBC, January 15, 2020. Travis Kalanick: Eliot Brown, “Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Cuts Stake in Company by More Than 90%,” Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2019. 122, Just because Uber is … For data on the growing GDP share of the financial industry, see Thomas Philippon, “Has the U.S. Finance Industry Become Less Efficient? On the Theory and Measurement of Financial Intermediation,” American Economic Review 105, no. 4 (2015): 1408–38. 123, These companies were so successful … Facebook acquisitions: Mark Glick and Catherine Ruetschlin, “Big Tech Acquisitions and the Potential Competition Doctrine: The Case of Facebook,” Institute for New Economic Thinking Working Paper Series 104 (2019): 57–60.

…

In 2010, the venture fund First Round Capital invested $510,000; at the time of Uber’s IPO in 2019, its stake was worth $2.5 billion, a return of nearly 5,000 times. More than a few major shareholders have cashed out, locking in substantial gains. Goldman Sachs, an early investor, did so in late 2019, likely making hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. Around the same time, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick did the same, liquidating more than $2.5 billion of stock. Just because Uber is unprofitable doesn’t mean that certain well-placed people can’t profit from it. These are profits derived from speculation, not production. But in contemporary capitalism, profits from speculation are a primary means by which capital accumulation occurs.

…

See also New Brandeisians Brin, Sergey, 88, 89, 91 Brown, Chris, 105 Bush, George, 27 capitalism and accumulation, 35–36, 147, 154, 177 and coal as fuel, 87 competitive markets under, 63, 103, 176 Karl Marx on, 78 and Luddite movement, 174, 175 and subsumption of labor, 78, 84 and surveillance capitalism, 92, 94, 96 in the US, 125 and venture capital, 119–22 See also The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, (Zuboff); Bezos, Jeff CenturyLink, 59–60 Cerf, Vinton, 11, 19–20, 113, 114 Chattanooga, TN, 38–39, 46, 49, 55 Clinton, Bill, 18, 20, 21, 22 Comcast and broadband internet, 25, 29, 53 and digital divide, 59 and end of net neutrality, 28 and enrichment of CEO and shareholders, 31 lawsuits of, 46 and the profit motive, 127–28 proposed taxes on, 61 and US government, 52 and Washington, DC’s neighborhoods, 49 worth of, 67 common carriage regulations, 26, 27, 28 Communications Act of 1934, 26 Communications Decency Act of 1996, 95–6 community networks, 42–56, 61–63, 154–55, 169, 170, 176 Computer Science Research Network (CSNET), 21–22 Cottom, Tressie McMillan, 132 Danton’s Death (Bűchner), 57 Davis, Angela, 156, 157 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ARPANET network of, 8–9, 10, 12, 13, 114 email study of, 79 and internet’s mobility, 113, 114–15 and investment in computing, 7–8, 89 and linking of networks, 11, 114 technical expertise of, 15 democracy and Clintonian neoliberalism, 26 and collective ownership of economy, 52 and Homo politicus, 64 importance of resources to, 34–35, 36 and inclusive government, 66–67 and the internet, 158 monopolies as a threat to, 150 and self-rule, 33–35, 36 Dewey, John, 33–34, 35 Donovan, Joan, 143, 161 Duke, David, 134, 139–40 eBay as AuctionWeb, 73–74, 80, 81–82 CEO Meg Whitman of, 99 and community as market, 80–84 and e-commerce, 75, 76, 80–84, 86, 98, 99, 100, 103 on the Nasdaq, 88 network effects on, 82, 83 user participation on, 79, 82, 83, 94 Electric Power Board (EPB), 38–39, 40 Equitable Internet Initiative (EII), 43–46 Facebook antitrust suit against, 151 and content moderation, 152–54 data of, ix, 29–30, 96, 101, 116, 165, 173 and e-commerce, 98 and election of 2016, 148–49 Fox News on, 142 and Instagram, 150, 159 and interoperability scenarios, 170 investigation into, 150–51 Joel Kaplan of, 146 and library funding, 160 and MAREA, x market capitalization of, 97 and Mark Zuckerberg, 94, 96–97, 146, 154, 166 online advertising of, 60–61, 94, 112, 124, 137–38, 146, 150, 165, 170, 173 and online malls, 115, 119, 129, 147, 155, 158 and politics, 141, 143–49, 150 and the profit motive, 127, 147 and purchase of startup companies, 124 QAnon movement on, 145–46 Schifter’s post on, 126–27, 131 and Sheryl Sandberg, 94 WhatsApp of, 150 Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 26, 27–28, 41, 48, 59, 60 Fourcade, Marion, 109 Fox News, 142, 161 Friere, Paulo, 44 Gates, Bill, 71–72, 81 Google and capitalism, 92 and data generation, 89–90, 92–93, 112, 124 and e-commerce, 98, 124 founding of, 88 and Google Fiber, 29 investigation into, 150–51 and large amounts of data, 91–93, 96, 101, 116 and library funding, 160 online advertising of, 60–61, 90–93, 94, 112, 124, 136, 173 as an online mall, 93, 115, 119, 129, 138 and parent company Alphabet, 97, 124 and platforms, xv, 75 and purchase of startup companies, 94, 124 and radicalization by Council of Conservative Citizens, 138–39 search technology of, 90, 133–39, 144 software of, 173 and submarine fiber-optic cables, 29–30 worth of, 67, 124 Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station, 4 Gore, Al, 19–20 Gruen, Victor, 85, 86 Grundner, Tom, 23 Guattari, Felix, 145 Hanna, Thomas M., 50, 66 Healy, Kieran, 109 High-Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991, 20 Inouye, Daniel, 21, 22 internet access to, xv, 10, 13, 21, 23, 25, 28, 30, 31–35, 40–41, 44, 46, 50, 51, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 77, 127, 163, 76 and algorithmic management, 114–15, 116, 118, 119, 121 ARPANET network of, 12, 18, 24, 79, 104, 114 and broadband internet, xv, 27–29, 31, 32–33, 35, 39, 40, 41, 43, 46, 48–49, 50, 53, 55–56, 59–61, 176 buying and selling on, 71, 73–74, 81–82, 124 and the cloud, 103–9, 110, 111, 112, 115, 116, 118, 119, 121, 123, 128, 131, 163 common language of, 9, 10–11, 14, 79, 110, 113, 177 and communications networks, x–xi, 5, 8, 27, 123, 128, 148, 170 and competition among providers, 61–64 and connectivity, xi, xii, 29, 30, 33, 35, 41, 43, 44, 59, 60, 127 and consumer costs, 23, 30–31, 40, 43, 44–45, 49, 50, 52, 60, 61–64 and content, xvii, 29, 152–54 creation of, xiii, 6–12, 13, 88, 104, 113 and data generation, 88–89, 92–93, 101, 108–9, 121, 123, 129, 149–50, 158, 165–66 and data’s value, 86–87, 92, 109, 121, 122, 165 and data transmission, 3–6, 8, 10, 14–15, 25, 28–29, 39, 55, 103–4, 159 and data trusts, 165–66 and democratic internet, xvi, 37, 42–43, 47–48, 50, 55, 56–57, 58, 66–67, 155, 175–76 and deprivatization, xvi, 51, 56, 59, 153, 154–55, 157, 169–70, 175, 176 and dial-up modems, 23, 27, 28 different scales of, 54–55, 168 and dot.com bubble, 72, 76–79, 80, 83, 90, 93, 94, 98, 102, 106, 109, 123, 124 and email, xiv, 12, 15–16, 79–80, 159 and fiber to the home (FTTH) networks, 39, 40, 41, 51 and founding of startups, 76, 119–20, 123–24 and infrastructure, xiii, xiv, 7, 15, 17, 24, 27, 28, 30, 31, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 51, 56, 61–62, 65, 85, 106–9, 127, 160, 164, 176 and internet service providers, 15, 17, 24–26, 27–31, 38, 39–41, 46, 49, 51–53, 59–63, 65, 72, 77, 95, 127–8 and market-dominated internet, 22, 35, 42, 46–47, 119, 122, 152–54 and the military, 9–10, 11, 12, 79, 113–15, 177, xiii and online classes, 32, 34, 132–33 and online malls, 86–87, 93, 103, 108, 109, 112, 115, 121, 123, 128, 129, 131–33, 135, 137–40, 147, 148, 149, 151, 153, 154–58, 160, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 170–73, 176 and organizing, xv, 37, 43–46, 50, 58 and Pets.com, 77, 82 and platforms, xiv–xv, 67, 75, 84, 98, 127, 158, 164, 166, 176 and politics, xi, xii, 18, 28, 46, 47–49, 54, 80, 139–49, 171, 174, 177 privatization of, xiii, xiv–xv, 14, 16–20, 23–25, 27–30, 36–37, 44, 45, 47, 56, 58, 65, 67, 72, 76–79, 84, 93, 98, 109, 119, 120, 123–25, 127, 135, 147, 148, 154, 159, 172, 174–75 and profit motive, xi, xii, xiii, xv, xvi, xvii, 9, 26, 31, 33, 35–36, 37, 45, 47, 52–53, 55, 87, 127–28, 147, 152, 174–75, 176 public funding for, 6–8, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 41–42, 48–51, 59, 60, 160, 164–65, 176 public or cooperative ownership of, xvi, 8, 40–46, 48–49, 51–52, 60, 62, 65, 71, 155, 163–65, 168, 169, 176 and racism, xvii, 31, 43, 134, 137–40, 153 regulation of, xii, 17, 22, 28, 147, 149–53 and rise of search engines, 72, 136–37 and selling ads, 93–94, 96–97, 146 and shopping malls, 84–86 and “smartness,” 110–13, 118 and smartphones, 6, 31–32, 110, 112, 115, 119, 123, 128 social aspect of, 79–80, 81, 86, 94–95 state surveillance of, 64–65, 66 and submarine fiber-optic cables, ix–x, xii, xiv, 29–30, 56, 65, 113 and the techlash, 149, 152, xii, xiii, xv universal protocol for, 9, 11–12, 19, 88, 110, 113, 159, 172 and universities, 52, 88, 109, 169 and US government, xiii, xiv, 7, 13–14, 17–20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 48–49, 59–60, 64–67, 113–15, 170 and web applications, 103, 170, 171, 176 wide area networks (WANs) of, 117–19 and the World Wide Web, 15–16, 72, 76, 80, 89 and Yahoo!, 72, 89, 135–36, 174 See also community networks; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); eBay; internetworking; social media; TCP/IP; Uber internetworking, 3–5, 10 Kahn, Robert, 11, 12, 19–20 Kalanick, Travis, 122 Kesan, Jay P., 13 Khan, Lina, 151, 152 MAREA, x, xii, xiv Marx, Karl, 36, 78 Microsoft, x, 29–30, 31, 71–72, 81 Nakamura, Lisa, 135 National Science Foundation (NSF) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), 14–15 and the internet, 20, 89 and NSFNET backbone, 13–21, 22, 23, 71 and state-supported universities, 13–14, 16 See also internetworking; Wolff, Stephen Netflix, 29 Netscape, 72, 76 New Brandeisians, 150–52, 153, 157, 170 Noble, Safiya, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 160 Obama, Barack, 27, 28 Omidyar, Pierre, 71, 73–74, 80–84, 87, 90, 99 See also eBay Page, Larry, 88, 89, 91 Pinkham, Chris, 105–6, 107 Sandberg, Sheryl, 90, 94 Sanders, Bernie, 48–49, 50, 141 Schifter, Doug, 126–27, 128, 130, 131 Schrader, William, 17 Shah, Rajiv C., 13 Silicon Valley, CA, 3, 71, 131 Snowden, Edward, 64 social media and competition among companies, 152–53 and content moderation, 131–32, 144, 158, 162 and cooperative servers, 166 and decentralization, 158–59, 163, 166 and disinformation, 140, 141–43 and Facebook, 94, 98, 141, 143, 158, 159, 170 and Mastodon server, 159, 160, 163, 170 and online malls, 94–96, 139–40, 144–45 and platforms, 161 and polarization, 140–13, 144 and politics, 140–47 and profit motives, 161 and public media, 161–62, 163 and right-wing propaganda, xv, 138–42, 143, 144, 145–46, 161, 162, 163 self-governing communities on, 176 and Twitter, 94, 141, 159, 166, 173 user participation on, 94, 140, 141–46, 152, 162 and YouTube, 94, 144, 159 See also Facebook Starosielski, Nicole, x, xi TCP/IP, 11, 12, 19 Technology Networks (of GLC), 167–69, 170, 171 Telecommunications Act of 1996, 26–27 Telecommunications Policy Roundtable, 21–22 Telefónica, x Thatcher, Margaret, 47, 168, 171 Tomlinson, Ray, 79 Travers, Virginia Strazisar, 88 Trump, Donald, 27, 149 Turing, Alan, 111 Uber algorithmic management of, 121, 129 and the cloud, 115, 116, 119, 121, 128 and the gig economy, 116–17, 119, 121, 130–31 and large amounts of data, 116, 121, 124, 129 and London’s transportation agency, 164 and online malls, 115, 119, 121, 129 and platforms, xv and politics, 128 and treatment of drivers, 115–16, 129, 130 unprofitability of, 120–22, 123 and venture capital, 120–23, 128, 129, 131 and worker-run companies, 166 See also Schifter, Doug United States and antitrust enforcement bills, 151 and Bloomberg US Internet Index, 77 and the Cold War, 7, 18 Department of Justice (DOJ) of, 151 Detroit in, 43, 44, 45–46, 59 economy of, 122, 125 and election of 2016, 141–42, 148–49 and Espionage Act of 1917, 66 and Etam Earth Station, WV, 4 and the “Framework for Global Electronic Commerce,” 22, 30 independent contractors in, 116–17, 118, 128, 129–31 and the internet, xiii, 11–12, 18, 24–25, 55–56, 59–60, 128, 139–40, 148–51 and Marina del Rey, CA, 5 media sphere of, 161 and money for corporate providers, 59–60 and national electricity grid, 56 North Dakota in, 41–42, 46 and police and prison abolitionists, 156–57 Postal Service of, 21, 65–66 public libraries in, 160, 161, 163 racism in, 54, 153 and riot at US Capitol, 145 Roosevelt administration of, 38, 40 and telecom deregulation, 20, 21 and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 38, 40 and US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 137 and Virginia Beach, VA, x See also Chattanooga, TN; Silicon Valley, CA Verizon, 25, 49, 61 Viljoen, Salomé, 165 Warren, Elizabeth, 48, 50 Wolff, Stephen, 16, 17, 18 Zuckerberg, Mark, 94, 96–97, 146, 154, 160, 166 Zuckerman, Ethan, 158

The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Our Technology Choices Will Create the Future
by Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever
Published 2 Apr 2017

Uber’s employees have already considered the implications of their platform and view Uber not as a car-hailing application but as a marketplace that brings buyers and sellers together. You can see signs of their testing the marketplace all the time, ranging from comical marketing ploys such as using Uber to order an ice-cream truck or a mariachi band, to the really interesting, such as “Ubering” a nurse to offer everyone in the office a flu vaccine. Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, openly claims that his service will replace car ownership entirely once self-driving car fleets enter the mainstream.4 What will happen to the humans who drive for Uber today remains an open question. So what makes conditions ripe for a leap into the future in any specific economic segment or type of service?

…

The self-driving cars will easily tip the balance; for any trips on the West coast, I’ll forgo the flights. Imagine the disruptions to the railroad and airline industries when we all start making this choice. And all of this begins to happen by the early 2020s. If I can rely on Elon Musk, my Tesla will become fully autonomous as early as 2018; 14 and Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, has signed a pact with Volvo to have self-driving cars on the roads by 2021.15 Does the Technology Foster Autonomy Rather Than Dependence? I simply can’t wait for self-driving cars to take over our roads; I see them as increasing our personal autonomy as much as, if not more than, anything else discussed in this book.

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See also Artificial intelligence Internet access, 22–23, 63 Internet of Things (I.o.T.), 11, 25, 104, 156–157 the awesome things about, 157–160 benefits vs. risks of, 164–166 defined, 156 fostering autonomy vs. dependence, 163–164 the frightening thing about, 161–163 Japan, aging of, 92 Kahol, Kanav, 71–74, 77 Kalanick, Travis, 153 Kelly, Kevin, 43, 112 Khosla, Vinod, 41 Kim, Tammie, 151–152 Kurzweil, Ray, 12–13, 16, 94, 184 Labor market, A.I. and the, 96–97 Laptop computers in educational settings, 53–54 Laws, 29–30, 42–43 Laxminarayan, Ramanan, 72–74, 77 Learning. See also Education the flipped future of EdTech and personalized, 59–62 Mahan, Steve, 144 Massive open online courses (MOOCs), 54 McAfee, Andrew, 96 Medical identity theft, 107.

Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy
by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson
Published 30 May 2016

Three years earlier, during the summer of 2012, Uber was readying to launch its UberX service in the D.C. market. But days before the service was supposed to launch, the D.C. city council passed an amendment to a taxi regulation bill designed to keep Uber from operating in the city. (The amendment was literally called the “Uber Amendment.”) As Uber CEO Travis Kalanick tells it, the council crammed the bill through, submitting it at 4 p.m. on a Monday and voting on it the next day at 11 a.m. Uber responded by enlisting its users to fight back. “In 18 hours, 50,000 emails were sent by riders to city council along with 37,000 tweets,” Kalanick said.10 Around noon the next day, the city council pulled the amendment.

…

If you drew a line that passed through every dot, what would be the shortest possible path to connect all of them? This is the traveling salesman problem, one of the most-studied optimization problems in mathematics, and one with a wide range of applications. But in the context of a transportation network, Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick identified its usefulness early on. “We have 100 cars out there and riders sprinkled all around the city,” Kalanick said. “Each car has its own traveling-salesman problem.”6 Uber’s algorithm uses location tracking to try to pick the most efficient driver to send. This is an age-old problem for the cab industry.

…

Farther down the line, driverless cars will be a big part of the Internet of Things. And they will likely be connected by one or two dominant development platforms. Apple and Google have both made big moves in this space over the last year, so they are currently leading contenders. Uber is another. Travis Kalanick, the company’s founder and CEO, has already said on the record that Uber intends to build on driverless car technology. To that end, in February 2015, Uber effectively bought out the entire robotics department at Carnegie Mellon University. (Yes, really.) The company likely will start by introducing driverless cars into its fleet to help prove out the market and construct a regulatory regime around the new technology.

This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto for a More Generous World
by Yancey Strickler
Published 29 Oct 2019

I started seeing it on magazine covers: This CEO is out for blood. These businesses own the world. In headlines: The war for tech dominance. The streaming media arms race. The Great Tech War of 2012. The Great AI War. Keeping count of Silicon Valley casualties. In news stories: Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s texts and emails included phrases like “war time,” “burn the village,” and “pound of flesh.” Mark Zuckerberg was reported to have told his leaders that Facebook was at “war” after it faced criticism for its role in election interference. In everyday business vernacular: Destroy the competition.

…

pushing for faster growth: Eighteen months later, the New York Times profiled Zenefits’ downfall as well (“Zenefits Scandal Highlights Perils of Hypergrowth at Start-Ups,” February 17, 2016). “it does seem like a rational decision”: Andrew Mason’s comments about Groupon were reported by New York Magazine (“The Super-Quick Rise and Even Faster Fall of Groupon,” October 2018). “pound of flesh”: From Wired (“Waymo v. Uber Kicks Off with Travis Kalanick in the Crosshairs,” February 5, 2018). role in election interference: From the New York Times (“Delay, Deny, Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis,” November 14, 2018). “Only under such conditions will business and factories truly prosper”: Konosuke Matsushita quotes are from the book Not for Bread Alone.

…

See also wages individual, the, xiv–xv, 26–27, 269–70 inequality, 14, 73, 114, 170, 196, 239, 260 Intel, 79 internet, 84, 191, 267 control over, 53–54 creation of, xiv, 38 gov. investment in, 78–79 retailers on, 51, 54–55, 71 iPhone, xii, 54, 78, 168, 182–83 Japan, xvi, 27, 101–3, 129–30 jobs and automation, 72–73, 192 creation of, x, 193 and lack of raises, 63–66 and mass layoffs, 62, 67, 71–73, 84–85 and top earners, 64 Jobs, Steve, 15, 79 Jogging (Bowerman), 186 Johnson, Magic, 159 Kahneman, Daniel, 22–23, 113 Kalanick, Travis, 98 Kennedy, John F., 184–85, 187 Keynes, John Maynard, 193–95 Kickstarter, 15, 115, 175 charter of, 170–71 creative projects of, 5–7, 10–13 founding of, 4–8, 236, 247 as PBC, 6, 9–12, 100–101, 169–71, 264 and stock buybacks, 67–68 wins best award, 87–88 knowledge, 21, 123, 217 and generational change, 180–81 as governing value, 144–45 high value of, xii–xiii, xv, 25 new, 150, 202, 268 Kondratiev waves, 267–68 Kuznets, Simon, 120–21 Lancet, The, 179, 184 Lazonick, William, 73 Let My People Go Surfing (Chouinard), 172 Lewis, Michael, x, 159–60 Liar’s Poker (Lewis), x life goals meaningful, 89–92, 111, 201 purpose-oriented, 94, 119 wealth-centric, 89–92, 94, 105, 119 life span, xi, 15, 266 Lister, Joseph, 147, 149, 179, 183–84, 187 Live Nation, 162, 263 long-term oriented, 110, 166–68, 175–76, 264.

The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power
by Michael A. Cusumano , Annabelle Gawer and David B. Yoffie
Published 6 May 2019

Its model differed from Sidecar and Lyft in that Uber at that time partnered with existing taxi and car services, so its drivers were professional drivers, including the lower-cost UberX service introduced in July 2012. Recognizing the threat from Sidecar and Lyft, which could offer lower prices because of the reduced licensing and insurance costs faced by nonprofessional drivers, Uber responded. In September, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told an interviewer, “If somebody’s out there and has a competitive advantage in getting supply, that’s a problem. I’m not going to just let that happen without doing something about it. . . . Uber started out at the high end originally, but the question is can you create a low-cost Uber? Uber has to become a low-cost Uber as well.”10 In April 2013, Uber announced it would begin offering ride-sharing services from nonprofessional drivers using their personal vehicles in cities where Sidecar and Lyft operated and began rolling out the platform under the UberX name that summer.

…

But the economics could improve because there are no driver payments and cars will be utilized more intensively, dramatically reducing the cost per mile.6 GM estimated that, when it launches its service in 2019, rides would initially cost $1.50 per mile, 40 percent less than current ride-hailing services.7 Some estimates suggested that the cost per mile of a self-driving vehicle could fall as low as 35 cents per mile, down from an average of $2.86 per mile in 2018.8 Observers see the combination of new technology and better economics forcing Uber (and other ride-sharing platforms) to “either figure out a way to buy or at least manage an enormous fleet (possibly by going public to foot the bill), or face annihilation by others who will.”9 Facing this threat, Uber began investing in autonomous vehicle technology in 2014. Uber’s cofounder and then CEO Travis Kalanick stressed the importance of winning the race: “The minute it was clear to us that our friends in Mountain View [i.e., Google] were going to be getting in the ride-sharing space, we needed to make sure there is an alternative [self-driving car]. Because if there is not, we’re not going to have any business.”

…

“Sidecar Connects Drivers and Passengers One Ride at a Time,” Sidecar, http://www.side.cr/sidecar-connects-drivers-and-passengers-one-ride-at-a-time/ (accessed October 30, 2018). 7.Zusha Elinson, “Cab Companies Want to Put the Brakes on Rideshare Services,” NBC Bay Area, September 4, 2012, https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Cab_companies_want_to_put_the_brakes_on_rideshare_services-168425826.html (accessed October 30, 2018). 8.Heather Somerville, “Sidecar Ends Donation Fares,” Silicon Beat, November 15, 2013. 9.Ryan Lawler, “Lyft Off: Zimride’s Long Road to Overnight Success,” TechCrunch, August 29, 2014. 10.Ryan Lawler, “Look Out, Lyft: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Says It Will Do Ride Sharing, Too,” TechCrunch, September 12, 2012. 11.Luz Lazo, “Uber Turns 5, Reaches 1 Million Drivers and 300 Cities Worldwide. Now What?” Washington Post, June 4, 2015. Also Youngme Moon, “Uber: Changing the Way the World Moves” (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, Case #316-101, November 2015); and Andrew J.

Ghost Road: Beyond the Driverless Car
by Anthony M. Townsend
Published 15 Jun 2020

Google Venture-Backed Kitchen United Looks to Open 400 Ghost Kitchens Nationwide,” Bisnow Los Angeles, July 21, 2019, https://www.bisnow.com/los-angeles/news/retail/novelty-or-next-trend-google-backed-kitchen-united-looks-to-open-400-virtual-food-halls-nationwide-100026. 139Green Summit needs just one-quarter of the floor space: Channick, “9 restaurants, 1 kitchen.” 140Traditional restaurants could easily spend 10 times: Neil Ungerleider, “Hold the Storefront: How Delivery-Only ‘Ghost’ Restaurants Are Changing Takeout,” Fast Company, January 20, 2017, https://www.fastcompany.com/3064075/hold-the-storefront-how-delivery-only-ghost-restaurants-are-changing-take-out. 140more than $10 billion flowed into last-mile: McKinsey & Company, Parcel Delivery, 6. 140group took control of four in New York City: Mary Diduch, “Travis Kalanick Said Last Year He Was Getting into Real Estate. Here’s What He’s Buying in New York,” The Real Deal, February 4, 2019, https://therealdeal.com/2019/02/04/travis-kalanick-said-last-year-he-was-getting-into-real-estate-heres-what-hes-buying-in-nyc/. 140a go-to spot for same-day distribution: Keiko Morris, “Online Commerce Sparks Industrial Real-Estate Boom off the Beaten Path in N.J.,” Wall Street Journal, February 26, https://www.wsj.com/articles/online-commerce-sparks-industrial-real-estate-boom-off-the-beaten-path-in-n-j-1488150878. 141nation’s largest dry-cleaning operation: Rebecca Greenfield, “Inside Rent the Runway Secret Dry-Cleaning Empire,” Fast Company, October 28, 2014, https://www.fastcompany.com/3036876/inside-rent-the-runways-secret-dry-cleaning-empire. 141dwarfed only by the company’s second plant: “Fashion Company, Rent the Runway, to Open Arlington Distribution Center,” Arlington, February 28, 2018, http://arlington.hosted.civiclive.com/news/my_arlington_t_x/news_ archive/2018_archived_news/february_2018/fashion_company_rent_the_ runway_to_open. 142Domino’s teamed up with mule manufacturer Nuro: “Nuro and Domino’s Partner on Autonomous Pizza Delivery,” Nuro (blog), Medium, June 17, 2019, https://medium.com/nuro/nuro-and-dominos-partner-on-autonomous-pizza-delivery-88c6b6640ff0. 142AVs carrying an entire kitchen: “Toyota Launches New Mobility Ecosystem and Concept Vehicle at 2018 CES,” Toyota, January 9, 2018, https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/corporate/20546438.html. 142increase in curbside cardboard collection: Nicole Nguyen, “The Hidden Environmental Cost of Amazon Prime’s Free, Fast Shipping,” BuzzFeed News, July 21, 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/environmental-impact-of-amazon-prime. 142“Kipple”: Philip K.

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As it grows to industrial scale, the sweeping dematerialization of sit-down dining is spawning its own infrastructure. Between 2012 and 2017, more than $10 billion flowed into last-mile food-delivery startups, like Postmates. But the most interesting action is at the back of the house. While Domino’s dominated the pizza business from suburban strip malls, a group led by Uber founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick is instead snatching up parking garages around the urban core and converting them to shared kitchens and delivery depots. In 2018, the group took control of four in New York City alone, at a cost of more than $40 million. It’s said that if you want to get rich in a gold rush, you should sell picks and shovels.

…

“We’re ready to do our part to help cities that want to put in place smart policies to tackle congestion,” wrote Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a blog post. “Even if that means paying money out of our own pocket to pass a tax on our core business.” Uber’s embrace of congestion pricing was initially well received, coming as it did on the heels of maverick founder Travis Kalanick’s ouster the year before. But I didn’t buy it. I was already on edge about congestion pricing’s prospects in an age of algorithmic financial fudgery, and I didn’t trust Uber. I wondered—was congestion pricing really a tax on Uber? Or was the company simply borrowing another trick from its Gilded Age predecessors and gearing up to collude with city governments to clear the streets of competition?

Risk: A User's Guide
by Stanley McChrystal and Anna Butrico
Published 4 Oct 2021

regained 10 percent of its share value: Jackie Wattles, “Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Resigns,” CNN Business, August 22, 2019, https://cnn.com/2019/08/22/business/overstock-ceo-patrick-byrne-resigns/index.html. Since 2009, Kalanick: Kate Conger, “Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Leaves Board, Severing Last Tie,” The New York Times, December 24, 2019, https://nytimes.com/2019/12/24/technology/uber-travis-kalanick.html. operated in more than seventy countries: Mike Isaac, “Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture,” The New York Times, February 22, 2017, https://nytimes.com/2017/02/22/technology/uber-workplace-culture.html.

…

After a particularly concerning post about the “deep state” targeting Overstock, the underwriter of the firm’s insurance for its directors and officers said it could no longer maintain the policy as long as Byrne continued to serve. As the team worked through the news of the threatened policy cancellation, Byrne announced his resignation. Following the news, Overstock rapidly regained 10 percent of its share value. Weak boards failing to intervene with suspect CEO behavior is a familiar story. Take former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick—whose behavior and leadership went unchecked as the company soared to unprecedented heights. Since 2009, Kalanick had revolutionized the ride-hailing industry, and in 2017 the tech start-up operated in more than seventy countries, valued at nearly $70 billion by its private investors. Beneath the hood of the car, however, was an engine of toxic corporate culture.

…

Only then did Uber hire a team of lawyers to investigate and recommend changes that included hiring a chief operating officer, changing the company’s stated values, and, ironically, creating a stronger, more independent board of directors. Leaders who are perceived as being successful aren’t always given a crown, but often do get a hall pass. Bernie Madoff’s fictional investing genius deceived some relatively sophisticated investors for years, and questionable behavior by corporate leaders like Patrick Byrne and Travis Kalanick was tolerated in apparent deference to their business successes. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assumed that Madoff—an experienced financier who played a part in launching the Nasdaq stock market and himself advised the SEC on trading securities—was acting responsibly. But Madoff was secretly running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that, once revealed, resulted in a 150-year prison sentence.

Tech Titans of China: How China's Tech Sector Is Challenging the World by Innovating Faster, Working Harder, and Going Global
by Rebecca Fannin
Published 2 Sep 2019

The Beijing-based startup, founded by CEO Li Haipeng, has recently attracted $50 million in funding from DCM, Tiger Global, and others, taking its total funding to $80 million. Within the three years of its start in 2016, Panda Selected has grown to 120 locations in China’s major business hubs. This service is meant to attract a young on-the-go population who order food by mobile app. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is working on a similar idea with his Los Angeles–based startup CloudKitchens, so perhaps this innovative concept will become better known in the United States. The sharing economy has arisen in China with the uptake of mobile apps and payments and a young consumer population that enjoys experimenting with new things.

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Table 7-2 Comparing Didi and Uber Start Date and Headquarters Didi: 2012 in Beijing Uber: 2009 in San Francisco Venture Capital Raised Didi: $21 billion Uber: $20 billion Number of Users Didi: 40 million monthly users Uber: 40 million monthly users Locations Didi: 400 cities Uber: 400 cities Market Share in Home Market Didi: 80 percent Uber: 73 percent Backers Didi: Tencent, Alibaba, SoftBank, Apple, and Singapore government investment fund Temasek Uber: SoftBank, Baidu, Google Ventures, private equity firm TPG, and Silicon Valley VC firm Benchmark Capital Market Valuation Didi: $4 billion financing in late 2017 from SoftBank and an Abu Dhabi state fund with $56 billion valuation, ranked third among global unicorns Uber: investment in early 2018 from SoftBank consortium with $72 billion valuation, ranked second among global unicorns Public Listing Plans Didi: plans to go public have been delayed and company is restructuring Uber: went public in 2019 Didi Buys Out Uber in China Contrasts between Uber and Didi take on a whole new meaning when you consider what happened to Uber in China. Uber founder Travis Kalanick battled against two Chinese executives at Didi: founder and CEO Cheng Wei, a former sales manager at Alipay, and Liu Qing (aka Jean Liu), a sophisticated and polished Goldman Sachs alumnus from Hong Kong with a Western-style PR-ish manner. Kalanick took Uber to China in late 2013 and spent heavily to gain market share by subsidizing rides and driver salaries.

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See also Mobike; Ofo Bilibili, 83 Blecharczyk, Nathan, 115 Bob Xu, 135 Booking.com, 90 Bo Shao, 138 Breadtrip, 116 Breyer, Jim, 128, 138 Brin, Sergey, 34–35 Buffett, Warren, 208 ByteDance, 31–32, 43, 81–89, 130, 143, 153 C CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System), 134 CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System), 134 Caltech university, 11 Carlyle Group, 38, 51 Carmen Chang, 142 Carnegie Mellon university, 11 Chan, Connie, 138 Charles River Ventures, 137 Cheetah Mobile, 66, 88 Cheng Wei, 176, 181–183 Chenyu Zheng, 112 Cherubic Ventures, 169 Chesky, Brian, 115 China acquisitions and investments in US tech companies, 53 Belt and Road initiative, 12 car market, 197–210 central business districts, 9 coffee culture, 102 coffee retail market, 103 comparing BAT with US Tech Leaders, 30 consumer economy, 93 Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, 28 data privacy issues and monitoring of personal information, 47, 106 data privacy rules, 6 digital economy, 26 digital markets, 8 e-commerce landscape, 185–195 economic development, 14 entrepreneurial culture, 11–12 global tech leadership, 11–12 high-tech giants, 3–4 innovations and business models, 18–20 internet censorship, 15 “Internet Plus” plan, 12 investment in Hollywood, 52–55 investment in US tech companies, 21 “Made in China 2025,” 12 national R&D spending, 13 New Era Technology Fund, 12 number of internet users, 14 patent filings, 13 pointers to win in, 107–108 rise as a tech superpower, 225 robotics and drone market, 212 sharing economy, 175–176 social credit system, 19 startup zeal, 10–11, 16 STEM graduates in, 13–14 supercomputers, 14 tech companies, 50–51 tech economy, 7 tech giants of, 14 tech hubs, 143–144 tech influence and power, 22 tech innovation, 10 tech inventors, 2–3, 5 tech investments, 13 tech IPOs, 20 types of technology phases, 132–133 venture capital market, 12, 130–158 wireless infrastructure and cell sites, 17 world-changing tech sector, 223–224 China Broadband Capital, 112 Chinaccelerator, 214 China Construction Bank, 171 China Creation Ventures, 134, 148 China International Capital Corp., 103 China Investment Corp, 172 China UnionPay, 168 China venture capitalists, 128 Chinese consumers, 3 Chinese culture, 22 Chinese economy, 3 Chinese internet brands, 15 Chinese IPOs, 131 Chinese tourism, 113 ChiNext, 135 Chrysler, 209 Chuhai, 56 City Brain, 163 CloudKitchens, 175 Cloud Valley, 119 Coach handbags, 9 Cohen, Brian, 121 Colin Huang, 185, 192–193 Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), 55 Connie Chan, 86 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Las Vegas, 32–33 Cook, Tim, 32 Costa Coffee, 102 Costco, 186 Coworking, 111 Creagh, Eleanor, 93 Credit Suisse, 171 CSC Upshot Ventures, 146 D Da-Jiang Innovations, 218 Dalian Wanda, 54 DAMO (discovery, adventure, momentum, and outlook) Academy, 56 Dangdang, 44–45 Daniel Zhang, 49 Danke Apartment, 106 David Chao, 154–155 David Li, 81 David Yuan, 157 DCM Ventures, 84, 106, 154–156 Deng Xiaoping, 16, 28, 128 Derrick Xiong, 217 Dick Clark Productions, 52, 54 Didi, 21, 42, 60, 69, 98, 104, 176–179 international operations, 182–183 safety issues, 184 vs Uber, 179–182 Didi Brain, 178 Didi Chuxing, 20, 44, 69, 173–174 DingTalk, 31, 106 DJI, 5, 211–212, 215–220 Doerr, John, 128, 139–140 Donovan Sung, 73 Douyin, 82, 89 Draper, Tim, 52, 136–137 Draper Associates, 137 Draper University, 137 Dropbox, 218 DST Global, 78 Duoduoyou, 95 Duoshan, 43, 85 E EachNet, 138 EBay, 15, 28, 52, 85, 96, 104, 216 Eclipse Ventures, 220 EHang, 5, 152, 216–217 EHi Car Services, 153 Ele.me, 42, 61, 157, 211 Elephant Robotics, 213 11Main.com, 191 Evans, Michael, 50 Evdemon, Chris, 50 Evernote, 104, 117–119 EyeVerify, 63 F Face++, 29, 165 Facebook, 1, 5, 10, 15, 26, 28, 30–32, 43–45, 48, 52, 82, 84, 87, 104, 115, 128, 132, 162, 218 Facial recognition systems, 2 Fallon, Jimmy, 85 Fandango, 90 Fanfou, 95 FANGs, 26, 50 Fang Xingdong, 138 Faraday Future, 207 FAW Group, 33 Fintech, 19 Fire in the Valley, 68 Fishtrip, 116 Flipagram, 88 Fong, Kevin, 137 Ford, 204, 209 Fortnite, 66 Foster & Partners, 216 Fountown, 110 4Paradigm, 165 Francis Leung, 161–162 Frank Wang, 216–218 Freshippo, 98 Friendster, 43 G Gaopeng, 95 Gates, Bill, 208 General Atlantic, 38, 51 General Catalyst Partners, 117 General Motors, 51, 209 Gen Z youngsters, 6 Gerson Lehrman Group, 107 GGV Capital, 11, 55, 86, 112 Glen Sun, 120, 127 Gobi Partners, 149 Go-Jek, 57 Golden Gate Bridge, 11 Goldman Sachs, 151 Google, 10, 15, 26, 28, 33–34, 45, 52, 57, 75, 79, 95, 104, 115, 127–129, 132, 144, 162, 178, 191, 193 Google China, 34–35 Google Pay, 5, 32 GoPro, 219 Grab, 57 Granite Global Ventures (GGV), 138, 143, 151–154, 169, 198, 217 Graziani, Thomas, 186 The Great Wall, 53 Great Wall Motors, 208 Groupon, 15, 43, 69, 95–96, 104, 186 GrubHub, 90 GSR Ventures, 138, 157 Gu, Amy, 118 Guangzhou Automobile Group, 207 Guinn, Colin, 219 Gullicksen, Ken, 118 H Hainan Airlines, 168 Hans Tung, 11, 55, 78, 120–121, 153, 192 Hao, Robert, 115 Haokan, 85 Hariharan, Anu, 87 Harvard university, 11 HAX accelerator, 213–214 Hearst Ventures, 169 Hemi Ventures, 118 He Xiaopeng, 197, 203–206 Hikvision, 162 Hillhouse Capital, 112, 175, 198 Hilton, 9, 54 Hoffman, Reid, 105 Hollywood, 52–55 Hong Ge, 115 Horizon Robotics, 213 Horizon Ventures, 112 Horowitz, Andreessen, 52, 86, 138 Hortons, Tim, 102 H&Q Asia Pacific, 102 Huahua Media, 54 Huami, 77 Huang, 186 Huawei, 5, 13, 16, 73, 76 Hurst Lin, 120, 155 Hyatt, 9 Hyundai, 28 I IBM, 162 IDG Capital, 138, 193, 198 IFlytek, 163 ING Group, 171 Instagram, 1–2, 15, 51 Intel, 16, 144 International Finance Corporation, 171 IPhone, 70 IQiyi, 19, 60, 84 Israel, 56 J Jack Ma, 3, 26, 28, 45, 47, 49–50, 52, 56, 78, 99–100, 135, 154–155, 191 JAFCO Asia, 154 James Mi, 121, 156, 193 Janow, Merit, 17 Japan, 56 JD.com, 18, 29, 38, 88, 98, 147, 185, 187–189, 191, 211 Jenny Lee, 154 Jerry Yang, 106, 154 Jet Li, 52 Jian Lu, 106 Jing Bing Zhang, 219 Jobs, Steve, 3, 68 Joe Chen, 44 Joe Zhou, 140 Johnson, Kevin, 101 Joy Capital, 103 Joyo.com, 75 JPMorgan, 115 Jurvetson, Draper Fisher, 134 K Kabam, 63 Kai-Fu Lee, 34, 123, 147, 165 Kalanick, Travis, 175, 181 Karma Automotive, 207 Katzenberg, Jeffrey, 85 Kayak, 69, 90 Kellman, Joel, 152 Kentucky Fried Chicken, 9 Keytone Ventures, 140 Khazanah Nasional Berhad, 171 Khosla, Vinod, 138 Khosla Ventures, 134, 138 Kingsoft, 74–75, 79 Kitt.ai, 163 KKR, 83 Kleiner Perkins, 140, 148 Koubei, 61 Kramlich, Dick, 139, 142 Kr Space, 110 Kuaidi, 173, 181 Kuaishou, 66, 84–85, 156 L LAIX, 169 Lam, David, 146 Lashou, 95–96 Lasso, 32, 84 Lau, Marvin, 64 Lazada, 58 Lazada Group, 58 League of Legends, 64 Lee, Jenny, 123 LeEco, 54 Legend Capital, 155, 171 Lei Jun, 44, 68, 71, 74–76, 79, 81, 135, 152 Leju, 66 LendingClub, 171 Leone, Doug, 129 LG, 28 Libin, Phil, 117–118 Lightspeed China Partners, 156, 193 Li Guoqing, 44 Li Haipeng, 175 Li Ka-shing, 171 Lin Haifeng, 193 LinkDoc, 169, 171–172 LinkedIn, 15, 104 LinkedIn China, 104–107 Lip-Bu Tan, 139 Little Elephant market, 98 Little Red Book, 189–190 Liulishuo (LingoChamp), 154 Live.me, 88 Livestreaming, 19, 80–81, 88 Li (David) Xueling, 199 Li Zexiang, 217 Li Zhaohui, 67 Lo, Vincent, 152 Long Hill Capital, 148 Lonsdale, Jeff, 138 Luan, Pan, 67 Luckin Coffee, 99–100 business model, 103 Lu Qi, 33 Lyft, 21, 51, 178, 183 M Macquarie Group, 115 Made-in-China business models, 10 Made in China 2025 initiative, 172, 200, 208, 212, 224 Magic Leap, 21 Ma Huateng (Pony Ma), 28 Mail.Ru, 29 Maimai, 106 MakeBlock, 213 Marriott, 9 Marvell, 15 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 94, 168 Master-Card, 32 Matrix China Partners, 138 Matrix Partners, 138 Matrix Partners China, 110, 138, 198 Mavic Pro, 218 Mayfield, 51, 137–138 Mayi.com, 116 McDonald’s, 9 Meeker, Mary, 140 Megafunds, 134 Megvii, 165 Meituan, 175, 189 Meituan Bike, 175 Meituan Dianping, 20–21, 38, 42–43, 61, 69–70, 89–98 bike-sharing business, 94 competitors, 93 deliveries, 91–93 merger, 96–97 revenues, 94 travel and hotel segment, 93–94 Meizu Zero, 72 Messenger, 51 Mi.com, 71 Micron Technology, 16 Microsoft, 30, 33, 75, 79, 144, 162, 193 Milner, Yuri, 78, 83, 171 MIT university, 11 Mobike, 21, 61, 94, 151, 174–175 Mobile payments, 5, 19 MoneyGram, 55, 63 Morgenthaler Ventures, 118 Moritz, Mike, 11, 51, 128–129 Morningside Venture Capital, 84, 198 MOX, 214 Musical.ly, 83, 87–88 MySpace, 28 N Naked Hub, 108–111 Naspers, 66 Neil Shen, 97, 119 Netflix, 26, 48, 81 Netscape, 52 Neumann, Adam, 109 New Enterprise Associates, 51 New Enterprise Associates (NEA), 141–143 New Oriental Education & Technology Group, 135 New Space, 110 New York–based RRE Ventures, 133 Ng, Thomas, 152 Nike, 218 Nike shoes, 9 NIO, 2, 19, 200–201, 206–207 Nuomi, 96 Nvidia, 196 O Ofo, 61, 128, 138, 157, 174–175 On-demand ordering and delivery of takeout orders, 5 O2O, 97 OpenTable, 90 OPPO, 76, 168 Optibus, 56 Oracle, 129 O’Sullivan, Sean, 123, 214 P Page, Larry, 29, 34 Palo Alto, 52 Panda Selected, 175 Parrot, 220 PayPal, 31, 46, 128 Peggy YuYu, 44 Penaloza, 107 Penaloza, Dominic, 107 Perkins, Kleiner, 134 Perkins, Tom, 132 Pinduoduo, 2, 29, 66, 134, 185–188, 192–195 Ping An, 137 Pinterest, 15, 104 Pony Ma, 3 PPDAI Group, 171 Primavera Capital Group, 198 Princeton university, 11 Project Dragon, 15 Project Dragonfly, 104 Q Qiming Venture, 95, 175 Qiming Venture Partners, 129, 150–151 Qiye Weixin, 42, 106 QQ instant messaging service, 29 QR code, 109 QR (quick response) code, 1–2 Qualcomm, 15, 144 Qudian, 171 Quixey, 63 Qunar, 60 R Rational Robotics, 214 Reddit, 64, 88 Redpoint China, 157 Redpoint China Ventures, 133 Renren, 44 Retail commerce, 18–19 Revols, 214 Rework, 110 Richard Chang, 142 Richard Ji, 116 Richard Liu, 78, 123 Rieschel, Gary, 8, 16, 120, 122, 129, 150–151 Riot Games, 64 Robin Li, 3, 28, 33–35, 60, 122 Robinson, Jim, 121, 133 Robotics and drone market, 212 Roomba, 214 Rui Ma, 186 S Samsung, 28, 70, 76 Sandell, Scott, 141 Schultz, Howard, 100 SenseTime, 2, 29, 161, 167–169 camera surveillance technology, 162 Sequoia Capital, 11, 110, 129, 171, 175 Sequoia Capital China, 84, 95, 97, 105, 112, 119, 127–129, 194, 213, 218 Sequoia CBC Cross-Border Digital Industry Fund, 119 Serendipity Labs, 111 Sesame Credit system, 6 7Fresh, 189 7Fresh stores, 98 Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., 208 Shanghai-based Qiming Venture Partners, 8 Shanghai World Financial Towers, 9 Shen, Neil, 128–129, 194 Shenzhen, 2 Short video entertainment apps, 7 Silicon Dragon, 109 Silicon Valley, 20–22, 27, 29, 31, 33, 42, 44, 50–52, 60, 63, 68–69, 79, 95, 105, 117, 129, 132–134, 137–143, 145–146, 150, 153, 158, 178, 192, 196, 199, 204–205, 218–220, 223–225 Silver Lake Partners, 38 Simon Loong, 171 Sina Corp., 95 Sino—US Venture Investors, 135–136 Sinovation Ventures, 110, 146, 165–166 Skype, 1 Snap, 64 Snapchat, 81, 84 Lens Challenges, 69 Social commerce, 20 SoFi, 44 SoftBank, 38, 51, 83, 138, 151, 183 Sonny Wu, 157 Southeast Asia, 56–57, 149 Alibaba and Tencent Investments in, 59 SpaceX, 51, 220 Spielberg, Steven, 52 SQream Technologies, 56 Squawk Box, 86 Stanford university, 10 Starbucks, 15, 99–100, 102–104, 111 initiative with Alibaba, 100–101 Reserve Roastery, 101–102 Startup Asia, 57 “Startup Nation” of Israel, 56 Steven Ji, 128 STX Entertainment, 52 Su Hua, 85 Sun Microsystems, 128 Supercharging stations, 7 T Tai, Bill, 137 Ta-lin Hsu, 102, 139 TangoME, 63 Tang Xiaoou, 167 Taobao, 28, 185, 187 Tao Peng, 113 TechSauce, 148 Temasek, 172 Tencent, 12–13, 20–21, 26, 28–32, 38, 44, 46–48, 51–52, 57, 61, 70, 80–81, 83, 95, 138, 147, 153, 163–164, 171, 190–191, 197, 206, 224 China Literature, 41 corporate culture, 63 diversification strategy, 67 gaming business, 40, 64, 66 growth of, 39–40 social networking service, 41–42 strategic investments, 63–66 in US, 52, 63–65 war with ByteDance, 85 youth culture, 39 Tencent Music Entertainment, 41 Tencent Video, 41, 84 Terminator: Dark Fate, 53 Tesla, 2, 15, 64, 196, 209–210, 220 Thiel, Peter, 138 Thompson, Ben, 77 Tian, Edward, 118–119 Tian Xu, 193 Tiger Computing Solutions, 163 TigerGraph, 163 Tiger Qie, 178 TikTok, 2, 21, 29, 31–32, 39, 43, 66, 69–70, 82, 84, 87 Tina Ju, 140 TMD, 43–44, 69 Tokopedia, 58 The Tonight Show, 85 3D Robotics, 219–220 TopBuzz, 82 Toutiao (Today’s Headlines), 21, 69–70, 80–81, 86–88 Traffic Brain, 178 Trump, Donald, 15, 45, 54–55, 164, 191 Tsai, Joe, 50 Tujia, 116 Twitch, 51 Twitter, 1, 15, 28, 43, 47, 84, 87, 104 U UBazaar mobile, 111 Uber, 21, 44, 51, 57, 60, 64, 83, 103–104, 128, 144, 173, 176–183 Uber Eats, 69, 90 Ubisoft, 64 UBTech, 213 UCAR, 103 UC Berkeley, 11 Ucommune, 110–111 UCWeb, 200 URWork, 110 US-China trade imbalance, 15 Ushi, 107 US IPOs, 131 US market, 46 US privacy laws, 7 US venture fund performance, 130 V Valentine, Don, 132, 139 VC Dixon Doll, 155 Venture capital market of China, 12, 130–158, 224 AI startups, 166 center of gravity for venture investing, 158 cross-border investors, 145–146 digital Silk Road, 136–139 funding for Asian companies, 148 history as a budding venture superpower, 139–140 investment returns, 141 investments in tech companies, 132–135 NEA’s China investing, 141–143 Sino—US Venture investment, 135–136, 146–148 venture firms, 150–158 Video streaming market, 2, 6, 19, 60, 83, 85, 154 Viomi, 77 VIPShop, 189–190 Vipshop, 156 Virtual gifts, 6 Virtual reality, 19 Visa, 32 Visualead, 56 Vivendi, 64 Vivo, 76 Vizio, 54 Volvo, 204 W Waimai, 60 Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 54 Walmart, 57–58 Wang Xing, 43, 89, 91, 94–95, 97 Wang Yi, 169 Wanka Online, 148 Warburg Pincus, 38 Warner Brothers, 51 Wayne Shiong, 121 Waze, 51 WeChat, 1–2, 29, 31, 34–35, 41–43, 46, 82, 106, 115, 144, 177, 187, 191, 197 WeChat Moments, 85 WeChat Pay, 5, 19, 32, 63, 182–183 WeDefend, 170 Wedo, 110 WeFlex, 170 Weibo, 35, 47, 82, 168, 197 Weiner, Jeff, 105–106 Weixin, 41 Wei-Ying Ma, 89 Wei Zhou, 121, 134 WeLab, 170–171 WeReach, 170 WeWork, 15, 104, 111 WeWork China, 108–111 WeWork Go, 109 WhatsApp, 1, 43, 51 Whitman, Meg, 85 William Li, 200, 206 Williams, David, 52 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR), 142–143 Wonder Woman, 52 Woo Space, 110 Workingdom, 110 Wu Xiaoguang, 199 X Xiadong Jiang, 172 Xia Huaxia, 92 Xiaodong Jiang, 142 Xiaomi, 20–21, 68–70, 75, 138, 141, 153, 168 business model, 76–79 core strength of, 73 customers, 72 growth, 72–73 international market, 79–80 Mi Home store locations, 73–74 mobile phone features, 70–71 range of internet-connected devices, 71 sales, 75–76 US market, 73–74 Xiaomi Finance, 80 Xiaonei, 95 Xiaopeng He, 122 Xiaozhu, 116 Xi Jinping, 12, 47, 208 Xpeng Motors, 19, 196–197, 200, 203–206 XPerception, 164 XTMD, 69 Xu Li, 161, 168–169 Y Yahoo!

WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us
by Tim O'Reilly
Published 9 Oct 2017

In 2008, Garrett Camp began to dream of a system for summoning limousines (“black cars”) on demand. He had made it big with the sale of his startup, Stumbleupon. He’d bought a nice car, but he didn’t like driving, and San Francisco’s notoriously deficient taxi system made it difficult for him to get around. Over the next two years, Camp developed the idea, recruiting his friend Travis Kalanick, another successful entrepreneur, as a thought partner in the project. Camp originally planned to run his own fleet of on-demand limousines, but Kalanick argued against it. “Garrett brought the classy and I brought the efficiency,” Kalanick told Brad Stone in an interview. “We don’t own cars and we don’t hire drivers.

…

As we automate something that humans used to do, how can we augment them so that they can do something newly valuable? The idea that Uber teaches us that augmenting workers and helping them to succeed is an essential feature of companies looking to prosper in the next economy might create some cognitive dissonance for readers who have read about Uber’s abrasive, driven, former CEO, Travis Kalanick. In early 2017, Uber was rocked by a viral video that showed Kalanick berating a driver who told him that he had gone bankrupt because of Uber’s falling prices. “Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else,” Kalanick burst out, in clear echo of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of unfettered self-interest.

…

That thing that seemed unthinkable becomes the fabric of the everyday, and it’s hard to remember that it once was only one of many possibilities. We’ve seen other, more recent examples of this kind of creative rethinking of what is possible, which then becomes “obvious.” When Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick first conceived of Uber, the notion that you could summon a car on demand was lying latent in the field of possibilities, unexplored. All the capabilities were in place. There were already hundreds of millions of smartphones equipped with sensors able to track the location of both drivers and passengers.

How to Build a Billion Dollar App: Discover the Secrets of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs of Our Time
by George Berkowski
Published 3 Sep 2014

Let’s see how these companies have each approached international expansion in a different way. Uber started out as an app to hail and pay for black cars (the US version of minicabs or the big London minicab firm Addison Lee) in San Francisco, where taxis are in very short supply. The idea worked, and soon spread to more than 60 cities around the world. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO and founder, adopted a bold strategy that has clearly worked – but certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. According to him, Uber is a ‘cross between lifestyle and logistics’.1 But Kalanick wants Uber to be an ‘instant gratification’ service that gives people what they need, when they need it, whether that’s a ride in a black car, taxi or some other delivery (Uber has delivered all kinds of things, including ice cream, roses and even helicopters and boats).

…

What drove that incredible Series C was the fact that the company was able to increase its valuation 10x in a period of 18 months. When Uber closed its Series B financing it had a valuation of $330 million.2 That’s an extraordinary achievement for any company, and it’s largely the dogged persistence of CEO Travis Kalanick that’s driven it. The company processed just shy of $1 billion in fares in 2013, delivering top-line revenue of around $200 million. By the beginning of 2014 it was operating in over 60 cities and 26 countries. So, even though the valuation seems high at first, once you dig into the underlying numbers it starts to become a lot more justifiable.

…

And, since it was founded as recently as 2009, there isn’t any investor pressure to get their money back yet. It seems like Uber has more operational goals on its mind for the moment. With more than 1 million riders, the company hopes to roll out its service in the 500 biggest, global cities, according to its CEO Travis Kalanick.30 Wrapping Up There has been a real step change, not only in Silicon Valley but also with entrepreneurs around the world. In 2000, when I graduated from college, the Internet bubble was just beginning to pop and scepticism about technology startups was abundant. It took the better part of a decade for the world to figure out how to build valuable – and durable – Internet companies.

Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World
by Meredith Broussard
Published 19 Apr 2018

For example, Minsky liked to tell a story about some friends of his who built an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the backyard of a house that once belonged to architect Buckminster Fuller. This attitude, that creating mattered more than convention (or laws), was what people of Minsky’s generation passed on to their students. It shows up later in the behavior of tech CEOs like Travis Kalanick, who in 2017 was ousted from his top position at Uber for (among other things) creating a culture of sexual harassment. Kalanick also had the attitude that laws didn’t matter. He launched Uber in cities worldwide in defiance of local taxi and limousine regulations, created a program called Greyball to help Uber computationally evade sting operations by law enforcement, was captured on camera verbally abusing an Uber driver, and looked the other way when Uber drivers raped passengers.10 According to a blog post by former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, Kalanick’s tech managers were almost cartoonishly incompetent at dealing with the harassment complaints Fowler lodged.

…

At NVIDIA, they found that self-driving car algorithms mess up an average of every ten minutes.” This observation is consistent with the Tesla user’s manual, which states that the Autopilot should only be used for short periods of time on highways under driver supervision. Uber received bad press in 2017 after its then-CEO, Travis Kalanick, was filmed yelling at Uber driver Fawzi Kamal. Kamal had lost $97,000 and said he was bankrupt because of Uber’s business strategy of cutting fares so that drivers make as little as ten dollars per hour. At the time, Kalanick’s net worth was $6.3 billion. Kamal told Kalanick about his struggle.

…

W., 46–47 Angwin, Julia, 154–156 App hackathons, 165–174 Apple Watch, 157 Artificial intelligence (AI) beginnings, 69–73 expert systems, 52–53, 179 fantasy of, 132 in film, 31, 32, 198 foundations of, 9 future of, 194–196 games and, 33–37 general, 10–11, 32 narrow, 10–11, 32–33, 97 popularity of, 90 real vs. imagined, 31–32 research, women in, 158 sentience challenge in, 129 Asimov, Isaac, 71 Assembly language, 24 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 145 Astrolabe, 76 Asymmetry, positive, 28 Automation technology, 176–177 Autopilot, 121 Availability heuristic, 96 Babbage, Charles, 76–77 Bailiwick (Broussard), 182–185, 190–191, 193 Barlow, John Perry, 82–83 Bell Labs, 13 Bench, Shane, 84 Ben Franklin Racing Team (Little Ben), 122–127 Berkman Klein Center (Harvard), 195 Berners-Lee, Tim, 4–5, 47 Bezos, Jeff, 73, 115 Bias in algorithms, 44, 150, 155–157 in algorithms, racial, 44, 155–156 genius myth and, 83–84 programmers and, 155–158 in risk ratings, 44, 155–156 in STEM fields, 83–84 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 60–61, 157 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, 180 Bitcoin, 159 Bizannes, Elias, 165, 166, 171 Blow, Charles, 95 Boggs, David, 67–68 Boole, George, 77 Boolean algebra, 77 Borden, Brisha, 154–155 Borsook, Paulina, 82 Bowhead Systems Management, 137 boyd, danah, 195 Bradley, Earl, 43 Brains 19–20, 95, 128–129, 132, 144, 150 Brand, Stewart, 5, 29, 70, 73, 81–82 Brin, Sergei, 72, 151 Brown, Joshua D., 140, 142 Bump, Philip, 186 Burroughs, William S., 77 Burroughs, William Seward, 77 Calculation vs. consciousness, 37 Cali-Fame, 186 California, drug use in, 158–159 Cameron, James, 95 Campaign finance, 177–186, 191 Čapek, Karel, 129 Caprio, Mike, 170–171 Carnegie Mellon University, autonomous vehicle research ALVINN, 131 University Racing Team (Boss), 124, 126–127, 130–131 Cars deaths associated with, 136–138, 146 distracted driving of, 146 human-centered design for, 147 Cars, self-driving 2005 Grand Challenge, 123–124 2007 Grand Challenge, 122–127 algorithms in, 139 artificial intelligence in, 129–131, 133 deaths in, 140 driver-assistance technology from, 135, 146 economics of, 147 experiences in, 121–123, 125–126, 128 fantasy of, 138, 142, 146 GPS hacking, 139 LIDAR guidance system, 139 machine ethics, 144–145, 147 nausea in, 121–123 NHTSA categories for, 134 problems/limitations, 138–140, 142–146 research funding, 133 SAE standards for levels of automation, 134–135 safety, 136–137, 140–142, 143, 146 sentience in, 132 Uber’s use of, 139 Udacity open-source car competition, 135 Waymo technology, 136 CERN, 4–5 Cerulo, Karen A., 28 Chess, 33 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 63–64 Chinese Room argument, 38 Choxi, Heteen, 122 Christensen, Clayton, 163 Chrome, 25, 26 Citizens United, 177, 178, 180 Clarke, Arthur C., 71–72 Client-server model, 27 Clinkenbeard, John, 172 Cloud computing, 26, 52, 196 Cohen, Brian, 56–57 Collins, John, 117 Common Core State Standards, 60–61 Communes, 5, 10 Computer ethics, 144–145 Computer Go, 34–36 Computers assumptions about vs. reality of, 8 components, identifying, 21–22 consciousness, 17 early, 196–199 human, 77–78, 198 human brains vs., 19–20, 128–129, 132, 144, 150 human communication vs., 169–170 human mind vs., 38 imagination, 128 limitations, 6–7, 27–28, 37–39 memory, 131 modern-day, development of, 75–79 operating systems, 24–25 in schools, 63–65 sentience, 17, 129 Computer science bias in, 79 ethical training, 145 explaining the world through, 118 women in, 5 Consciousness vs. calculation, 37 Constants in programming, 88 Content-management system (CMS), 26 Cooper, Donna, 58 Copeland, Jack, 74–75 Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS), 44, 155–156 Cortana, 72 Counterculture, 5, 81–82 Cox, Amanda, 41–42 Crawford, Kate, 194 Crime reporting, 154–155 CTB/McGraw-Hill, 53 Cumberbatch, Benedict, 74 Cyberspace activism, 82–83 DarkMarket, 159 Dark web, 82 Data on campaign finance, 178–179 computer-generated, 18–19 defined, 18 dirty, 104 generating, 18 people and, 57 social construction of, 18 unreasonable effectiveness of, 118–119, 121, 129 Data & Society, 195 DataCamp, 96 Data density theory, 169 Data journalism, 6, 43–47, 196 Data Journalism Awards, 196 Data journalism stories cost-benefit of, 47 on inflation, 41–42 Parliament members’ expenses, 46 on police speeding, 43 on police stops of people of color, 43 price discrimination, 46 on sexual abuse by doctors, 42–43 Data Privacy Lab (Harvard), 195 Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), 53 Datasets in machine learning, 94–95 Data visualizations, 41–42 Deaths distracted driving accidents, 146 from poisoning, 137 from road accidents, 136–138 in self-driving cars, 140 Decision making computational, 12, 43, 150 data-driven, 119 machine learning and, 115–116, 118–119 subjective, 150 Deep Blue (IBM), 33 Deep learning, 33 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge, 123, 131, 133, 164 Desmond, Matthew, 115 Detroit race riots story, 44 Dhondt, Rebecca, 58 Diakopoulos, Nicholas, 46 Difference engine, 76 Differential pricing and race, 116 Digital age, 193 Digital revolution, 193–194 Dinakar, Karthik, 195 Django, 45, 89 DocumentCloud, 52, 196 Domino’s, 170 Drone technology, 67–68 Drug marketplace, online, 159–160 Drug use, 80–81, 158–160 Duncan, Arne, 51 Dunier, Mitchell, 115 Edison, Thomas, 77 Education change, implementing in, 62–63 Common Core State Standards, 60–61 competence bar in, 150 computers in schools, 63–65 equality in, 77–78 funding, 60 supplies, availability of, 58 technochauvinist solutions for, 63 textbook availability, 53–60 unpredictability in, 62 18F, 178–179 Electronic Frontier Foundation, 82 Elevators, 156–157 Eliza, 27–28 Emancipation Proclamation, 78 Engelbart, Doug, 25, 80–81 Engineers, ethical training, 145 ENIAC, 71, 194, 196–199 Equality in education, 77–78 techno hostility toward, 83 technological, creating, 87 technology vs., 115, 156 for women, 5, 77–78, 83–85, 158 Essa, Irfan, 46 Ethics, 144–145, 147 EveryBlock, 46 Expertise, cognitive fallacies associated, 83 Expert systems, 52–53, 179 Facebook, 70, 83, 152, 158, 197 Facial recognition, 157 Fact checking, 45–46 Fake news, 154 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 63–64 FEC, McCutcheon v., 180 FEC, Speechnow.org v., 180 FEC.gov, 178–179 Film, AI in, 31, 32, 198 FiveThirtyEight.com, 47 Foote, Tully, 122–123, 125 Ford Motor Company, 140 Fowler, Susan, 74 Fraud campaign finance, 180 Internet advertising, 153–154 Free press, role of, 44 Free speech, 82 Fuller, Buckminster, 74 Futurists, 89–90 Games, AI and, 33–37 Gates, Bill, 61 Gates, Melinda, 157–158 Gawker, 83 Gender equality, hostility toward, 83 Gender gap, 5, 84–85, 115, 158 Genius, cult of, 75 Genius myth, 83–84 Ghost-in-the-machine fallacy, 32, 39 Giffords, Gabby, 19–20 GitHub, 135 Go, 33–37 Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Intelligence (GOFAI), 10 Good vs. popular, 149–152, 160 Google, 72 Google Docs, 25 Google Maps API, 46 Google Street View, 131 Google X, 138, 151, 158 Government campaign finance, 177–186, 191 cyberspace activism, antigovernment ideology, 82–83 tech hostility toward, 82–83 Graphical user interface (GUI), 25, 72 Greyball, 74 Guardian, 45, 46 Hackathons, 165–174 Hackers, 69–70, 82, 153–154, 169, 173 Halevy, Alon, 119 Hamilton, James T., 47 Harley, Mike, 140 Harris, Melanie, 58–59 Harvard, Andrew, 184 Harvard University Berkman Klein Center, 195 Data Privacy Lab, 195 mathematics department, 84 “Hello, world” program, 13–18 Her, 31 Hern, Alex, 159 Hernandez, Daniel, Jr., 19 Heuristics, 95–96 Hillis, Danny, 73 Hippies, 5, 82 HitchBOT, 69 Hite, William, 58 Hoffman, Brian, 159 Holovaty, Adrian, 45–46 Home Depot, 46, 115, 155 Hooke, Robert, 88 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) HP, 157 Hugo, Christoph von, 145 Human-centered design, 147, 177 Human computers, 77–78, 198 Human error, 136–137 Human-in-the-loop systems, 177, 179, 187, 195 Hurst, Alicia, 164 Illinois quarter, 153–154 Imagination, 89–90, 128 Imitation Game, The (film), 74 Information industry, annual pay, 153 Injury mortality, 137 Innovation computational, 25 disruptive, 163, 171 funding, 172–173 hackathons and, 166 Instacart, 171 Intelligence in machine learning Interestingness threshold, 188 International Foundation for Advanced Study, 81 Internet advertising model, 151 browsers, 25, 26 careers, annual pay rates, 153 core values, 150 drug marketplace, 159–160 early development of the, 5, 81 fraud, 153–154 online communities, technolibertarianism in culture of, 82–83 rankings, 72, 150–152 Internet Explorer, 25 Internet pioneers, inspiration for, 5, 81–82 Internet publishing industry, annual pay, 153 Internet search, 72, 150–152 Ito, Joi, 147, 195 Jacquard, Joseph Marie, 76 Java, 89 JavaScript, 89 Jobs, Steve, 25, 70, 72, 80, 81 Jones, Paul Tudor, 187–188 Journalism. See also Data journalism algorithmic accountability reporting, 7, 43–44, 65–66 artificial intelligence for, 52–53 computational, 7, 46–47, 190 computer-assisted reporting, 44–45 machine learning in, 52 precision reporting, 44 social science applied to, 44 Kaggle, 96 Kalanick, Travis, 74, 139 Kamal, Fawzi, 139 Karel the Robot, 129–130 Karpathy, Andrej, 149 Kay, Alan, 25, 72 Ke Jie, 33 Kernighan, Brian, 13 Kesey, Ken, 81 Kilgore, Barney, 152 Kinect, 157 Kleinberg, Jon, 155–156 Krafcik, John, 136, 137 Kroeger, Brooke, 78 Kubrick, Stanley, 71 Kunerth, Jeff, 43 Kurzweil, Raymond, 73, 89, 90 Kushleyev, Alex, 124–125 Language computational communication problems, 87–89 fluidity of, 91 human vs. mathematical, 88 naming problem in, 88–89 Lanier, Jaron, 145–146 Lazer, David, 115 Leadership gender gap, 158 Learning, 89 LeCun, Yann, 90 Lee, Dan, 123 Leibniz, Gottfried, 75, 76, 77 Lench, Heather, 84 Leslie, S.

The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
by Sebastian Mallaby
Published 1 Feb 2022

When he met Uber’s founders, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, he was not impressed to learn that neither of them would commit full time to the business. Instead, they had recruited a young CEO named Ryan Graves who lacked the maturity to build a business. However much Gurley yearned to see network thinking applied to transport, he passed. He was not going to risk money on a B player. Just over a year later, Uber reappeared on Gurley’s radar. This time the company was looking for a Series A investor, and it had undergone a change: the young Ryan Graves had shifted to a lesser job, and Travis Kalanick had become the full-time chief executive.

…

BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 78 A spokesman for Kalanick denied the allegations in the suit, saying, “The lawsuit is completely without merit and riddled with lies and false allegations.” Mike Isaac, “Uber Investor Sues Travis Kalanick for Fraud,” New York Times, August 10, 2017. BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 79 Benchmark Capital Partners VII, L.P., v. Travis Kalanick and Uber Technologies, Inc. (2017), online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/BenchmarkUberComplaint08102017.PDF. BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 80 Press reports portray Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs as the lead architects of this reshuffle.

…

Four of the six early PayPal employees had built bombs in high school.[46] Elon Musk spent half the earnings from his first startup on a race car; when he crashed it with Thiel in the passenger seat, all he could do was laugh about the fact that he had failed to insure it. Such extremes and eccentricities were actually good signs, Thiel contended; VCs should celebrate misfits, not coach them into conformity. A few years into its existence, Founders Fund made an expensive error by refusing to invest in the ride-hailing startup Uber; its bratty founder, Travis Kalanick, had alienated both Howery and Nosek. “We should be more tolerant of founders who seem strange or extreme,” Thiel wrote, when Uber had emerged as a grand slam.[47] “Maybe we need to give assholes a second and third chance,” Nosek conceded contritely.[48] If Thiel opposed VC mentoring of founders lest it suppress quirky genius, he also disliked it for another reason.

Nothing but Net: 10 Timeless Stock-Picking Lessons From One of Wall Street’s Top Tech Analysts
by Mark Mahaney
Published 9 Nov 2021

I’m going to go back to Uber on this one. Mike Isaac, the technology reporter for the New York Times, wrote a book about Uber called Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. Isaac does a masterful job detailing the birth, the growth, and the controversy around Uber. One clear takeaway is that Uber under cofounder Travis Kalanick was a company run with a growth-at-all-costs mentality—or a growth-regardless-of-the-costs mentality. I’m not sure Uber could have initially succeeded without that type of mentality, given the entrenched and fiercely competitive interests it was taking on in local cities and in international markets.

…

Per the “TAM, SAM, and DAM” section in the TAM lesson, Uber faced a multitrillion-dollar TAM, given its core ridesharing business and its online food order delivery business, both of which were already operating globally in 2019. Uber was proving to be a platform company, with the ability to expand the range of services it offered its customers, for example, expanding from online food delivery to online grocery and convenience store and general retail delivery. Great management team? TBD. One of its two cofounders (Travis Kalanick) was no longer involved with the company. And CEO Khosrowshahi had only been with the company for two years. So this call was too early to make, despite my belief that Khosrowshahi was a good selection for Uber. Anyway, that was the pitch in November 2019 for UBER to be the DHQ of 2020. From mid-November to the end of 2019, Uber rallied 14% to close out the year at $29.74.

…

S&P, 280t, 282t reorganization of, 208–209 revenue, 107–108, 153, 153t rise of, 5 sell-offs of, 45–48 share price, 46f, 149–153, 150f, 151t total addressable markets, 145–157 Google Meet, 168t Googled: The End of the World as We Know It (Auletta), 149 Great Financial Crisis (GFC), 85, 221 Grit, 218 Groupon (GRPN), 27–32, 28f, 33 Groupon Getaways, 31 Groupon Goods, 31 Groupon To Go, 31 GrouponLive, 31 Growth curve initiatives (GCIs): and revenue, 102–105, 110, 295 Stitch Fix, 126–127 Growth rates: average annual, 260 tapering of, 96 and valuation, 227–232, 257 Grubhub (GRUB): DoorDash vs., 162, 183–187, 185f as investor-centric, 297 management teams at, 210 share price, 183f as tech stock, 3 and valuation, 245t Gurley, Bill, 160 Hastings, Reed: apology by, 219 and Burning Man, 220t as company founder, 10, 98–99, 204t and flywheel effects, 170 innovation by, 120, 213–214 on price increase, 194 respect for, 207 HBO, 10 HelloFresh, 22 “Hit That Bid,” 178 House Judiciary Committee, 309 IBuyer market, 189–190 The Industry Standard, 82 Industry vision, 212–214 Inflation, 307 Instagram: acquisition of, 80 as downloaded app, 168t and network effects, 170 Intel (INTC), 6, 153, 153t Interest rates, 306–307 International markets, expanding into, 123, 132–133, 162, 207 Internet sector, 1–12 “big baggers” in, 1–2 as “The Big Long,” 5–7 big successes in, 9–11 and Covid-19 pandemic, 3–4, 306 and deflation, 307 and dot-com bubble, 4 failures in, 7–9 FANG stocks, 2–3 growth in, 305 revenue in, 81–82 Investing: short-term vs. long-term, 55–59 trading vs., 302 Investor-centric companies, 198, 297 IPET (Pets.com), 67, 68 Isaac, Mike, 252 IT services, outsourcing of, 117–118 J2 Global (JCOM), 1 JD.Com (JD), 5, 6t Jobs, Steve, 204t, 220t Johnson, Cory, 181 Jordan, Michael, 207 Just Eat, 245t Just Eat Takeaway, 186 Kalanick, Travis, 252, 276 Karmazin, Mel, 149 Kaufer, Stephen, 285 Kelman, Glenn, 250 Kern, Peter, 303 Khan, Imran, 61 Khosrowshahi, Dara, 221, 246, 252, 276 Khrushchev, Nikita, 237 Koogle, Tim, 8 Kozmo, 67 Kudlow, Larry, 157 Kudlow & Cramer (television program), 156–157 Lake, Katrina, 125, 127 Law of large numbers, 144 Lefkofsky, Eric, 31 Legacy markets, music industry as, 165 Lending Tree (TREE), 1 Levy, Joel, 312 Lewis, Michael, 5 Licklider, Joseph Carl Robnett, 118 Life Sciences, 208 LinkedIn, 118 Live-from-home (LFH) companies, 303 Lockup expirations, 73 Long-term investments, 55–74, 294 Chewy as, 66–70 of consumer-centric companies, 187, 199 short-term vs., 55–59 Snapchat, 59–65 Uber, 71–73 Long-term orientation: of Amazon, 179, 181–183 of management teams, 210–212 Lorentzon, Martin, 129 Lütke, Tobias, 204t, 205, 220t Lyft (LYFT): during Covid-19 pandemic, 303 market cap of, 247t as tech stock, 3 total addressable markets, 171, 296 and valuation, 226–227, 244–246, 245t Lynch, Peter, 1, 2, 5, 77, 262, 277 Ma, Jack, 204t, 218, 220t M&A (acquisitions), 79–80, 128 Ma Huateng, 204t, 220t Magic Leap, 68 Management teams, 201–223, 297–298 Amazon, 179–180 Blue Apron, 22–23 Chewy, 69 eBay, 179–180 Facebook, 39–40 of Facebook, 268–269 focus on customer satisfaction by, 214–216, 216t–217t of founder-led companies, 203–210 Google, 146 importance of stable, 62–63, 222 industry vision of, 212–214 innovations shown by, 119 key characteristics of, 218–221 long-term orientation of, 210–212 Netflix, 98, 99 of Netflix, 273–274 Priceline, 94 Spotify, 133 supportive of major changes, 191 Twitter, 139 Uber, 276 Market cap: of Amazon, 51–52, 175–176, 176f of companies with no profits, 247–248, 247t of DoorDash, 184 of eBay, 175–176, 176f of Grubhub, 184 of largest companies, 261t of Netflix, 102 of Spotify, 132 of tech companies, 6–7 Marte, Mario, 68 Mason, Andrew, 28–29, 31 Match Group, 261t McCarthy, Barry, 98, 99, 128, 131 McDonald’s, 5 Meeker, Mary, 2, 83 Meme traders, 301–302 Messenger, 168t Microsoft (MSFT): and Burning Man, 220t during Covid-19 pandemic, 17 as founder-led company, 203–204, 204t IPO of, 48–49 market cap, 6, 7, 305 revenue, 153, 153t Mindset, for tech investing, 79 Minimal earnings, companies with, 235–242 Morgan Stanley, 2 MSFT (see Microsoft [MSFT]) Munger, Charlie, 72 Murphy, Bobby, 60 Music industry, 165 Musk, Elon, 139, 204t, 209–210, 220t Muzak, 212 Narrative fallacy, 178 NASDAQ, 227 National Restaurant Association, 162 Netflix (NFLX): AWS used by, 118 as big bagger, 1 competitive moat of, 169–170 during Covid-19 pandemic, 3, 4, 17, 131, 303 dislocation periods of, 263–264, 263t, 270–274 as downloaded app, 168t earnings outlook and valuation of, 235–240, 236f, 239t free cash flow at, 247 fundamentals at, 100t, 122t, 261t, 265t and growth curve initiatives, 103–105, 103f, 104t growth of, 3, 10 management teams of, 203–204, 204t, 220t market cap of, 7 net income of, 5, 6t performance of, vs.

Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future
by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
Published 26 Jun 2017

200 “So,” the company’s website explains: Uber, “[Our Story],” accessed February 5, 2017, https://www.uber.com/our-story. 200 initially called UberCab: Leena Rao, “UberCab Takes the Hassle Out of Booking a Car Service,” TechCrunch, July 5, 2010, https://techcrunch.com/2010/07/05/ubercab-takes-the-hassle-out-of-booking-a-car-service. 200 “supercrazy freakin’ small”: Fast Company, “Travis Kalanick, the Fall and Spectacular Rise of the Man behind Uber,” South China Morning Post, September 25, 2015, http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1860723/travis-kalanick-fall-and-spectacular-rise-man-behind-uber. 200 By late 2010, Kalanick had begun: Ibid. 200 Eighteen months later they launched UberX: Alexia Tsotsis, “Uber Opens Up Platform to Non-limo Vehicles with ‘Uber X,’ Service Will Be 35% Less Expensive,” TechCrunch, July 1, 2012, https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/01/uber-opens-up-platform-to-non-limo-vehicles-with-uber-x-service-will-be-35-less-expensive. 201 UberPool, launched in August of 2014: Alex, “Announcing UberPool,” Uber Newsroom (blog), August 5, 2014, https://newsroom.uber.com/announcing-uberpool. 201 $20 billion in annual gross bookings: James Temperton, “Uber’s 2016 Losses to Top $3bn According to Leaked Financials,” Wired, December 20, 2016, http://www.wired.co.uk/article/uber-finances-losses-driverless-cars. 201 Uber was valued at $68 billion: Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Why Uber Keeps Raising Billions,” New York Times, June 20, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/business/dealbook/why-uber-keeps-raising-billions.html. 201 Traditional taxis provided 8.4 million trips: UCLA Labor Center, “Ridesharing or Ridestealing?

…

Dixit and Robert S. Pindyck, Investment under Uncertainty (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994). CHAPTER 9 DO PRODUCTS HAVE A PRAYER? The wise learn many things from their enemies. — Aristophanes, 414 BCE UBER’S URBAN TRANSPORTATION PLATFORM WAS BORN IN Paris in 2008 when Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp had difficulty hailing a cab. “So,” the company’s website explains, “they came up with a simple idea—tap a button, get a ride.” Their original vision (initially called UberCab) focused only on limos. Early growth was steady but slow. When Camp first suggested that Kalanick should run Uber full-time, Kalanick said no because he felt the opportunity was “supercrazy freakin’ small.”

…

(TV show), 17 Jeppesen, Lars Bo, 259 Jobs, Steve curation of iPhone platform, 165 Dropbox acquisition offer, 162 and iPhone apps, 151–53, 157, 163 joint-stock company, 320 journalism, See newspapers Joyce, James, 178 judges, parole granted by, 39–40 judgment, human as complement to computer power, 35 in decision-making loop, 53–56 flaws in, 37–42 and justification, 45 “superforecasters” and, 60–61 System 1/System 2 reasoning, 35–46 justification, 45 Kadakia, Payal, 178, 179, 184 Kaggle, 261 Kahneman, Daniel, 35–36, 43, 44, 56, 325 Kalanick, Travis, 200 Kapor, Mitch, 142 Katz, Michael, 141n Kaushik, Avinash, 45 Kay, Alan, 61 Kazaa, 144 Kehoe, Patrick J., 21 Keirstead, Karl, 143 kernel, 240 Keynes, John Maynard, 278–79, 287, 309–10 Khosla, Vinod, 94 Kickstarter, 262 “killer app,” 157 Kim, Pauline, 40–41 Kimberley Process, 289–90 kinases, 116–17 kitchen, automated, 94 Kiva Systems, 103 Klein, Gary, 56 knowledge access to, in second machine age, 18 markets and, 332 prediction markets and, 238 knowledge differentials, See information asymmetries Kodak, 131, 132 Kohavi, Ronny, 45, 51 Kohl’s, 62–63 Koike, Makoto, 79–80 Komatsu, 99 Koum, Jan, 140 Krawisz, Daniel, 304 Kurzweil, Ray, 308 Lakhani, Karim, 252–55, 259 landline telecommunications, 134–35 land title registry, 291 language learning styles, 67–69 Lasker, Edward, 2 Lawee, David, 166 law of one price, 156 Lea, Ed, 170 leadership, geeky, 244–45, 248–49 lead users, 265 LeCun, Yann, 73, 80, 121 ledger, See blockchain Legg, Shane, 71 Lehman, Bastian, 184 Lei Jun, 203 Leimkuhler, John F., 182 “lemons,” 207 Lending Club, 263 level 5 autonomy, 82 leveraging of assets, O2O platforms for, 196–97 Levinovitz, Alan, 3 Levinson, Art, 152 libraries, 229–32 Library of Congress, 231 links, 233 Linq, 290–91 Linux, 240–45, 248, 249, 260 liquidity and network effects, 206 O2O platforms as engines of, 192–96 Livermore, Shaw, 22–23 locking in users, 217 lodging; See also Airbnb differences between Airbnb and hotels, 222–23 Priceline and, 223–24 “Logic Theorist” program, 69 Long, Tim, 204 Los Angeles, California hotel occupancy rates, 221–22 Postmates in, 185 Uber’s effect on taxi service, 201 LTE networks, 96 Luca, Michael, 209n Lyft, 186, 201, 208, 218 Ma, Jack, 7 machine age, See second machine age machine intelligence mind as counterpart to, 15 superiority to System 1 reasoning, 38–41 machine learning, 66–86; See also artificial intelligence AlphaGo and, 73 back-office work and, 82–83 early attempts, 67–74 in Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, 48–51 O2O business data and, 194 statistical pattern recognition and, 72–74 machine(s); See also artificial intelligence; robotics; standard partnership and business process reengineering, 32–33 and creativity, 110–19 defined, 14 human connection in digitized world, 122–24 human judgment and, 34–45 new mind-machine partnership, 46–62 and uniquely human domains, 110–26 Mad Men (TV drama), 48 Madrigal, Alexis, 295–96 magazines ad revenue (late 1990s), 130 ad revenue (2013), 132–33 new content platforms’ effect on revenue, 139 MakerBot, 273 maker movement, 271–72 Makhijani, Vish, 324–25 malls, 131, 134 Malone, Tom, 311, 313 management/managers continued importance of, 320–23 and economics of the firm, 309 as portion of US workforce, 321 in post-standard partnership world, 323–26 manufacturing electricity’s effect on, 19–24 robotics in, 102 transition from molds to 3D printing, 104–7 Manyika, James, 332 Manzi, Jim, 62–63 Marchant, Jo, 66n Marcus, Gary, 5, 71 marginal costs bundling and, 147 of computer storage, 136 of digital copies, 136, 137 of perishing inventory, 180, 181 of platforms, 137 of platforms vs. products, 147, 220 and Uber’s market value, 219 marginal utility, 258–59 “Market for ‘Lemons,’ The” (Akerlof), 207 market research, 13–14, 261–63 market(s) centrally planned economies vs., 235–37 companies and, 309–11 costs inherent in, 310–11 as crowd, 235–39 information asymmetries and, 206–7 prediction markets, 237–39 production costs vs. coordination costs, 313–14 Markowitz, Henry, 268 Marshall, Matt, 62 Martin, Andrew, 40–41 Marx, Karl, 279 Masaka, Makoto, 79–80 “Mastering the Game of Go with Deep Neural Networks and Tree Search” (Nature article), 4 Maugham, Somerset, 110 Mazzella, Frédéric, 190 McCarthy, John, 67 McClatchy Company, 132 McDonald’s, 92 McElheren, Kristina, 42 McKinsey Global Institute, 332 Mechanical Turk, 260 Medallion Fund, 267 medical devices crowd-designed, 272–75 3D printing and, 106 medical diagnosis, 123–24 Meehl, Paul, 41–42, 53–54, 56, 81 MegaBLAST, 253, 254 Menger, Carl, 25 Men’s Fitness, 132 Merton, Robert K., 189 Metallica, 144 Microsoft core capabilities, 15 machine learning, 79 proprietary software, 240 as stack, 295 Windows Phone platform, 167–68 Microsoft Research, 84 Milgrom, Paul, 315n milking systems, 101 Mims, Christopher, 325 mind, human as counterpart to machine intelligence, 15 undetected biases in, 42–45 Minsky, Marvin, 73, 113 Mitchell, Alan, 11, 12 MIT Media Lab, 272 mobile telephones, 129–30, 134–35 Mocan, Naci, 40 molds, 104–5 Moley Robotics, 94 Momentum Machines, 94 Moody’s, 134 Moore, John, 315 Moore’s law, 308 and Cambrian Explosion of robotics, 97–98 defined, 35 neural networks and, 75 System 2 reasoning and, 46 and 3D printing, 107 Morozov, Evgeny, 297 Mt.

Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World
by Clive Thompson
Published 26 Mar 2019

after a female journalist: Sarah Lacy, “Uber Executive Said the Company Would Spend ‘A Million Dollars’ to Shut Me Up,” Time, November 14, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, http://time.com/5023287/uber-threatened-journalist-sarah-lacy. he calls it “Boob-er”: Mickey Rapkin, “Uber Cab Confessions,” GQ, February 27, 2014, accessed August 19, 2018, www.gq.com/story/uber-cab-confessions. had been forced out: Mike Isaac, “Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.,” New York Times, June 21, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick.html. Chris Sacca and Justin Caldbeck: Sage Lazzaro, “6 Women Accuse Prominent Tech VC Justin Caldbeck of Sexual Assault and Harassment,” Observer, June 23, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, http://observer.com/2017/06/justin-caldbeck-binary-capital-sexual-assault-harssment; Becky Peterson, “ ‘Shark Tank’ Judge Chris Sacca Apologizes for Helping Make Tech Hostile to Women—after Being Accused of Inappropriately Touching a Female Investor,” Business Insider, June 30, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/chris-sacca-apologizes-after-accusation-of-inappropriate-touching-2017-6; “Dave McClure Quits 500 Startups over Sexual Harassment Scandal,” Reuters, July 4, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, http://fortune.com/2017/07/03/dave-mcclure-500-startups-quits; Maya Kosoff, “Silicon Valley’s Sexual-harassment Crisis Keeps Getting Worse,” Vanity Fair, September 12, 2017, accessed August 19, 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/silicon-valleys-sexual-harassment-crisis-keeps-getting-worse.

…

Peter Thiel, perhaps the best-known example of this phenomenon, is a man so committed to his loathing of “confiscatory taxes” that he once explored the possibility of “seasteading”—creating a floating city beyond the reach of the weary giants of flesh and steel. He’s also proclaimed, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Then there’s Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick, who once argued on the question-answering section of the site Mahalo that California is a sorry ethical morass of moochers living off the spoils of the affluent. “One of the interesting stats I came across was that 50 percent of all California taxes are paid by 141,000 people (a state with 30mm inhabitants).

…

Uber’s board had already been hit with years of bad press about its employees’ behavior. Employees had used a “God View” internal mapping tool to help ex-boyfriends stalk their ex-girlfriends; a senior executive had threatened to send private investigators after a female journalist. Then CEO Travis Kalanick had crowed about how he’d gotten so much sexual attention from Uber that he calls it “Boob-er.” Fowler’s story—so carefully documented, with so much official malfeasance by HR—seemed like a particularly humiliating piece of news, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In a few short months, Kalanick had been forced out.

Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
by Bill McKibben
Published 15 Apr 2019

Steve Wozniak (cofounder of Apple) said that Steve Jobs (deity) considered Atlas Shrugged one of his guides in life.3 Elon Musk (also a deity, and straight out of a Rand novel, with his rockets and hyperloops and wild cars) says Rand “has a fairly extreme set of views, but she has some good points in there.”4 That’s as faint as the praise gets. Travis Kalanick, who founded Uber, used the cover of The Fountainhead as his Twitter avatar. Peter Thiel, a cofounder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, once launched a mission to develop a floating city, a “sea-stead” that would be a politically autonomous city-state where national governments would have no sway.5 Some of Silicon Valley’s antigovernment sentiment is old, or at least as old as anything can be in Silicon Valley.

…

Rachel Weiner, “Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand,” Washington Post, August 13, 2012. 8. Husna Haq, “Paul Ryan Does an About-Face on Ayn Rand,” Christian Science Monitor, August 14, 2012. 9. Robert James Bidinotto, “Celebrity Ayn Rand Fans,” atlassociety.org, January 1, 2006. 10. James B. Stewart, “As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Her Limits. Ask Travis Kalanick,” New York Times, July 13, 2017. 11. Kirsten Powers, “Donald Trump’s Kinder, Gentler Version,” USA Today, April 11, 2016. 12. Wendy Milling, “President Obama Jabs at Ayn Rand, Knocks Himself Out,” Forbes, October 30, 2012. 13. Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 23. 14.

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See also glaciers; sea ice iGen immune systems Inconvenient Truth, An (film) Inconvenient Truth … or Convenient Fiction, An (film) India individualism Indonesia inequality inertia infant mortality Ingraffea, Tony insects InsideClimateNews (website) Institute for Justice Intel Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Interior, Department of the International Congress of Genetics, Sixteenth International Organization for Migration International Space Station internet Inuit Iowa IQ scores Iran Iraq Ireland irrigation Italy IVF treatment Jackson, Jesse Jacobs, Jane Jacobson, Mark Jaeger, John Jakarta Japan Java Sea jellyfish Jenner, Kylie Jeopardy! (TV show) Jetnil-Kijiner, Kathy Jobs, Steve John Birch Society Johnson, Lyndon B. Journal of Mathematical Biology Journal of Physical Therapy Science Joy, Bill Joyce, James Kac, Eduardo Kaepernick, Colin Kalanick, Travis Kansas Kasparov, Gary Kavanaugh, Brett Kempf, Hervé Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Space Center Kepler (satellite) Kerry, James Kerry, John Keynes, John Maynard Keystone XL Pipeline King, Martin Luther, Jr. King of Kings (film) king tides Klein, Naomi Knoepfler, Paul Koch, Charles Koch, Charles G., Foundation Koch, David Koch, Elizabeth Koch, Fred Koch, Frederick, Jr.

The Industries of the Future
by Alec Ross
Published 2 Feb 2016

To the extent that there is an underlying ideology, it is not about sharing or creating community around the breakfast table; it is the economic theory of neoliberalism, encouraging the free flow of goods and services in a market without government regulation. One company that seems to recognize the sharing economy has nothing to do with sharing is Uber. Founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp and also based in San Francisco, Uber provides travel and logistics in more than 250 cities in 58 countries as of June 2015. Uber’s first tagline was “Everyone’s Private Driver,” but as the company has expanded, it has changed its motto to “Where Lifestyle Meets Logistics.” The impact of Uber will likely spread far beyond your nightly ride home; it has implications for business models across transport and logistics globally.

…

Summers, “How Uber and the Sharing Economy Can Win Over Regulators,” Harvard Business Review, October 13, 2014, https://hbr.org/2014/10/how-uber-and-the-sharing-economy-can-win-over-regulators/; TX Zhuo, “Airbnb and Uber Are Just the Beginning: What’s Next for the Sharing Economy,” Entrepreneur, March 25, 2015, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244192. Founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick: Cities, Uber, https://www.uber.com/cities. Uber’s first tagline was: Kevin Roose, “Uber Might Be More Valuable Than Facebook Someday. Here’s Why,” New York Magazine, December 6, 2013, http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/uber-might-be-more-valuable-than-facebook.html. Uber is developing a ride-sharing: “The City of the Future: One Million Fewer Cars on the Road,” Uber Newsroom, October 3, 2014, http://blog.uber.com/city-future.

…

See also Estonia inBloom, 176 India: agriculture and, 165 caregiving and, 230 China and, 219–22 data and, 191 economy, 4–5, 11, 216, 248 globalization and, 11, 85, 198, 211, 214, 219–22, 233, 239 innovation and, 5, 68 labor and, 2, 7, 9–10 robotics and, 20, 211 industrial espionage, 128–29, 138, 145 inflation, 205–6 Infoseek, 119 Innovation Endeavors, 191 international finance flows, 87 International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, 48 Internet of Things, 132–34, 137, 144–46 Israel, 26, 76, 122, 127–28, 189, 191 Ito, Joi, 116 jellyfish, 35 Johns Hopkins, 48–50, 54–55, 135, 188 Johnson & Johnson, 33 Johnson, Jeremy, 234, 239 JPMorgan Chase, 144, 167, 170 Juniper Networks, 20–21, 132 Kagame, Paul, 238 Kahumbu, Su, 235–36 Kalanick, Travis, 92. See also Uber Karp, Alex, 172–73 Karpeles, Mark, 109 Kaspersky Lab, 189 Kenya, 71, 86, 88, 233, 235, 241–43 Keynes, John Maynard, 111 Khan, Shakil, 167. See also Bitcoin Khosla, Vinod, 72 Kim Jong Un, 131 Koum, Jan, 212–14 Krugman, Paul, 111 Kuffner, James, 23 Laar, Mart, 205–6.

The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations
by Daniel Yergin
Published 14 Sep 2020

The realistic—5 percent of taxi business in the top five U.S. cities and $20 to $30 million profit. Worst case? “Remains a 10-car, 100 client service” in San Francisco offering a “time-saver for San Francisco based executives.” And next step? “Buy 3 cars” and “raise a few million.”1 One night the following December, Camp was in Paris with Travis Kalanick. The City of Lights was shut down by a big snowstorm. The bars and bistros closed, and even the taxicab drivers went home. With nothing else to do, Camp and Kalanick trudged to the Eiffel Tower and rode up to the top. There, for the next two hours, they talked through their idea for ride hailing—the algorithm would become the outstretched arm

…

Her goal is “zero emissions, zero crashes, and zero congestion.” Sebastian Thrun and his team celebrate victory by “Stanley,” their self-driving Volkswagen, over 132 miles of Nevada desert in the 2005 Grand Challenge. “The first time ever,” said Thrun, “that the machine made all the decisions.” Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick rode up the Eiffel Tower during a Paris snowstorm and hammered out the idea for a “better cab”—a ride-hailing company based on the smartphone. It would become Uber. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, stands next to a Model T built by his great-grandfather at the one-hundredth anniversary of the company.

…

Chapter 39: Hailing the Future 1. Interview with Garrett Camp; “UberCab” pitch deck, December 2008. 2. Adam Lashinsky, Wild Ride: Inside Uber’s Quest for World Domination (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2017), pp. 80–81, 91. 3. Megan Rose Dickey, “Lyft’s Rides Are So Social,” Business Insider, March 16, 2014; Travis Kalanick, Uber Policy White Paper, “Principled Innovation: Addressing the Regulatory Ambiguity,” April 12, 2013 (“compete”). 4. “Didi Chuxing’s Founder Cheng Wei,” Times of India, August 8, 2016. 5. Interview with Jean Liu. 6. Mike Isaacs, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber (New York: W. W.

Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy--And How to Make Them Work for You
by Sangeet Paul Choudary , Marshall W. van Alstyne and Geoffrey G. Parker
Published 27 Mar 2016

But understanding value creation via positive network effects is the essential first step. FIGURE 2.1. David Sacks’s napkin sketch of Uber’s virtuous cycle. Reprinted by permission. Gurley’s data showed that, by mid-2014, network effects were already beginning to drive Uber’s growth. When Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, sought seed funding in 2009, the size of the taxi and limousine market in Uber’s hometown of San Francisco was $120 million. Based on Uber’s own data, the market in 2014 appeared already to be three times as large and still growing. This threefold multiple would, all by itself, justify increasing Damodaran’s $5.9 billion valuation to the $17 billion value imputed by investors.

…

Combining the platform model with another technology that is rapidly moving from the drawing board to the showroom—the self-driving car—will improve Uber’s already stellar economic model and could lead to a series of cascading impacts that extend beyond the taxi industry. One futurist foresees a time when millions of people will eschew car ownership altogether, instead relying on an instantly deployable fleet of driverless Uber vehicles to take them wherever they want to go at a cost of around fifty cents per mile. Uber cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick comments, “We want to get to the point that using Uber is cheaper than owning a car.” The ultimate promise: “Transportation that’s as reliable as running water.”3 The implications are startling. The major automakers would be devastated by the shrinkage of their market. So would ancillary businesses such as auto insurance, car finance, and parking.

…

B., 54–55 classified ads, 49, 63, 120, 131, 133–34 click-throughs, 190, 197 cloud-based networking, 30, 56 cloud-based storage, 54, 56, 56, 59, 102, 177–78 cloud computing, 145, 155, 209 Coase, Ronald, 234–35 Coca-Cola, 198–99 code, computer, 53, 79–80, 131–32, 140, 143, 166, 170, 172, 240, 254–55, 267 coffee machines, 143, 157–58, 159 colleges and universities, 8–9, 91, 97–99, 265–68 community-driven curation, 67–68, 78 comparative advantage, 188–89 competition complexities, 210–13 computer programming, 52, 99, 131–32, 267 Confinity, 80, 83 Congress, U.S., 248–49 connectivity platforms, 200–201, 285, 289 consulting firms, 8, 194 consumer relationship management (CRM), 11, 96, 174 consumer-to-consumer marketplace, 2–3, 29 contact information, 163, 190 contracts, 142, 166, 172, 197, 225–26 control systems, 164–65 convex growth, 20, 295, 297 Cook, Tim, 148 co-opetition (co-creation), 194, 212, 227 copyright, 57, 167, 208, 258, 259 core developers, 141–42 corporations, 157–58 governance by, 164, 256–60 image ads for, 229–30 sponsorship by, 137, 139–40 corruption, 160, 236–37 cosmetics industry, 206 Coursera, 8, 265, 266, 267 Craigslist, 47, 49, 91–92, 101, 103, 165, 193, 224 credit, 170, 175, 243–44, 263, 275–76, 277 credit cards, 37, 81, 83, 84, 137, 139–40, 175, 226, 243, 275 credit reports, 243–44 crime, 165, 231, 257 critical assets, 220–21 critical mass, 97, 112, 188, 195, 201–2 Croll, Alistair, 191, 196 cross-side effects, 29, 30, 34, 295 crowd curation, 167–70 crowdfunding, 40, 51, 92, 96, 102, 111 crowdsourcing, 12, 267 Cryptography, 171 currency, 5, 15, 36, 37–38, 46, 159, 173–74 customized ads, 244 Cusumano, Michael A., 58, 178–79 Damodaran, Aswath, 16–18 data: accountability based on, 253–56 aggregators for, 141, 145–46, 244–48, 254, 255, 262–63, 278 big, 11, 247–48, 276 brokers of, 244–45 capture and collection of, 218–19, 264, 296 in communications, 176–78 flow of, 170, 246–48 leveraging of, 217–20 manipulation of, 251–53 in nationalism, 247–48, 260 platforms for, 200 profiles derived from, 48, 119, 127 security of, 230, 243–46, 260 software for, 91–92, 107, 255, 269, 270–71, 275, 276–77, 278, 284, 286 storage of, 54, 56, 56, 59, 102, 171–73, 177–78 strategic, 217–20 tactical, 217–18 tools for, 10–11, 48, 49, 71 databases, 24–25, 42–44, 63, 72–75, 76, 91–92, 107 “Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability,” 245 Data.gov, 283 Data Jams, 282 dating services, 26–28, 30, 93, 97–98, 120, 123, 166, 194 De Beers, 208–9 decentralization, 159, 171–73, 272–74 deep design, 179–80 defaults, 170, 263, 276 Delicious, 95–96 demand-side economies of scale, 18–20, 32, 34, 226 democracy, 149–50, 257, 283 department stores, 264, 287 designers, graphic, 66, 72, 106, 118–19, 267 design structure matrices, 57–58 diabetes, 269–70 diamond industry, 208–9 digital currency, 171, 274–78 digital message deliveries, 94–95 digital real estate, 174–75, 216 digital rights management (DRM), 31 Diners Club, 84 direct-to-consumer channels, 264 discounts, 22, 25–26 disintermediation, 68–69, 71–72, 78, 161–62, 170–71, 298 disk defragmentation, 200 dispute resolution, 169–70 Djankov, Simeon, 238, 239 doctors, 263, 268, 269, 271, 279 Dorsey, Jack, 97 dot-com bubble, x, 22, 79, 80, 113, 288 Dribbble, 37, 66, 118–19 driverless cars, 284 driver ratings, 254, 264 driving records, 232–33, 277 Dropbox, 32, 102, 109 Drucker, Peter, 210 drug trafficking, 162 Duhigg, Charles, 146 Duracell, 162 DVDs, 63, 111, 139 e-commerce, 56, 91, 111, 124–25, 145, 204–5 Earth Class Mail, 94–95 eBay, vii, ix, 2, 3, 17, 24, 36, 38, 40, 83–84, 85, 91, 93, 111, 112–13, 125, 135, 161–62, 163, 169–71, 172, 173, 196n, 205, 206, 207, 215, 262 economics, 72, 78, 230, 234–39 economies of scale, 18–20, 206 Edison, Thomas, 19, 284 editors, 7, 10, 68, 72, 93, 129–30, 262 education, 7–8, 77, 96, 111, 122, 124, 212, 233, 261, 263, 265–68, 269, 288, 289 education platforms, 96, 111, 265–68, 289 Eisenmann, Thomas R., ix, 130 electric lighting, 19, 285 electric power, 19, 69, 247, 284–85 Electronic Arts (EA), 94, 124, 240 electronic health records, 270 electronics, 75, 178, 206 email, 81, 85, 101–4, 185 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10–11 encyclopaedias, 10–11, 129–30, 133, 149–51 Endomondo, 75 end-to-end design principle, 52–54 energy: efficiency of, 254, 284–85, 286 industry for, 261, 272–74, 289 resources of, 69–70, 254, 272–74 enhanced access, 112, 118, 119–21, 126, 127, 296 enhanced curation, 121–22, 126–27 enhanced design, 223–24 enterprise management, 173–75 enterprise resource planning (ERP), 11 entrepreneurs, 79–83, 86, 96, 111, 205, 282 environmental issues, 62, 70–71, 233, 237, 272, 274 Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1974), 243–44 Equity Bank, 277–78 e-readers, 178 eToys, 22 Etsy, 65, 73, 149, 212, 262, 299 European Union (EU), 242, 247–48 events listings, 112–15, 126 Excel, 216 excess inertia, 241, 296 exclusive access, 213–15 expert networks, 30, 36, 68, 93, 96, 99, 117–18 extension developers, 141, 142–45, 147, 148–49, 153–54 external networks, 100–101, 102, 103–4, 105 Facebook, 3, 12, 20, 32, 33, 37, 39, 41–50, 66, 90–91, 98–103, 104, 112, 121, 126, 131–35, 132, 133, 145, 151, 159, 163, 168, 181, 184, 185, 197, 204, 216–18, 221, 226, 245, 251–52, 267, 270–71 Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970), 175 fairness, 179–81, 230 fair use doctrine, 259 farm prices, 42–44, 60 FarmVille, 221 Fasal, 42–44 Federal Reserve, 174 Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 242, 243–44, 245 FedEx, 61, 249–50, 278 feedback loops, 21, 28, 45–46, 68, 71, 72, 100–101, 108, 139, 167–70, 218–19, 223, 296 feet on street (FOS) sales forces, 43–44, 91 files, 63, 166 encryption of, 200 formats for, 29–30 film industry, 9, 66, 138–39, 163, 178, 259, 267 filters, 38–41, 42, 59, 133, 295, 296–97 financial crash of 2008, 178, 230 financial services industry, 11, 16–18, 33, 164, 171–73, 178, 230, 261, 274–78, 289 fitness and sports activities, 74–76, 245, 270–71 five forces model, 207–10, 212, 213, 221 500px, 37, 47 Fiverr, 116, 193 fixed costs, 9–10, 209, 224–25, 278 follow-the-rabbit strategy, 89–91, 105 food industry, 76, 254, 255, 278 Ford, Henry, 19, 32 Ford Motor Co., 19 Fortune 500, 65 Foursquare, 97, 98 fragmented industries, 131, 262, 265, 268–69, 289 fraud, 175, 196–97, 255, 257, 276 Free: The Future of a Radical Price (Anderson), 22 freelancers (independent contractors), 21, 36, 37, 64, 65, 117–18, 193–94, 196, 210, 213, 233–34, 249–51, 279, 280, 287, 297, 299 free trade, 205, 206, 235 Friedersdorf, Conor, 236 Friendster, 98 FuelBand, 74, 75 full-time employees, 249–50 FUSE Labs, 252–53 games, gaming, 94, 103, 124, 132, 159, 163, 178, 211, 212, 217, 221, 240 “Gangnam Style,” 84, 147 gatekeepers, 7–8, 151–52, 171–73, 243, 253, 262, 265, 268, 275–76, 281, 289, 298 Gawer, Annabelle, 58, 178–79 Gebbia, Joe, 1–2 General Electric (GE), 4, 13, 19, 76, 78, 86, 110, 201, 204, 208, 247, 284 Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, 238–39 geographic focus, 98–99, 271 Germany, 96–97, 161, 205 Gillette, King, 109–10 Global 500, 209–10 Go-Jek, 278 Goldberg, Whoopi, 23 Goodwin, Tom, 11–12 Google, vii, 3–7, 21–25, 30–33, 49–50, 55, 58, 64, 72, 111, 112, 120, 121, 125, 134, 137, 140–41, 148, 153–54, 159, 198–99, 214–17, 226, 240, 242, 250, 267, 270–71 Google AdWords, 72, 120, 121, 125 Google Maps, 49–50, 55, 148, 200 Google Play, 154 government platforms, 261, 281–83, 289 graphical processing units (GPUs), 56, 57, 58 graphic design, 67, 226 Great Britain, 160, 205 gross domestic product (GDP), 160, 161 Grossman, Nick, 253, 254, 255, 256 Guardian, 144–45 Gurley, Bill, 16–18, 21 Haber-Bosch process, 19 Hachette Book Group, 251 Haier Group, vii, 76, 125, 198–99, 222 Halo, 94, 240 Halo: Combat Evolved, 94 Hammurabi, Code of, 274 hard drives (HDs), 56, 57, 58 hardware, 56, 57–58, 136, 152–53, 178–79 Harvard University, 98–99, 266 hashtags, 58, 104 Havas Media, 11–12 health care, 32–33, 35, 69, 71, 77, 200, 233, 234, 238, 245, 261, 263, 265, 268–72, 277, 280, 289 health insurance, 234, 263, 271–72, 277, 280 Heiferman, Scott, 113–14, 126 heirlooms, 161–62 Here, 49–50 Hertz, 9 heuristics, 123–24 Hilton Hotels, 8, 64 Hipstamatic, 100 homeowners’ insurance, 175, 232 horizontal integration, 33, 74–76, 208 hospitals, 69, 71, 233, 270, 271–72 hosting sites, 88, 198, 223–24 hotel industry, 1–2, 8–9, 10, 12, 64, 67, 101, 111, 142–43, 198, 224, 229–33, 236, 253, 287 Hotmail, 103, 104 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 204, 208, 225 HTTP, 177 Huffington Post, 90 human resources, 14, 39 human rights, 159, 160–61 hypercompetition, 209–10, 213 IBM, x, 137, 152, 179, 284 iCloud, 75 identity theft, 244 InCloudCounsel, 279 income streams, 139–41, 143, 144, 215 India, 73, 91 Indiegogo, 96, 124 Indonesia, 278 Industrial Awakening, 285–86 industrial development, 205–10, 224–25, 268 industrial-era firms, 19, 32, 34, 256, 285, 288 Industrial Revolution, 288 Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), 58 information, 40, 42 agencies for, 243–44 age of, 253, 256, 260 asymmetries of, 161–62, 164, 181, 182, 220, 228, 258–59, 262–63, 265, 269, 281, 289 exchange of, 36, 37, 39, 41, 47–48, 51, 134 intensive need for, 262–63, 265, 268, 281, 289 mis-, 129–30 platforms for, 190, 200, 287 units of, 296–97 initial public offerings (IPOs), ix, 91, 204–5 Instagram, 3, 13, 32, 46, 47, 66, 85, 100, 102–3, 104, 204, 217, 218, 299 instant messaging, 131, 198, 211 insurance industry, 9, 62, 71, 142, 164, 175–76, 232, 268, 277 integrated systems, 33, 74, 131 Intel, vii, x, 57–58, 89, 137, 178–81, 270–71, 284 Intel Architecture Labs (IAL), 179–81 intellectual property (IP), 33, 57, 167, 174–75, 180, 258 interaction failures, 190, 192, 196–97 Interbrand, 198–99 interest rates, 170, 244, 276 Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 93 internal transparency, 176–79 International Financial Reporting Standards, 238–39 Internet, 24–25, 32, 60–63, 76–79, 95–96, 107–13, 121, 167, 201, 204, 205, 209, 244, 249, 250, 263, 264, 283–89, 299 Internet of things, 76, 201, 204, 283–86, 289 inventory, 9, 11–12, 25, 42, 141, 184, 186, 262 investment, ix, 16, 63, 164, 168–69, 184–86, 209, 278 iPads, 95 iPhone, 3, 6–7, 72, 131, 140, 147, 148, 178, 211, 213–14, 222 iStockphoto, 167–68, 173 iTunes, 75, 131, 142, 153, 164, 214, 231 Japan, 66, 205–6 Jassy, Andrew, 177–78 Java programming language, 140 Jawbone, x, 77, 245 job listings, 39, 49, 50, 51, 63, 111, 118–19, 120, 131, 133–34, 137, 184–86, 196, 201, 218 Jobs, Steve, viii, 53, 131, 214 joint venture model, 137, 138 judiciary, 237, 238, 250 JVC, 138–39 Kalanick, Travis, 18, 62 Kelley, Brian P., 157 Kenya, 277–78 Kercher, Meredith, 129–30, 149–50 Keurig Green Mountain, 143, 157–58, 159, 181 Kickstarter, 40, 92, 96, 102, 111 Kindle, 7, 10, 67, 140, 154, 243 Kindle Fire, 140 Knox, Amanda, 129–30, 149–50 Korengold, Barry, 61 Kozmo, 22–23 Kretschmer, Tobias, 257 Kuraitis, Vince, 270, 271 labor: child, 164 division of, 280 market for, 39, 49, 50, 51, 63, 111, 118–19, 120, 131, 133–34, 137, 196, 201, 218, 235 platforms for, 200, 201, 213, 233–34, 248–51, 279–81, 289 regulation of, 230, 249–51, 260, 288 self-employed, 21, 36, 37, 64, 65, 117–18, 193–94, 196, 210, 213, 233–34, 249–51, 279, 280, 287, 297, 299 unions for, 280, 288 Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 235, 237 law firms, 8, 204, 279 laws and legal systems, 88, 164–70, 182, 230, 247–49, 257, 258, 260, 281 lead generation, 113, 117 Lean Analytics (Croll and Yoskovitz), 191, 196 lean startups, 199, 201–2 Lee Kuan Yew, 160–61 LegalZoom, 204, 225 Lending Club, 77, 275, 276 Lessig, Lawrence, 164–65, 166 Levchin, Max, 79–81 Lexis, 204, 225 liability coverage, 175, 232 libertarianism, 79, 80, 236, 238 licensing fees, 61, 131, 258–59 licensing model, 136–37, 138, 139, 214, 235, 296 lightbulbs, 284–85 linear value chains (pipelines), 6, 183–84, 297, 298 LinkedIn, 39, 41–42, 48, 50–51, 103, 111, 119, 170, 173, 184, 197, 218–19, 223, 226, 245 Linux, 137, 138, 154, 200 liquidity, 189–91, 193, 194–95, 201–2, 297 local content regulations, 246–47 logos (icons), 82, 83 “long tail” (software adoption), 216–17, 219 Lyft, 49, 50–51, 67, 213, 227, 250–51, 297 Ma, Jack, 125, 206, 215 MacCormack, Alan, 57 magazines, 72, 151, 197, 244, 264, 275 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 69, 71 mail, 63, 94–95, 171 MailChimp, 109 Malaysia, 160 Management Science (MacCormack and Baldwin), 57 mandis (market-makers), 42–44 Manghani, Ravi, 273–74 manufacturing efficiencies, 208, 209, 261 MapMyFitness, 75 mapping services, 49–50, 55, 148, 200 marginal economics, 72, 78 Marini, Rick, 184–85 marketing, 14, 19, 25, 52–53, 72, 73–74, 84–85, 100, 101, 105, 183–84, 209–10, 267 Marketplace Fairness Act (2013), 249 marketplaces, 60, 91, 190, 204, 249 markets: access to, 87–88, 98, 194, 215, 218, 220 aggregation of, 68–69, 72–73, 78, 262, 297 controls for, 164–65 data on, 42–44 emerging, 210–11 entry barriers to, 207–8, 215, 219–20 expansion of, 4, 20, 31–32 failure of, xiii, 161–63, 164, 170–71, 182, 234–35, 256, 257, 258–59, 263, 289 free, 149, 161–65, 173–76, 180, 182, 234–36 frictionless entry into, 25–26, 34, 81, 107–8, 111, 117, 124–25, 130, 168, 206, 297 incumbent advantage in, 86, 218, 261, 263 late-mover problem in, 87–88, 98 liquidity of, 171, 196 local, 70–71, 117–18, 264 manipulation of, 238, 251–53, 260, 287 micro-, 98–99, 105 multi-sided, 159, 164 new entrants to, 207–10, 262, 296 niche, 88, 216, 223–24, 228, 300 one-sided, 157–58, 159 share of, 16–22, 33, 53, 60–62, 65, 81, 87–88, 112–13, 131–33, 132, 133, 137–40, 152–53, 157, 222–26, 260, 287 strategy for, viii, xi, 10, 16–18, 20, 21, 31–32, 33, 42–44, 57–58, 69–73, 77, 78, 89, 111, 124, 173, 210–11, 272–74, 278 supply and demand in, 69–71, 173, 210–11, 272–74, 278 “thickness” of, 164, 171, 173 two-sided, 81, 89, 93, 110, 119, 175, 196, 215, 218, 295, 298 winner-take-all, viii, 224–27, 228, 279–80, 300 marquee strategy, 94–95, 105 Marriott Hotels, 8–9 massive open online courses (MOOCs), 266–67 mass media, 40, 63, 72, 77, 262, 264 MasterCard, 226, 275 matching services, 17, 47–48 Matharu, Taran, 4–5 McCormick Foods, 76 McGraw-Hill, 204, 208 Mechanical Turk, 249, 280 Medicare, 250 Medicast, 269, 279 Medium, 71–72 Meetup, 113–15, 126 Megaupload, 87–88 membership fees, 123, 125 Mercateo, 96–97 mergers and acquisitions, 208, 216, 220–21, 228 Metcalfe, Robert, 20, 297 Metcalfe’s law, 20, 21, 295, 297 metering tools, 272–73 Microsoft, vii, x, 3, 13, 20, 29, 33, 52–53, 94, 103–4, 110, 124, 131, 140, 152–53, 179, 181, 200, 211, 216, 226, 240, 241, 252, 267, 270–71 Microsoft Outlook, 103–4 Microsoft Vista, 52–53 Microsoft Windows, 30, 53, 140, 152–53, 200, 222, 240 Microsoft Windows XP, 53 middlemen, 68–69, 71–72, 78, 161–62, 170–71, 298 Minerva Project, 268 mining, 225, 263 mislabeled bargains, 161–62, 170–71 MIT, ix–x, xi, 214, 266, 267 MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, ix–x MIT Platform Strategy Summit, xi, 214 moderators, 151–52 modular design, 54–57, 221 monetary policy, 159, 173–74 monetization, 38, 63, 106–27, 188, 215 MonkeyParking, 233, 234 monopolies, 18–19, 162, 163, 172–73, 182, 208–9, 227, 237, 238, 240–41, 242 Monster, 218–19, 223, 226 mortgages, 237, 243, 263 Mount, David, 285–86 MP3 players, 178 multidirectional platforms, 272–74 multihoming, 213–15, 223–28, 250–51, 297, 300 multinational corporations, 246–48 multi-sponsor decision-making, 139–40 multi-user feedback loop, 46, 100–101 music industry, 63, 71, 75, 87, 111, 134–35, 147, 178, 213, 226, 231, 258, 287, 297 MyFitnessPal, 75, 245 Myspace, 87, 92, 98, 125–26, 131–34, 132, 133, 135, 143, 204, 221, 226 Nakamoto, Satoshi, 171–73 Nalebuff, Barry J., 212 NASDAQ, ix, 80 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 237 navigation tools, 191, 297 NBC, 204, 225 negative cross-side effects, 30–32, 34, 295 negative externalities, 163, 229–34, 257, 287 negative feedback, 28, 157–58, 166–67 negative network effects, 17, 26–32, 34, 47, 49, 51, 68, 112–15, 120, 121, 123, 126, 151, 229–34, 287, 298 negative same-side effects, 30, 298 Nest, 204, 225 Netflix, 63, 163, 204, 225 Netscape, 62, 110 network matching, 26–28 network orchestrators, 32 News Corp., 126 news feeds, 121, 168, 251–52 newspapers, 63, 144–45, 264, 287 New York City, 61, 113, 123, 229–30, 231, 258–59 New York State, 69–70, 274 New York Stock Exchange, 55, 171 New York Times, 205 NeXT, 53 Nigeria, 247 Nike, 4, 74–76, 78, 205, 271 9/11 attacks, 113 99designs, 66, 106 Nintendo, 94, 211, 240 noise, 28, 114, 120, 199, 200 Nokia, 49–50, 64, 131, 226 Novel Writing Month, 4–5 NTT, 89 oDesk, 201 oil and gas industry, 225, 235, 259, 263, 272 OkCupid, xi, 26–28, 30, 195–96 oligopolies, 209, 238 on-boarding effect, 90–91, 97 online courses, 96, 111, 265–68, 289 Open Data, 282 “open in” vs.

Who Needs the Fed?: What Taylor Swift, Uber, and Robots Tell Us About Money, Credit, and Why We Should Abolish America's Central Bank
by John Tamny
Published 30 Apr 2016

So, despite a great concert enjoyed by Swift’s many fans, the evening had the potential to end badly, thanks to the fatal conceit of government officials that they can successfully plan prices. Was a good evening ruined? No. This story has a happy ending thanks to the intense entrepreneurialism that continues to define the American economy despite the barriers placed in front of this country’s dreamers. Specifically, the story ends well thanks to Uber. Founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick, Uber’s business model is rooted in the correct understanding of commerce, namely, that there are no buyers without sellers, and vice versa. Kalanick devised an app that people around the world are adding to their smartphones in increasingly high numbers, as evidenced by a private valuation of the San Francisco company at more than $50 billion.2 Whereas it used to be that only the superrich had the means to ring a bell and summon a driver, thanks to Kalanick’s app anyone with a smart-phone can tap the Uber button and have a driver arrive in minutes.

…

See federal government Gray, Freddie, 135 Grazer, Brian, 22–23, 24–25, 26 Great Depression, 106, 141–43, 147, 168 The Greatest Trade Ever (Zuckerman), 45, 120 Greenspan, Alan, 119, 120, 164 Greider, William, 121 Griffin, Ken, 41 Guest, Christopher, 22 Guillies, Wendy, 175 Hamm, Harold, 73 Hanks, Tom, 22 Hannah, Daryl, 23 Harbaugh, Jim, 16–18, 20, 21, 79, 103, 127 hard assets, 118 Harford, Tim, 32, 64–65 Hartnett, Josh, 24 Hastert, Dennis, 52 Hawaiian Airlines, 34–35 Hawn, Goldie, 24 Hayward, Steven, 49, 50 Hazlitt, Henry, 22, 64, 74, 113, 163, 176 Heaven Can Wait (film), 23 hedge-fund managers, 48 Heller, Walter, 54 Hemingway, Ernest, 91 Hendrickson, Mark, 80 high-yield “junk bonds,” 37–40, 126 Hilsenrath, Jon, 147, 148 Hoffman, Dustin, 23 Hoke, Brady, 16, 20–21, 78–79, 103, 115, 127, 128, 148 Hollywood Shuffle (film), 109 Hoover, Herbert, 142, 168 Hoover Institution, 102 housing booms and “easy credit,” 113–22 and value of the dollar, 116–22 housing market and mortgage-backed securities, 150–52 Howard, Ron, 22–23 How We Got Here (Frum), 118 Human Action (von Mises), 20 Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, 165 hyperinflation in post-WWII Germany, 90–91 IBM, 53 Imagine Entertainment, 22–23 inflation Friedman’s view of, 136 inability of Fed to control, 159–61, 165 and value of the dollar, 43 inherited wealth, 29–30 initial public offering (IPO), 29, 124 innovation and definitions of success or failure, 29–30 and entrepreneurs, 66 and failure, 57–58 The Innovators (Isaacson), 31 insider trading, 38 Inside the Nixon Administration (Burns), 170 Intel, 143 intellectual property rights, 9–10 interest rates and the cost of credit, 1–3, 13–14, 47–48, 147 and the Fed on inflation as source of economic growth, 156–61, 165–66 housing boom and “easy credit,” 113–16, 120–22 and quantitative easing (QE) program, 149–51 Internet banking, 108, 111 Internet “bubble,” 57–58 Internet job creation, 178–79 investment banking, 123 Iron Man (films), 25 Ishtar (film), 23 Jagger, Mick, 25 James, LeBron, 137–38 Japan after World War II, 128 Bank of Japan and Nikkei index, 152, 159 job creation and robots, 176–80 Jobs, Steve, 30–31 Johnson, Lyndon B., 49, 53 Johnson, Mark, 153 Jones, Jesse, 167 “junk bonds,” 37–40, 126 Kalanick, Travis, 12, 13 Karlgaard, Rich, 160 Kashgar, 138 Kauffman Foundation, 175 Keaton, Diane, 24 Kelly, Jason, 126 Kennedy, John F., 49–50, 169 Kennedy, Robert F., 34 Keynesian economics, 78–82, 88, 93–96, 140–41 Keynes, John Maynard, 78, 147 Kickstarter, 110 Kiffin, Lane, 20 Kinski, Nastassja, 24 Knowledge and Power (Gilder), 57 Kohli, Shweta, 107 Kohn, Donald, 156 Kornbluth, Walter, 22 labor as credit, 15–21 Laffer, Arthur, 55, 137, 157, 158 Laffer curves, 50, 54–55 Lawrence, Jennifer, 37–38 Lee, Spike, 109, 110 Lending Club, 107–8 Leubsdorf, Ben, 156 Levy, Eugene, 22 Lewis, Nathan, 72, 137, 141–42, 144 LewRockwell.com website, 94 Lisa computer, 30 Lombard Street (Bagehot), 46 Luck, Andrew, 16–17 McAdams, Hall, 89–90, 104 McConnell, Mitch, 51 Mack, John J., 123, 130 Madoff, Bernard, 163 Mann, Windsor, 78 Margolis, Eric, 94, 96 market “bubbles,” 56–63 market forces and government spending, 59–60 price of goods versus price of dollars, 1–2 von Mises on, 20, 152 market intervention and the Fed, 159–61 Mazursky, Paul, 24 Medicare, 53, 78, 174 Merrill Lynch, 120 Metro public transit, 10–11 Meyer, Urban, 17–18 Microsoft, 30–31, 125, 143, 155 Milken, Michael, 38–40, 114, 126 Mill, John Stuart, 76 Mindich, Eric, 45–46 Mission Asset Fund, 107 mobile phones, 53–54 monetarism, 135–36, 138 money and Chinese economy, 135–36, 137 and economic activity, 3, 136–37, 140, 143 and gold standard, 68 and the Great Depression, 141–43, 147, 168 market monetarism, 138–39 as measure of wealth, 67–68 monetarism, 135–36, 138 “money multipliers” and “fractional lending,” 87–90 private money supplies, 144–45 and stable currency, 137, 144 Money and Foreign Exchange After 1914 (Cassel), 119 Moore, Gordon, 31 Moore, Stephen, 50–51 Morgan, J.

The Smartphone Society
by Nicole Aschoff

Ordinary folks with a decent vehicle were promised a path to financial independence and the chance to be their own boss. Uber’s prestige and popularity made it a desirable place to work for young software engineers and computer programmers. The company promoted an image of a work-hard, play-hard environment where employees were changing the world and having fun doing it. Travis Kalanick, the face of the company when he was its CEO, was a media darling with reporters apt to marvel at his brightly colored sneakers and boyish charm. Uber’s glow faded fast, however, after Susan Fowler, a young software engineer at Uber, clued the world in on what really went on at the company. Fowler—who grew up in an impoverished family, dropped out of high school to help made ends meet, yet managed to teach herself math and earn a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University—was excited to get a job as a site reliability engineer at Uber.

…

“Abrams, Jenna,” 109 ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), 21, 22, 96, 148–49, 153, 176n28 Acxiom, 72, 77 addiction to social media, 65–69 Admiral, 78, 79 Adolfsson, Martin, 84 AdSense, 52 Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), 80 advertising: data collection and, 76–77, 83–84; on Facebook, 47–48; on Google, 52; political, 149 AdWords, 52 Afghanistan, politics in, 95–96 age discrimination, 149 AI Now, 129, 157 Airbnb, 42, 119, 120, 148 al-Abed, Bana, 90 al-Abed, Fatemah, 90 Aldridge, Rasheen, 91 algorithm(s): for consumer categories, 77; in dystopian future, 129–30, 131; in politics, 109–10; recommender, 67; search, 51–52, 53 algorithmic accountability, 151, 157–59 “algorithmic management,” 32–34 Alibaba, 4, 42 Allard, LaDonna Brave Bull, 104 aloneness, 7 Alphabet, 41, 55, 76, 122, 150 Alpha Go Zero program, 122 alter-globalization activists, 91 Amazon: acquisitions by, 41; and CIA, 81; in Europe, 150; marketplace model of, 150; as monopoly, 53–54; and new capitalism, 118–19; as new titan, 38–41, 44, 45; power of, 54–55; Rekognition software of, 149; tax evasion by, 49; warehouse workers at, 31–32, 33, 34; working conditions at, 46 Amazon Shopping, 30 Amazon Web Services (AWS), 41 American Academy of Pediatrics, 9 American Association of People with Disabilities, 55 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 21, 22, 96, 148–49, 153, 176n28 American Dream, 120–21 American Library Association, 55 amplification, 91 analog networks, in cognitive mapping, 143 Android operating system, 39, 41, 53, 69, 70–71, 72 “angel investor,” 120 Ant Financial, 42 antidiscrimination laws, 149 antitrust laws and practices, 43–44, 52–53, 55, 150 AOL, data collection from, 81 app(s): top ten, 38 “app dashboard,” 69 app jobs, 30–34, 35, 137 Apple: data collection from, 81; in Europe, 150; low-paid workers at, 147; as new titan, 42; refusal of “right to repair” by, 155; supply chain of, 28–29; tax evasion by, 49–50; working conditions at, 46 appropriation, frontiers of, 73–76 appwashing, 34, 35, 146 “Arab Spring,” 97 Ardern, Jacinda, 93 ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), 80 artificial intelligence, 121–22, 123, 130 aspirational story, 120 assembly workers, 28–29 Athena, 42 AT&T, 29, 42, 43, 71 attention, 7 Audible, 41 Australia, justice in, 21 automation, 128, 131 automobiles, analogy between smartphones and, 2–3, 161, 162 autonomy, 117, 124 AWS (Amazon Web Services), 41 bad behavior, 138–39 Baidu, 42 Bannon, Steve, 105 Barlow, John Perry, 124 Bellini, Eevie, 24 Berners-Lee, Tim, 40 Beyoncé, 61, 107 Bezos, Jeff, 38, 44, 49, 54, 118–19 Bharatiya Janata Party (India), 93 big data, 76, 83–84, 145 Binh, Huang Duc, 95 black(s): police violence against, 17–23, 35, 169n6, 169n13 Blackberry, 6 “black-box algorithms,” 151 Black Lives Matter (BLM), 89–90, 100–102, 104, 107, 111 Blades, Joan, 91 blockchains, 124 body cameras worn by police, 22 book publishers, 172n40 boredom, 11 bots, 109 Boyd, Wes, 91 boyfriend, invisible, 24 Boyle, Susan, 63 Brazil, politics in, 97 Brin, Sergei, 38, 41, 54, 119, 148 Brown, Michael, Jr., 22, 89–90, 91, 101–2 Buffett, Warren, 41 Bumble, 23, 91 Bumblehive, 81 Burke, Tarana, 108 Bush, George W., 99 Calico, 41 California Consumer Privacy Act, 150 “CamperForce,” 31–32 Canales, Christian, 21 cancer, 7 candidates, social media use by, 103–5 Capital G, 41 capitalism: chameleonesque quality of, 116–17; crony, 105; and frontiers, 72–79; maps of, 143–44; neoliberal, 69, 102, 112–13, 117–18, 144–45; smartphones as embodiment of, 161–62; spirit of, 115–18; surveillance, 8 capitalist frontiers, government and, 80–81 carbon footprint, 82, 175n77 Carnegie, Andrew, 37, 54, 57 Castile, Philando, 20, 35 CatchLA, 62 caveats, 14–15 celebrities, in digital movements, 91 celebrity culture, 64–65 censorship, 95 Center for American Progress, 55 Center for Responsive Politics, 56 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 81, 95, 96, 138, 175n74 centrism, 112 Chadaga, Smitha, 89 change agent, 12 Chan, Priscilla, 56 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), 56 Charles, Ashley “Dotty,” 109 Charlottesville, Virginia, 106–7, 111 Chesky, Brian, 120 children, 8, 9, 11–12, 84 China, 4, 42, 94–95 Chronicle, 41 CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 81, 95, 96, 138, 175n74 Cienfuegos, Joaquin, 20–21 City of the Future, 124 Clinton, Bill, 43, 91, 99 Clinton, Hillary, 50, 107 Clooney, George, 91 “the cloud,” 82 cloud storage facility, 81 coercive relationships, 137–38, 152–54 cognitive maps and mapping, 143–59; algorithmic accountability in, 151; antidiscrimination laws in, 149; coercive and unjust relationships in, 152–54; defined, 143; digital and analog networks in, 143; digital commons in, 156–59; ecological externalities in, 145; economic implications in, 151–52; internet access for poor and rural communities in, 149–50; lacunae in, 145; low-paying jobs in, 146–49, 153–54; monopoly in, 150; political advertising in, 149; power in, 145; and principles of smartphone use, 152–59; privacy in, 150–51; selfish or immoral behavior in, 154–56; sociotechnical layers of, 145 collateral damage, 96 collective action, 155–56 Comcast, 29, 71 comic books, 11 commodification of private sphere, 144 Communications and Decency Act, 51 communities, on-line, 64 community broadband initiative, 149–50 Community Legal Services, 171–72n32 Compass Transportation, 147 Computer and Communications Industry Association, 55 “connected presence,” 6 connection, 44, 63–64, 143, 162 connectivity, 122 Connolly, Mike, 94 consumer(s): vs. producers, 28–29 consumer categories, 77 consumer scores, 77–78 consumption, 83, 138–39 content algorithms, 51–52 content creation, 74–79 contingent workers, 30 convenience, 29–30, 35 Cooperation Jackson, 155 cop-watch groups, 20–21 “The Counted,” 19, 169n6 “creative monopoly,” 44 creativity, 117 credit scores, 78–79 creepin”, 65 critiques, 7–8 crony capitalism, 105 CrushTime, 24 Cruz, Ted, 92 “Cuban Twitter,” 95 Cucalon, Celia, 48 Cullors, Patrisse, 100–102 cultural capital, 62 “custom breathers,” 69 “customer lifetime value score,” 78 “cyberspace,” 82 CZI (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative), 56 Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, 103–4, 110 dashboard apps, 132 data brokers, 72, 77 data centers, energy use by, 82 data collection, 70–72, 83–84, 137, 150–51, 156–59 data mining, 76–79 data ownership, 135–36 “data smog,” 72 Data & Society, 151, 179n20 data vendors, 76 datification, 156–57, 161 dating apps, 23–27, 35 decentralization, 101–2, 120 decommodification, 156–57 DeepMind, 41, 79, 122, 157 Deliveroo, 32–33, 153 Department of Homeland Security, 149 Desai, Bhairavi, 146 Descartes, René, 67 Diallo, Amadou, 19 Diapers.com, 41 dick pics, 25 Dick’s Sporting Goods, 91 digital-analog political model, 104, 110–12, 145, 162 digital commons, 139–41, 156–59 digital divide, 28–29, 35 “digital exclusion,” 29 digital frontier, limits of, 82 digital justice, 17–23, 152, 157, 169n6, 169n13 digital networks, 143 digital platforms, 44 “digital redlining,” 29 “digital well-being,” 69 disconnection, 132–33 discrimination in housing, 47–48 divides, 17–36; built-in, 28–34, 35; related to justice, 17–23, 169n6, 169n13; related to sexuality, 23–27, 35 division of labor, 74–75 Dobbs, Tammy, 129 documentation, 62 domestic violence, 25 DoorDash, 33–34, 146–47 dopamine driven feedback loops, 67 double standard, 25–27, 35 drone warfare, 95 “dual economy,” 12–13 dumbness, 7, 9 “dumb phone,” 1, 8, 132, 167n15 dystopian future, 125–26, 128–30, 131 eBay, 147, 148 Echo Look device, 84 ecological externalities, 145 ecological limit of digital frontier, 82–83, 175n77 economic crisis (2008), 98–100, 117–18 economic divide, 13–14 economic implications, in cognitive mapping, 151–52 economic nationalism, 105 “ecosystems,” 40 Eddystone, 78 education, 13 Edwards, Jordan, 18 Egypt, 92, 97 elderly Americans, 63–64, 84 Electronic Frontier Foundation, 55, 124 Elliot, Umaara, 90 Ellison, Keith, 45 emails: vs. phone calls, 6; scanning of, 70–71 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 133 employment relationships, 137 encryption, 81, 175n74 energy consumption, 151–52, 154–55; by physical elements of digital life, 82, 175n77 entrepreneurship, 120–21 environmental justice, 154–55 Epsilon, 72 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 78 Estrada, Joseph, 90–91 Europe, American tech titans in, 150 European Union (EU), 49, 52–53, 150–51 experience economy, 62, 83 exploitation of labor, 75 externalization of work and workers, 31 Facebook: acquisitions by, 41; addiction to, 66–67, 69; and antidiscrimination laws, 149; credit ratings by, 79; data collection by, 71–72, 76, 81, 84; demographics of, 84; discrimination in advertising by, 47–48; employees organizing at, 148; in Europe, 150; Free Basics by, 41–42, 50; low-paid workers at, 147; managing impressions on, 63; as monopoly, 53–54, 172n46; and new capitalism, 124, 136; as news source, 50–51; as new titan, 38–39, 40, 41–42, 44–45; power and influence of, 56; tax evasion by, 49; time spent on, 60 Facebook Live, 84 Facebook Pixel, 72 “Facebook Revolution,” 97 facial recognition software, 129, 149 Fair Housing Act, 48 fake news, 50–51, 56 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 149 feedback loop, 66–67 “Feminist Five,” 108 feminist movement, 107–8 Ferguson, Missouri, 89–90, 101–2 Fields, James Alex, Jr., 106 filter bubbles, 53, 109–10 financial crisis (2008), 98–100, 117–18 fintech companies, 78–79 flexibility, 117 FlexiSpy, 25 FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, 149 food delivery apps, 32–33 food pictures, 62 forced arbitration, 148 Ford, Henry, 37, 124 Fordlandia, 124 Ford Motor Company, 37, 38, 44 Fowler, Susan, 126–27 FoxConn, 28 framing of analysis of cell phones, 12–14 Free Basics, 41–42, 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, 149 “free market” competition, 98 free speech, 138 Friedman, Patri, 124 frontier of social media, 59–86; addiction to, and fears about, 65–69; and big data, 82–86; characteristics of, 59–65; and government, 80–81; and privacy, 69–72; and profit, 72–79 Fuller, Margaret, 133 Galston, Bill, 45 gamification, 23–24, 146 Garza, Alicia, 100–102 Gassama, Mamoudou, 115 Gates, Bill, 56, 130 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), 150–51, 156 Geofeedia, 96 geopolitics, 95–96, 144 Germany, 3 Ghostbot, 24 gig economy, 137 Gilded Age, 1–2, 11, 54 global divides, 28–29 globalization, 98 Global Positioning System (GPS), 5 Gmail, 38, 71 Goodman, Amy, 104 Google: addiction to, 69; advertising on, 76; companies owned by, 41; data collection by, 70–71, 76, 81, 150; employees organizing at, 147–48; in Europe, 150; immoral projects at, 154; and intelligence agencies, 81; lobbying by, 55; low-paid workers at, 147; molding of public opinion by, 55; as monopoly, 52–54; and new capitalism, 119–20, 123, 136; as new titan, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43–45, 56; for online search, 52; power and influence of, 55–56; research funding by, 55; “summer camp” of, 55; tax evasion by, 49, 50; use by children, 84; working conditions at, 47 Google Calendar, 71 Google Chrome browser, 53 Google Drive, 71 Google Earth, 123 Google Fiber, 41 Google Images, 131 Google News, 50 Google Play, 72 Google Search, 38, 41, 53 Google Shopping Case, 52–53 Google Translate, 10 government: and capitalist frontiers, 80–81; and Silicon Valley, 124; surveillance by, 137–38, 144, 148–49 government tracking, 94–95 GPS (Global Positioning System), 5 Grant, Oscar, III, 18 Gray, Freddie, 22, 96 Great Pessimism, 118, 119 Great Recession, 118 Greece, 97 greenhouse emissions, 82 Green New Deal, 103, 151–52, 154, 179n22 Greenpeace, 157 Grindr, 23 gun violence, 90, 91, 110, 111 GV, 41 habitus, 62 Happn, 23, 24 Harari, Yuval Noah, 129–30, 132 Hearst, William Randolph, 50 Herndon, Chris, 56 Heyer, Heather, 106 Hirschman, Albert, 133 household expenses, 13 housing, discrimination in, 47–48 human, fear of becoming less, 67–68 iBeacon, 78 IBM, 149 ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), 21, 148 ICT (information and communication technologies) sector, energy used by, 82 ideals, 120 “identity resolution services,” 77 ILSR (Institute for Local Self-Reliance), 149–50, 153 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 21, 148 immoral behavior, 138–39, 154–56 impressions, management of, 62–63 income discrepancy, 12–13 independent contractors, 33–34, 137, 153 India, 4, 42, 60, 93 individualism, 117, 118 information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, energy used by, 82 injustice, 17–23, 169n6, 169n13 In-Q-Tel, 96 insta-bae principles, 61–62 Instacart, 30, 146 Instagram: addiction to, 69; content on, 60, 61, 62; creepin’ on, 65; data collection from, 72; demographics of, 61; microcelebrities on, 60; as new titan, 38, 41; time spent on, 60; value of, 74 Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), 149–50, 153 insurance companies, data mining by, 79 intelligence agencies, and capitalist frontiers, 81 internet: access for poor and rural communities to, 149–50; access to high-speed, 5, 29; creation of, 80; early days of, 40; government shutdown of, 94; smartphone connection to, 10 Internet Association, 45 Internet Broken Brain, 66 Internet.org, 41 Internet Research Agency, 109 internet service providers, and privacy, 71–72 inventions, new, 11 investors, 120–21 invisible boyfriend, 24 iPhone, 6, 42 Iron Eyes, Tokata, 104 Jacob’s letter, 127 Jacobs, Ric, 127 Jaffe, Sarah, 91 James, LeBron, 92 Jenner, Kris, 59 Jigsaw, 41 Jobs, Steve, 2, 6, 42 Joint Special Operations Command, 95 Jones, Alex, 111 Jones, Keaton, 109 justice, 17–23, 152, 157, 169n6, 169n13 Kalanick, Travis, 126, 127 Kardashian, Kim, 59 Kardashian, Kylie, 59 Kasky, Cameron, 90 Kattan, Huda, 60 Kellaway, Lucy, 1 Kennedy, John F., 88 Kerry, John, 56 Keynes, John Maynard, 117 Khosla, Sadhavi, 93 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 97 King, Rodney, 19 Klein, Naomi, 104 Knight First Amendment Institute, 93, 175n14 Knoll, Jessica, 108 Kreditech, 78–79 Kristol, Bill, 45 Kurzweil, Ray, 123 Lanier, Jaron, 67, 70, 135 Lantern, 95 law enforcement, surveillance by, 96–97, 137–38, 176n28 “leaners,” 29 Lean In (Sandberg), 107 Lehman Brothers, 98 Levandowski, Anthony, 123 LGBTQ community, 10, 64 “lifestyle politics,” 133 “like” button, 66 Lind, William, 105 “listening tour,” 56 Liu Hu, 94 live chats, 5 livestreaming of police violence, 20–21 lobbying, 55, 56 location data, 71 logistics workers, 31 Loon, 41 Loop Transportation, 147 Losse, Katherine, 124 love, 23–27, 35 low-income households, access to high-speed internet by, 29 low-paying jobs, 146–49, 153–54 Luxy, 23 Lyft 30, 31, 33, 146, 153 Lynd, Helen, 2, 3 Lynd, Robert, 2, 3 Lynn, Barry, 56 machine learning, 76, 121–22, 174n52 “machine zone,” 8 Macron, Emmanuel, 93 mainstream media, bypassing of, 91 Ma, Jack, 42 Makani, 41 mamasphere, 64 March for Our Lives, 104 March of the Margaridas, 108 Marjorie Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School, 90 marketification, 161 Markey, Ed, 152, 179n22 marriage, expectations and norms about, 24–25 Marshall, James, 17–19 Marshall, Tanya, 17–19 Martin, Trayvon, 22, 100 Marx, Karl, 67 mass shootings, 90, 91, 110, 111 Match.com, 23, 24 Match Group, 24 Matsuhisa, Nobu, 62 Maven, 147–48 McDonald, Laquan, 18 McInnes, Gavin, 106, 107, 111 McSpadden, Lezley, 101 meaning, sense of, 64–65, 162 Medbase200, 77 men’s work, 75 mental health of children, 8 meritocracy, 121 Messenger: data collection from, 72 Messenger Kids, 84 metadata, 72 #MeToo movement, 108 microcelebrities, 60 microchoices, 69 Microsoft: and City of the Future, 124; data collection from, 81; employees organizing at, 148; in Europe, 150; immoral projects at, 154; as new titan, 42, 43, 55, 56 Middleton, Daniel, 60 “Middletown,” 2–3 Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (Lynd and Lynd), 2–3 military, 80–81, 95 mind-body divide, 67–68 miners, 28 Minutiae, 84 misogyny, 25 Mobile Devices Branch of CIA, 81, 95 Mobile Justice MI app, 21, 169n13 Modi, Narendra, 93 Mondragon, Elena, 22–23 monetization, 59, 79 money accounts, mobile, 10 monopolies, 43–46, 52–53, 150 Morgan, J.

Fully Automated Luxury Communism
by Aaron Bastani
Published 10 Jun 2019

And yet, just six years later in 2010, Google announced their self-driving cars had ‘logged in over 140,000 miles’ with seven test vehicles completing over 1,000 miles each without any human intervention – including difficult terrain like San Francisco’s notoriously steep Lombard Street. Since then the likes of Apple, Tesla and Uber have entered the game, not to mention the older incumbents of the automobile industry. By 2016 Uber’s then-CEO Travis Kalanick was clear about the importance of self-driving vehicles for any transport company: ‘It starts with understanding that the world is going to go self-driving and autonomous … what would happen if we weren’t a part of that future? If we weren’t part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by.’

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A., 225 HDV (Haringey Development Vehicle), 205 healthcare Britain and, 213–14 post-scarcity in, 138–58 in UK, 215–16 United States and, 213–14 Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 16 heme, 176–7 Henderson, Bruce, 46–7 Henderson Curve, 46–7 Hinkley Point C, 113 Hinton, Geoffrey, 91 history, in 2008, 20–1 Hobbes, Thomas, 139 Holt, William, 44–5 Horse Manure Crisis, 73, 134 Houdini 6, 81 Human Genome Project, 144–5, 146 human rights, centrality of, 193–4 hurricanes, 97–8 Huxley, Aldus, 19 IBM, 80 Ibn Khallikan, 40–2 IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), 221 IDA (International Development Association), 221 IEA (International Energy Agency), 103, 105 ignorant people, 187–8 Illumina, 146 imitation, integration vs., 198 Impossible Foods, 175–7 India, 110, 166 Industrial Revolution, 33 industry, 32–6 inertia, measuring, 25–30 infectious diseases, 142–3 information about, 37–48 biology as, 39 food as, 164–8 Marx on, 49 post-capitalism and, 59–60 information goods, 63–5 information technology and robotics, 76 Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London, 214 integration, imitation vs., 198 internal energy insulation, 113 International Astronautical Congress, 119 International Bank for Energy Prosperity, 222 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), 221 International Development Association (IDA), 221 International Energy Agency (IEA), 100–1, 103, 105 International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 103–4 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 166 internationalism, 197–200 internet bandwidth, 45–6 Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), 119, 120 IPCC, 101 IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), 103–4 IRRI (International Rice Research Institute), 166 Ishee, David, 9, 153–4 ITS (Interplanetary Transport System), 119, 120 Jain, Naveen, 127–8 Jameson, Fredric, 17n Japanese Space Agency, 131 JD.com, 89 Jennings, Ken, 80, 81 Jevons, William, 164, 167 Jevons Paradox, 164 Just Foods, 174, 178 Kalanick, Travis, 84 Kalecki, Michał, 230, 231 Kasparov, Garry, 80 Kennedy, Robert, 233 Keynes, John Maynard, 51, 56–9, 243 ‘KIVA’ robot, 89 Kodak, 40–2 Kranzberg, Melvin ‘Six Laws of Technology’, 237 Kuiper belt, 130 Kurdi, Alan, 156–7 Kuznets, Simon, 233 labour, when capital becomes, 69–71 Labour Party, 229 Łaski, Kazimierz From Marx to the Market, 230–1 LEDs, 242 Lehman Brothers, 21 Leia, 4–5 Lendlease, 205 Leninism, 196 Leontief, Wassily, 75–6 Letter on the Economic Possibilities of Our Grandchildren, 56–7 Lewicki, Chris, 132 Lewis, Clive, 207 life expectancy, 139–40, 142, 166 lithium, 117, 118 livestock farming, 169–70 ‘lost decade’, 26 Luther, Martin, 240–1 luxury populism electoralism and society, 194–6 against elite technocracy, 185–8 FALC and, 192–4 against globalism, 197–200 green politics and red politics, 188–92 towards internationalism, 197–200 Machiavelli, Niccolò Discorsi, 95 Madrid Protocol, 136 Malthus, Thomas, 167 An Essay on the Principle of Population, 163–4 market capitalism about, 197–8 emergence of, 39–40 market socialism, autonomy of publicly owned firms under, 231 Mars, 120 Martinelli, Luke, 226 Marx, Karl on capitalism, 16, 34–6, 35, 51, 54–5, 128, 199 The Communist Manifesto, 51–2 compared to Wycliffe, 241 Grundrisse, 51–2, 56–7, 61–3 on information, 49 on mode of production, 195 on production, 60 on technology, 237 May, Theresa, 29, 141, 206 McAfee, Andrew, 93 McCauley, Raymond, 146 McDonnell, John, 207 meat cultured, 170–5 synthetic, 168–70 from vegetables, 175–7 medicine, automation in, 91 meganucleases, 150 Memphis Meats, 172, 173 Mendel, Gregor, 149 migration, globalism and, 197 milk, cellular agriculture and, 177–9 Millennium Project, 87–8 minerals, 117–18, 134–7.

Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
by Will Storr
Published 14 Jun 2017

‘Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars by 2026. Anyone else at any other time in history would’ve been mad to say that. But this is Elon Musk.’ I wondered about the influence of Ayn Rand among his fellow founders. Steve Jobs, for one, is said to have treated Atlas Shrugged as his ‘guide in life,’ whilst Travis Kalanick of Uber used the cover of The Fountainhead as his Twitter avatar. ‘Engineers and richer folk are often libertarian,’ he said. ‘It’s never been tried, this pure libertarianism that Ayn Rand was promoting. What we need is a chance to give it a go. If we had a whole bunch of habitats in space that were somewhat politically isolated, you could run these experiments.

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Twenge et al., PLOS ONE (July 2012), 7(7); ‘Fitting In or Standing Out: Trends in American Parents’ Choices for Children’s Names, 1880–2007’, Jean M. Twenge et al., Social Psychological and Personality Science (2010), 1(1), pp. 19–25. They write of the largest place of worship in America, Lakewood Church in Houston: The Narcissism Epidemic, Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell (Free Press, 2010), pp. 248, 249. Steve Jobs . . . Travis Kalanick: Wozniak on Steve Job’s Resignation, Bloomberg, 24 August 2011, video, from 08:46 [Wozniak: ‘He must have read some books that really were his guide in life and I think Atlas Shrugged might have been one that he mentioned back then.’] www.bloomberg.com/news/­videos/b/­d93c1b72-31e2-41de-ba4a-65a6cb4f4929.

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Keith ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Carlyle, Abbot Aelred ref1, ref2 Carnegie, Dale ref1 How to Win Friends and Influence People ref1 Carter, Drummond ref1 celebrity culture ref1, ref2, ref3 chimpanzees ref1, ref2 China biographies in ref1 Confucian self ref1 and group harmony ref1 suicides in ref1 Christian Science movement ref1 Christianity ref1, ref2 Ancient Greek influence ref1, ref2 and belief in God ref1 dourly introspective ref1 future-orientated ref1 orthodox not orthoprax ref1 and perfection ref1 and reason ref1 ritual and mimicry ref1 and the unconscious ref1 and the university system ref1 Cialdini, Dr Robert, The Psychology of Influence and Persuasion ref1 CJ becomes anorexic ref1 childhood and family life ref1 description and life ambition ref1 devotion to The Hunger Games ref1, ref2, ref3 drops out of drama college ref1 need for validation ref1 personality ref1, ref2 relationship with boys ref1 takes selfies as validation of self ref1, ref2 Claybury psychiatric hospital ref1 Clinton, Bill ref1, ref2 Clinton, Hilary ref1 Coan, James ref1 Cole, Steve ref1 the Collective ref1 computers see digital technology Confucianism ref1 and Aristotelianism ref1 and suicide ref1 Confucius ref1 Connop, Phoebe ref1 Cook, Tim ref1 Cooley, Charles Horton ref1 Cornish, Jackie ref1 corporate self ref1 Corporation Man and Woman, idea of ref1 Coulson, William ref1, ref2 Council of Economic Advisers ref1 Cowen, Graeme ref1, ref2 Cramer, Katherine ref1 cultural self and Ancient Greece ref1 and Asian self ref1, ref2 childhood and adolescence ref1 and Confucianism ref1 and the environment ref1 Freudian beliefs ref1 and ideal body ref1, ref2 and storytelling ref1 and youth ref1 Curtis, Adam ref1 Cynics, in Ancient Greece ref1 Deep Space Industries ref1, ref2 Demo: New Tech Solving Big Problems conference (San Jose, 2014) ref1 Deukmejian, George ‘The Duke’ ref1, ref2, ref3 digital technology and age of perfectionism ref1 development of ref1, ref2 dot.com crash ref1 humanist-neoliberal ideology ref1, ref2, ref3 and the ideal self ref1 online community ref1 personal computers ref1, ref2 as portal to information ref1 and the selfie drone ref1 vision of the future ref1 Web 2.0 ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 DNA ref1 Doyle, Jacqueline ref1 Dunbar, Robin ref1 Eagleman, David ref1 East Asians ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 eating disorders ref1, ref2 Eddy, Mary Baker ref1, ref2 Eells, Gregory ref1 effectance motive ref1 Ehrenreich, Barbara ref1 El Rancho Inn, Millbrae ref1, ref2, ref3 empathy ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 encounter groups danger of ref1 Doug Engelbart’s ref1 online ref1 participation in ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Fritz Perls’ ref1 Carl Rogers as pioneer of ref1 Will Schutz’s ref1 Engelbart, Doug ref1 interest in EST ref1 introduces encounter groups ref1 joins Global Business Network ref1 presents personal computer concept ref1, ref2 vision of information age ref1, ref2 ‘Augmenting Human Intellect’ ref1 environment and development of the brain ref1, ref2 Easterners’ vs Westerners’ awareness of ref1 effect of changes to ref1 importance of ref1 and individual experience ref1 and social perfectionism ref1, ref2, ref3 Epley, Nicholas ref1, ref2 Erhard, Werner ref1 Erhard Seminars Training (EST) workshops ref1 Esalen Institute ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10 Big Yurt ref1 criticisms of ref1 final assignment ref1 hosts conference on Spiritual and Therapeutic Tyranny ref1, ref2, ref3 influence at Stanford ref1, ref2 The Max ref1, ref2 Pandora’s Box ref1 Fritz Perls’ Gestalt encounter groups ref1 role-play tasks ref1 Will Schutz’s encounter groups ref1 stated mission ref1 suicides connected to ref1 unaffiliated ‘Little Esalens’ ref1 and wired technology ref1 EST see Erhard Seminars Training (EST) workshops Euclid, Cleveland ref1 Euripides, The Suppliants ref1 extraverts ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Faber, Daniel ref1, ref2 Facebook ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Fall Joint Computer Conference (San Francisco, 1968) ref1, ref2 financial crises ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Flett, Gordon ref1, ref2 Fonda, Jane ref1, ref2 Fortune magazine ref1, ref2 ‘The Founder’ concept ref1, ref2 Fox, Jesse ref1 free speech ref1 free will ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Freud, Sigmund ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Totem and Taboo ref1 Frith, Chris ref1 Gagarin, Nick ref1 gamified self ref1, ref2, ref3 Garcia, Rigo ref1 Gazzaniga, Michael ref1, ref2 GBN see Global Business Network Generation X ref1, ref2 George, Carol ref1 gig economy ref1, ref2 Global Business Network (GBN) ref1, ref2 globalization ref1, ref2, ref3 Gold, Judith ref1 Goldman, Marion ref1 Gome, Gilad ref1, ref2, ref3 Gordon, Robert ref1 gossip ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 Great Compression (c. 1945–c. 1975) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12 Great Depression ref1 Greenspan, Alan appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve ref1 considers himself a libertarian ref1 effect of decisions on financial crisis ref1 influenced by Rand ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 relationship with Clinton ref1 rise to power ref1 Hacker Hostels, San Francisco ref1, ref2 Haidt, Jonathan ref1, ref2, ref3 Hampton, Debbie ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Hayek, Friedrich ref1, ref2, ref3 Heinz, Adrienne ref1, ref2, ref3 Heinz, Austen considered sexist and misogynistic ref1 description of ref1 DNA vision ref1 personality ref1 suicide of ref1 Henrich, Joseph ref1, ref2, ref3 heroes ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8 Hewitt, John ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow) ref1 Himba people ref1 Hogan, Robert ref1 Hollesley Bay Young Offenders Institution, Suffolk ref1 Hood, Bruce ref1, ref2, ref3 The Self Illusion ref1 Horowitz, Mitch ref1, ref2 Human Potential Movement ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Humanistic Psychology ref1, ref2 The Hunger Games ref1, ref2, ref3 hunter-gatherers ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Hutchinson, Audrey ref1, ref2 Huxley, Aldous ref1 ideal self ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10 see also perfect self Immaculate Heart Community, California ref1 Inc.com ref1, ref2 individualism and the 2016 political shocks ref1 in America ref1 Ancient Greek notion of ref1, ref2, ref3 and blame ref1 Christian view ref1, ref2 competitive ref1, ref2 cooperation and teamwork ref1, ref2 and culture ref1 development of ref1, ref2 East Asian concept of ref1 East–West clash ref1 and freedom ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 getting along and getting ahead ref1, ref2 and the Great Compression ref1 hard form of ref1 as heightened ref1 hyper-individual model ref1 libertarian-neoliberal ref1 and passion ref1 and personality traits ref1, ref2 and Ayn Rand ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 rise of ref1, ref2 and self-esteem ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 and social pain ref1 and the state ref1 Stewart Brand’s concept of ref1 and wired technology ref1 internet ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 and Doug Engelbart ref1 and Web 2.0 ref1, ref2, ref3 introverts ref1, ref2, ref3 Jaeger, Werner ref1, ref2, ref3 James, William ref1 Japan, suicide in ref1 Jeremy (mechanical engineer) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Jobs, Steve ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Kalanick, Travis ref1 kalokagathia ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Kelly, Jodi ref1 Kidlington Detention Centre, Oxfordshire ref1 Kim, Uichol ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Konrath, Sara ref1 Lakewood Church, Houston ref1 leadership ref1, ref2 Leary, Mark ref1 Levey, Cate ref1, ref2 libertarianism ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Lincoln Elementary School, Long Beach ref1 Little, Brian ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Loewenstein, George ref1 ‘The Long Boom: A History of the Future’ (Schwartz et al.) ref1, ref2 The Looking-Glass Self (Bruce) ref1, ref2 Lord, Frances ref1 Luit (chimpanzee) ref1 Lyons, Dan ref1 McAdams, Dan ref1 McKee, Robert ref1 McManus, Chris ref1 Marin, Peter ref1 market rhetoric ref1 Markoff, John ref1 Martin, Father ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Marwick, Alice ref1, ref2, ref3 Maslow, Abraham ref1, ref2 Matteo Ricci College, Seattle ref1 Mayfield, Janet ref1 Mecca, Andrew ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6 Menlo Park ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Michie, Colin ref1 millennials ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Mind Cure ref1, ref2, ref3 Mitropoulos, Con ref1, ref2 monastic life ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Monitoring the Future Project ref1 Mont Pelerin Society ref1 Morales, Helen ref1 Mumford, Lewis, The Myth of the Machine ref1 Murphy, Michael ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 Musk, Elon ref1, ref2, ref3 narcissism ref1 at Esalen ref1, ref2 and over-praise ref1, ref2 research into ref1 rise in ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 and self-esteem ref1, ref2, ref3 and Trump ref1 and Vasco ref1 in younger people ref1, ref2 The Narcissism Epidemic (Twenge and Campbell) ref1 narcissistic perfectionism ref1 Narcissistic Personality Disorder ref1 Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) ref1, ref2 National Academy of Sciences Proceedings (2015) ref1 National Council for Self Esteem ref1 nature vs nurture in development ref1, ref2 neoliberalism becomes mainstream ref1 and being self-sufficient and successful ref1 and ‘bespoke hero’ ref1 corporate view ref1 and creation of new form of human ref1 and the digital future ref1 disdain for regulation and government oversight ref1 emergence ref1 and financial inequalities ref1, ref2 and gay rights/gay marriage ref1 and global financial crisis (2008) ref1 as global phenomenon ref1 governments run like businesses ref1 Hayek’s vision of ref1, ref2 individualism, status and self-esteem ref1 negative effects ref1 and new style of government ref1 and power of multinationals ref1 rebellion against ref1 and structural inequalities ref1 and working conditions ref1 Netflix: code for employees ref1 Nettle, Daniel ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Personality ref1 neurotics and neuroticism ref1, ref2 neurotic perfectionism ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 as personality trait ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 Nietzsche Society, UCL ref1 Nisbett, Richard ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 NPI see Narcissism Personality Index; Narcissistic Personality Inventory O’Connor, Rory ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Oedipus complex ref1, ref2 O’Reilly, Tim ref1 ostracism ref1 Ozawa-de Silva, Chikako ref1 Pakrul, Stephanie (aka StephTheGeek) ref1 ‘Paris Hilton effect’ ref1 Peale, Dr Norman Vincent, The Power of Positive Thinking ref1 perfect self as an illusion ref1 Heinz Austen as example of ref1 and being anything we want to be ref1, ref2 Christian ref1 CJ as example of ref1 cultural conception of ref1 and culture ref1 and digital self ref1 and gamified individualist economy ref1 and ideal self ref1 judging others and ourselves ref1 narcissistic ref1 and neoliberalism ref1 neurotic ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 perfectionist presentation ref1 and personal responsibility ref1 pressures of ref1 and the self ref1, ref2 selfishness or selflessness ref1, ref2 social ref1 and suicide ref1 see also ideal self Perls, Fritz ref1, ref2 as a ‘dirty old man’ ref1, ref2, ref3 feud with Schutz ref1 fractious relationship with Esalen ref1 Gestalt encounter groups ref1, ref2, ref3 near obsessional attacks and insults ref1 reaction to suicides ref1 Tom Wolfe’s comments on ref1 tough upbringing ref1 visits Freud ref1, ref2 personal computers see digital technology personality and acting out of character ref1 assumptions concerning ref1 basic traits ref1, ref2, ref3 and being or doing whatever we want ref1 and the brain ref1, ref2, ref3 different people in different contexts ref1 individualism and self-esteem ref1 and parental influence ref1 predictable shifts in ref1 prison metaphor ref1 and realising you’re not the person you wanted to be ref1 social responses ref1 tests and research ref1 as virtually unchanging ref1 physical self Ancient Greek ideals ref1, ref2 and body consciousness ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 cultural influences ref1 and diet ref1 linked to moral worth ref1 Pluscarden Abbey ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8 polyamory ref1, ref2 Price, Marcia ref1 Price, Richard ref1, ref2, ref3 Pridmore, John ref1 childhood trauma ref1 effect of culture on ref1, ref2, ref3 sent to prison ref1 undergoes religious conversion ref1, ref2, ref3 violent behaviour ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 weeps when watching TV ref1, ref2 psychoanalysis ref1 Qi Wang ref1 Quimby, Phineas ref1, ref2 Rainbow Mansion, Silicon Valley ref1, ref2 Rand, Ayn ref1, ref2, ref3 beliefs and influence ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6 changes her name/identity ref1 early life ref1 reaction to Nathaniel Branden’s infidelity ref1, ref2 sets up the Collective ref1 Atlas Shrugged ref1, ref2, ref3 The Fountainhead ref1 The Virtue of Selfishness ref1 reputation ref1, ref2 in Ancient Greece ref1 ‘getting along and getting ahead’ (Hogan) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6 and guilt ref1 ‘honour culture’ ref1 and tribal brains ref1 Rogers, Art ref1, ref2 Rogers, Carl ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 Roh Moo-hyun ref1 Rosenbaum, Alyssa see Rand, Ayn Rosetto, Louis ref1 Ross, Ben ref1, ref2 Rudnytsky, Peter ref1 Rule of St Benedict, The ref1, ref2 San Francisco ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9 Sapolsky, Robert ref1, ref2 Sartre, Jean-Paul ref1, ref2 Satir, Virginia ref1 Schuman, Michael ref1 Schutz, Will ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6 Joy ref1 Schwartz, Peter ref1 Scott, Sophie ref1, ref2 Seager, Martin ref1 self cultivation of ref1 East Asian, and reality ref1, ref2 and engagement in personal projects ref1 and local best-practice ref1 and need for a mission ref1 as open and free ref1 perfectible ref1, ref2 as a story ref1 see also authentic self Self-Determination Think Tank ref1 self-esteem Baumeister’s research into ref1 belief in ref1 and changes in values ref1 in education ref1, ref2, ref3 high ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 and lack of tolerance and empathy ref1 legislation embodying ref1 legitimization of ref1 and life-affirming message ref1 lingering effects of movement ref1 low ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10 media questioning of ref1 myths and lies concerning ref1, ref2, ref3 and narcissism ref1, ref2, ref3 negative effects ref1 negative report on ref1 and overpraise ref1 and perfectionism ref1 popularity of ref1 raising ref1 research into ref1 and selfie generation ref1 Self-Esteem Task Force project ref1 social importance of ref1 Vasco’s ideology of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 Western emphasis on ref1 self-harm ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8 self-interest ref1, ref2, ref3 self-just-about-everything ref1, ref2 self-loathing ref1 self-love movement ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 selfie generation ref1 awareness of structural inequalities ref1 CJ as example of ref1, ref2 effect of social media on ref1 maintaining continual state of perfection ref1 and narcissism ref1 need for social feedback ref1 and parenting practices ref1 selfishness/selflessness ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Shannahoff-Khalsa, David ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Shannin (entrepreneur) ref1 Shaw, Paula ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Silani, Dr Giorgia ref1 Silicon Valley, California ref1, ref2 attitude to conspicuous wealth ref1 as capital of the neoliberal self ref1 cold-blooded rationalism in ref1 demonstration of personal computing in ref1 hyper-individualist model of corporate self in ref1, ref2 involvement in transformation of economy ref1 lack of compassion in ref1 links with Esalen ref1 living in fear in ref1 as military-industrial complex ref1 model of ideal self in ref1 Simon, Meredith ref1, ref2, ref3 Singularity ref1 Smelser, Neil ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 Smiles, Samuel ref1 Self Help ref1 Snyder, Mark ref1 Social Importance of Self-Esteem, The (Smelser et al.) ref1, ref2 social media ref1, ref2 social pain ref1, ref2 South Korea, suicide in ref1 Sparks, Randy ref1 Oh Yes, I’m A Wonderful Person and other Musical Adventures for those of us in search of Greater Self-Esteem ref1 Spiritual and Therapeutic Tyranny: The Willingness to Submit (conference, 1973) ref1, ref2, ref3 Squire, Michael ref1 Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park ref1, ref2 Augmentation Research Center (ARC) ref1, ref2 Stanford University ref1, ref2, ref3 Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Unit ref1 Stark, Rodney ref1 start-ups ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6 Startup Castle, Silicon Valley ref1 stimulus-action hunger ref1 storytelling Brexit/Trump narrative ref1 development of personal narratives ref1 East–West differences/similarities ref1 and feelings of control ref1 as form of tribal propaganda ref1 happiness and sense of purpose ref1 and the inner voice ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 self and culture ref1 and self-esteem ref1 and self-loathing ref1 selfishness or selflessness ref1, ref2, ref3 split-brain participants ref1 success and failure ref1 as universal ref1 suicide ref1 attempts at ref1, ref2, ref3 Confucian cultures ref1 connected to Esalen ref1, ref2 as failed hero stories ref1 gender and culture ref1, ref2 increase due to financial crisis (2008) ref1 in Japan ref1 and loss of hero status ref1 as a mystery ref1 patterns in ref1 and perfectionism ref1, ref2, ref3 rates of ref1 research into ref1 in South Korea ref1 Sunshine (attendee at Esalen) ref1 Sweet Peach ref1 synthetic biology ref1, ref2 Talhelm, Thomas ref1 Tanzania ref1, ref2 teamwork/cooperation ref1 Thiel, Peter ref1 Zero to One ref1 Tice, Dianne ref1 Tomkins, Detective Sergeant Katherine ref1 Tomlinson, Rachel ref1 Toward a State of Esteem (1990) ref1 tribal self Brexit/Trump narrative ref1 hierarchy, territory, status ref1 and ideal/perfect self ref1 monks as ref1 prejudice and bias ref1 and punishing of transgressors ref1 reputation and gossip ref1, ref2 selflessness or selflessness ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 and storytelling/left-brain interpretation ref1 Trudeau, Garry ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 Trump, Donald as anti-establishment ref1 appeal to voters ref1, ref2 declares he will put ‘America first’ ref1 false stories concerning ref1 narcissistic tendencies ref1 and social media ref1 as straightforward no-nonsense businessman ref1 Trzesniewski, Kali ref1 Turner, Fred ref1, ref2 Twenge, Jean ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 20Mission (Hacker Hostel, San Francisco) ref1 Twitter ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 University of Glasgow Suicide Behaviour Research Laboratory ref1, ref2, ref3 Vanessa (employee at Rainbow Mansion) ref1, ref2 Vasconcellos, John ‘Vasco’ ref1, ref2 death of ref1 description and beliefs ref1 early life and education ref1 as ‘furious’ ref1, ref2, ref3 as homosexual ref1 ideology of self-esteem ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5 nutty notions of ref1, ref2 ridiculed by the media ref1 and Smelser’s conclusions on the task force ref1 suffers massive heart attack ref1, ref2 Task Force project ref1 Vittitow, Dick ref1 Waal, Frans de ref1 Wallace, Donald ‘Smokey’ ref1 Warren, Laura ref1 Whole Earth Catalog ref1 Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link ref1, ref2, ref3 Wigglesworth, Smith ref1, ref2 Williams, Kip ref1, ref2 Wilson, Timothy D. ref1 Wolfe, Tom ref1 Wolin, Sheldon ref1 Wood, Natalie ref1, ref2 Wrangham, Richard ref1 Xerox ref1, ref2, ref3 zero-hours contracts ref1, ref2, ref3 Also by Will Storr FICTION The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone NON-FICTION Will Storr versus The Supernatural The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (published in the US as The Unpersuadables) First published 2017 by Picador This electronic edition published 2017 by Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR Associated companies throughout the world www.panmacmillan.com ISBN 978-1-4472-8367-6 Copyright © Will Storr 2017 Cover Design: Neil Lang, Picador Art Department The right of Will Storr to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
by Thomas Frank
Published 15 Mar 2016

It probably didn’t hurt that Uber had hired a former Patrick aide as a lobbyist, but the real point was, of course, innovation: Uber was the future, the taxi drivers were the past, and the path for Massachusetts was obvious. No surprise, then, that the first recipient of the Deval Patrick Commonwealth Innovation Award was none other than Deval Patrick. The prize was bestowed on him in 2014 by MassChallenge’s Harthorne, joined by the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, who showed up in order to add some entrepreneurial gravitas to the moment. “I wanted to be here to thank the governor for his leadership, his vision around innovation, around technology, and creating that innovative spirit here in Massachusetts,” Kalanick said on that solemn occasion.29 Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, was also on hand to salute Massachusetts for an “explosion of startups.”

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See also Silicon Valley; technocracy In the Shadow of FDR (Leuchtenburg) investment banks Iran Iraq War Isaacson, Walter It Takes a Village (H. Clinton) Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Robert Jefferson, Thomas Jobs, Steve jobs. See also unemployment NAFTA and sharing economy and training and Johnson, Dirk Jones, Jesse Jordan, Vernon JPMorgan Judis, John Justice Department Kahn, Alfred Kalanick, Travis Kamarck, Elaine Kennedy, Robert F. Kerry, John King, Martin Luther Klein, Joe Knapp, Bill Knights of Labor knowledge economy Kraft, Joseph Krugman, Paul Ku Klux Klan labor flexible markets for law and share of nation’s income labor unions NAFTA and Laden, Osama bin Lanier, Jaron Larson, Magali Lasch, Christopher LawTrades learning class.

Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey Into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley
by Corey Pein
Published 23 Apr 2018

With its “break laws first, buy influence later” strategy proven, Uber’s next round raised an astonishing $258 million with help from Google, which needed to “disrupt” the rules of the road if it hoped to gain approval for its driverless cars. The cash windfall fueled Uber’s global expansion. Its CEO and cofounder, Travis Kalanick, was a big fan of the novelist Ayn Rand, and at times his behavior seemed to imitate one of Rand’s infinitely selfish antiheroes. Uber tried to subvert resistance wherever it launched by ingratiating itself with politicians. Usually, it worked. In Portland, Oregon, it hired the services of a powerful local political consultant who had managed the election campaigns for the mayor, a key city councilor, and many other statewide power players.

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IBM Inc. magazine Indelicato, Julie In-Q-Tel Instagram Instant Payday Network Institutional Venture Partners InterDigital, Inc. International Brotherhood of Teamsters iRobot ItsThisForThat.com Jacobstein, Neil Jobs, Steve Johnson, Robert Jordan, David Starr Joyner, Istvan JP Morgan Chase Juno Kalanick, Travis Kaufman, Micha Keeton, Kathy Kelly, Kevin Kenna, Jered Kennedy, Anthony Keurig Khan Academy Khosla, Vinod Kissinger, Henry Kjellberg, Felix. See PewDiePie Klein, Michael Klein, Roxanne Kleiner Perkins Kurzweil, Ray Laborize Land, Nick Lee, Rhoda Lifeboat Foundation Lifehacker Lifograph LinkedIn Lockheed Lockheed Martin Lombardi, Steven Lucas, George Luckey, Palmer Lyft Machine Intelligence Research Institute MacLeod, Ken Marshall, Brad Mason, Andrew McCauley, Raymond MCI Communications Mechanical Turk Meetup.com Mercer, Robert Microsoft Millionaires Society Miner, Bob Mishra, Pankaj Modi, Narendra Moldbug, Mencius.

Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves From the American Dream
by Alissa Quart
Published 14 Mar 2023

Because she helped define how certain moneyed classes think about their power and was one of the premier faces on the proverbial postage stamps of tech individualism. Her effect could be said to be Alger 2.0, and as with Alger, her favored vehicle for transmitting this American archetype was pulp fiction. Her contemporary followers are legion and include the King-of-the-NASDAQ-by-way-of-Burning Man Travis Kalanick, cofounder of Uber, who had the cover of a Rand book as his Twitter avatar, as well as the founder of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. Lisa Duggan, in her account of Rand entitled Mean Girl, writes that the most “influential figure in the industry, after all, isn’t Steve Jobs or Sheryl Sandberg, but rather Ayn Rand.”

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See inequality income tax, xi, 10, 104, 146 on excess profit, 159, 220, 255n in Participatory Budgeting (PB), 210–15 as wealth tax, 54–56, 69, 76, 156–58, 160–63, 237n independence, 19–21, 30–32, 119–20, 125, 223, 230 See also individualism independent contractors, 146–50, 253n indigence, vii, x, 39, 166, 192, 219, 240n, 253n Indigenous people, 19, 25–26, 29–33, 171–72, 239n individualism, xii, 3–8, 13–20, 92–94, 172–74, 257n affluence and, 4, 48–50, 230 independent contractors and, 146–50, 253n libertarianism and, 46–47, 83, 243n limits of, 183–85, 188, 193, 215, 218 rugged, 14, 27–29, 32, 36, 238n inequality, 44, 54–59, 154–56, 181, 199, 254n as bootstrapping, 5–8, 217 as gender inequity, 4, 11, 22, 69, 123, 126, 145, 172, 252n in gig work, 138–43, 145–50, 179 in health care, 205–8 as product of trickle-down economics, 62–63, 68, 231 Inequality.org, 154 inherited wealth, 18, 56–57, 76, 153–57, 163, 218, 242n, 245n heiresses, 61–62 injustice, 21, 97, 115, 156 as administrative burden, 108–11 instability, financial, 7, 143, 147 and employment instability, 126, 132, 144, 181 student debt and, ix, 7, 11, 104, 163, 246n, 251n Instacart, 138, 140–41, 146–49, 253–54n Institute for Family Studies, 134 interdependence, art of, 8–10, 22–23, 219–23, 227–31 in health care, 206–9 in Kropotkin, 170–74 in local governance, 210–15 in mutual aid, 165–77 in worker cooperatives, 180–90 intersectionality, 195, 201, 218, 252n, 258n invisible labor, ix, 10, 18, 77, 201, 218, 238n, 247n Jane Eyre (Brontë), 20 Jenner, Kylie, 40 Jobs, Steve, 46, 58, 242n Johnson, Eric Michael, 173–74, 257n judgment, 7, 35, 55, 67–68, 125, 162, 171, 209 on laziness, 19, 78, 81–82 as moral injury, xi, 15, 59, 85, 104–5, 223, 238n, 260n justice, 65, 96–97, 149, 182, 211, 222 Workers for Justice, 162 “just-world” hypothesis, 65–67, 244n Kabat-Zinn, Jon, 91, 249n Kahneman, Daniel, 79, 199 Kalanick, Travis, 46 Karol, David, 74 Kawano, Emily, 181 KC Tenants (Kansas City), 224 Keeping Up with the Kardashians, 63 Kemper, Bob, 78–80 Kendall, Mikki, 188 Kerr, Camille, 180–81 Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Williams), 147–48 Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism (Leary), 141, 147–48 Kiatpongsan, Sorapop, 57 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 9–11, 237n Koch brothers (Charles and David), 243n Kolokotronis, Alexander, 214, 260n Kropotkin, Peter, 170–74, 188–89 Krugman, Paul, 55 Kucinskas, Jaime, 92 labor market, 9–10, 78–79, 95, 120 and invisible labor, 117–20, 124–26, 129–31, 228, 238n Laird, Pamela Walker, 7–9, 236n landlessness, 33–34, 37, 239n landlords, 8, 153–54, 224 Landon, Michael, 35, 240n Lane, Rose Wilder, 27–28, 238n Langone, Ken, 161 Lapham, Mike, 75 Latino Exit from the Democratic Party (LEXIT), 82–83 Law for Black Lives, 162 laziness, 19, 78, 81–82 Lean In (Sandberg), 46, 61, 127–28, 245 Leary, John Patrick, 141, 144, 147, 253n Lerner, Joshua, 211–12 Lerner, Melvin, 65–67, 244n A Fundamental Delusion, 65 liberation in child tax credit, 219–20 as community-mindedness, xi, 5, 9, 21, 167–70, 174, 228–30, 257n in counternarratives, 65, 133, 141, 218, 224–25, 231, 260–61n from disease, 205, 207 from fear, 193–96 in free community college, 11–12, 258n as freedom from, 47–49, 72, 239n and freelance gigs, 140–41, 145 and free lunch, 111, 123 and freethinking, 17–21, 230, 237n as medical insurance, 47, 112, 223–24 in mindfulness, 93–95 in mutual aid, 165–70, 176, 185, 215, 218, 220–21, 225–31 libertarianism, 27–28, 46–47, 59–60, 83, 238n, 240n, 243n The Limits of Self-Reliance (Read), 19 Linnemann, Esma, 93 Little House on the Prairie (Wilder), 25–37 log cabins, 25, 27, 29–30 Loper, Nick, 142 Loy, David, 93 Lululemon, 46–47 lunch program, 23, 78, 108–9, 114–15, 224 Mackey, John, 46, 241n Magee, Rhonda, 96–97 Making Volunteers: Civic Life at Welfare’s End (Eliasoph), 209, 259n Manchin, Joe, 69, 114, 134, 251n Manklang, Mo, 180, 184 market worship, 45, 50, 83, 90, 198, 239–40n, 248n, 259n Martel, James, 42, 50, 240n Marx, Leo, 19, 238n masks.

The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions...and Created Plenty of Controversy
by Leigh Gallagher
Published 14 Feb 2017

In what became a valuable reverse mentorship, Donahoe also quizzed Chesky for his advice on design and innovation and on how eBay could maintain characteristics of being young and nimble. From Jeff Weiner, Chesky learned the importance of removing those managers who weren’t performing. From Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff he learned how to push his executive team. He also had access to an informal support group among his current-generation start-up peers, including Travis Kalanick of Uber, Drew Houston of Dropbox, Jack Dorsey of Square, and John Zimmer of Lyft, all sharing their individual lessons about everything from running start-ups to balancing friends, relationships, and other elements of young founder life. A key principle of Chesky’s sourcing strategy was to become creative with identifying just who the experts were, and seeking out sources in unexpected disciplines.

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See authenticity; challenges Hyatt, 152, 153, 158 Hyers, Bill, 112, 123 I idealism, 64–65, 78–79, 97, 102, 117, 171–73 Iger, Bob, 165, 196 illegal hotels, 107, 109, 114, 115, 144 initial public offering, 196–202 in-law unit, 124 Innclusive, 102 Instant Book, 102, 159 InterContinental Hotels Group, 153 International Council of Societies of Industrial Design/Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), ix, 1, 7–10 interview process, 37–38 interviewing, 165–66, 170 investors in 2010, 46–48 cons of, 201 first investors, 30–33 initial public offering, 196–202 meetings with, 15, 17–18 on political challenges, 135 safety and, 93 warning letter to, 120 Wilson meeting, 29 ISIS-coordinated attacks, 77–78 IStay New York, 108 Ive, Jony, 165, 166, 196 J Jefferson-Jones, Jamila, 102 Jobs, Steve, 42, 166, 201 Johnson, Belinda, 55, 77, 108, 113, 171, 187 Jordan, Jeff, 52, 135, 184–85, 201 Joyce, Steve, 141, 153 Junger, Sebastian, 208 K Kalanick, Travis, 165 Karim, Jawed, 31 Kat (original guest), 8, 10 Katie C., 86–88 Kay “Plush,” 82–90, 95 KB Home, 204 Kelley, David, 174 key exchange, 75–76, 83, 85 Keycafe, 75–76, 132 Khan, Sadiq, 132 Kimpton, Bill, 147 King, Mark and Star, 81–82, 99 Klein, Nicholas, 227 Knife Fight (film), 124 Kokalitcheva, Kia, 130 Kondo, Marie, 77 Kong, David, 142, 144, 157, 159 Krueger, Liz, 107 Kuok, Elaine, 67–68 Kutcher, Ashton, 120, 121, 191 Kwatra, Neal, 123 L Lab, The, 179 Lacy, Sarah, 5, 20, 22, 48, 159 landlords, 107–9, 111, 119–20, 129–31, 204 Lane, Jamie, 143 launches, 7–10, 12–14, 19–20 law enforcement, 86–87, 90–93, 94 Le, Tiendung, 13, 39 leadership, 161–89 advisers and mentors, 164–65 anomalies of, 162–63 Blecharczyk and, 179–82 books on, 166, 181 Chesky’s growth as CEO, 164–74 culture, company, 182–88 Gebbia and, 174–79 new directions, 188–89 overview of, 206–8 praise for, 161–62 leases and short-term rentals, 119 LeFrak, Richard, 142 legal issues, xiv, 105–10, 116–17, 126–29, 133–37 Lehane, Chris, 77, 122–29, 133 Lencioni, Patrick, 181 Leone, Doug, 163–64, 205 liability coverage, 89, 97 Lin, Alfred, 35, 49, 166, 168 lobbying, 105, 120 logo (Bélo), 64, 65, 191 London, 132 Lopez, Jacob, 90–92 Loughlin, Barbara, 82–90, 95 Love Home Swap, 153, 154 Luca, Michael, 99–100, 103 Lynch, Kevin, 68 M Madrid incident, 90–93 Magical Trips, 191–96, 202–5 Mahaney, Mark, 198 management.

Frugal Innovation: How to Do Better With Less
by Jaideep Prabhu Navi Radjou
Published 15 Feb 2015

BlaBlaCar now transports over 1 million passengers a month, which is more than Eurostar, a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. The same applies to Uber, a mobile service directly connecting passengers with drivers for hire. Co-founded in 2009 by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, Uber has disrupted the traditional taxi industry. In 2014 it was valued at $18.2 billion. Neither Mazzella nor Brusson, nor Camp nor Kalanick, had any experience in the automotive or transport services sector, and yet they managed to disrupt both. How? They all confronted a pressing problem or critical need and after becoming frustrated with existing solutions decided to solve it themselves.

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(Daru) 169 data, sharing with partners 59–60 data analytics 206 Datta, Munish 183 De Geer, Jacob 40 Decathlon 126–7, 128 deceleration of energy consumption 53, 54 decentralisation 47, 50, 51–2, 53–4, 66–7 Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 49 Delabroy, Olivier 206, 207 delayed differentiation 57–8 Deloitte 14, 171 demand forecasts 58 democratisation of innovation 50–1, 127, 132, 166 deregulation 53, 54 design 75, 88–9 inclusive 194–5 for longevity 121 modular 67, 90 for next-generation customers 121–2 for postponement 67 for sustainability 82–4, 92, 93, 120–1, 195–6 see also CAD; C2C; E&I; R&D design-led organisations 71 designers 88, 93, 152 Detourbet, Gérard 4–5, 199 Deutsche Telekom 194 developed economies 190, 207 consumers 2, 9, 102, 189, 206 energy sector 52–3 frugal innovation in xvii frugality in 8, 218 development costs 22, 36 development cycle 21, 23, 42, 72, 129, 200 DHL 143 differentiation 57–8, 76, 150 digital disrupters 16–17 digital enrichment 89 digital integration 65–6 digital monitoring 65–6 digital prototyping 52 digital radiators 89 digital tools 47, 50, 53, 62, 164, 170 for tracking customer needs 28–9, 29–31 digitisation 53, 65–6, 174 disruptive innovation 10–11, 40, 70, 91, 170, 199 “disruptive value solutions” 191–3 distributed energy systems 53–4 distributed manufacturing 9 distribution 9, 54, 57, 96, 161 distributors 59–60, 76, 148 DIWO (do it with others) 128 DIY (do-it-yourself) 9, 17–18, 89, 128, 130–1, 134–6 health care 109–12 see also TechShops; FabLabs Doblin 171 doing better with less 12–16, 215 doing less for less 205–6 doing more with less 1–3, 16, 177, 181, 206, 215 Dougherty, Dale 134 dreamers 144 Dreamliner (Boeing) 92 dreams 140–1 DriveNow 86 drones 61, 150 Drucker, Peter 179 drug development 22, 23, 35, 171 see also GSK; Novartis drug manufacture 44–6 Dubrule, Paul 172–3 Duke 72 DuPont 33, 63 durability 83, 124 dynamic portfolio management techniques 27, 33 Dyson 71 E E&I (engage and iterate) principle xviii, 19–21, 27–34, 41–3, 192 promoting 34–41 e-commerce 132 e-learning 164–5 e-waste 24, 79, 87–8, 121 early movers 45, 200, 215 easyCar 85 easyJet 60 Eatwith 85 eco-aware customers 22, 26, 215 eco-design principles 74 see also C2C eco-friendly behaviour 108 eco-friendly products 3, 73–7, 81–2, 93, 122, 153, 185, 216 Ecomobilité Ventures 157 economic crisis 5–6, 46, 131, 180 economic growth 76–7 economic power, shifting 139 economic problems 153, 161–2 economies of scale 46, 51, 55, 137 Ecover 82 EDC (Cambridge University Engineering Design Centre) 194–5 Edelman Good Purpose survey 101 Trust Barometer 7 EdEx 61, 112 Edison, Thomas 9, 149, 151 education 16–17, 60, 61, 112–14, 135–6, 164–5, 181–3 efficacy 181–3 efficiency 33, 60, 71, 154, 209 Ehrenfeld, John 105 Eisenhower, Dwight D. 93 electric cars 47, 86, 172 electricity consumption 196 generation 74, 104 electronic waste see e-waste electronics, self-build 51 Ellen MacArthur Foundation 76, 81 emerging markets 16, 35, 40, 94, 190, 198, 205 aspirations 119–20, 198 cars aimed at 4–5, 16, 198–9 competitors 16, 205–6, 216 consumers 197–8, 198, 199, 203 distribution models 57 IBM and 199–202 infrastructure 56, 198, 207 innovation in 4, 39–40, 188–9, 205–6 products tailored to 38, 198–9, 200–2 Siemens and 187–9 suppliers 56 testing in 192 wages in 55 in Western economies 12–13 emissions 47, 78, 108 see also carbon emissions; greenhouse gas emissions employees 14, 37, 39, 84, 127, 174–5, 203–8, 217 as assets 63–5 cutting 153 empowering 65, 69–70 engaging 14, 64–5, 178–9, 180, 203–8, 215 health care for 210–11 incentives 7, 37, 38–9, 91–2, 184, 186, 207–8 and MacGyvers 167 Marks & Spencer 187 mental models 193–203 motivation 178, 180, 186, 192, 205–8 performance 69, 185–6 recruiting 70–1 training 76, 93, 152, 170, 189 younger 14, 79–80, 124, 204 see also organisational change empowering consumers 22, 105, 106 empowering employees 65, 69–70 empowering prosumers 139–43 energy 51, 103, 109, 119, 188, 196, 203 generation 52–4, 74, 104, 197 renewable 8, 53, 74, 86, 91, 136, 142, 196 energy companies 52–4, 99, 103 energy consumption 9, 53, 54, 107, 196 homes 54, 98–100, 106–9 reducing 74, 79, 91, 108, 159, 180 energy costs 161, 190 energy efficiency 12, 54, 75, 79, 191, 193–4, 194, 206 factories 197 Marks & Spencer 180–1, 183 workplaces 80, 193–4 energy sector 52–4, 197 engage and iterate see E&I engaging competitors 158–9 engaging customers 19–21, 24–6, 27–33, 34, 35, 38–9, 42–3, 115, 128, 170 advertising 71–2 engaging employees 14, 64–5, 178–9, 180, 203–8, 215 engaging local communities 52, 206–7 engaging prosumers 139–43, 143–6 “enlightened self-disruption” 206 “enlightened self-interest” 172 entrenched thinking 14–16 entrepreneurial culture 76 entrepreneurs 150, 163–4, 166 engaging with 150, 151, 152, 163–4, 168, 173–6, 207 environmental cost 11 environmental degradation 7, 105 environmental footprint 12, 45, 90–1, 97, 203 environmental impact 7, 27, 73, 77, 90, 92, 174, 196 environmental problems, solving 82, 204 environmental protection agencies 74, 76 environmental responsibility 7, 10, 14, 124, 197 environmental standards 80, 196 environmental sustainability 73–5, 76, 85, 186 Ericsson 56 Eschenbach, Erich Ebner von 86 Esmeijer, Bob 32 Essilor 57, 146, 161 ethnographic research 29–31, 121–2, 157–8 Etsy 132 EU energy consumption 54 sustainability regulation 8, 78, 79, 216 Europe 12–13, 22, 40, 44, 120, 161, 188 ageing populations 194 energy consumption 54 frugal innovation in 215–16, 218 greener buildings 196 horizontal economy 133 incomes 5–6 regulation 8, 78, 79, 216 sharing 85, 138–9 tinkering culture 18, 133–4 European Commission 8, 103, 137 Eurostar 10, 163 evangelists 145 EveryoneOn 162 evolutionary change 177–9 execution agility 33–4 Expedia 173, 174 expert customers 146 “experts of solutions” 164 Expliseat 121 ExploLab 42 “Eye Mitras” 146 F F3 (flexible, fast and future) factories 66–7 Faber, Emmanuel 184 FabLabs 9, 134–5 Facebook 16, 29, 62, 133, 144, 146, 147, 150 factories 66–7, 134, 197 see also micro-factories “factory in a box” 134 factory-agnostic products 67 Fadell, Tony 99 failures 33–4, 42 at launch 22, 25, 141, 171 FastWorks 41, 170 FDA (Food and Drug Administration) 39, 79 FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) 13, 17, 161 FedEx 65, 154 Ferrero 57 FGI Research 29 FI (frugal intensity) 10–11, 189–93 FIAM Italia 88–9 Fields, Mark 70 FieldTurf 75, 76 financial habits 115–16 financial measurements 118 financial services 13, 18, 57, 63, 124–5, 135, 161–2, 201 underserved public 13, 17, 161–2 Finland 103 first-mover advantage 45, 200 FirstBuild 52, 152 fixed assets 46, 161 fixers 146 flexibility 33, 35, 65, 90, 143 of 20th-century model 23, 46, 51, 69 lattice organisation 63–4 manufacturing 57, 66, 191 of sharing 9–10, 124 supply chain 57–8 flexible logistics 57–8, 191 flexing assets xviii–xix, 44–6, 65–72, 190 employees 63–5, 69–71 manufacturing 46–54, 65 R&D 67 services 60–3, 65 supply chain 54–60, 65, 66–7, 67–8 FLOOW2 161 Flourishing: A Frank Conversation about Sustainability (Ehrenfeld and Hoffman, 2013) 105 FOAK (First of a Kind) 142 “follow me home” approach 20 Food and Drug Administration see FDA Ford, Henry 9, 70, 98, 129, 165 Ford Motor Company 50, 58, 70, 89, 165–7, 171 Forrester Research 16, 25, 143 Frampton, Jez 142 France 5–6, 40, 93, 133, 138, 172, 194 consumer behaviour 102, 103 Francis, Simon 71 Franklin, Benjamin 134, 218 freight costs 59 Fried, Limor 130 frugal competitors 16–18, 26, 216 frugal consumers 197–200 frugal economy 5–12 frugal engineering 4, 40 frugal health-care 208–13 frugal innovation xvii–xx, 4, 10–16, 215–18 six principles xvii–xx frugal intensity see FI frugal manufacturing 44–54 frugal mindset xvii–xviii, 198–203 frugal organisations 63–5, 69 see also organisational culture frugal services 60–3, 216 frugal supply chain 54–60 frugality 5, 8, 119–20, 204, 218 fuel consumption, reducing 106–7 fuel costs 121 fuel efficiency 8, 12, 24, 47, 78, 131, 197 Fujitsu 11, 29–31 future customers 193–5, 205 FutureLearn 61, 112, 113 G GAFAs (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) 150, 155, 211, 216 gamification 108, 112, 113–14, 162 Gap 7 Gartner 59–60 Gates, Bill 138 GDF Suez 53–4 GDP (gross domestic product) 104 GE (General Electric) 9, 21, 40, 139, 149–53, 161, 171, 215 additive manufacturing 49 “culture of simplification” 170 learning from start-ups 40–1 micro-factory 52 GE Aviation 49 GE Distributed Power 53 GE Garages 152 GE Healthcare 40 GE Ventures 151 Gebbia, Joe 163 General Electric see GE General Motors see GM Genzyme 45 Gerdau Corporation 159 Germany 66, 85, 93, 103, 136, 156, 194 ageing workforce 13, 49, 153 impact of recession 5, 7 market 85, 189 Mars distribution in 57, 161 Gershenfeld, Neil 134 Ghosn, Carlos 4, 198–9, 217 Giannuzzi, Michel 73, 76 Gibson, James 120 giffgaff 147–8 Gillies, Richard 185 GlaxoSmithKline see GSK Global Innovation Barometer 139 global networks 39–40, 52, 152–3, 202 Global Nutrition Group (PepsiCo) 179 global recovery of waste (GROW) 87–9 global supply chains 36, 137 Global Value Innovation Centre (GVIC) (PepsiCo) 190–2 GlobeScan 102 GM (General Motors) 21, 50, 68, 155, 166 see also Opel goals 94, 178, 179–89, 217 “big, hairy audacious” 90–1, 158–9, 179, 191–2 good-enough approach 27–8, 33–4, 42, 170, 188–9, 200 Google 17, 38, 63, 130, 136, 150, 155, 172 Gore, Bill 63–4, 69 Gore, Bob 63 Gore, Vieve 63 governments 6–7, 7–8, 13, 109, 161 Graeber, Charles 201 Greece 5, 6 greenhouse gas emissions 102, 196 reducing 8, 78, 78–9, 95 see also carbon emissions gross domestic product see GDP Groth, Olaf 153 GROW (global recovery of waste) 87–9 growth 6, 13, 76–7, 79, 80, 104–5 of companies 72, 100 sustainability 72, 76–7, 79–80 GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) 35–6, 36–7, 39, 45, 215 GSK Canada 29 gThrive 118 GVIC (Global Value Innovation Centre) (PepsiCo) 190–2 Gyproc 160 H hackers 130, 141–2 Haier 16 “handprint” of companies 196 Harley-Davidson 66, 140 Hasbro 144 Hatch, Mark 134–5 health care 13, 109–12, 135, 153, 161, 198, 202–3, 208–13 health insurance 109, 208–13 heat, harvesting 89 Heathrow Airport 195 Heck, Stefan 87–8 Heineken 84 Herman Miller 84 HERs (home energy reports) 109 Hershey 57 Higgs Index 90 Hilton 10, 163 Hippel, Eric Von 130 Hoffman, Andrew 105 home energy reports (HERs) 109 homes 157–8 energy 53, 103, 109 horizontal economy 133–9 horizontal ecosystems 154–5 Hosking, Ian 195 Howard, Steve 78 hub-and-spoke models 60 HubCap 107–8 human-sized factories 63, 64 Hurtiger, Jean-Marie 1–2 HVCs (hybrid value chains) 161–2 hybrid make/move model 57–8 hybrid value chains (HVCs) 161–2 hyper-collaboration 153–76, 190–1 I I-Lab 206–7 Ibis 173 IBM 17, 39, 142, 154, 171, 171–2, 199–202 R&D in Nairobi 200–2 ideas42 109 ideators 144–5 IDEO 121 IKEA 78, 100, 108, 132, 142, 194 IME (Institute of Mentorship for Entrepreneurs) 175 Immelt, Jeff 170, 217 immersion 29–31, 31–2, 193–4 Impact Infrastructure 197 improvisation 27, 179, 182 Inc. magazine 81–2 incentives 7, 37, 38–9, 91–2, 184, 186, 207–8, 213 inclusion 7, 13 inclusive design 194–5 Inclusive Design Consortium 195 incomes 5, 6, 102, 194 India 40, 57, 102, 191, 200, 216 aspirations 119, 198 emerging market 4, 12, 38, 146, 169, 197, 205, 207 frugal innovation 4–5, 169 mobile phones 56, 198 Renault in 4–5, 40, 198–9 selling into 119, 187–8 Indiegogo 137, 138, 152 industrial model 46, 55, 80–1 industrial symbiosis 159–60 inequality 6, 13 inflation 6 infrastructure 46, 92–3, 198, 207 ingenuity xx, 2, 14, 18, 70, 76, 164, 166, 217 jugaad xvii, 199 Ingredion 158–9 InHome 157–8 innovation 14, 23, 40, 50–1, 70, 153, 200 costs 10–11, 150, 168, 171 democratisation 50–1, 127, 132, 166 disruptive 10–11, 40, 70, 91, 170, 199 process 28–34, 43 speed 10–11, 129, 150, 167–8, 173 technology-led 26 see also frugal innovation; prosumers; R&D innovation brokering 168–9, 173–6 Innovation Learning Network 203 innovative friends xx, 150–3, 176 see also hyper-collaboration InProcess 121–2, 157–8 Institute of Mentorship for Entrepreneurs (IME) 175 insurance sector 116 intellectual capital 171–2 Interbrand 142 Interface 90–1, 123 interfaces 98, 99 internal agility 169–70 internet 62, 65, 85, 103, 106, 133, 174, 206 Internet of Things 32, 106, 150, 169, 174 Intuit 19–21, 29, 145 inventors 50–1, 134, 137–9, 149, 150–1 inventory 54, 58 investment crowdfunding 137–9 in R&D 15, 22, 23, 28, 141, 149, 152, 171, 187 return on 22, 197 investors 123–4, 180, 197, 204–5 iPhones 16, 100, 107, 131, 148 Ispo 84 Italy 6, 103, 133 iteration 20–1, 31, 36, 38, 41, 52, 170, 179, 200, 213–14 iZettle 40 J Janssen Healthcare Innovation 111 Japan 8, 22, 40, 52, 102, 196, 200 ageing population 6, 194 ageing workforce 2, 13, 49, 153 austerity 5, 6 environmental standards 78–9 and frugal innovation 215–16, 218 horizontal economy 133 regulation 216 robotics 49–50 Jaruzelski, Barry 23 Jawbone 110 Jeppesen Sanderson 145 jiejian chuangxin 200, 202 Jimenez, Joseph 45 Jobs, Steve 68–9, 164 John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation 14 John Deere 67 John Lewis 195 Johnson & Johnson 100, 111 Johnson, Warren 98 Jones, Don 112 jugaad (frugal ingenuity) 199, 202 Jugaad Innovation (Radjou, Prabhu and Ahuja, 2012) xvii, 17 just-in-time design 33–4 K Kaeser, Joe 217 Kalanick, Travis 163 Kalundborg (Denmark) 160 kanju 201 Karkal, Shamir 124 Kaufman, Ben 50–1, 126 Kawai, Daisuke 29–30 Kelly, John 199–200 Kennedy, President John 138 Kenya 57, 200–1 key performance indicators see KPIs Khan Academy 16–17, 113–14, 164 Khan, Salman (Sal) 16–17, 113–14 Kickstarter 17, 48, 137, 138 KieranTimberlake 196 Kimberly-Clark 25, 145 Kingfisher 86–7, 91, 97, 157, 158–9, 185–6, 192–3, 208 KissKissBankBank 17, 137 Knox, Steve 145 Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig 37, 68, 69 Kobori, Michael 83, 100 KPIs (key performance indicators) 38–9, 67, 91–2, 185–6, 208 Kuhndt, Michael 194 Kurniawan, Arie 151–2 L La Chose 108 La Poste 92–3, 157 La Ruche qui dit Oui 137 “labs on a chip” 52 Lacheret, Yves 173–5 Lada 1 laser cutters 134, 166 Laskey, Alex 119 last-mile challenge 57, 146, 156 L’Atelier 168–9 Latin America 161 lattice organisation 63–4 Laury, Véronique 208 Laville, Elisabeth 91 Lawrence, Jamie 185, 192–3, 208 LCA (life-cycle assessment) 196–7 leaders 179, 203–5, 214, 217 lean manufacturing 192 leanness 33–4, 41, 42, 170, 192 Learnbox 114 learning by doing 173, 179 learning organisations 179 leasing 123 Lee, Deishin 159 Lego 51, 126 Lego Group 37, 68, 69, 144 Legrand 157 Lenovo 56 Leroy, Adolphe 127 Leroy Merlin 127–8 Leslie, Garthen 150–1 Lever, William Hesketh 96 Levi Strauss & Co 60, 82–4, 100, 122–3 Lewis, Dijuana 212 life cycle of buildings 196 see also product life cycle life-cycle assessment (LCA) 196–7 life-cycle costs 12, 24, 196 Lifebuoy soap 95, 97 lifespan of companies 154 lighting 32, 56, 123, 201 “lightweighting” 47 linear development cycles 21, 23 linear model of production 80–1 Link 131 littleBits 51 Livi, Daniele 88 Livi, Vittorio 88 local communities 52, 57, 146, 206–7 local markets 183–4 Local Motors 52, 129, 152 local solutions 188, 201–2 local sourcing 51–2, 56, 137, 174, 181 localisation 56, 137 Locavesting (Cortese, 2011) 138 Logan car 2–3, 12, 179, 198–9 logistics 46, 57–8, 161, 191, 207 longevity 121, 124 Lopez, Maribel 65–6 Lopez Research 65–6 L’Oréal 174 Los Alamos National Laboratory 170 low-cost airlines 60, 121 low-cost innovation 11 low-income markets 12–13, 161, 203, 207 Lowry, Adam 81–2 M m-health 109, 111–12 M-KOPA 201 M-Pesa 57, 201 M3D 48, 132 McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) 84 McDonough, William 82 McGregor, Douglas 63 MacGyvers 17–18, 130, 134, 167 McKelvey, Jim 135 McKinsey & Company 81, 87, 209 mainstream, frugal products in 216 maintenance 66, 75, 76, 124, 187 costs 48–9, 66 Mainwaring, Simon 8 Maistre, Christophe de 187–8, 216 Maker Faire 18, 133–4 Maker platform 70 makers 18, 133–4, 145 manufacturing 20th-century model 46, 55, 80–1 additive 47–9 continuous 44–5 costs 47, 48, 52 decentralised 9, 44, 51–2 frugal 44–54 integration with logistics 57–8 new approaches 50–4 social 50–1 subtractive method 48 tools for 47, 47–50 Margarine Unie 96 market 15, 28, 38, 64, 186, 189, 192 R&D and 21, 26, 33, 34 market research 25, 61, 139, 141 market share 100 marketing 21–2, 24, 36, 61–3, 91, 116–20, 131, 139 and R&D 34, 37, 37–8 marketing teams 143, 150 markets 12–13, 42, 62, 215 see also emerging markets Marks & Spencer (M&S) 97, 215 Plan A 90, 156, 179–81, 183–4, 186–7, 214 Marriott 140 Mars 57, 158–9, 161 Martin Marietta 159 Martin, Tod 154 mass customisation 9, 46, 47, 48, 57–8 mass market 189 mass marketing 21–2 mass production 9, 46, 57, 58, 74, 129, 196 Massachusetts Institute of Technology see MIT massive open online courses see MOOCs materials 3, 47, 48, 73, 92, 161 costs 153, 161, 190 recyclable 74, 81, 196 recycled 77, 81–2, 83, 86, 89, 183, 193 renewable 77, 86 repurposing 93 see also C2C; reuse Mayhew, Stephen 35, 36 Mazoyer, Eric 90 Mazzella, Frédéric 163 MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry) 84 MDI 16 measurable goals 185–6 Mechanical Engineer Laboratory (MEL) 52 “MEcosystems” 154–5, 156–8 Medicare 110 medication 111–12 Medicity 211 MedStartr 17 MEL (Mechanical Engineer Laboratory) 52 mental models 2, 193–203, 206, 216 Mercure 173 Merlin, Rose 127 Mestrallet, Gérard 53, 54 method (company) 81–2 Mexico 38, 56 Michelin 160 micro-factories 51–2, 52, 66, 129, 152 micro-robots 52 Microsoft 38 Microsoft Kinect 130 Microsoft Word 24 middle classes 197–8, 216 Migicovsky, Eric 137–8 Mikkiche, Karim 199 millennials 7, 14, 17, 131–2, 137, 141, 142 MindCET 165 miniaturisation 52, 53–4 Mint.com 125 MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 44–5, 107, 130, 134, 202 mobile health see m-health mobile phones 24, 32, 61, 129–30, 130, 168, 174 emerging market use 198 infrastructure 56, 198 see also smartphones mobile production units 66–7 mobile technologies 16, 17, 103, 133, 174, 200–1, 207 Mocana 151 Mochon, Daniel 132 modular design 67, 90 modular production units 66–7 Modularer Querbaukasten see MQB “mompreneurs” 145 Mondelez 158–9 Money Dashboard 125 Moneythink 162 monitoring 65–6, 106, 131 Monopoly 144 MOOCs (massive open online courses) 60, 61, 112, 113, 114, 164 Morieux, Yves 64 Morocco 207 Morris, Robert 199–200 motivation, employees 178, 180, 186, 192, 205–8 motivational approaches to shaping consumer behaviour 105–6 Motorola 56 MQB (Modularer Querbaukasten) 44, 45–6 Mulally, Alan 70, 166 Mulcahy, Simon 157 Mulliez family 126–7 Mulliez, Vianney 13, 126 multi-nodal innovation 202–3 Munari, Bruno 93 Murray, Mike 48–9 Musk, Elon 172 N Nano car 119, 156 National Geographic 102 natural capital, loss of 158–9 Natural Capital Leaders Platform 158–9 natural resources 45, 86 depletion 7, 72, 105, 153, 158–9 see also resources NCR 55–6 near-shoring 55 Nelson, Simon 113 Nemo, Sophie-Noëlle 93 Nest Labs 98–100, 103 Nestlé 31, 44, 68, 78, 94, 158–9, 194, 195 NetPositive plan 86, 208 networking 152–3, 153 new materials 47, 92 New Matter 132 new technologies 21, 27 Newtopia 32 next-generation customers 121–2 next-generation manufacturing techniques 44–6, 46–7 see also frugal manufacturing Nigeria 152, 197–8 Nike 84 NineSigma 151 Nissan 4, 4–5, 44, 199 see also Renault-Nissan non-governmental organisations 167 non-profit organisations 161, 162, 202 Nooyi, Indra 217 Norman, Donald 120 Norris, Greg 196 North American companies 216–17 North American market 22 Northrup Grumman 68 Norton, Michael 132 Norway 103 Novartis 44–5, 215 Novotel 173, 174 nudging 100, 108, 111, 117, 162 Nussbaum, Bruce 140 O O2 147 Obama, President Barack 6, 8, 13, 134, 138, 208 obsolescence, planned 24, 121 offshoring 55 Oh, Amy 145 Ohayon, Elie 71–2 Oliver Wyman 22 Olocco, Gregory 206 O’Marah, Kevin 58 on-demand services 39, 124 online communities 31, 50, 61, 134 online marketing 143 online retailing 60, 132 onshoring 55 Opel 4 open innovation 104, 151, 152, 153, 154 open-source approach 48, 129, 134, 135, 172 open-source hardware 51, 52, 89, 130, 135, 139 open-source software 48, 130, 132, 144–5, 167 OpenIDEO 142 operating costs 45, 215 Opower 103, 109, 119 Orange 157 Orbitz 173 organisational change 36–7, 90–1, 176, 177–90, 203–8, 213–14, 216 business models 190–3 mental models 193–203 organisational culture 36–7, 170, 176, 177–9, 213–14, 217 efficacy focus 181–3 entrepreneurial 76, 173 see also organisational change organisational structure 63–5, 69 outsourcing 59, 143, 146 over-engineering 27, 42, 170 Overby, Christine 25 ownership 9 Oxylane Group 127 P P&G (Procter & Gamble) 19, 31, 58, 94, 117, 123, 145, 195 packaging 57, 96, 195 Page, Larry 63 “pain points” 29, 30, 31 Palmer, Michael 212 Palo Alto Junior League 20 ParkatmyHouse 17, 63, 85 Parker, Philip 61 participation, customers 128–9 partner ecosystems 153, 154, 200 partners 65, 72, 148, 153, 156–8 sharing data with 59–60 see also distributors; hyper-collaboration; suppliers Partners in Care Foundation 202 partnerships 41, 42, 152–3, 156–7, 171–2, 174, 191 with SMBs 173, 174, 175 with start-ups 20, 164–5, 175 with suppliers 192–3 see also hyper-collaboration patents 171–2 Payne, Alex 124 PE International 196 Pearson 164–5, 167, 181–3, 186, 215 Pebble 137–8 peer-to-peer economic model 10 peer-to-peer lending 10 peer-to-peer sales 60 peer-to-peer sharing 136–7 Pélisson, Gérard 172–3 PepsiCo 38, 40, 179, 190, 194, 215 performance 47, 73, 77, 80, 95 of employees 69 Pernod Ricard 157 personalisation 9, 45, 46, 48, 62, 129–30, 132, 149 Peters, Tom 21 pharmaceutical industry 13, 22, 23, 33, 58, 171, 181 continuous manufacturing 44–6 see also GSK Philippines 191 Philips 56, 84, 100, 123 Philips Lighting 32 Picaud, Philippe 122 Piggy Mojo 119 piggybacking 57 Piketty, Thomas 6 Plan A (M&S) 90, 156, 179–81, 183–4, 186–7, 214 Planet 21 (Accor) 174–5 planned obsolescence 24, 121 Plastyc 17 Plumridge, Rupert 18 point-of-sale data 58 Poland 103 pollution 74, 78, 87, 116, 187, 200 Polman, Paul 11, 72, 77, 94, 203–5, 217 portfolio management tools 27, 33 Portugal 55, 103 postponement 57–8 Potočnik, Janez 8, 79 Prabhu, Arun 25 Prahalad, C.K. 12 predictive analytics 32–3 predictive maintenance 66, 67–8 Priceline 173 pricing 81, 117 processes digitising 65–6 entrenched 14–16 re-engineering 74 simplifying 169, 173 Procter & Gamble see P&G procurement priorities 67–8 product life cycle 21, 75, 92, 186 costs 12, 24, 196 sustainability 73–5 product-sharing initiatives 87 production costs 9, 83 productivity 49, 59, 65, 79–80, 153 staff 14 profit 14, 105 Progressive 100, 116 Project Ara 130 promotion 61–3 Propeller Health 111 prosumers xix–xx, 17–18, 125, 126–33, 136–7, 148, 154 empowering and engaging 139–46 see also horizontal economy Protomax 159 prototypes 31–2, 50, 144, 152 prototyping 42, 52, 65, 152, 167, 192, 206 public 50–1, 215 public sector, working with 161–2 publishers 17, 61 Pullman 173 Puma 194 purchasing power 5–6, 216 pyramidal model of production 51 pyramidal organisations 69 Q Qarnot Computing 89 Qualcomm 84 Qualcomm Life 112 quality 3, 11–12, 15, 24, 45, 49, 82, 206, 216 high 1, 9, 93, 198, 216 measure of 105 versus quantity 8, 23 quality of life 8, 204 Quicken 19–21 Quirky 50–1, 126, 150–1, 152 R R&D 35, 67, 92, 151 big-ticket programmes 35–6 and business development 37–8 China 40, 188, 206 customer focus 27, 39, 43 frugal approach 12, 26–33, 82 global networks 39–40 incentives 38–9 industrial model 2, 21–6, 33, 36, 42 market-focused, agile model 26–33 and marketing 34, 37, 37–8 recommendations for managers 34–41 speed 23, 27, 34, 149 spending 15, 22, 23, 28, 141, 149, 152, 171, 187 technology culture 14–15, 38–9 see also Air Liquide; Ford; GSK; IBM; immersion; Renault; SNCF; Tarkett; Unilever R&D labs 9, 21–6, 70, 149, 218 in emerging markets 40, 188, 200 R&D teams 26, 34, 38–9, 65, 127, 150, 194–5 hackers as 142 innovation brokering 168 shaping customer behaviour 120–2 Raspberry Pi 135–6, 164 Ratti, Carlo 107 raw materials see materials real-time demand signals 58, 59 Rebours, Christophe 157–8 recession 5–6, 6, 46, 131, 180 Reckitt Benckiser 102 recommendations for managers flexing assets 65–71 R&D 34–41 shaping consumer behaviour 116–24 sustainability 90–3 recruiting 70–1 recyclable materials 74, 81, 196 recyclable products 3, 73, 159, 195–6 recycled materials 77, 81–2, 83, 86, 89, 183, 193 recycling 8, 9, 87, 93, 142, 159 e-waste 87–8 electronic and electrical goods (EU) 8, 79 by Tarkett 73–7 water 83, 175 see also C2C; circular economy Recy’Go 92–3 regional champions 182 regulation 7–8, 13, 78–9, 103, 216 Reich, Joshua 124 RelayRides 17 Renault 1–5, 12, 117, 156–7, 179 Renault-Nissan 4–5, 40, 198–9, 215 renewable energy 8, 53, 74, 86, 91, 136, 142, 196 renewable materials 77, 86 Replicator 132 repurposing 93 Requardt, Hermann 189 reshoring 55–6 resource constraints 4–5, 217 resource efficiency 7–8, 46, 47–9, 79, 190 Resource Revolution (Heck, Rogers and Carroll, 2014) 87–8 resources 40, 42, 73, 86, 197, 199 consumption 9, 26, 73–7, 101–2 costs 78, 203 depletion 7, 72, 105, 153, 158–9 reducing use 45, 52, 65, 73–7, 104, 199, 203 saving 72, 77, 200 scarcity 22, 46, 72, 73, 77–8, 80, 158–9, 190, 203 sharing 56–7, 159–61, 167 substitution 92 wasting 169–70 retailers 56, 129, 214 “big-box” 9, 18, 137 Rethink Robotics 49 return on investment 22, 197 reuse 9, 73, 76–7, 81, 84–5, 92–3, 200 see also C2C revenues, generating 77, 167, 180 reverse innovation 202–3 rewards 37, 178, 208 Riboud, Franck 66, 184, 217 Rifkin, Jeremy 9–10 robots 47, 49–50, 70, 144–5, 150 Rock Health 151 Rogers, Jay 129 Rogers, Matt 87–8 Romania 2–3, 103 rookie mindset 164, 168 Rose, Stuart 179–80, 180 Roulin, Anne 195 Ryan, Eric 81–2 Ryanair 60 S S-Oil 106 SaaS (software as a service) 60 Saatchi & Saatchi 70–1 Saatchi & Saatchi + Duke 71–2, 143 sales function 15, 21, 25–6, 36, 116–18, 146 Salesforce.com 157 Santi, Paolo 108 SAP 59, 186 Saunders, Charles 211 savings 115 Sawa Orchards 29–31 Scandinavian countries 6–7 see also Norway Schmidt, Eric 136 Schneider Electric 150 Schulman, Dan 161–2 Schumacher, E.F. 104–5, 105 Schweitzer, Louis 1, 2, 3, 4, 179 SCM (supply chain management) systems 59 SCOR (supply chain operations reference) model 67 Seattle 107 SEB 157 self-sufficiency 8 selling less 123–4 senior managers 122–4, 199 see also CEOs; organisational change sensors 65–6, 106, 118, 135, 201 services 9, 41–3, 67–8, 124, 149 frugal 60–3, 216 value-added 62–3, 76, 150, 206, 209 Shapeways 51, 132 shareholders 14, 15, 76, 123–4, 180, 204–5 sharing 9–10, 193 assets 159–61, 167 customers 156–8 ideas 63–4 intellectual assets 171–2 knowledge 153 peer-to-peer 136–9 resources 56–7, 159–61, 167 sharing economy 9–10, 17, 57, 77, 80, 84–7, 108, 124 peer-to-peer sharing 136–9 sharing between companies 159–60 shipping costs 55, 59 shopping experience 121–2 SIEH hotel group 172–3 Siemens 117–18, 150, 187–9, 215, 216 Sigismondi, Pier Luigi 100 Silicon Valley 42, 98, 109, 150, 151, 162, 175 silos, breaking out of 36–7 Simple Bank 124–5 simplicity 8, 41, 64–5, 170, 194 Singapore 175 Six Sigma 11 Skillshare 85 SkyPlus 62 Small is Beautiful (Schumacher, 1973) 104–5 “small is beautiful” values 8 small and medium-sized businesses see SMBs Smart + Connected Communities 29 SMART car 119–20 SMART strategy (Siemens) 188–9 smartphones 17, 100, 106, 118, 130, 131, 135, 198 in health care 110, 111 see also apps SmartScan 29 SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) 173, 174, 175, 176 SMS-based systems 42–3 SnapShot 116 SNCF 41–3, 156–7, 167 SoapBox 28–9 social business model 206–7 social comparison 109 social development 14 social goals 94 social learning 113 social manufacturing 47, 50–1 social media 16, 71, 85, 106, 108, 168, 174 for marketing 61, 62, 143 mining 29, 58 social pressure of 119 tools 109, 141 and transaction costs 133 see also Facebook; social networks; Twitter social networks 29, 71, 72, 132–3, 145, 146 see also Facebook; Twitter social pressure 119 social problems 82, 101–2, 141, 142, 153, 161–2, 204 social responsibility 7, 10, 14, 141, 142, 197, 204 corporate 77, 82, 94, 161 social sector, working with 161–2 “social tinkerers” 134–5 socialising education 112–14 Sofitel 173 software 72 software as a service (SaaS) 60 solar power 136, 201 sourcing, local 51–2, 56 Southwest Airlines 60 Spain 5, 6, 103 Spark 48 speed dating 175, 176 spending, on R&D 15, 22, 23, 28, 141, 149, 152, 171, 187 spiral economy 77, 87–90 SRI International 49, 52 staff see employees Stampanato, Gary 55 standards 78, 196 Starbucks 7, 140 start-ups 16–17, 40–1, 61, 89, 110, 145, 148, 150, 169, 216 investing in 137–8, 157 as partners 42, 72, 153, 175, 191, 206 see also Nest Labs; Silicon Valley Statoil 160 Steelcase 142 Stem 151 Stepner, Diana 165 Stewart, Emma 196–7 Stewart, Osamuyimen 201–2 Sto Corp 84 Stora Enso 195 storytelling 112, 113 Strategy& see Booz & Company Subramanian, Prabhu 114 substitution of resources 92 subtractive manufacturing 48 Sun Tzu 158 suppliers 67–8, 83, 148, 153, 167, 176, 192–3 collaboration with 76, 155–6 sharing with 59–60, 91 visibility 59–60 supply chain management see SCM supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model 67 supply chains 34, 36, 54, 65, 107, 137, 192–3 carbon footprint 156 costs 58, 84 decentralisation 66–7 frugal 54–60 integrating 161 small-circuit 137 sustainability 137 visibility 34, 59–60 support 135, 152 sustainability xix, 9, 12, 72, 77–80, 82, 97, 186 certification 84 as competitive advantage 80 consumers and 95, 97, 101–4 core design principle 82–4, 93, 195–6 and growth 76, 80, 104–5 perceptions of 15–16, 80, 91 recommendations for managers 90–3 regulatory demand for 78–9, 216 standard bearers of 80, 97, 215 see also Accor; circular economy; Kingfisher; Marks & Spencer; Tarkett; Unilever sustainable design 82–4 see also C2C sustainable distribution 57, 161 sustainable growth 72, 76–7 sustainable lifestyles 107–8 Sustainable Living Plan (Unilever) 94–7, 179, 203–4 sustainable manufacturing 9, 52 T “T-shaped” employees 70–1 take-back programmes 9, 75, 77, 78 Tally 196–7 Tarkett 73–7, 80, 84 TaskRabbit 85 Tata Motors 16, 119 Taylor, Frederick 71 technical design 37–8 technical support, by customers 146 technology 2, 14–15, 21–2, 26, 27 TechShop 9, 70, 134–5, 152, 166–7 telecoms sector 53, 56 Telefónica 147 telematic monitoring 116 Ternois, Laurence 42 Tesco 102 Tesla Motors 92, 172 testing 28, 42, 141, 170, 192 Texas Industries 159 Textoris, Vincent 127 TGV Lab 42–3 thermostats 98–100 thinking, entrenched 14–16 Thompson, Gav 147 Timberland 90 time 4, 7, 11, 41, 72, 129, 170, 200 constraints 36, 42 see also development cycle tinkerers 17–18, 133–5, 144, 150, 152, 153, 165–7, 168 TiVo 62 Tohamy, Noha 59–60 top-down change 177–8 top-down management 69 Total 157 total quality management (TQM) 11 total volatile organic compounds see TVOC Toyota 44, 100 Toyota Sweden 106–7 TQM (total quality management) 11 traffic 108, 116, 201 training 76, 93, 152, 167, 170, 189 transaction costs 133 transparency 178, 185 transport 46, 57, 96, 156–7 Transport for London 195 TrashTrack 107 Travelocity 174 trial and error 173, 179 Trout, Bernhardt 45 trust 7, 37, 143 TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) 74, 77 Twitter 29, 62, 135, 143, 147 U Uber 136, 163 Ubuntu 202 Uchiyama, Shunichi 50 UCLA Health 202–3 Udacity 61, 112 UK 194 budget cuts 6 consumer empowerment 103 industrial symbiosis 160 savings 115 sharing 85, 138 “un-management” 63–4, 64 Unboundary 154 Unilever 11, 31, 57, 97, 100, 142, 203–5, 215 and sustainability 94–7, 104, 179, 203–4 University of Cambridge Engineering Design Centre (EDC) 194–5 Inclusive Design team 31 Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) 158–9 upcycling 77, 88–9, 93, 159 upselling 189 Upton, Eben 135–6 US 8, 38, 44, 87, 115, 133, 188 access to financial services 13, 17, 161–2 ageing population 194 ageing workforce 13 commuting 131 consumer spending 5, 6, 103 crowdfunding 137–8, 138 economic pressures 5, 6 energy use 103, 119, 196 environmental awareness 7, 102 frugal innovation in 215–16, 218 health care 13, 110, 208–13, 213 intellectual property 171 onshoring 55 regulation 8, 78, 216 sharing 85, 138–9 shifting production from China to 55, 56 tinkering culture 18, 133–4 user communities 62, 89 user interfaces 98, 99 user-friendliness 194 Utopies 91 V validators 144 value 11, 132, 177, 186, 189–90 aspirational 88–9 to customers 6–7, 21, 77, 87, 131, 203 from employees 217 shareholder value 14 value chains 9, 80, 128–9, 143, 159–60, 190, 215 value engineering 192 “value gap” 54–5 value-added services 62–3, 76, 150, 206, 209 values 6–7, 14, 178, 205 Vandebroek, Sophie 169 Vasanthakumar, Vaithegi 182–3 Vats, Tanmaya 190, 192 vehicle fleets, sharing 57, 161 Verbaken, Joop 118 vertical integration 133, 154 virtual prototyping 65 virtuous cycle 212–13 visibility 34, 59–60 visible learning 112–13 visioning sessions 193–4 visualisation 106–8 Vitality 111 Volac 158–9 Volkswagen 4, 44, 45–6, 129, 144 Volvo 62 W wage costs 48 wages, in emerging markets 55 Waitrose, local suppliers 56 Walker, James 87 walking the walk 122–3 Waller, Sam 195 Walmart 9, 18, 56, 162, 216 Walton, Sam 9 Wan Jia 144 Washington DC 123 waste 24, 87–9, 107, 159–60, 175, 192, 196 beautifying 88–9, 93 e-waste 24, 79, 87–8, 121 of energy 119 post-consumer 9, 75, 77, 78, 83 reducing 47, 74, 85, 96, 180, 209 of resources 169–70 in US health-care system 209 see also C2C; recycling; reuse water 78, 83, 104, 106, 158, 175, 188, 206 water consumption 79, 82–3, 100, 196 reducing 74, 75, 79, 104, 122–3, 174, 183 wealth 105, 218 Wear It Share It (Wishi) 85 Weijmarshausen, Peter 51 well-being 104–5 Wham-O 56 Whirlpool 36 “wicked” problems 153 wireless technologies 65–6 Wiseman, Liz 164 Wishi (Wear It Share It) 85 Witty, Andrew 35, 35–6, 37, 39, 217 W.L.

Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America
by Alissa Quart
Published 25 Jun 2018

For Uber, economically challenged teachers like Anthony Arinwine represent a dual opportunity: a marketing coup as well as a ready labor force. In recent years, Uber has been trying to appeal to its customers as the ride service that employs middle-class people who find themselves at an impasse. When then-CEO Travis Kalanick started running the company in 2010, Uber took a different sales tack, claiming that driving for the company could be a full-time job, with drivers making as much as $100,000 a year. But Uber drivers’ pay stubs show that this was far from the truth, as they earned substantially less than that.

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See Health insurance Iowa Writers’ Workshop, 236 Iraq war, 153, 154 ITT Technical Institute, 176–77, 183, 184 Jacobsen, Kat, 56, 59 James Lick High School, 152 Janzen, Daniel, 138 J. Crew, 71 Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), 166, 167, 182 Job interviews, 165–68, 186–87 Job longevity, 171–72, 174 Jobs, second acts. See Second act industry Jobs programs, 184, 290n Johnson, Mea, 195 Journalism, automated, 235–36 “Just-in-time” scheduling, 71–72, 85 Jyeshtha, 53 Kalanick, Travis, 153 Kaplan, Jerry, 252 Kelsky, Karen, 42–43 Kessler-Harris, Alice, 112–13, 123–24 Kid Care Concierge, 70 Kimmel, Michael, 150–51, 262 Kindergarten admissions, 136 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 240 Kirshenbaum, Gayle, 124 Kodak, 202 Koopman, John, 153–55, 251 Kwak, Nancy, 128 Labor unions, 5, 65, 106, 162, 182–83 adjunct faculty pay and, 53–54 Lake Land College, 37 L’Altrelli, Al, 226, 239 Lanier, Jaron, 294n Last Gen X American, The, 102 Law school graduates, 37–38, 101–10, 233 Law schools, for-profit, 101, 104–5 Law School Transparency, 106–8 Lean In (Sandberg), 251 Leaning forward, 251 Leaning in, 130, 251 Leaning over, 251 Leary, Mark, 216 Leave Law Behind, 108–9 Legal profession, automation of, 106, 232–33 LegalTech, 232 Legitimating Television (Newman and Levine), 220–21 Leichter, Matt, 102 Leonardo da Vinci Intermediate School, 127–28, 131–32 Lerner, Michael, 214 Lerner, Zachary, 231–32 Levin, Ira, 103 Levinas, Emmanuel, 155 Levine, Elana, 220–21 Life’s Work, A (Cusk), 21, 70 Life trajectory, 171–72 LinkedIn, 165, 187 Livingston, James, 242–43 Loconomics, 158 Loneliness of parenting, 203–5 Long Haul, The (Murphy), 230 Loudon, Michael, 41 “Love and money” framework, 77–78 Luddites, 237, 247 Maass, Peter, 3–4, 22, 25, 93, 250–51 McDonald’s, 73–74, 85 McEntee, Kyle, 106–8 McKinsey Global Institute, 228, 252 Madden, David “DJ,” 200 Mad Men (TV show), 217, 221–22 Makeover mentality, 170–72 Malcolm X Academy, 152 Maloney, Rebecca, 152 Manovich, Lev, 214–15 Mara, Robert, 101–2, 104–5 Mara, Wendy, 101–2 Marcuse, Peter, 200 Margaret Moseley Cooperative, 195 Marisol, 66–67, 87 Marmot, Michael, 96 Martin Luther King Jr.

The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America—and How to Undo His Legacy
by David Gelles
Published 30 May 2022

GE was in tatters, his reputation was damaged, his relations with Welch were at a low. In the few years since his ousting, he had tried to remain relevant, attempting to fashion himself as an elder statesman in Silicon Valley. He made a public push to become the new CEO of Uber after founder Travis Kalanick was ousted following a series of scandals. He joined the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he taught a class about how he’d led GE through so many crises. He joined a venture capital firm, offering advice to entrepreneurs trying to get their companies off the ground. And early in 2021, he published a book, Hot Seat.

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(1980 NBC documentary), 19 Immelt, Jeff, 97, 99, 102–4 critique of JW, 146, 164, 227 education, 102 family background, 102 as GE CEO, 104, 107, 109, 113–16, 121, 126, 136–45, 160–63, 225, 226–28 JW critique of, 104, 136–38, 146–47, 163–64 at Microsoft, 102, 171 removal as GE CEO, 163–64 terrorist attacks of 2001 and, 113–15, 136–37, 138, 228 Ingersoll Rand, 81 Ingraham, Laura, 158–59 Instacart, 170 Interbrew, 178 Intuit, 77, 105, 107 Ishrak, Omar, 84 Jack: Straight from the Gut (Welch), 117, 205–6 Jack Welch Management Institute (online MBA program), 11, 134–35, 195 Jensen, Michael, 37–38, 110 John Deere, 66 Johnson, Robert Wood, 25 Johnson & Johnson, 25, 69 Johnston, Larry, 104–5 Jones, Reginald, 17–18, 20–21, 24, 30, 32, 43, 75, 91, 96, 151 JPMorgan, 21, 135, 199, 214, 221 Judgment Call (Wetlaufer), 117–18 Kalanick, Travis, 226 Kerr, Steve, 63, 71 Khuzami, Robert, 148 Kickstarter, 213 Kidder Peabody, 54–56, 58, 143, 152 Kimberly-Clark, 71 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 26 Kitroeff, Natalie, 190–94 Klein, Joel, 132–33 Kodak, 59, 165 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, 57, 70 Kozlowski, Dennis, 124–25 Kraft Heinz, 177, 181, 203, 206–7 Kudlow, Larry, 151–52 Kurria, Zipporah, 189 Lake, 143 Lane, Bill, 42, 45 Langone, Ken, 32, 104, 108–10, 137–38, 146, 220 Last Startup, The (Ries), 139 Lauer, Matt, 117, 135, 220–21 Lay, Kenneth, 124 Lazonick, William, 65–66 Leadership Institute, University of Southern California, 132 Lee, Jimmy, 135 Lehman Brothers, 67, 144 Lemann, Jorge Paulo, 177–82 Leno, Jay, 90 Letterman, David, 52 Lever, William, 204–5 Levitt, Arthur, 95–96 life expectancy, 183, 204 Limbaugh, Rush, 53 LinkedIn, 152 Lion Air Flight 610 crash (2018), 186–87, 190 Lockheed Martin, 61 Lowe’s, 110 Lyft, 170 Macy’s, 224 Management Today, 74 “Manager of the Century,” JW as (Fortune magazine), 7, 91–97, 114–15, 117, 118–19, 120, 146, 152, 159, 163, 198, 230 Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation (MCAS, Boeing 737 Max), 153–56, 186–90, 192–94, 224 market concentration, 79–80, 176–78, 219 Marriott International, 224 Martin, Roger, 38, 64, 68, 106–7 McAllister, Kevin, 154, 189–91, 194 McDonnell Douglas, 77, 86–90, 127, 191 McKinsey & Company, 143, 182 McMillon, Doug, 184, 199 McNerney, Jim, 99, 101–2, 107 as Boeing CEO, 113, 127–30, 153–54, 194, 200 at the Jack Welch Management Institute (online MBA program), 134 Six Sigma and, 101, 112–13, 127 as 3M CEO, 111–13, 127 Means, Gardiner C., 24–25, 212 Meckling, William, 37–38, 110 Medtronic, 77–78, 84, 106 mergers and acquisitions, see dealmaking (generally); dealmaking at GE Merrill Lynch, 39, 144, 149 Microsoft, 67, 102, 133–34, 171, 217, 223 Milken, Michael, 120–21 Milleron, Nadia, 194 minimum wage, 93, 183, 209, 215, 218, 223 MIT Sloan School of Management, 132 Modern Corporation and Private Property, The (Berle and Means), 24–25, 212 Moltke, Helmuth von, 34 Money magazine, 67, 120 Montgomery Ward, 61 Motorola, 107 MSNBC, 53–54 Muilenburg, Dennis, 154–56, 187–94 Murdoch, Rupert, 54 Nabisco, 169 Nader, Ralph, 36, 194 Nardelli, Bob, 99–101, 107–11 Nasser, Jacques, 72–73 Nassetta, Chris, 223 National Steel, 66–67 Natura, 212 NBC, 157, 174 The Apprentice (TV program), 121, 134–35, 195 and GE acquisition of RCA, 51–54, 56, 57, 95, 152, 175, 176 GE takeover of RCA and, 51–54, 56, 57, 95, 152, 175, 176 If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?

The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World
by Brad Stone
Published 30 Jan 2017

(Courtesy of Airbnb) The Airbnb co-founders (From left: Blecharczyk, Chesky, and Gebbia) in their first offices in 2010. (Courtesy of Airbnb) A young Travis Kalanick (right) with his father, Don, mother, Bonnie, and brother, Cory. (Courtesy of Uber) A photo of Travis Kalanick performing the long jump from his 1994 Granada Hills High School Yearbook. (Courtesy of the author) Travis Kalanick from his 1994 Granada Hills High School Yearbook. (Courtesy of the author) An early screenshot in 2010 of the UberCab website. (Courtesy of the author) The early Uber crew: (left to right) Curtis Chambers, Travis Kalanick, Stefan Schmeisser, Conrad Whelan, Jordan Bonnet, Austin Geidt, Ryan Graves, and Ryan McKillen.

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Chapter 5: Blood, Sweat, and Ramen 1. “Disrupt Backstage: Travis Kalanick,” YouTube video, June 22, 2011, https://youtu.be/0-uiO-P9yEg. 2. Ilene Lelchuk, “Probe Clears 2 S.F. Elections Officials; Case Against 3rd Remains Unclear,” SFGate, December 12, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Probe-clears-2-S-F-elections-officials-Case-2841381.php. 3. Andy Kessler, “Travis Kalanick: The Transportation Trustbuster,” Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2013, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324235104578244231122376480. 4. “Disrupt Backstage: Travis Kalanick,” YouTube video. 5. “Travis Kalanick Startup Lessons from the Jam Pad—Tech Cocktail Startup Mixology,” YouTube video, May 5, 2011, https://youtu.be/VMvdvP02f-Y. 6.

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Michael Arrington, “Payday for Red Swoosh: $15 Million from Akamai,” TechCrunch, April 12, 2007, http://techcrunch.com/2007/04/12/payday-for-red-swoosh-15-million-from-akamai/. 25. Author’s interview with Travis Kalanick and http://fortune.com/2013/09/19/travis-kalanick-founder-of-uber-is-silicon-valleys-rebel-hero/. 26. “Travis Kalanick Startup Lessons from the Jam Pad,” YouTube video. 27. Ibid. 28. “Travis Kalanick of Uber,” This Week in Startups. 29. Ryan Graves, “1 + 1 = 3,” Uber.com, December 22, 2010, https://newsroom.uber.com/1-1-3/. Part II Chapter 6: The Wartime CEO 1. Ben Horowitz, “Peacetime CEO/Wartime CEO,” Ben’s Blog, Andreessen Horowitz, April 14, 2011, http://www.bhorowitz.com/peacetime_ceo_wartime_ceo. 2.

Wild Ride: Inside Uber's Quest for World Domination
by Adam Lashinsky
Published 31 Mar 2017

And when you do that, when you’re doing something really, really different, you’re going to have some naysayers. You just have to get used to that.” Travis Kalanick, the philosopher/execution guy, a jerk to many but not to himself, very likely will never get used to the naysayers. Adversity, after all, had become part of the journey. A young Travis Kalanick. Kalanick’s fourth-grade football team; he’s number 21. The Scour team on the last day of its existence. From left to right, Kevin Smilak, Craig Grossman, Travis Kalanick, Dan Rodrigues, and Michael Todd. The Red Swoosh team in 2002: Travis Kalanick (second from left), Francesco Fabbrocino (standing, fourth from left), Evan Tsang (third from right), Rob Bowman (far right).

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The Red Swoosh team in 2002: Travis Kalanick (second from left), Francesco Fabbrocino (standing, fourth from left), Evan Tsang (third from right), Rob Bowman (far right). Garrett Camp (left) and Travis Kalanick in front of the Eiffel Tower during their pivotal 2008 trip. The Uber team in the beginning. From left to right: Curtis Chambers, Travis Kalanick, Stefan Schmeisser, Conrad Whelan, Jordan Bonnet, Austin Geidt, Ryan Graves, Ryan McKillen. The early UberCab Web site. Edward Norton was Rider One in Los Angeles in 2012. Ryan Graves and Austin Geidt jamming in Uber’s early days. Shervin Pishevar and Travis Kalanick, moments after signing the term sheet for Series B funding in Dublin, October 2011.

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Contents Title Page Copyright Dedication CHAPTER 1 A Wild Ride Through China CHAPTER 2 Training Wheels CHAPTER 3 Lean Times CHAPTER 4 Jamming CHAPTER 5 Early Days CHAPTER 6 Travis Takes the Wheel CHAPTER 7 Growing Pains CHAPTER 8 Juggernaut CHAPTER 9 Driver’s Seat CHAPTER 10 The Autonomous Future CHAPTER 11 Outflanked in China CHAPTER 12 A Long Walk Through San Francisco Photographs Acknowledgments About the Author CHAPTER 1 A Wild Ride Through China Travis Kalanick sits in the back of a chauffeur-driven black Mercedes making its way through the traffic-clogged streets of Beijing. It is the dead of summer in 2016, and the sky above the Chinese capital is thick with pollution, the air muggy and still. As CEO of Uber, the world’s most valuable start-up, Kalanick has been visiting China about every three months for three years now.

The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter
by David Sax
Published 8 Nov 2016

While old industry giants such as General Motors and General Electric were pandering for bailouts, companies such as Twitter, which counted their staff in the dozens, were being valued at many billions of dollars. Why invest in a blue-chip company struggling to adapt, when a small investment in a tech startup could make you rich overnight? Today, it is the titans of technology—Tesla’s Elon Musk, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Uber’s Travis Kalanick—who are the new gods of capitalism. Their stories of rapid success are the subjects of best-selling biographies and Hollywood movies. Silicon Valley has supplanted Wall Street as the destination for the best and brightest. The Economist reported that in 2014, one fifth of American business school graduates went to work in technology.

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91 Hill, Jon, 114 Hirschfeld, James, 44–45 HMV, 13, 16 Hoarders, 97 hobby game market, 77 hobby stores, 78, 79, 85 Holley, Willie, 160 Hollywood Reporter (magazine), 72 home libraries, 128, 208, 227 Houstonia (magazine), 109 HP computers, 65 Huffington Post, 115 Huizar, Jose, 185 human assistance, preference for, 134 human-in-the-loop processes, 224 Hungry Hungry Hippos, 76 Husni, Samir, 104–105 hypercapitalism, 157 IBM computers, 65 ICQ, 217 IdeaPaint, 191 IDEO, 193, 225 Ilford film, 55, 71 I’m the Boss, 86 Impossible Project, 66, 67–70 In Wilderness Is the Preservation of the World (Thoreau), 232 independent booksellers increase in, 125 See also bookstores independent magazine publishing, 103–107 independent record stores, annual meeting of, 13 See also record stores Indigo, 127 information age, 219 information overload, 37, 111 information persistence, 191 Initiative, 108 innovation building blocks for, buzzwords in, 192 culture of, fostering, 214 deeply held values around technology and, 179 different narrative of, xvi driver of, 36 standard narrative of, trend running counter to, xiv, 155 Instacart, 166 Instagram, 62, 80, 94, 162, 170, 217, 224, 234, 235, 241 instant film photography, xv, 66, 67, 69–70 Instax camera, 70 integrative thinking, 175, 176–177, 197, 199 Intel, 163 Internet/web access to, in education, 183, 185 growing use of, economy based on, 152, 154 role in saving vinyl, 11–12, 20–21 at summer camp, 231, 235 trust and, challenge of, 145–146 view of, 46, 238 See also online entries investing, 170–172 iPads, 13, 42, 81, 84, 110, 111, 113, 132, 180, 182, 185–186, 188, 208, 234, 241 iPhone, ix, xiii, 62, 63, 73, 84, 140, 144 iPods, 7, 9, 12, 18, 19, 27, 28, 233 IRL, 237 See also reality iTunes, ix, 12, 19 Jackman School, 187–188, 203 Jackson, Wanda, 22 Jaipur, 87 job creation, 151, 152, 160, 161–166, 167, 171–173, 173 job market, 164, 165–166, 175 See also digital work; manual work Jobs, Steve, 138, 139, 206, 207–208 Johnson, Jeff, 182 Johnson, Ron, 139, 140 jukeboxes, 8, 9, 18 June Records, ix, xi–xii, 137 Kalanick, Travis, 155 Kaps, Florian “Doc,” 66–68, 69 Kartsotis, Tom, 150–151, 160, 167, 169, 172 Kassem, Chad, 17 Katigbak, Everett, 214, 215–216 Kaufman, Donna Paz, 127, 128 Kelly, Kevin, 226–230 keyboards, xvii, 186, 237 Keynes, John Maynard, 164 Khan Academy, 200 Kickbox, 208–209 Kickstarter, 43, 73, 91–92, 94, 95–96, 98 Kim, Eurie, 137, 138 Kind of Blue (album), 25 Kindle, 124, 130, 142, 143, 228 Kinfolk (magazine), 105 Kleinman, Gabe, 214 Kobo, 142 Kodak, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 63, 64, 71, 153 Kroger, 134 Krugman, Paul, 171 Kurtz, Michael, 13–14, 15, 16, 20 Kwizniac, 91 laboratory school, 187–188 Landor Associates, 36 Lanier, Jaron, 157 laptops early childhood education and, 182 in education, learning outcomes and, 183–185, 188, 190 See also computers Launch Monitor (blog), 111 Lazaretto (album), 21 LC-A camera, 59–60 Lechtturm, 43 LEGOs, 182, 198 Lennon, John, 26 Leslie, Jeremy, 104, 106, 111 letterpress cards/invitations, xiv letterpress printing, 44, 215 Levin, Diane, 180–181 Levin, Eric, 14 Levitin, Daniel, 37 Levy, David, ix Lexus and the Olive Tree, The (Friedman), 154 liberal arts programs, 192 Libin, Phil, 222 Lichtenegger, Heinz, 11, 17 Lieu, John, 213 Lim, Sen-Foong, 98 limitless selection, issue with, 130, 134 LinkedIn, 45, 46 Little Brother (magazine), 104–105 Live Action Role Play (LARP) retreat, 82 live performances, xv, 6, 15, 22, 27, 28 Livescribe, 47, 228 Lomographic Society International, 60 Lomography, 59–62, 64, 66, 71 Lonely Typewriter, The (Ackerman), 131 Long Good Read, The (newspaper), 116, 117 Long Tail, The (Anderson), 208 Los Angeles Times (newspaper), 185 Los Angeles Unified School District, 185–186 Lowery, David, 20 Lucas, George, 72 Lululemon, 126–127 luxury approach, 112, 114, 116, 150, 151, 168 MacArthur, Rick, 142 made-in-America approach, 150, 151, 152, 160, 167, 168 Maffé, Carlo Alberto Carnevale, 39, 40 Mag Culture (blog), 104 magazine ads, 108, 109 magazine market, 105–106 magazine publishing, 103–107, 108, 112 magazine subscription service, 103, 106 magazines ability to charge for, 109, 110, 112 circulation of, 104, 105 luxury approach to, 112–113 See also digital publications; print publications Magic cards, 78 Magnetic, 108 magnetic tape, 23, 24, 25, 72 mah-jongg, 82 manual work classic educational model for, 199 investing in, 172 skilled, manufacturing providing, 150, 151, 152, 157–158, 159–161, 167, 168, 169 standard narrative on, 154, 155, 160 value gap involving, 160, 161, 171 Mara, Chris, 24–25 Marazza, Antonio, 35–36 market logic/laws, 132–133, 140 See also capitalism Martin, Penny, 112 Matsudaira, Kate, 43 Mattel, 85 Mazzucca, Daren, 111 McAfee, Andrew, 162, 163 McAlister, Matt, 116–117 McBeth, Leslie, 198–199 McCartney, Paul, 26 MCIR (magazine), 106 McNally, Sarah, 129 McNally Jackson, 129, 148 McNally Robinson, 129 McNeish, Joanne, 188–189 Medina, Allison, 132 meditation, xv, 205–206, 207, 209–210, 210 Medium, 208, 213–214 meetings, improving, 219–220 Meetup, 220 merchandising appeal, 131–132 merchandising tactics, 133 Michaels, Mark, 9–10, 16 microphones, 83 Microsoft, 43, 154, 163, 206, 211 Microtouch, 190–191 Millar, Jay, 6, 7–8 Mille Bornes, 78 millennials, xii Milton Bradley, 76, 92 mindfulness, xv, 206, 207 Minecraft (game), 81 Mitchell, Jenny, 97 Mittelstein apprentice system, 160 Mod Notebooks, 43 Modo & Modo, 32, 33, 34 Mohawk Paper, 46 Moleskine (company), 31–32, 38, 39, 40, 41–43, 46, 47, 48–49 Moleskine notebooks appeal of, 31, 34–35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 43, 49, 111, 228 branding of, 35–36, 39, 40, 41, 48 buyers of, change in, 36–37 history of, 33–34 integration of, with digital companies, 46, 47–48, 222–223 and the notebook market, 31, 41, 43–44 sales of, 39, 41, 48, 223 Moleskinerie (blog), 38 Monocle (magazine), 112–113 monopolies, 162–163 Monopoly, 76, 77, 78, 86, 88–89 Montessori school, 208 MOO (Pleasure Cards), 45–46 MOOC (massive open online course), 201–202, 203 Moore’s Law, 225 Moross, Richard, 45, 46 motion picture film, 52, 53, 55, 56, 71–73 Motown, 6 Mousetrap, 76 movie sets and props, 72 MP3s, xvi, 7, 9, 12, 19, 23, 143, 231, 242 Mraz, Jason, 15 multiplayer gaming, massive, 77, 80–81, 83 Munchkin, 85 Murchison, Mike, 227 Muscle Shoals, 25 music, evolution of technology used to listen to, xv–xvi See also digital music; live performances; record stores; recording studios; vinyl records MusicWatch, 12, 18 Musk, Elon, 155 MySpace, 217 Nadaraja, Nish, 217, 218 Nakamura, Yoshitaka, 70 Napster, x, 12 National Bureau of Economic Research, 192 NBA Jam (game), 80 Negroponte, Nicholas, 184 neoliberalism, 153 nerd/geek culture, 14, 78, 84–85, 94, 211 Netflix, 223 Netscape, 154 New 55, 70 New York Times Magazine, 238 New York Times (newspaper), 92, 108, 110, 114–115, 136, 151, 154, 171 New Yorker (magazine), 89 NewBilt Machinery, 17 News Corp, 186 Newspaper Club, 117–120, 121 newspaper-printing plants, 117, 119–120 newspapers appeal of, 114–155, 238, 239 custom, 116, 117–120 decline of, 117, 120 integrating digital and new business models for, 116–120 online versions of, 114, 115–116 See also print publications Nicholson, Scott, 82–83 Nielsen BookScan, 142 Night (Wiesel), 130 1989 (album), 6, 18, 27, 69 nineteenth-and twentieth-century model of education, 198–199 Nintendo, 76 Noah, David, 189–190 Nolan, Christopher, 71, 72 Nook, 142, 143 Nordstrom, 44, 137, 150 Norvig, Peter, 201 nostalgia, xii, xvii, 18, 44, 46, 62, 85, 189, 221, 238, 239 notebook market, 34, 41, 43–44, 48 notebooks/journals, 31, 34, 37, 41, 43–44, 49, 72, 104, 126, 142, 149, 207, 208, 218 See also Evernote; Moleskine notebooks Observer, The (newspaper), 116 obsolescence, xiv, xv, 12, 21, 44, 153, 187 offshoring, 156, 163, 165, 167, 168 omnichannel retail strategy, 126, 134 on-demand freelance work, 164, 165–166 on-demand printing of card games, 91 of newspapers, 117 of photos, 70 One Laptop per Child (OLPC), 184, 185 O’Neal, Johnny, 85 online communities, 38, 47, 60–61, 91, 96, 146, 215, 217–218, 218, 226 See also social media/networks online education, 176, 200–202 online gaming, 76–77, 80–81, 82, 83, 94 online retailing appeal of, 124 creating brick-and-mortar stores in, xv, 137–140, 208 disadvantages of, 132, 136 See also specific retailers online schools.

The Corruption of Capitalism: Why Rentiers Thrive and Work Does Not Pay
by Guy Standing
Published 13 Jul 2016

In Shanghai, for instance, if a driver completes twenty-five rides a week, Uber adds 110 per cent of any fare between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., 80 per cent at rush hours, 60 per cent at weekends and 40 per cent during normal working hours. If a driver completes fifty rides a week, the subsidy is increased by another 20 percentage points all round.11 Uber’s tactics in China appear to be having some success. By mid-2015, the technology hub city of Chengdu was its biggest market in the world by number of trips and Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick has announced plans to expand to 100 Chinese cities by the end of 2016. Still, Didi Kuaidi, which dominates China’s app-based taxi hailing market, has the financial firepower to fight back, in the form of one of China’s sovereign wealth funds and its e-commerce behemoths, Alibaba and Tencent.

…

Scott 1 ‘follow-on’ patenting 1 Ford, Henry 1, 2 Ford Motor Company 1 foreign direct investment 1, 2 ‘forum shopping’ 1 fossil fuel industry 1 Foucault, Michel 1 Foxconn 1, 2 fracking 1, 2 Freelancer.com 1 Freelancers Union 1 ‘freelancing’ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Friedman, Milton 1, 2, 3, 4 Gates, Bill 1, 2 GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) 1, 2 General Electric 1, 2 General Motors 1, 2 Getaround 1 Giddens, Anthony 1 Gigwalk 1 Gilded Age 1, 2 Gilead 1, 2 GiveDirectly 1 Global Transformation 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Goldman Sachs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Goodwin, Fred 1 Google 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 GPFG (Government Pension Fund Global, Norway) 1, 2 Gramsci, Antonio 1 Great Convergence 1, 2 ‘Great Gatsby Curve’ 1 Great Transformation 1, 2, 3 Greenspan, Alan 1 Griffin Schools Trust 1 Grillo, Beppe 1 Guardian, The 1, 2 guilds 1, 2, 3 Gunster, Gerry 1 Guy, Gillian 1 Haldane, Andrew 1 Hamilton, Alexander 1 Hammurabi, King 1 Handy 1 Harberger, Arnold 1 Hardin, Garrett 1 Harris, John 1 Hartwick, John 1 Hartwick’s Rule of Inter-Generational Equity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Hartz IV welfare reform 1 Hassle.com 1 Hawking, Stephen 1 Hayek, Friedrich 1, 2, 3, 4 Health and Social Care Act (2012) 1 ‘helicopter money’ 1 ‘help-to-buy’ scheme 1 Henry III, King 1 heteromation 1 Hilferding, Rudolf 1 Hitler, Adolf 1 HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) 1 Hobson, John 1 Hollande, François 1 Homejoy 1 homelessness 1, 2, 3 hoovering (of patents) 1 household debt 1, 2, 3, 4 housing debt 1 Hurd, Nick 1 Husson, Michel 1 Hutton, Will 1 ICSID (International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes) 1, 2 ‘idea-intensive’ firms 1 Illich, Ivan 1 ILO (International Labour Organization) 1 IMF (International Monetary Fund) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Independent, The 1 individualisation 1 ‘industrial time’ regime 1 Inequality 1 inheritance tax 1 Institute for Fiscal Studies 1, 2, 3 Institute of Economic Affairs 1, 2 intellectual commons 1, 2 intellectual property branding 1 and commons 1 copyright 1 and lies of rentier capitalism 1 and lobbying 1 and revolt of precariat 1, 2, 3 trade and investment treaties 1 see also patents International Association of Political Consultants 1 International Energy Agency 1 ‘inversion deals’ 1 Investment Court System 1 ‘investment plan for Europe’ 1 IOM (International Organization for Migration) 1 IPSE (Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed) 1 ISA (individual savings allowance) 1 ISDS (Investor–State Dispute Settlement) 1, 2, 3, 4 ITN (Independent Television News) 1 Jackson, Michael 1 James I, King 1 Jefferson, Thomas 1, 2 Jobs (Jumpstart Our Businesses) Act (2012) 1 John, King 1 Johnson, Boris 1, 2 Jospin, Lionel 1 JP Morgan 1, 2 Juncker, Jean-Claude 1 Kalanick, Travis 1 Kay, John 1 Kennedy, John F. 1 Kent Reliance 1 Keynes, John Maynard 1, 2, 3, 4 Kids Company 1 King, Martin Luther 1 King, Matt 1 Kingfisher 1 Kinnock, Neil 1 Kinnock, Stephen 1 Klaus, Václav 1 Koch, Charles 1, 2 Koch, David 1 Kondratieff ‘long waves’ theory 1 Kraft 1 Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique) network 1 Kwarteng, Kwasi 1 labourism 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lady Gaga 1 Lancers 1 landlord debt 1 Lansley, Andrew 1, 2 Laplanche, Renaud 1 Lauderdale, Earl of 1 Lauderdale Paradox 1, 2 Lawson, Nigel 1 Lazzarato, Maurizio 1 Leader’s Group 1 Lebedev, Evgeny 1 Lee, John 1 Legal and General Property 1 Legal Services Act (2007) 1 Lehman Brothers 1, 2 Lending Club 1, 2 Lenin, Vladimir 1 library services 1 Lidl 1 lies of rentier capitalism 1, 2, 3 LinkedIn 1, 2 living wage 1, 2, 3, 4 Lloyds Banking Group 1, 2 lobbying 1, 2 Lobbying Act (2014) 1 London Debt Agreement (1953) 1 London Economic Conference (1933) 1 Long-Term Capital Management 1 ‘Luddites’ 1 Lyft 1, 2, 3 McKinsey Global Institute 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Macmillan, Harold 1 McNamara, Robert 1 Magna Carta (1215) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Mail on Sunday 1 Major, John 1, 2, 3 Malaysia Square (London) 1 Malthus, Thomas 1 Manafort, Paul 1 Mandelson, Peter 1 ‘market exclusivity’ 1 Marshall, Paul 1 Marshall Plan 1 Marx, Karl 1, 2 Mason, Paul 1, 2, 3, 4 mass media 1, 2, 3, 4 MeasureOne 1 Medallion Financial 1 mental health 1 Messina, Jim 1, 2 Met Patrol Plus 1 Metro 1 Microsoft 1 migration 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Milburn, Alan 1, 2, 3 Miliband, Ed 1, 2 Milner, Yuri 1 Miłosz, Czesław 1 Milstein, César 1 Mincome 1 minimum wage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Mirrlees, James 1 Mises, Ludwig von 1, 2 Mishel, Lawrence 1 Mitterrand, François 1 Money Advice Trust 1 Monitor 1 Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) 1, 2, 3 Monti, Mario 1, 2, 3 ‘moonlighters’ 1 moral hazards 1, 2, 3 Motorola 1 MoVimento 1 Stelle (M 2S) 3 MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) 1 Mugabe, Robert 1 Murdoch, Rupert 1, 2, 3, 4 Murphy, Richard 1 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) 1, 2 NAIRU (nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment) 1 Nash, John 1, 2 National Audit Office 1, 2 National Council for Voluntary Organisations 1 National Crime Agency 1 National Gallery 1 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949) 1 National Trust 1 Nationwide Building Society 1 ‘natural capital’ 1 Neo-liberalism 1, 2 and commons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and democracy 1, 2, 3 and occupational dismantling 1 and revolt of precariat 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and shaping of rentier capitalism 1, 2 and subsidies 1, 2, 3, 4 New Labour 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 New Scotland Yard 1 Newman, Maurice 1 News of the World 1 NGOs (non-governmental organisations) 1 NHS (National Health Service) 1, 2, 3 Nine Elms development (London) 1, 2 ‘non-dom’ status 1, 2 North Sea oil 1, 2, 3 North York Moors National Park Authority 1 Northern Rock 1, 2 O’Neill, Jim 1 Obama, Barack 1, 2, 3 Observer, The 1, 2 Occidental Petroleum 1 occupational dismantling 1 Occupy Movement 1, 2, 3, 4 ODI (Overseas Development Institute) 1 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Ofcom 1 Office for Budget Responsibility 1, 2 offshore tax havens 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Oil Change International 1 Ola Cabs 1, 2 Olympic Park (Stratford) 1 on-call employees 1 on-demand economy 1, 2, 3 online dispute resolution 1 ONS (Office of National Statistics) 1, 2, 3, 4 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) 1 Optum 1 Osborne, George 1 Ostrom, Elinor 1 Oxfam 1 PAC (Parliamentary Accounts Committee) 1 PACs (Political Action Committees) 1 Paine, Thomas 1 Panama Papers 1 Paolozzi, Sir Eduardo 1 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) 1 ‘participation income’ system 1 party politics 1 ‘pass-through’ structures 1 patent boxes 1 patents 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 see also intellectual property Paulson, Henry 1 payday loans 1 PayPal 1 peer-to-peer lending 1, 2, 3 PeoplePerHour 1 PEP (Personal Equity Plan) 1 Perkins, Adam 1 Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund 1 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996) 1 PFI (private finance initiative) 1, 2, 3 Pfizer 1, 2 Pharmac 1 Philip Morris International 1, 2, 3 Phillips, A.

Bezonomics: How Amazon Is Changing Our Lives and What the World's Best Companies Are Learning From It
by Brian Dumaine
Published 11 May 2020

That’s little solace, however, to those who have been crushed by Amazon’s wheel as well as to the politicians who represent them. A rising tide of political antipathy toward Amazon could someday dramatically alter its trajectory. Bezos is not alone in displaying big tech hubris. Other Internet titans, such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Uber’s cofounder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, and Google’s cofounder and CEO Larry Page at times have displayed the same Silicon Valley social blindness. All are brilliant technologists who feel more comfortable with things they can quantify rather than with things they can’t, such as human emotions. While at Uber’s helm, Kalanick had a “Don’t ask for permission but beg for forgiveness” attitude, sometimes flouting local regulations to expand his car-hailing service and leaving a trail of upset community members behind him.

…

See also wealth gap Sanders’s criticism of Amazon for, 240–41 Indeed.com, 131 India, 14, 66, 189, 221, 271 Infinity Cube, 37–38 influencers, 210 innovation, and flywheel, 80–81 Instagram, 194, 197 addictive nature of, 17, 18 feature for selling directly to customers, 211 Lulus’s influencers on, 210–11 Instant Pot electric multicooker, 151 Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 148 insurance industry Amazon’s entry into, 219, 228, 234, 236 Ant Financial in, 235 robo-advisory services in, 235 Intel, 51 Internet addiction to, 18 Bezos’s early interest in, 39 business models based on, 125 cloud computing services on, 25 DARPA and creation of, 34 home health care using, 223 HTTP standards for, 125 voice access to, 112 Internet of Things, 123–24, 270 iOS operating system, 14, 225 iPhone, 26, 64, 69, 108, 110, 117, 199 ITT, 216 Iverson, Ken, 5 iWatch, 222 Iyengar, Sheena, 21 Jabra, 111 JANA Partners, 168 Jassy, Andy, 44, 51–52, 63 JD.com AI Internet-connected devices from, 124 AI skills and customer knowledge of, 8, 124, 270 Amazon’s competition with, 266 delivery drones used by, 178 global spheres of influence with, 188–89 warehouse with robots of, 136–38 Jentoft, Leif, 139 JetBlack delivery service, Walmart, 190–91 Jet.com, 54, 183–84, 185 jobs AI-driven tech giants and, 271 AI’s impact on, 143, 248, 267 automation and, 9, 12, 126–27, 141–43, 241–42, 248, 267 Bezos as focal point for concerns about losses of, 126 drone deliveries and, 124 interconnected devices and, 124 new technologies and, 143–44 robots and, 11, 29, 127, 144, 270 technology’s disruption of, 127 universal basic income and, 248–49 wage changes in, 127 Jobs, Steve, 26, 53, 55, 110 Joly, Hubert, 204 Jorgensen, Ted, 31–32 Joy, Lisa, 102 JPMorgan Chase, 27, 227, 234, 236 Julie talking dolls, 107 Juniper Research, 220 Juno Therapeutics, 217 Kabbani, Nader, 226 Kalanick, Travis, 57–58 Kantar, 16, 168 KFC restaurants, China, 198, 199 Khalifah, Saoud, 159–60 Khan, Lina, 258–59 Khanna, Ro, 243 Khosrowshahi, Dara, 8 Kindle e-readers, 26, 31, 47, 65, 66, 74, 76, 80, 81, 82, 105, 217, 226 King, Martin Luther Jr., 249 Kiva robots, 128 Koch, David and Charles, 250 Kosmo.com, 64, 65 Kraft Heinz, 267 Kroger, 5, 24, 136, 141, 168, 175, 176 Lake, Katrina, 206, 207–8 Lennar, 218 Liu, Richard, 178 Livongo Health, 229 Long Now Foundation, 71 long-term management in Bezonomics, 76, 88 long-term view AI flywheel and, 71, 81–82, 269 Amazon innovation lab and, 224 Amazon’s use of, 3, 61–64, 65–66 AWS example of, 63–64 Bezos and, 59, 61–66 Blue Origin project and, 68 employees’ need for, 63 machine learning on cancers and, 223 new delivery technologies and, 174 philanthropy strategy and, 251 profitability and, 61–62 pushes into new sectors and, 236 shopping on Alexa and, 116 10,000-year clock and, 70–71 Walmart’s JetBlack project and, 191 Lord of the Rings, The (Tolkien), 101 Lore, Marc, 54–55, 183–88, 189, 190, 191, 192 Los Angeles Times, 207 Lot-Less Closeouts stores, 167 Loup Ventures, 110 Lululemon, 190 Lulus, 9, 194, 209–11, 213 luxury retailers, 9, 200–2 LVMH, 205 Lyft, 23 Ma, Tony, 90 machine learning Alexa voice recognition and, 113–14 Amazon’s application of, 270 Bezos on power of, 83 black box and, 91, 147 decision-making and, 87 fake review detection with, 160 flywheel model and, 5, 83–84, 85 health-care industry and, 223 voice recognition and, 109 Machine Learning service business, Amazon, 218 Mackey, John, 164 Man in the High Castle, The (TV series), 102–3 Marcus, James, 41, 45 Marketplace, 52 Amazon Lending loans to small businesses on, 234 Bezos’s creation of, 42 number of businesses on, 10 third-party merchants on, 42 Marketplace Pulse, 262 MarketWatch, 208 Marriott Hotels, 143 Max Borges Agency, 15–16, 19 McCabe, Chris, 153 McCarthy, John, 107 McGrath, Judith, 66 McKinsey & Company, 126, 174, 181, 215 McMillon, Doug, 185–86 McWhorter, John, 120 medical records project, 225 medicine.

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything
by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey
Published 27 Feb 2018

When Allison explained how she knew so much about his whereabouts, Sims flipped out and wrote a biting blog post about the experience. Uber has become notorious for sexual harassment among its staff and has taken drastic action to try to resolve the problem, which was a significant factor in the forced resignation of its co-founder, CEO Travis Kalanick. But this privacy issue is just as important. Not only does the company control sensitive information about the journeys people take, but senior company officials, at least in the early days of the company, showed a willingness to abuse that power. In November 2014, Uber launched an investigation into the actions of its New York general manager, Josh Mohrer, after BuzzFeed journalist Johana Bhuiyan reported that he had used the God’s view feature to monitor her movements.

…

Inter-American Development Bank Interledger Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Internet of Things (IoT) Internet of Value Internet 3.0 Interplanetary File System (IPFS) IOTA IPFS. See Interplanetary File System (IPFS) Islamic State Israel Ito, Joichi Ivancheglo, Sergey J.P. Morgan Jagers, Chris Japan Jasanoff, Sheila JavaScript Jordan Juniper Research K320 (digital currency) Kalanick, Travis Kickstarter. See also crowdfunding know-your-customer (KYC) know-your-machine Larimer, Daniel ledger-keeping and Bitcoin double-entry bookkeeping history of triple-entry bookkeeping value of Lehman Brothers Lemieux, Victoria L. Leondrino Exchange Lessig, Lawrence Levine, Matt Lewis, Michael Lightning Network Linux Foundation Litecoin Llanos, Juan Lloyd’s of London LO3 Energy Lovejoy, James Loyyal Lubin, Joseph Ludwin, Adam Lyft Lykke Madoff, Bernie Maidsafe Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 Marshall, George C.

Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation
by Sophie Pedder
Published 20 Jun 2018

Back in 2008, the bipartisan Attali Commission, for which Emmanuel Macron was a rapporteur, had argued for a deregulation of the taxi industry. But, thanks to its mighty lobby, the advice came to nothing. Such was the scarcity of taxis on the streets of Paris that the concept of Uber was actually dreamt up in the French capital, one wintry evening in 2008, when Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp were in town for a tech conference, known as Le Web, and couldn’t find a cab. They hit upon the idea of a ride-hailing app, and a year later launched Uber in America. When the French government finally deregulated the chauffeur-driven car sector, it initially put in place a raft of restrictions, which Uber proceeded to breach.

…

INDEX Abel, Olivier here Adenauer, Konrad here Agir pour l’Ecole here Alduy, Cécile here Allard, Mathilde here Aly, Guillaume here Amiens here description of here, here Henriville here, here, here La Providence Catholic school here, here, here, here launch of En Marche here, here, here 2017 presidential election campaign here Arnault, Bernard here Aschenbroich, Jacques here al-Assad, Bashar here, here Asselineau, François here Association for the Renewal of Political Life, The here Attali, Jacques here, here Attali Commission here, here, here, here, here Aubry, Martine here, here, here, here Auzière, André-Louis here, here, here Auzière, Brigitte here, here, here: see also Macron, Brigitte Auzière, Laurence here, here Auzière, Sébastien here Auzière, Tiphaine here, here, here Aymard, Léonard here Badinter, Robert here Balibar, Etienne here Bande de Filles (film) here banlieues here, here, here, here, here Avignon here Clichy-sous-Bois, Paris here Décines-Charpieu, Lyon here Lyon here, here Paris here, here, here, here, here, here, here Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris here Sevran, Paris here, here Trappes, Paris here unemployment here Vaulx-en-Velin, Lyon here Barbier, Christophe here Barre, Raymond here Barthes, Roland here, here, here Bastiat, Frédéric here Bastille Day military parade (2017) here, here, here, here, here Sarkozy and (2008) here terrorist attack (2016) here Baverez, Nicolas here, here Bayeux Tapestry here, here, here Bayrou, François here, here, here Berger, Laurent here Bertelsmann Stiftung here Berville, Hervé here, here Bessière, Sylvianne here Besson, Philippe here, here, here Bigorgne, Laurent here, here, here, here, here, here Binaisse, Eugène here BlaBlaCar here Blair, Tony here, here, here, here, here, here Blanquer, Jean-Michel here, here, here, here, here, here Blondel, Marc here Blum, Léon here Bolhuis, Véronique here Bolloré, Vincent here Bonnell, Bruno here, here, here, here, here Bordes, Antoine here Bourgi, Robert here Bousquet de Florian, Pierre de here Bouvet, Laurent here Brabeck, Peter here Brexit here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Brice, Laurent here Briois, Steeve here Britain, see Brexit and Europe Brown, Gordon here, here Bruckner, Pascal here Bruni, Carla here Brynjolfsson, Erik: The Second Machine Age here Bugatti, Ettore here Bugatti production site, Molsheim here Buzyn, Agnès here Cahuzac, Jérôme here Cambadélis, Jean-Christophe here Cameron, David here Camos, Sylvain here Camp, Garrett here Campbell, Alastair here Canard Enchaîné, Le: Penelopegate here, here Canto-Sperber, Monique here car industry here Carrère, Emmanuel here, here, here Castries, Henri de here centrism here, see also Third Way politics CFDT (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail) here CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail) here, here, here Chaban-Delmas, Jacques here, here Chamboredon, Jean-David here Charbonnier, Eric here Chevènement, Jean-Pierre here Chirac, Jacques here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and wealth tax here, here climate change here, here, here Clinton, Bill here, here, here Code du Travail here cohabitation here Cohen, Elie here Colbert, Jean-Baptiste here Collomb, Gérard here Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT) here Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) here, here, here Constant, Benjamin here contrat première embauche (CPE) here Cour des Comptes here, here, here Crozier, Michel here Dalongeville, Gérard here Dardel, Frédéric here Dargnat, Christian here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Dartevelle, Renaud here, here, here, here, here, here, here Dauenhauer, Bernard here de Filippo, Eduardo: L’Art de la Comédie here de Gaulle, Charles here, here, here, here, here, here de Jean, Pierre, see Jean, Pierre de de Villepin, Dominique, see Villepin, Dominique de Delors, Jacques here Delpla, Jacques here, here Denormandie, Julien here, here, here Depardieu, Gérard here Depardon, Raymond here deuxième gauche here digital era artificial intelligence here digital economy here, here, here digital revolution here Dosse, François here Duhamel, Alain here Dworkin, Ronald here Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) here, here Ecole Normale Supérieure here, here economy here, here, here business here competition here digital revolution here industrial policy here labour market here labour reforms here, here politics of taxation here potential for growth here public sector here, here public spending here, here, here, here, here start-ups here, here, here, here see also industry EDP (excessive deficit procedure) here education baccalauréat here, here, here, here, here, here 42 (school) here higher education here lycées here, here, here reforms here, here see also grandes écoles Elysée Palace here, here, here salon doré here, here Emelien, Ismaël here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here En Marche (On the Move) here, here, here beginnings of here door-to-door canvassing here, here, here finances here Grande Marche (2016) here, here, here, here, here hacking of here launch of here, here, here political positioning of here, here structure of here, here, here victory of here ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration) here, here Etienne, Philippe here, here Europe here Athens speech here Brexit here, here, here, here Britain here, here, here, here Central and Eastern Europe here defence here, here EDP here eurozone here France and here, here, here Germany here, here reform of here, here Sorbonne speech here excessive deficit procedure (EDP) here Fabius, Laurent here Fadell, Tony here Fairey, Shepard here Ferracci, Marc here, here, here, here, here, here Ferry, Jules here, here Fête de la Rose, Frangy-en-Bresse here Fiévet, Jean-Marie here Fillon, François here, here Penelopegate here political views here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here, here Finance Ministry, Bercy here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here financial crisis (2008) here, here Finkielkraut, Alain here FN, see National Front Force Ouvrière here foreign policy here Africa here climate change here Europe, see Europe Middle East here USA here Fort, Sylvain here, here, here Fottorino, Eric here Fouré, Brigitte here Fourquet, Jérôme here, here Frangy-en-Bresse: Fête de la Rose here Front National, see National Front Gaci, Azzedine here Gaddafi, Muammar here Gantzer, Gaspard here, here, here Garicano, Luis here Gatignon, Stéphane here Gauchet, Marcel here Gayet, Julie here Ghosn, Carlos here Giddens, Anthony here, here Giesbert, Franz-Olivier here, here Girier, Jean-Marie here Giscard d’Estaing, Valéry here, here, here, here, here globalization here, here, here, here Gnao, Ange-Mireille here Goldman, Jean-Jacques here Gomes, Christophe here Goulard, Sylvie here Gracques here, here grandes écoles Ecole Centrale here Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) here, here Ecole Normale Supérieure here, here Ecole Polytechnique here, here ESSEC here, here, here HEC here, here Mines ParisTech here, here Sciences Po here, here, here, here, here, here, here Gravier, Jean-François: Paris et le désert français here Grelier, Jean-Carles here Griveaux, Benjamin here, here, here, here, here, here Guerini, Stanislas here Guibert, Pauline here Guilluy, Christophe here Haine, La (film) here, here Hallyday, Johnny here, here Hamon, Benoît here, here, here Hariri, Saad here Hazareesingh, Sudhir here Heisbourg, François here, here, here, here Hénin-Beaumont, see National Front Henrot, François here Hermand, Henry here, here Hesse, Hermann: ‘Stufen’ here Hidalgo, Anne here Hollande, François here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here déchéance here election campaigns here, here, here, here foreign policy here, here, here legalisation of gay marriage here and Macron’s resignation here and private life here and taxation here, here, here and terrorism here, here and Un président ne devrait pas dire ça here Houellebecq, Michel here, here, here The Elementary Particles here Hugo, Victor here industry here car industry here luxury products here new businesses here state and here 35-hour working week here, here, here, here, here, here Inspection Générale des Finances here Institut Montaigne report (2004) here Jean, Guy de here Jean, Pierre de here, here Joffrin, Laurent here Jospin, Lionel here, here, here Jouyet, Jean-Pierre here, here, here, here, here, here Judis, John here Julliard, Jacques here July, Serge here Juncker, Jean-Claude here Juppé, Alain here, here, here, here, here, here conviction for political corruption here plan Juppé here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here Kalanick, Travis here Kara, Yacine here Kasbarian, Guillaume here Kassovitz, Mathieu here, here Kepel, Gilles here El-Khatmi, Amine here Kimelfeld, David here Kohler, Alexis here, here Kuchna, Patrice here Kundera, Milan: Jacques et son Maître here Kurtul, Mahir here Laffont, Jean-Jacques here laïcité here Laine, Mathieu here, here, here Lamy, Pascal here, here, here, here Landier, Augustin here Le Bras, Hervé here, here Le Feur, Sandrine here Le Maire, Bruno here, here Le Pen, Jean-Marie here, here, here, here, here, here Le Pen, Marine here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and FN here in Hénin-Beaumont here, here, here and political realignment here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Le Pen, Marion Maréchal see Maréchal-Le Pen, Marion Lecanuet, Jean here LeLarge, Claire here liberalism here, here, here Liegey, Guillaume here, here, here, here, here Lienemann, Marie-Noëlle here Littiere, Mickaël here London School of Economics here, here, here, here Louvre: Cour Napoléon here, here, here, here Love, Courtney here Lycée Henri IV, Paris here Lyon here banlieues here, here Maastricht Treaty here, here, here McAfee, Andrew: The Second Machine Age here Machiavelli, Niccolò here Macron, Brigitte here, here, here, here, here, here after-school theatre club here marriage here, here parental opposition to here Macron, Emmanuel after-school theatre club here and Britain here, here, here caricatures of here and déchéance here early life here economic adviser to Hollande here, here, here economy minister here, here, here, here education here, here, here, here, here election of here En Marche, see En Marche ‘en même temps’ here, here and Europe, see Europe essay in Esprit here family background here and foreign policy, see foreign policy gay rumours here and globalization here, here, here and grandmother, here, here, here, here, here, here iconography here inauguration ceremony here insulting comments here, here, here interviews with, as President here, here, here, here, here, here, here and Jupiterian presidency here, here, here karaoke here and labour reform here, here, here leadership/personal qualities here on literature here loi Macron here, here marriage here, here and Merkel here, here, here, here, here, here, here and music here and networking here, here novels, own here, here optimism of here parental opposition to Brigitte Auzière here, here, here, here and philosophy here, here, here and political realignment here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here public-speaking performance here relationship with Brigitte here, here, here, here Rothschild’s here and tech industry here and Third Way politics here and Trump here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and welfare state here Macron, Estelle here Macron, Françoise (née Noguès) here, here, here, here, here Macron, Jean-Michel here, here, here, here, here Macron, Laurent here Madelin, Alain here Mahjoubi, Mounir here Mailly, Jean-Claude here mal français here Malandain, Guy here Malraux, André here Mandelson, Peter here Manette, see Noguès, Germaine Maréchal-Le Pen, Marion here Marguet, Antoine here, here, here, here Martinez, Philippe here May, Theresa here, here Mazzella, Frédéric here, here, here melancholy here Mélenchon, Jean-Luc here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Merchet, Jean-Dominique here Mercier, Hugo here Merkel, Angela here, here, here, here, here, here, here Mihi, Samir here Minc, Alain here, here, here Mines ParisTech here, here Miquel, Emmanuel here, here, here Mitterrand, François here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here mobile telephony here, here Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin): Le Misanthrope here Monnet, Jean here Montebourg, Arnaud here, here, here, here Moreau, Florence here Moscovici, Pierre here Moustaki, Georges: ‘Le Métèque’ here Muller, Arthur here Musée des Confluences here Nanterre, University of here, here Napoleon Bonaparte here, here, here, here, here National Centre for Counter-Terrorism here National Front (FN) here, here, here, here, here, here, here in Hénin-Beaumont here see also Le Pen, Marine NATO here, here, here Ndiaye, Sibeth here, here Niel, Xavier here, here, here, here, here Noguès, Germaine (Manette) here, here, here, here, here Noguès, Jean here Nora, Pierre here nuclear industry here, here O, Cédric here Obama, Barack here, here, here ‘Hope’ portrait here Obey (Shepard Fairey) street art here Oudéa, Frédéric here Paque, Sophie here, here Paris-Descartes, University of here Paulson, Lex here, here Pébereau, Michel here Penelopegate here Pénicaud, Muriel here, here, here Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) here Pervis, Patrick here Peyrefitte, Alain here Philippe, Edouard here, here, here Piette, Jacques here Piketty, Thomas here, here Piochon, Christophe here PIRLS international study of reading (2016) here Pisani-Ferry, Jean here political realignment here Pompidou, Georges here, here Pons, Vincent here Poujade, Pierre here poverty here, here anti-poverty policy here, here, here in banlieues here presidential election campaign (2017) here, here Amiens here Prochasson, Christophe here public spending here, here, here, here, here Putin, Vladimir here, here, here radicalization here Rawls, John here reforms here, here under Chirac here, here under Sarkozy here under Hollande here education here, here and Europe here and eurozone here, here, here, here, here, here, here and labour market here, here, here, here regional France here FN in here Hénin-Beaumont here Lyon here, here, here policies to reunite here regional cities here Republicans, The here, here, here, here Reza, Yasmina here Ricoeur, Paul here, here, here Robert, Father Philippe here, here, here Robertson, George here Rocard, Michel here, here, here, here Rothschild & Cie here Rothschild, David de here, here Rouart, Jean-Marie here Royal, Ségolène here, here, here Rutte, Mark here Sablon, Sandy here Sadirac, Nicolas here, here, here Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de here, here Saint Gobain mirror factory here, here Saint-Simon, Henri de here Salafism here Salhi, Yassin here Sandberg, Sheryl here Santerre, Jean here, here Sarkozy, Cécilia here Sarkozy, Nicolas here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here foreign policy here, here, here private life here, here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here, here and reforms here Sartre, Jean-Paul here Say, Jean-Baptiste here Schröder, Gerhard here Schuman, Robert here Sciamma, Céline here Sciences Po, Paris here, here, here, here, here, here, here Séjourné, Stéphane here Sen, Amartya here, here Shety, Loic here Simoncini, Marc here Socialist Party here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Spitz, Bernard here, here, here start-ups, see digital era and taxation and tech Stefanini, Patrick here Strauss-Kahn, Dominique here strikes, see unions and reforms Studer, Bruno here, here, here Sunday trading here, here see also loi Macron Szydlo, Beata here Taquet, Adrien here, here, here, here, here Tardieu, Jean: La Comédie du Langage here taxation here, here, here, here Chirac and here, here Hollande and here, here, here, here Macron and here, here, here, here, here politics of here Sarkozy and here, here and tech here, here, here, here, here wealth tax here, here, here, here, here, here taxis in Paris here, here Uber here, here, here, here Taylor, Maurice here Teixeira, Ruy here terrorist attacks here, here, here counter-terrorism law here Thatcher, Margaret here, here Third Way politics here Thomson, David here, here, here Tirole, Jean here Tocqueville, Alexis de here Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) here, here, here Trierweiler, Valérie here, here Trogneux, Jean here Trogneux chocolate business here, here Trump, Donald here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here TSE (Toulouse School of Economics) here, here, here Uber here, here, here protests against here unemployment here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Amiens here banlieues here Calais here Chirac and here, here FN and here, here Hénin-Beaumont here Hollande and here Macron and here, here, here, here Uber and here Vaulx-en-Velin here unions, see CFDT, CGT, reforms Unsubmissive France (La France Insoumise) here, here, here Vallée, Shahin here Valls, Manuel here, here, here, here, here, here and terrorism here, here, here 2017 presidential election campaign here, here, here Van Reenen, John here Veil, Simone here Veneau, Jérôme here Vercors (Jean Bruller): Le silence de la mer here Versailles, Palace of: May 2017 meeting with Putin here, here Villepin, Dominique de here, here, here Villeroy de Galhau, François here Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet): Candide here Vuillemot, Jérôme here Weber, Max here Weinberg, Serge here, here welfare state here Wilders, Geert here Xi Jinping here, here Zeugin, Sophie here, here A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR Sophie Pedder has been the Paris Bureau Chief of The Economist since 2003.

Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It
by Scott Kupor
Published 3 Jun 2019

They would of course need to convince at least some of the common directors to go along with them, but in most cases the common board seats are controlled by the founders (since they have the most stock and therefore the most votes). Thus, removing a founder CEO will prove difficult. Some have argued that these board structures are at the heart of why there have been some high-profile CEO-board governance challenges of late in Silicon Valley. The Uber case is illustrative here. During Travis Kalanick’s tenure as CEO, Uber had established a board of directors with up to eleven seats, only seven of which were filled at the time. It’s not unusual, by the way, to have some unfilled board seats in anticipation of filling the slots as the business needs develop. Travis effectively controlled three of the seven seats, because they were filled by him, his cofounder, and a third early employee of the company likely sympathetic to Travis.

…

See also acquisitions; initial public offerings (IPOs) Facebook Accel Partners’ investment in, 39–40, 86–87 initial public offering of, 264, 272–273 and Instagram, 130 product-market fit of, 45 unprecedented success of, 272 VC funding behind, 25, 41 failed VC investments, 3, 37–38, 51 failures, discussing, 131 Federal Reserve, U.S., 11 fiduciary duties and Bloodhound case, 236–239 to debt holders, 246 in difficult financing scenarios, 232, 236, 237 dual fiduciaries, 201–202, 212 duty of candor, 215 duty of care, 211–212, 215, 217 duty of confidentiality, 212–215 duty of loyalty, 212, 215, 218 and winding down the company, 246 financial crisis of 2008, 59 financial forecasts, 150–151 fixed income, 63 foreign equities, 62 foundations, 55, 57 founders adaptability of, 49 and board of directors, 97–98, 171–172 and capitalization tables, 190–191 and common stock, 93 and company vs. product-first companies, 44–45 departure of cofounders, 94–95, 96–100 egomania in, 47–48 and evaluation of early-stage companies, 43, 44, 49 founder-market fit, 45–47, 131–133 and information asymmetry, 5, 140, 275 and intellectual property, 101–103 leadership abilities of, 47–48 and product development, 49 and stock restrictions in term sheets, 181 and storytelling skills, 134 and taxation, 71 and vesting, 95–97, 99–101, 183, 186–187, 205–206 409A opinions, 205 fraud, accusations of, 218 Freenome, 128 full ratchet, 166 funds of funds, 56 general partners (GPs) and board seats, 179, 214–215 and carried interest, 74–77 and choosing a corporate structure, 93–94 and clawbacks, 80–81 co-investments of, 86–87 compensation of, 73–77 as dual fiduciaries, 202 and equity partners agreement, 88–89 and exit of VC after IPO, 267 and indemnification, 89–90 investments as domain of, 85–86 and LP–GP relationship, 70–71, 85–88 and management fee, 72–74 and managing conflicts, 214–215 obligations of, 87 and state of fund, 84 suspension of, 87–88 and vesting, 89 See also limited partnership agreement Glass-Steagall Act, 54 going to market, 135–138 good corporate governance, 206–207 Google, 10, 25, 41 Gornall, Will, 3 go-shop provisions, 239, 255 governance terms in term sheets, 196–198 Graham, Paul, 20 green shoe, 265 growth assets, 57–58, 61–63 HA Angel Fund (Horowitz Andreessen Angel Fund), 19 The Hard Thing about Hard Things (Horowitz), 18 hedge funds, 57–58, 62 Hewlett-Packard, 18–19 Hindawi, David, 46 Hindawi, Orion, 46 Horowitz, Ben and Andreessen Horowitz, 21–22, 270 angel investing, 19 aspirin/vitamin analogy of, 50 on founders’ leadership capabilities, 47 The Hard Thing about Hard Things, 18 interview with, 12–13, 14 “hurdle rates,” 83 illiquid assets, 64 incentive stock options (ISOs), 104–105, 185 indemnification, 89–90, 183, 253 inflation, 56–57, 61 inflation hedges, 58, 63 information asymmetry, 5, 140, 275 information rights, 282 initial coin offerings (ICOs), 274 initial public offerings (IPOs), 257–268 and alternative forms of financing, 108–109 and conversion to common shares, 160–161 costs involved in, 107 declining number of, 106–109, 160–161, 249 and dot.com boom/bust, 9–10, 15 effects of efficiency rules on, 107–108 and emerging growth companies (EGCs), 261–263 and exit of VC, 2, 266–267 and the green shoe, 265 and initial filing range, 17 and liquidity, 258–260, 265 and lockup agreements, 265–266 mutual funds’ impact on, 108 percentage of venture backed, 3 and pressure on public companies, 109 pricing, 263–265 process of, 260–268 and prospectus, 261, 263 and reasons to go public, 257–260 and road shows, 263 and secondary offering of shares, 267–268 time frame for, 10 Instacart, 45 Instagram, 45, 130 institutional investors, 29–30, 40–41 insurance companies, 56, 57 intellectual property, 101–103 invention and assignment agreements, 101 investment banks, 260–261 investors’ role in venture capital, 29. See also limited partners (LPs) iPhone, 130 Isabella, Queen of Spain, 53 J Curve, 75–76, 76 JOBS Act (2012), 36, 261, 263 jobs created by venture-backed companies, 4 Kalanick, Travis, 172–173 Kauffman Foundation, 4 Kelleher, Herb, 46–47 Kerrest, Frederic, 132 Keynes, John Maynard, 17 last round valuation method, 77, 78–79 law firms and attorneys, 91, 102, 125, 286 Lehman Brothers, 12 Levandowski, Anthony, 102 liability and business judgement rule (BJR), 216–218, 222 and compliance and good corporate governance, 206–207 and D&O insurance, 183 and WARN statutes, 243 and winding down the company, 243–245 life cycle of venture capital, 7–8, 114–115, 268 life cycles of funds, 66–67, 68, 152 limited liability companies (LLCs), 93 limited partners (LPs), 53–68, 69–90 about, 69–71 benchmarks of, 54 capital raised from, 2 and clawbacks, 80–81 and co-investments of general partners, 86–87 and dot.com boom, 10 and exit of VC after IPO, 266–267 goals of, 56 and GP–LP relationship, 70–71, 85–88 inflation’s effect on success of, 56–57 relationship of VCs to, 69–71 and secondary offering of shares, 268 and suspension of GPs, 87–88 and taxation, 70–71, 93, 94 types of, 54–57 types of investments made by, 57–59 Yale University endowment, 54, 59–65 limited partnership agreement (LPA), 71–83 and carried interest, 74–77, 82 on expectations for GP, 87 and GP–LP relationship, 85–88 “hurdle rates” in, 83 on investment domain, 85–86 and J Curve, 75–76, 76 and management fee, 72–74, 81 “preferred returns” in, 83 recycling/reinvesting provisions in, 81 on suspension of GPs, 87–88 and valuation marks, 76–83 liquidation, voting on, 176–177 liquidation preference and comparing finance deals, 192–193 and conversion of preferred shares to common shares, 162–163, 164 and preferred shareholders, 162–163, 177 reducing/eliminating, in difficult financings, 177, 234–236, 240 and term sheets, 155–159, 279 liquidity, 258–259, 265–266 Livingston, Jessica, 20 lockup agreements, 265–266 LoudCloud, 12–18 author’s experience at, 2, 12–13, 14–15 business of, 13 decision to go public, 15–17 EDS’s acquisition of, 18 valuation of, 121–122 loyalty, duty of, 212, 215, 218 Lyft, 45, 127–128 management fees, 72–74, 81 management incentive plans and Bloodhound case, 237–239 and double-dipping prohibition, 241–242 following difficult financings, 241–242 and Trados case, 221, 226–227, 229–230 wrong incentives created with, 242 market checks, 237, 238, 239 market size and Airbnb, 52, 127 and evaluation of early-stage companies, 50–52 and Lyft, 127–128 and pitching to venture capitalists, 127–130 and raising money from venture capitalists, 114–115 McKelvey, Jim, 133 McKinnon, Todd, 132 median ten-year returns in venture capital, 30 mergers & acquisitions.

The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class
by Joel Kotkin
Published 11 May 2020

Most, Ferenstein adds, believe that an “increasingly greater share of economic wealth will be generated by a smaller slice of very talented or original people. Everyone else will come to subsist on some combination of part-time entrepreneurial ‘gig work’ and government aid.”11 Ferenstein says that many tech titans, in contrast to business leaders of the past, favor a radically expanded welfare state.12 Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Travis Kalanick (former head of Uber), and Sam Altman (founder of Y Combinator) all favor a guaranteed annual income, in part to allay fears of insurrection by a vulnerable and struggling workforce. Yet unlike the “Penthouse Bolsheviks” of the 1930s, they have no intention of allowing their own fortunes to be squeezed.

…

Hollywood homeownership; decline in; subsidies for Hong Kong; democracy in; land use in; Houellebecq, Michel Howard, Ebenezer Hudson-Smith, Andrew Hungary Hung Hsiu-ch’uan Huntington, Samuel Hurricane Katrina Hus, Jan Huxley, Aldous IBM Ideal Communist City, The (Gutnov) Immortal Life (Bing) India; caste system; democracy in; illiberalism in; Mumbai industrial revolution; and China; Marx on; and pollution; and working class inheritance Instagram Institute for Creative Technologies Intel International Panel on Climate Change (UN) intersectionality Islam & Muslims; in China; and Crusaders; in Europe Italy Jackson, Andrew Jacobs, Jane Japan; bureaucracy of; demographics of; irregular work in; “misery index” in; Osaka; peasant rebellions in; pessimism in; post-familialism in; single-person households in; Tokyo Jobs, Steve John of Salisbury Judaism & Jews; entrepreneurship of; in Netherlands; Orthodox; prejudice against; Reform Jung, Edgar Juvenal Kalanick, Travis Kaminska, Izabella Kapital, Das (Marx) Keats, John Kepel, Giles Kimmelman, Michael King, Maggie Shen Koenig, Gaspard Koonin, Steven Kristol, Irving Kurzweil, Ray labor unions Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (Poon) landownership; concentration of Lanier, Jaron Larson, Christina Lawrence, D.

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination
by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang
Published 12 Jul 2021

The PR staff, numbering more than two hundred at that point, still struggled with crisis communications. Whetstone was no stranger to conflict. A former chief strategist to the British prime minister David Cameron, she had gone on to head up communications for Eric Schmidt at Google and then Travis Kalanick at Uber. Reporters feared her calls, in which she deployed every PR tactic in the book to dissuade them from running negative stories. As soon as she arrived at Facebook, Whetstone implored Zuckerberg and Sandberg to change the PR culture. If Zuckerberg was serious about becoming a wartime leader, Whetstone told him, he needed a communications strategy to match.

…

See freedom of speech issues Hemphill, Scott, 229–232, 261 Hertz, Jessica, 297 Hoefflinger, Mike, 55 Holocaust deniers, Facebook policy and, 205–207, 276–278, 281 Holt, Lester, 257–258 Horowitz, Ben, 191–192 Hughes, Chris New York Times op-ed, 219–222 on origins of Facebook, 253 Wu and, 231–232 Zuckerberg’s “pivot to privacy” and, 224–227 Ifill, Sherrilyn, 255 Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, of UN, 186 Information Technology Industry Council, 165 Infowars, 204 Instagram, 7, 8, 166, 193–194, 221, 222, 253, 259, 295 Facebook’s “pivot to privacy” and, 222–224 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, 68 interoperability of messaging apps and, 227–228 Russian Internet Research Agency and, 133 Trump and, 267, 288–290, 292 Wu and Hemphill’s evaluation of Facebook’s acquisition of, 230–231 Zuckerberg’s broken commitment to founders of, 2, 194, 227–229 International Association of Privacy Professionals, 64–65 International Criminal Court, 185–186 Internet Association, 241 Internet Research Agency (IRA), of Russia, 130–134, 137, 143, 144–145 Internet.org, 175–177 iSEC Partners, 101 James, Letitia, 1–2, 3 “JJDIDTIEBUCKLE” (leadership principle), 246 Jobs, Steve, 48, 51, 174 Jones, Alex, 82, 204–205, 206 Kalanick, Travis, 207 Kang-Xing Jin, 51 Kaplan, Joel, 197, 241, 260, 276, 278 Biden administration and, 297–298 Cambridge Analytica and, 150 election of 2016 and, 81, 108–109, 111–112, 123, 125 Kavanaugh hearings and, 200–203 manipulated video of Pelosi and, 236, 238 personality of, 14 political contributions and, 164–165 Sandberg and, 14, 87 Trump administration and, 161, 243–247 Trump and COVID-19, 267–268, 269 Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech issues, 11–15 Kaplan, Laura Cox, 200 Kavanaugh, Ashley Estes, 200 Kavanaugh, Brett, 200–203 Kaye, David, 174–175 Kellogg, Hansen law firm, 295 Kendall, Tim, 36–37, 51 Kennedy, John, 153 Kenosha Guard, 279–281 Kimmel, Jimmy, 166 King, Bernice, 254, 259 Kirkpatrick, David, 114–115 Klobuchar, Amy, 153 Kogan, Aleksandr, 152–153, 155 Koum, Jan, 194, 229 Kraff, Brian, 41 Krieger, Mike, 228–229 Kushner, Jared, 15, 243–244, 256 Kustomer, acquired by Facebook, 299 Le Pen, Marine, 118 Lean In (Sandberg), 79, 127, 157–158 Leibowitz, Jonathan, 67, 154, 199 Leone, Isabella, 131 Lewandowski, Corey, 112–113 Libra (blockchain currency), 241–242, 256–257, 300 LinkedIn, 175 London, Eric, 155 Losse, Katherine, 49, 50, 124 Lynton, Michael, 56 Ma, Olivia, 26 Mac, Ryan, 272 Macron, Emmanuel, 118, 124–125, 219, 221, 237 Martin, Jenny Beth, 81 Martin, Kevin, 80, 112 Mauer, Greg, 80, 112, 140 Mayer, Marissa, 102–103 McKinsey and Company, 41, 50 McNamee, Roger, 44, 232 Mercer, Robert, 149 MeToo movement, 150, 200–201, 203 Microsoft, 31, 165, 174, 175, 241 advertising and, 51, 53, 54 Modi, Narenda, 106 Montgomery, Kathryn, 58, 60 Moran, Ned, 95–98, 100–101, 105, 129–132, 147 Moskovitz, Dustin, 31 Mossberg, Walt, 43 Mosseri, Adam, 114, 228, 261 Moveon.org, 59 Mubarak, Hosni, 157 Mueller, Robert, 147 Murphy, Laura, 248, 249 Myanmar, hate speech against Rohingya and, 85, 169–173, 176, 178–182, 185–187, 293–294 Narendra, Divya, 21 “net neutrality,” 230 Netscape, 25, 52 New Republic, The, 287 New York Times, 88, 272, 285 Cambridge Analytica and, 149 Chester on behavioral advertising and, 59 Clegg’s op-ed in, 240 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, 1 Hughes’ op-ed in, 219–222 Myanmar and, 186 Russian election interference and, 130, 215 New Yorker, The, 66 Newsom, Gavin, 266 Next One Billion project, of Facebook, 176–177 Nielsen, 56 Nuland, William, 147 Nuñez, Michael, 70–79 Oath Keepers, 287–288 Obama, Barack and administration of, 11, 67, 82, 118, 121, 138, 146, 184, 230, 236, 248, 251, 252, 255 Observer, 149 Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 257 Oculus VR headset, 80, 81, 190 O’Donnell, Nora, 157–159 Olivan, Javier, 194, 195, 260 Onavo, 195–196, 260 O’Neill, Catlin, 140, 236, 297 Only the Paranoid Survive (Grove), 192 Open Society Foundation, 108 Option B (Sandberg), 79, 258 Overstock, 59–60 Page, Larry, 43, 44, 65, 192 Palihapitiya, Chamath, 51 Parakilas, Sandy, 152, 164 Parikh, Jay, 9, 10 Parker, Sean, 26, 28, 44, 221 Parscale, Brad, 15, 247 Pearlman, Leah, 62–63 Pelosi, Nancy, 233–234, 297 Facebook and manipulated video of, 234–240 Pence, Mike, 290 Philippines, 85, 106, 177, 291 Phillips Exeter Academy, 19–20 Pichai, Sundar, 198 “Pizzagate,” 278 Podesta, John, 100 politics, and Facebook Biden administration and, 286, 296–298 Clegg’s policy of not fact-checking political ads, 249–252 Facebook’s PAC for political contributions, 164–165 liberal favoritism at Facebook, 12–13, 74–75, 78 political ads on Facebook, 212–214 Trump administration and Facebook executives, 243–247 see also election of 2016; election of 2020; freedom of speech issues Price, Bill, 89–92 Pritchett, Lant, 41 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 182–183 Proud Boys, 288 Putin, Vladimir, 121, 123 QAnon, 278–279, 281 Red-State Secession group, 288 Reich, Robert, 226 Reynolds, Tom, 141, 145 Rice, Brian, 141 Robinson, Rashad, 249, 251, 276–277 Rose, Dan, 44, 45, 46, 51 Rosen, Guy, 195, 260, 285 Rosensweig, Dan, 43–44 Rubio, Marco, 161 Russian disinformation, on Facebook platform, 3, 282 Congressional interest in, 127–128, 133–134, 139–145 Facebook board of director’s interest in, 134–137 Facebook employees and, 190 Facebook public relations team and, 208–215 Facebook’s security team’s investigation of, 117–127 French election of 2017 and, 118, 121 Russian Internet Research Agency and, 130–134, 137, 143, 144–145 Sandberg and, 215–217 U.S. election campaign of 2016 and, 95–101, 105–109, 124–125, 248 Zuckerberg and, 196, 204, 215–217 Ryan, Paul, 78 Sai Sitt Thway Aung, 169 Sandberg, Michelle, 43, 44 Sandberg, Sheryl backlash to Lean In and, 157–158 behavioral advertising and data collecting, at Facebook, 2–3, 45–46, 51–56, 59, 60–63, 67, 87, 225 Biden administration and, 297 books by, 79, 127, 157–158, 258 Cambridge Analytica and, 153, 154–156, 159, 160–161 Capital Building storming in January 2021 and, 286–287 Congress and, 153, 170–171, 197–200 Couric’s interview of, 258–260 cyber security and, 97–98, 210 diversity and gender equity and, 50, 202–203, 273 education and professional positions before Facebook, 39–43, 46–47, 50, 52–53 election of 2016 and conservatives, 82–83 election security and, 210 Facebook and privacy, 67 Facebook’s earnings call in 2021 and, 298–299 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, 45, 295, 296 Goldberg’s death and, 79–81, 233 hate speech issues and, 11–14, 275–277 Hillary Clinton and, 79, 111–112, 243–244 Instagram and WhatsApp and, 228–229 Kaplan and, 14, 87 Kaplan and Kavanaugh hearings and, 201–202 manipulated video of Pelosi and Facebook debates about, 234–240 meets Zuckerberg, 4 Nuñez’s reporting and, 79 organizational changes in 2018 and, 194 parents and siblings of, 41, 44 Pelosi and, 233–234 personal life of, 41, 43, 258, 295 personality of, 2, 45, 199–200 as protective of her image, 4 reaction to emotional contagion research, 183 response to criticisms of Facebook, 156–157 responsible growth and, 86 Russian disinformation investigation and, 118–119, 120, 121, 122–123, 126, 127–128, 134, 136, 139, 143–144, 147, 196–197 Schrage and, 87–88, 89–92 Stamos and, 10–11, 103–104 Zuckerberg hires, 43–48 Zuckerberg’s working relationship with, 54–57, 86–87, 190, 260–261 Sanders, Bernie, 100, 132, 140, 221, 226 Sandy Hook Elementary School, shooting at, 82, 157, 204–205 Sanghvi, Ruchi, 32, 34, 274 Saverin, Eduardo, 30 Scavino, Dan, 243 Schatz, Brian, 166, 236 Schiff, Adam, 140, 142–144 Schissler, Matt, 171–173, 177–182 Schmidt, Eric, 42, 44, 46, 62, 192, 207 Schrage, Elliot Definers Public Affairs and, 216–217 Russian disinformation and, 119, 123, 125–126, 134–135 Sandberg and, 87–88, 89–92 Schumer and, 66–67, 88 Trump’s 2015 anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech issues, 12, 13 Schroepfer, Mike, 194, 291 Schumer, Chuck, 66–67, 68, 88 Scott, Kim, 47 Secureworks, 98 Segall, Laurie, 160 Sidley Austin law firm, 295 Smith, Matthew, 185–187, 294 Snapchat, 240, 253 Snowden, Edward, 8 Sorkin, Andrew Ross, 156 Soros, George, 108, 156–157, 215–216, 226 South Park Commons, 274 Sparapani, Tim, 65, 66 Sperling, Gene, 248 Stamos, Alex background before Facebook, 101–103 election of 2020 and, 283–284 investigation and report on Russian meddling and disinformation, 97, 100, 103–107, 116, 117–127, 130, 132, 145–147 2015 report on security of user’s information, 7–11 2018 Facebook reorganization and, 194 as “warranty canary,” 103, 134, 145 Standard Oil, Facebook’s parallel with, 230 Steyer, Jim, 89, 91, 232, 261, 275–276 Stop the Hate for Profit, 275 “Stop the Steal” groups, 288, 292 Stretch, Colin Cambridge Analytica and, 150 Russian disinformation and, 97, 100, 107, 119–120, 125, 135, 144–145, 146, 147 Students Against Facebook News Feed, 34, 35 Sullivan, Joe, 103–104 Summers, Lawrence, 39-42, 47 Swisher, Kara, 29–30, 43, 203–208 Systrom, Kevin, 194, 228–229 Talking Back to Facebook (Steyer), 89, 91 TechCrunch, 64, 65 TechCrunch Disrupt conference, 88, 174 Thiel, Peter Facebook’s board of directors and, 30, 81, 86, 202 Gawker lawsuit and, 202 Zuckerberg and, 25, 29, 31, 206, 244, 256 ThreatConnect, 98 Tiger, Roi, 195 TikTok, 240, 245, 253 Tillery, Kristopher, 20 Time magazine, 127, 177 TPG Capital, 89 Traynham, Robert, 271 Trump, Donald J., 213, 221, 232 Access Hollywood tape and, 100 accusations of voter fraud in 2020 election and, 273–275, 283–285, 290 accused of inciting violence in January 2021 and banned from Facebook, 286–292, 294 anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech and, 11–17, 85, 249 comments after George Floyd’s death, 268–273 Facebook and COVID-19 and, 267–268 hackers and 2016 campaign, 105–106, 140 meeting with Facebook executives, 161, 243–247 number of Facebook followers and interactions with, 244, 283 Pelosi and, 234, 235 on Twitter, 232, 244–245, 268–271, 276 Zuckerberg and, 256 Twitter, 15, 37, 63, 75, 98, 231, 240, 253, 287 Cambridge Analytica and, 153 election interference and, 98, 142, 144–145 privacy and, 56, 63–64 Sandberg and, 197–198 Trump and, 232, 244–245, 268–271, 276 Ukraine, Bidens and, 251 United Kingdom, Brexit and, 154 Vaidhyanathan, Siva, 61 Vargas, Jose Antonio, 66 Verge, the, 272 Villarreal, Ryan, 73, 76 Vladeck, David, 199 Vox, 154, 166 Walk Away campaign, 292 Wall Street Journal, 1, 43, 47–48, 88 Walz, Tim, 268 Warner, Mark, 127–128, 132, 246 Warren, Elizabeth, 221, 226, 242, 259, 295 Washington Post, 24, 26–29, 30, 47, 84, 141, 164–165, 234, 236, 272 Wasserman Schultz, Debbie, 100 Waters, Maxine, 256–257 WeChat, 175, 245 Weedon, Jen, 108–109, 129, 147 Weibo, 175 Wexler, Nu, 83 What You Do Is Who You Are (Horowitz), 191–192 WhatsApp, 71–72, 166, 193–194, 221 data security and, 8, 222 Facebook’s acquisition of, 196, 295 Federal Trade Commission and, 68 interoperability of messaging apps and, 227 “pivot to privacy” and, 222–224 Wu and Hemphill’s evaluation of Facebook’s acquisition of, 230–231 Zuckerberg’s broken commitment to founders of, 2, 194, 227–229 Whetstone, Rachel, 204, 206–207 Wicker, Roger, 162 Williams, Maxine, 272–273 Willner, Dave, 92–93 WilmerHale law firm, 160, 197 Winklevoss, Cameron, 21 Winklevoss, Tyler, 21 Wirathu, Ashin, 172 Women@Google, 50 World Anti-Doping Agency, data stolen from, 99 Wu, Tim, 229–232, 261 Xi Jingping, 176 Yahoo, 8, 26–27 global expansion and, 42, 175 Goldberg and, 43–44 offer to buyout Facebook declined by Zuckerman, 30–32, 44 Stamos and, 101–103 Yang, Jerry, 42 Zients, Jeff, 297 Zuboff, Shoshana, 3, 61 Zucked (McNamee), 232 Zuckerberg, Ethan, 163 Zuckerberg, Mark Beacon feature and, 57–63 Black Lives Matter memo and, 71–73 Cambridge Analytica and, 16, 153, 154–156, 160, 204 coding at Phillips Exeter, 19–20 “company over country” and, 124 cyber security and, 97–98 decline of Yahoo’s buyout offer, 30–32, 44 earnings call in 2021 and, 298–299 election of 2016, 113–116 election security and, 210 employees’ internal conversations and, 70 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, 295–296 free speech issues and, 74–75, 252–261, 263, 269, 281 goals of global expansion and end of economic inequality, 173–177 Goldberg’s death and, 79 hate speech and disinformation issues, 11, 193, 204–208, 275–277 hearing regarding Libra and, 256–257 Kaplan and Kavanaugh hearings and, 201–202 Kaplan’s organization of dinners with politicians, 243–247 manipulated video of Pelosi and, 236–240 meets Sandberg, 4 News Feed and apology for, 32–36 Nuñez’s reporting and, 79 personal privacy and image guarded by, 4, 65–66 personality of, 29–30, 45–46, 48–49 philanthropy of, 174, 262 “pivot to privacy” and reactions to, 222–227, 235 plans for Facebook’s future, 299–300 portrayed in attorneys general complaint, 2 public opinion and, 257–258 reaction to Hughes’ New York Times op-ed, 219–222 reaction to Stamos’ 2015 report on data security, 7, 8–10 reorganization of Facebook in 2018 and, 193–194 responsible growth and, 86 reversing of promises made when acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, 2, 194, 227–229 Russian disinformation investigation and, 117, 118–119, 120, 121, 126, 134, 136–137, 139, 142, 147, 196, 204 Sandberg’s hiring and, 43–47 testimony before Congress, 150–151, 153, 160–167, 210 Trump banned by, 290–292, 294 “wartime” leadership philosophy and, 189–193, 207 working relationship with Sandberg, 54–57, 86–87, 190, 260–261 yearly goals of, 261–263 About the Authors Sheera Frenkel covers cybersecurity from San Francisco for the New York Times.

Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber
by Susan Fowler
Published 18 Feb 2020

Answering the question of who was responsible for the broken culture at Uber, at the very top of the list was the most important recommendation of all: “Review and Reallocate the Responsibilities of Travis Kalanick.” Immediately after the report was released, Kalanick took an indefinite leave of absence. On June 21, succumbing to pressure from Uber’s major investors, Kalanick resigned. * * * — When I heard the news of Travis Kalanick’s resignation and read through Eric Holder’s report, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I thought back to the struggles of my teenage years, when I had worked so hard to change my future, when I had told myself that I was going to turn my life around, get out of poverty, do something great, be someone great.

…

It was a meticulously, cautiously, deliberately crafted portrait of the company, one that I had constructed with almost excruciating care, every sentence backed up by written documentation. My story quickly caught the attention of the media and the public. Several hours after I’d shared a link to it on Twitter, it had been retweeted by reporters and celebrities and was a “developing story” covered by local, national, and international news outlets. Travis Kalanick, then the CEO of Uber, shared a link to my blog post on Twitter and said, “What’s described here is abhorrent & against everything we believe in. Anyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired.” He then hired Eric Holder and Holder’s firm, Covington & Burling, to run a thorough investigation into the company’s culture.

…

It was clear that Kalanick wanted to send a message: he was taking this seriously—so seriously that anyone involved in what had happened, anyone responsible for the story that was now being repeated by every major news outlet across the globe, would be fired. Three days later, The New York Times published its own damning account of Uber’s culture. The day after that, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google that was developing self-driving cars, sued Uber for patent infringement and trade secret theft. Less than a week later, a video leaked of Travis Kalanick berating an Uber driver. And that was only the beginning. By the time I found myself across the table from President Obama’s attorney general, the public consensus was that something was very wrong with Uber, but nobody was quite sure of the extent of the problem or who should be held responsible for it.

The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People - and the Fight for Our Future
by Alec Ross
Published 13 Sep 2021

As it bolsters its own economy through direct investment and state-sponsored tech transfer, the Chinese state and capital apparatus also works behind the scenes to wall off the country from foreign competition. With its 1.4 billion citizens, China is one of the most attractive global markets for multinational companies. Over the years, numerous technology companies have tried to gain a foothold in China to little avail. By way of illustration, when Uber launched in China in 2014, its CEO Travis Kalanick hoped his ride-sharing app would become one of the first American consumer technology firms to succeed in China. Having watched US tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook fail to expand into China, Kalanick sought to avoid making the same mistakes. He set up a Chinese subsidiary—Uber China—which he hoped would avoid government restrictions that had kneecapped other Western tech companies.

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See also Red Cross International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) internet companies iPhone Ireland. See also “Double Irish” profit sharing Iron Curtain Iron Rice Bowl Isle of Man Italy Japan Japanese prisoners of war Jefferson, Thomas Jersey Jeune, Reg Johnson & Johnson Jones, Gary Joon-ho, Bong JPMorgan Chase Kalanick, Travis Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor Kenna, Corley Kennedy, John F. Kenya Khanna, Parag Khosrowshahi, Dara King, Martin Luther Jr. Klein, Ezra kludgeocracy Knudsen, William Kohl’s Korean War K-pop Kuwait labor. See also organized labor labor flexibility labor laws labor movements.

The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets
by Thomas Philippon
Published 29 Oct 2019

Synergies exist in the new economy, but they also exist in the old economy. Leaders of the new economy, just like leaders of the old economy before them, tend to overestimate the positive externalities from their activities. Rana Foroohar, writing in the Financial Times about the gig economy (August 2018), mentions that several years ago, Travis Kalanick, the founder and former chief executive of the ride-sharing company Uber, told a group of business executives that we were heading toward a world in which “traffic wouldn’t exist” within five years. Well, if recent experience in New York City is any guide, that is not happening. The average travel speed of cars in Midtown was 6.4 miles per hour in 2010.

…

See also Amazon; Apple; Facebook; Google; Microsoft internet service: US price indexes for, 1–2; costs in US versus Europe, 5–6; and competition’s impact on service quality, 19; deregulation of, 140 investment, 62; as low relative to profits, 63–65; purpose and goals of, 65–69; assessing value of, 67; fundamental law of, 68; intangible, 72–75; tangible, 73; weak, 79 investment gap, 69–72, 75 iPhones, 242–243 Issue One, 198 Italy, campaign finance contributions in, 199 Jacobs, Jeff, 281–282 Janofsky, Adam, 277 Jarmin, Ron, 81 Jayachandran, Seema, 191 Jeffords, James, 191–192 Jobs, Steve, 294 Jolly, David, 176 Jones, Chad, 42, 78 Jones, Doug, 198 Jovanovic, Boyan, x Kalanick, Travis, 267 Kang, Karam, 157 Kapner, Suzanne, 34 Katz, Lawrence, 48, 50 Kendall, Frank, 288 Keynes, John Maynard, viii Keynes, Soumaya, 92 Khan, Lina M., 43 “killer acquisitions,” 82 Kim, Hyunseob, 281 Kimball, David C., 157 Klein, Joel, 45 Kleiner, Morris M., 283 Knight, Brian, 199 Kroszner, Randall S., 191 Krueger, Alan B., 282, 283 Krugman, Paul, 290–291 Kwoka, John, 87, 91 labor market competition, 23 labor productivity, 120–121 labor share(s): evolution of, 106–109; for market economy in US and euro area, 109 labor turnover, xi–xii La Ferrara, Eliana, 199 Lampedusa, Giuseppe Tomasi di, 287 La Pira, Timothy M., 163 La Porta, Rafael, 127 Larkin, Yelena, 47, 54–56 law of one price (LOOP), 111–112 leadership PACs, 184 League of Nations, 129 Leech, Beth L., 157, 163 Leucht, B., 133 licensing, occupational, 282–283 Lieber, Ethan, 236 life expectancy, 224, 229 Liljenquist, Dan, 198 Lisbon Strategy, 136–137 lobbying, 153–155; impact of, 9, 174–175; against competition, 23–24; and future of Europe’s free markets, 148–149; as democratic right, 155; challenges of measuring impact of, 156–157; and endogeneity bias, 157–160; benign view versus negative view of, 160; inefficiencies created by, 160–161; connections as key to success in, 161–163; fiscal targets of, 163; empirical regularities about, 164–166; in Europe versus US, 164–166; skewness of, 166–170; effectiveness of, 170–174; intensity, 171; and campaign finance contributions, 189; in finance, 220–222; in health care, 234, 235; by internet giants, 260–262 LOOP (law of one price), 111–112 Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio, 127 loss leader pricing, 43 Lower Search Costs hypothesis, 49–50, 52 Lucca, David, 200 luxury goods, 113 Lyon, Spencer G., 22 Ma, Song, 82 MacMillan, Douglas, 271 macroeconomic equilibrium, 292 Mahoney, Christine, 173 manufacturing, rise in concentration in, 46 marginal cost, 118 Marinescu, Ioana, 280 Marino, Tom, 235 market power: and assessing competition, 25; versus demand elasticity, 26; and welfare, 27–30; concentration and rise in, 45–48; concentration hypotheses and rise in, 48–51; persistence of market shares over time and rise in, 51–53; profits of US firms and rise in, 51–53; profit margins and payouts and rise in, 54–58; China shock and rise in, 58–60; versus efficiency in merger regulation, 88–90 market share: of Walmart, 32; persistence of, over time, 51–53.

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
by Malcolm Harris
Published 14 Feb 2023

How could Silicon Valley learn the lesson of the dot-com bust when there were dozens of guys like Sunny Balwani running around with millions of dollars each, convinced they were geniuses at starting companies? Balwani and Holmes could have found other partners. The two of them weren’t the only ones who used the Palo Alto System to build a unicorn by taping a kitchen knife to a donkey’s forehead; they’re just the ones who got busted. Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick had rich-guy problems. Both sold their web companies for millions in 2007—Camp’s random-content portal StumbleUpon to eBay and Kalanick’s legally dubious P2P firm Red Swoosh to Akamai—and the young dudes turned their attention to having a good time. Like many newly rich entrepreneurs, they ran up against novel frustrations.

…

The service sector is the choice site for job creation through such super-exploitation because the wages of service workers make up a relatively large share of the final price that consumers pay.13 By cutting the ribbon holding together the suite of labor laws, the lean crabs freed workers to “create demand for their labor at the expense of their incomes.” The result has been, rather than the much-feared plague of technological unemployment, a pandemic of underemployment. It’s a mistake, then, to think of Uber’s carcinized business strategy as driven by its scandal-prone leader, Travis Kalanick, and his bad personality. When author Brad Stone asked Kalanick why the company raised over $10 billion in the previous two years alone, the billionaire’s answer comes off as more resigned than pumped: “If you didn’t do it, it would be a strategic disadvantage, especially when you’re operating globally,” he told Stone.

…

The bet on Uber is still live, and the stakes are high enough for the position alone to still be worth a lot—for now. Kalanick’s biggest single contribution to the tech industry is an insight so important that it ranks up there with Moore’s law about the falling cost of processing power.vii Named by Stone after Kalanick, Travis’s law holds that if you offer a service that consumers love, they will prevent regulators from stopping you. Once users got hooked on Uber’s one-click cabs, municipal regulators didn’t have the stomach to take it away, even though it tossed the intricately organized industry into chaos. Despite the powerful incumbents in New York, for example, and the heart-wrenching stories of immigrant drivers taking on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for a taxi medallion only to see its value plummet as the city refused to enforce its codes, machine politics was no match for Travis’s law.

The Internet Is Not the Answer
by Andrew Keen
Published 5 Jan 2015

Andreessen Horowitz has also ventured into the car-sharing market, where it is backing a 2012 San Francisco–based middleman called Lyft, a mobile phone app that enables peer-to-peer ride sharing. But the best-known startup in the transportation-sharing sector is Uber, a John Doerr–backed company that also has received a quarter-billion-dollar investment from Google Ventures. Founded in late 2009 by Travis Kalanick, by the summer of 2014 Uber was operating in 130 cities around the world, employing around 1,000 people, and, in a June 2014 investment round of $1.2 billion, was valued at $18.2 billion, a record for a private startup company. It made Kalanick a paper billionaire and gave his four-year-old startup with its 1,000 employees almost the same valuation as that of Avis and Hertz combined,114 companies which together employ almost 60,000 people.

…

In the future, then, the origins of that deadly tornado “coming to an office near you” will probably lie in the Googleplex, Google’s global headquarters in Mountain View, California, where the automated data feedback loop of Sergey Brin’s “big circle” is coming to encircle more and more of society. And then there’s Google’s interest in Travis Kalanick’s Uber—another play that may turn out to be a massive job killer. In 2013, Google Ventures invested $258 million in Uber, the largest ever outside investment by Google’s venture arm. It’s not hard to figure out why. As the Forbes columnist Chunka Mui suggests: “Google Car + Uber = Killer App.”29 And as T.

…

Cowan underlines the “stunning truth” that wages for men, over the last forty years, have fallen by 28%.78 He describes the divide in what he calls this new “hyper-meritocracy” as being between “billionaires” like the Battery member Sean Parker and the homeless “beggars” on the streets of San Francisco, and sees an economy in which “10 to 15 percent of the citizenry is extremely wealthy and has fantastically comfortable and stimulating lives.”79 Supporting many of Frank and Cook’s theses in their Winner-Take-All Society, Cowen suggests that the network lends itself to a superstar economy of “charismatic” teachers, lawyers, doctors, and other “prodigies” who will have feudal retinues of followers working for them.80 But, Cowen reassures us, there will be lots of jobs for “maids, chauffeurs and gardeners” who can “serve” wealthy entrepreneurs like his fellow chess enthusiast Peter Thiel. The feudal aspect of this new economy isn’t just metaphorical. The Chapman University geographer Joel Kotkin has broken down what he calls this “new feudalism” into different classes, including “oligarch” billionaires like Thiel and Uber’s Travis Kalanick, the “clerisy” of media commentators like Kevin Kelly, the “new serfs” of the working poor and the unemployed, and the “yeomanry” of the old “private sector middle class,” the professionals and skilled workers in towns like Rochester who are victims of the new winner-take-all networked economy.81 The respected MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who are cautiously optimistic about what they call “the brilliant technologies” of “the Second Machine Age,” acknowledge that our networked society is creating a world of “stars and superstars” in a “winner-take-all” economy.

No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram
by Sarah Frier
Published 13 Apr 2020

Instagram posts would be art, and art was a form of commentary on life. The app would give people the gift of expression, but also escapism. * * * Late one night, lit by the glow of his laptop in rickety Dogpatch Labs, Systrom was coding in a corner, trying not to be distracted by the fact that there was an entrepreneur pitch event going on. A man named Travis Kalanick was in front of an audience of mostly men explaining his company, UberCab, which made a tool that was supposed to help people summon luxury cars with their phones. It would officially launch in San Francisco the next year. One of the event’s guests was Lowercase Capital’s Chris Sacca, an early investor in Twitter, who was already putting money in UberCab.

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Hsieh, Tony, 105 HTML5, 19 @hudabeauty, 247 Hudgens, Vanessa, 236 Hudson, Kate, 192 Hudson photo filter, 23 Huffine, Candice, 250 Huffington, Arianna, 171 Huffington Post, 154, 170 Hughes, Chris, 78 Hunch, 11 hyperlinks, xxi, 8, 80, 210 #iammorethan, 161 Iceland, 242 identity theft, 97 iFart app, 10 @ileosheng, 161 #imwithher, 208 Incredibles, The (film), 180 India, IG Stories and, 203 Indonesia, IG in, 226 influencer economy, xxi, 128–29, 170–71 influencers, 25, 36, 83, 127, 165, 166, 170, 184, 231, 237–38, 240–41, 265 branding and, 138–39, 167, 235–36; see also brand advertising, of IG users celebrity, 138–39, 172, 239 fake followers and, 173–75 IG analytics increasingly available to, 275–76 IG as, see @instagram IG’s comments ordering algorithm and, 230–31 IG’s feed order algorithm and, 197–98, 229–30 pods joined by, 246 teen digital-first, 171 Insta-bae (Instagrammable design movement), xviii “INSTAGIRLS, THE” (Vogue cover headline), 156, 167 @instagram, xxii, 102, 104, 141, 143, 160–61, 167, 169, 171, 203, 204, 210, 216, 241, 247 Instagram: advertising business of, 104, 118–21, 124, 151, 155, 163–65, 174, 175–76, 184, 225, 241, 277 algorithmic ordering of comments on, 230–32, 233, 251 algorithmic post order shift by, 197–98, 218, 229 ambiguous advertising on, 35–36 ambiguous content rules of, 143 analytics team at, 183, 226 Android app of, 50, 51 blocked from Twitter access, 84, 99 board of, 37, 56, 60, 62, 63 Boomerang and, 187, 190 bot detection algorithm of, 174 brand advertising on, see brand advertising brand of, 27, 41, 89, 94, 100, 104, 111, 119, 132, 160, 162, 164, 177, 209, 216, 217–18, 254 bullying on, 41, 135, 161, 163, 218–19, 271, 279 business model lacked by, 54, 75, 77, 100, 118, 124–25 business team of, 118 celebrities courted by, 128–29, 132–36, 139, 264; see also celebrity, celebrities as celebrity-making machine, xvii–xviii; see also influencers chronological order of posts on, 117, 196–97 communications team at, 154, 202, 222, 271 community team at, 80, 81, 103, 104, 140, 141, 155–56, 160, 166, 169, 170, 176, 203–4, 226, 234 community valued by, 34, 40, 72, 94, 95, 102, 108–9, 139, 147, 205, 271, 272, 274 content curated by, 25, 41, 43, 81, 103–4, 114, 140–41, 143, 151, 152, 161–62, 169, 170, 210, 235, 279; see also @instagram content moderation of, transitioned to FB, 97, 225, 249, 260 creativity, design, and experiences as focus of, xxi, 35, 66, 83, 91, 93, 100, 103, 108–9, 128, 139, 160, 167, 175, 180, 205, 264, 276 customer service lacked by, 32, 132, 230 daily habit strategy of, 13–14 direct messaging of, 123, 276 Dorsey’s early promotion of, 25–26 earliest incarnations of, see Burbn; Codename early investors in, 24, 26, 27, 37 events team at, 265 Explore page on, 170 fake news and, 225, 256 fakery detection algorithm of, 174 fashion industry and, 131–32, 145–47 FB infrastructure and resources available to, 96, 159, 162, 225, 249–50 FB infrastructure and resources denied to, 262, 268–69 as feel-good app, 154, 157, 171, 210, 217–18, 219–20 finsta accounts on, 182–83, 184, 243 first photo posted on, 21, 180 first users chosen carefully by, 25, 33, 34 founders of, see Krieger, Mike; Systrom, Kevin Fyre Festival scandal and, 238–39 growing resentment of FB at, 254, 262, 263, 274 growth rate of, 216 growth team of, 177–78, 269–70 hashtag tool on, xxi, 59, 140, 147, 154–55, 260, 262, 270 hyperlinks not allowed in, xxi, 80, 210 IGTV of, 252, 254–55, 257, 264–67, 270 illegal drug sales content on, 261–62, 270, 271, 278 independence of, at FB, 54, 63, 65, 67, 89, 96, 106, 118, 121, 124, 209, 222–23 integration of, at FB, 100–101, 114, 223 as internet’s utopia, 220, 225 Krieger’s resignation from, xxii, 272–75 link to, removed from FB, 228, 269 link to FB added on, 228, 257 live video on, 261 lockdown at, 269–70 logo of, xvi, 20, 34 mainstreaming of, 35, 47, 168, 169, 170, 173 media outreach of, 154–55 mission statement of, 102 as mobile-only app, 27, 89 mounting tensions between FB and, 262, 263, 274 in move out of FB headquarters, 204–5 naming of, 24 network effects of, 77–78 $1 billion revenue milestone reached by, 186 $1 billion valuation of, xx, 53, 54, 58, 85 1-billion-user milestone reached by, 264–65, 267, 280 operations team at, 180, 204 Paradigm Shift program of, 184, 186, 187, 190 partnerships team at, 160, 219, 230, 235 photo filters on, see filter apps, photo photo tagging on, 95 Pixel Cloud of, 190 politics and, 207–8 Popular page of, 81, 140, 144, 170 public policy team at, 160, 249 rebranded as “Instagram from Facebook,” 276 reciprocal follower problem at, 183–84 rectangular photo format added on, 176–77 research team at, 199 re-sharing not allowed on, 43, 44, 140, 157 sales team at, 165 seen as threat to FB, xvii, 38, 57, 77–78, 90, 95, 252–53 server meltdowns of, 26, 30, 32, 38–39, 51, 79–81 simplicity valued at, 27, 30, 65, 102–3, 125, 160, 178, 180, 199 Snapchat as threat to, 123, 178, 181, 184, 192–93, 201 sold by Systrom and Krieger to Facebook, see Facebook, Instagram acquired by South Park office of, 32, 44, 52, 79, 181, 193 spam on, 80, 226 square photo format of, 19, 31, 110, 147, 176 suggested user list of, 48, 81, 82, 103, 143, 153, 168 suicide content on, 41–42, 261, 277–78 Systrom as public face of, 33 Systrom’s resignation from, xxii, 272–75 teens team at, 161, 170 “terms of service” debacle at, 99–100 Third Thursday Teens series of, 182, 183 translated into other languages, 43, 97 travel influenced by, 169, 241, 242 troubling user content on, 80, 160–61, 260–61, 270 and Twitter’s efforts to buy, 25, 46, 48–49, 55–56, 86, 109 2010 launch of, 26–27, 31–32 underlying culture of, 248–49 user anonymity on, 41, 80, 163, 173, 218, 219, 260, 261 user guidelines of, 155 user types cultivated by, 153 verified accounts on, 132–33, 231, 232, 279 video launch of, 110–11, 118, 145 weekend hashtag project of, 104 well-being team at, 249, 260, 271, 275 worldwide impact of, xvi–xx Zuckerberg’s concern about cannibalization of FB by, 223, 226, 227–28, 257, 280 Zuckerberg as taking credit for success of, 266–67 “Instagrammable,” xix, 81, 166–67, 172–73, 254, 265–66 Instagrammable design movement, xviii, 168 Instagram Stories, 198–99, 201–4, 205, 207, 214, 226, 227, 245, 248, 250–51, 264 Instagram users, 197, 233 brand advertising by, see brand advertising, by IG users changing behavior of, in posting to IG, 80–81, 83, 169, 172, 233, 239–40, 243 as concerned over FB’s acquisition of IG, 54 feelings of inadequacy among, 275 growth hacking by, 231 IG’s analytics tools available to, 275 IG’s relationships with, 166 IG used as publisher by, 237 pods used by, 246 as pressured to post the best, 29, 114, 172, 173, 175, 178, 275 self promotion by, 233 as unofficial ambassadors for IG, 43–44 see also celebrity, celebrities; content, user; influencers Instagress, 175, 245–46 InstaMeets, 81, 102 organized by IG, 34–35, 39–40 organized by IG users, 43, 44, 48, 104, 143, 148, 167, 168, 246 instant messaging services, 12 Instazood, 175, 246 Intel, 2 internet, 9, 16, 31, 56, 65, 79–80, 108, 109, 115, 126, 136, 229, 233 early days of, 3–4 FB as largest network on, 78, 88, 163, 253, 255 first generation of, 5 IG as top pop culture destination on, 126, 195 Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and, 41–42 smartphones and, 10, 40 Web 2.0 and, 5 world population connected to, 124, 163, 234 Internet.org, 124 internet trolls, 219 investors, angel, 16, 17, 24 iPhones, 10, 30–31, 145 Burbn app for, 17 5S launch, 146 IG featured in launches of, 28 Krieger’s early apps for, 12 photo filters on, 147 photo technology of, 18, 152 square photo format on, 147, 176 Iribe, Brendan, 217, 253 iTunes, 137 Jackson Colaço, Nicky, 160, 207, 208, 219, 220, 225–26, 249 JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, 244 James, LeBron, 131 Japan, IG users in, 30 Jarre, Jérôme, 112 Ja Rule, 239 JavaScript, 6 @jayzombie, 42 Jenner, Kendall, xix, 174, 186, 238–39 Jenner, Kris, xix–xx, 135, 137–38, 180 Jenner, Kylie, xix–xx, 161, 162–63, 174, 230, 245 as youngest self-made billionaire, xx Jobs, Steve, 65 Jolie, Angelina, 152 Jonas, Nick, 192 Jonas Brothers, 133 @JonBuscemi, 236 @jordandoww, 171 #jumpstagram, 104 Justice Department, U.S., 278 Kalanick, Travis, 23 Kaplan, Joel, 211 Kardashian, Khloé, xix Kardashian, Kourtney, xix Kardashian-Jenner family, 129, 230, 231, 264 IG as main branding tool of, 135, 137–38 Kardashian West, Kim, xix, 47, 135–36, 137–38, 139, 180, 218, 230, 244–45 Kattan, Huda, 247 Keeping Up with the Kardashians, xix, 135, 137, 218 Kelly, Drew, 81–82 Kendrick, Anna, 148 @kevinbrennermd, 244 Keys, Alicia, 203 Khan, Imran, 200–201 Kicksta, 246 #kindcomments, 250 King, Nate, 185, 186, 205, 206 Klip, 109 Kloss, Karlie, 156, 218 Knowles-Carter, Beyoncé, 230 Koum, Jan, 125, 256 Kramer, Julie, 232 Krieger, Mike, xvii, xxii, 37, 50–51, 55, 63, 69, 76, 105, 140, 219 Brazilian childhood of, 12 Cox and, 257 Crime Desk SF app of, 12, 32 as disillusioned with FB’s grow-at-all-costs culture, xvii in effort to preserve IG’s brand, 176, 209 at Golden Globe Awards, 192 IG posts by, 31 in increasing conflict with FB, 95–96, 214, 262–63, 271 leadership philosophy of, 18 at Meebo, 12 philanthropy of, 72 post-IG, 277 problem solving by, 18, 30–31, 32, 33, 38–39, 110 rectangular photo format and, 177 resignation of, from IG, xxii, 272–75 simplicity valued by, 18, 20, 21, 27, 102, 119, 191, 255 Snapchat Stories and, 188, 192–93 Systrom’s relationship with, 11–12, 13, 16–17, 33–34, 107, 254 Zuckerberg’s meeting with, 60 Zuckerberg’s relationship with, 252–53, 254–55, 256, 264 Kushner, Joshua, 45, 70, 218 Kutcher, Ashton, 44–46, 148, 172, 229 Systrom’s friendship with, 46, 133 Lady Gaga, 158, 192, 204 @ladyvenom, 142 Lafley, A.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
by Michael Wolff
Published 5 Jan 2018

The Trump brand was suddenly the world’s biggest brand—the new Apple, except the opposite, since it was universally disdained (at least among many of the consumers who most top brands sought to court). Hence, on inaugural morning, the employees of Uber, the ride sharing company, whose then CEO Travis Kalanick had signed on to the Schwarzman council, woke up to find people chained to the doors of their San Francisco headquarters. The charge was that Uber and Kalanick were “collaborating”—with its whiff of Vichy—a much different status than a business looking to sober forums with the president as a way to influence the government.

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Edgar, 219 Hubbell, Webster, 97 Hull, Cordell, 105 Hussein, Saddam, 27 Hutchison, Kay Bailey, 81 IBM, 88 Icahn, Carl, 20, 141, 211 Iger, Bob, 88, 238 immigration and travel ban, 36, 62–65, 68, 70, 78, 95, 113, 116–17, 138, 288 infrastructure, 224, 295 Ingraham, Laura, 201, 205, 222 intelligence community, 6–7, 41–42, 98, 101–2, 104, 153, 159, 219 Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), 56–57 In the Face of Evil (documentary), 58 Iran, 4, 191, 225–27 Iraq, 42, 49, 128, 138, 182 ISIS, 7, 49, 219 isolationism, 118, 174, 184, 191, 227 Israel, 4, 6, 140–43, 211, 219, 227, 230, 265, 281, 289 Jackson, Andrew, 44, 67, 158 Jackson, Michael, 28, 42 Japan, 39, 106 Jarrett, Valerie, 129 Jefferson, Thomas, 293 Jerusalem, 6 Jews, 73, 140–45, 157, 293 John Birch Society, 127 Johnson, Boris, 70 Johnson, Jamie, 79–80 Johnson, Lyndon B., 6–7, 53, 66, 158, 167 Johnson, Woody, 12 Jones, Paula, 201 Jordan, 6 Jordan, Hamilton, 27 Jordan, Vernon, 78 Justice Department (DOJ), 94–96, 98, 105, 151, 154–56, 168–69, 210, 216–17, 242 Kaepernick, Colin, 303 Kalanick, Travis, 88 Kaplan, Peter, 74–76 Kasowitz, Marc, 238, 259–60, 280–81 Kazakhstan, 281 Keaton, Alex P., 128 Kelly, John, 4, 63, 109, 188, 218, 285, 287–91, 294–97, 299–300, 304–7 Kennedy, John F., 53, 84 Kent, Phil, 92 Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack, 183–84, 188–93 Kim Jong-un, 293 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 50–51 Kirk, Russell, 127 Kislyak, Sergey, 95, 106, 151, 154–55, 218, 236 Kissinger, Henry, 41, 77, 142, 145, 193, 226–28 Koch brothers, 178 Kudlow, Larry, 143, 207 Ku Klux Klan (KKK), 294–95 Kurtz, Howard, 217 Kushner, Charlie, 17, 31, 72, 210–11, 257, 281 Kushner, Jared background of, 28, 71–76, 80–81 Bannon and, 8, 12, 52–53, 68, 110, 115, 132–34, 140, 145–47, 154, 173–74, 176, 179–82, 187, 191, 207–8, 235–36, 238–39, 243, 245–47, 274, 276, 281, 289, 291, 297 business affairs of, 17–18, 102, 211, 256, 281 business council and, 35, 87–88 Charlottesville rally and, 294 China and, 193, 211, 228 Christie and, 31 Comey and, 168–70, 210–14, 216–18, 232, 243, 245, 280, 307 CPAC and, 132–34 electoral victory and, 10, 12, 18–19, 45, 60, 103, 112 intelligence community and, 41–42, 48, 156–57 Kelly and, 288–91, 294, 305–6 McMaster and, 176, 189, 192–93, 235, 266, 289 media and, 68–69, 76, 146, 202–3, 207, 277–79 Mexico and, 77–78 Middle East and, 70, 140–43, 145, 157, 182, 192, 194, 211, 266, 268 Murdoch and, 73, 156, 179 Obamacare and, 72, 166–68 Office of American Innovation and, 181, 207 policy and, 115–25, 226, 228 role of, in White House, 29–30, 40–41, 64, 69–72, 77, 93, 109, 172, 285 Russia and, 24, 106, 154–56, 170, 236, 239, 253–58, 261, 271, 273, 278, 280, 283–84, 307–8 Saudi Arabia and, 225–29 Trump’s speech to Congress and, 149–51 White House staff and, 33, 110, 121, 140, 143–49, 186, 253, 268, 271–74, 282–83, 286 Kushner, Josh, 69, 166 Kushner Companies, 256 Kuttner, Robert, 297–98 labor unions, 67–68 Ledeen, Michael, 104 Lee, Robert E., 293 Lefrak, Richard, 27 Le Pen, Marine, 100 Lewandowski, Corey, 11–13, 17, 26, 28–29, 204, 234, 237–38, 252–53, 255 Lewinsky, Monica, 233 Libya, 6, 42 Lighthizer, Robert, 133 Limbaugh, Rush, 128, 222 Lowe, Rob, 42 Luntz, Frank, 201 Manafort, Paul, 12, 17, 28, 101, 210, 240, 253–56, 278, 280 Manhattan, Inc., 74 Manigault, Omarosa, 109 Mar-a-Lago, 4, 69, 99, 106, 159, 189, 193–94, 210, 228, 248–49 Marcus, Bernie, 309 Mattis, James, 4, 21, 103, 109, 188, 264–65, 288, 296, 304–5 May, Theresa, 258 McCain, John, 112, 306 McCarthy, Joe, 73 McConnell, Mitch, 32, 117, 301–2 McCormick, John, 167 McGahn, Don, 95, 212–14, 217 McLaughlin, John, 10 McMaster, H.

The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop Per Child
by Morgan G. Ames
Published 19 Nov 2019

Negroponte largely shrugged off the sharp criticism his book and columns drew from some scholars, such as legal scholar Cass Sunstein, who has decried the echo chambers of Negroponte’s customized “Daily Me” newsfeed idea for polarizing the US political landscape, and cultural historian Fred Turner, who has linked Negroponte’s digital boosterism to the commodification of “New Communalist” utopianism in the 1970s and beyond.4 A decade later, in January 2005, Negroponte seemed to receive a relatively cool reception in Davos. His hallway pitch for a hundred-dollar laptop garnered a brief blog mention by Travis Kalanick, who was attending the World Economic Forum as a “technology pioneer” (and would later start the ride-sharing platform Uber), but this mention was more due to Negroponte’s other accomplishments than his idea for a hundred-dollar laptop. New York Times technology journalist John Markoff took up Negroponte’s pitch in more depth but concluded that Negroponte had not been given more of an official platform because the forum had moved on from the ideal of closing the digital divide to solving more “fundamental” inequalities.5 This tone changed considerably the following November, when Negroponte took the stage at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis.

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See Information and communications technologies Identity design and, 71, 77 hacker, 163, 226n31 performance and, 175, 179 social imaginary and, 29, 44–46 Ideology, 57 of charismatic technology, 8–10, 197–199 Marxist theory on, 199, 221n30 social imaginary as, 7 I-methodology, 71 Imperialism agency and, 134–135 of constructionism, 195 cultural, open-source software and, 64–65 Global South and, 195–196 linguistic, 161–163 media, 132–135 of OLPC, 132–133, 161, 195 Paraguay Educa and, 195 India, 221n25 hackathon in, 250n12 Hole in the Wall project of, 194 ICT projects in, 181 OLPC in, 244n59 Individualism charismatic technologies and, 191–192 of constructionism, 137–140 cultural change and, 193, 236n67 Papert on, 137–138 in Paraguay Educa, 155–156, 163 scaffolding and, 163 self-taught learner, 64–66, 236n67 yearner and, 30–32, 45 Informal learning hacker culture anti-authority in, 38–40, 44–45, 60–61 in OLPC core principles, 50 Paraguay Educa and, 109–110, 123–124, 127, 133 Information and communications technologies (ICT), 180 Infrastructure as concept, analytical lens, 241n37 electrical, in Paraguay, 86–87 hacker identity and, 163 labor and breakdown of, 92 of Paraguay Educa, translation and, 80–83, 108, 241n37, 241n40 public, disruption of, 189 Innocenti, Bernie, 239n17 Internet Anglocentrism of, 162, 196, 250n21 charisma of, 101 gender in, 43 MOOCs, 187–188 in Paraguay, home use of, 93, 247n5, 248n20 in Paraguay, parent concerns about, 113, 247n8 in Paraguay Educa, 100–101, 244n65 utopianism of, Mosco on, 13 XO laptop connection to, 112, 247n6 Internet of things, 2 Inventing Modern (Lienhard), 231n90 Irani, Lilly, 250n12 Itaipú Dam, Paraguay, 78, 86, 146, 165 Itaipú Technology Park, Paraguay, 165 Jasanoff, Sheila, 7 Jepsen, Mary Lou, 22, 109 Jock imaginary, 41 Juegito (little toy), 112 Kafai, Yasmin, 186 Kalanick, Travis, 2 Kim, Sang-Hyun, 7 Klein, S. J., 58 Kling, Rob, 12 Krstić, Ivan, 48, 60–61, 233n23, 234n32 Labor infrastructural breakdown and, 92 of translation, 92–97 Lady Gaga, 124, 143 Land ownership, 80, 241n32 Latin America, 4 open-source software in, 76–77 US power in, 195, 254n33 XO laptop in, 76–80, 238n13, 240n27 Latour, Bruno, 9 Lauermann, John, 250n12 Law, John, 19, 222n37 Learning to Change the World (Bender), 168–169, 171 Learning to Labor (Willis), 230n73 Lesotho, 161–162 Levy, Steven, 44 on freedom, 62 Hackers, 30, 38–39, 60, 62, 226n31 on symbol, hacker as, 226n31 Lienhard, John H., 231n90 Linguistic imperialism, 161–163 Linux, Red Hat, and OLPC, 4, 48, 62 Little toy (juegito), 112 Locke, John, 227n42 Logo, 24–25, 167, 225nn14 constructionism and, 24 failure of, 25–26, 177 Senegal project of, 25–27, 225n15 Lua programming language, 77, 160, 163 Lugo, Fernando, 73, 79, 92, 240n24 Luyt, Brendan, 220n12 MacKenzie, Donald, 180 McIntosh, Donald, 10 McLuhan, Marshall, 193 Maintenance, 76 by children, of XO laptop, 109–110, 148 infrastructural, of Plan Ceibal, 90, 107, 244n57 OLPC charisma and, 75, 108 in Paraguay Educa, 90–92 in Peru, inadequate investment in, 106 Make: (magazine), 188 Maker movement, 187–188 Marginalization, 18 linguistic, Anglocentrism and, 156–160, 162 Paraguay Educa and, 156–160, 162–163 Margolis, Jane, 69–70 Marques, Ivan da Costa, 195 Marxist theory, 199, 221n30, 223n42 Masculinity.

Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
by Reeves Wiedeman
Published 19 Oct 2020

I had spent the latter half of the 2010s as a staff writer at New York magazine, exploring the increasingly warped start-up economy. I wrote about a rap lyrics website aspiring to “annotate the internet”; about Vice, a punk magazine looking to become “the new CNN”; and about Uber, the ride-sharing company that insisted it was much more than that. I visited Uber’s headquarters in the spring of 2017, just as Travis Kalanick was being chastened for recklessness in the rabid pursuit of global domination. It felt as if most start-ups could think of no other worthy goal, and now an office-management company in New York City was deploying the same bravado as the new class of world-altering tech companies emerging from Silicon Valley.

…

But as part of the deal, Adam engineered a change to WeWork’s charter with the help of Jen Berrent, WeWork’s new general counsel, that gave him ten votes for each share of the company he owned. The arrangement would give him roughly 65 percent of the votes on any company matter. These “supervoting” shares had become popular in Silicon Valley, where founders feared losing control of their companies. Mark Zuckerberg had negotiated a similar deal, as had Travis Kalanick at Uber. Many investors were so eager to get in on the small group of start-ups that could make plausible arguments for world domination that they often believed they had no choice but to accept such founder-friendly terms. But giving so much control of a company to an entrepreneur who had never run a business of this size before was a risk.

…

But giving so much control of a company to an entrepreneur who had never run a business of this size before was a risk. As the deal was finalized, Bruce Dunlevie, Neumann’s first major investor, tried pushing back on the arrangement. But Benchmark wasn’t eager to lose favor with Neumann, and it didn’t have much standing in the fight, having just given Travis Kalanick similar control at Uber. Dunlevie relented, but not before offering a warning to Berrent and WeWork’s board. “I’ll just leave you with this thought,” Dunlevie said. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Chapter Eight Greater Fools IN AN ARTICLE TITLED “Office of the Future,” about the most innovative company in commercial real estate, Fast Company magazine explained that the global economy was moving faster than ever, aided by the internet and a rise in entrepreneurship that entrenched real estate interests weren’t prepared to meet.

Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley
by Emily Chang
Published 6 Feb 2018

An Uber employee who oversaw operations: Kara Swisher and Johana Bhuiyan, “How Being ‘Coin-Operated’ at Uber Led to a Top Exec Obtaining the Medical Records of a Rape Victim in India,” Recode, June 11, 2017., https://www.recode.net/2017/6/11/15758818/uber-travis-kalanick-eric-alexander-india-rape-medical-records. Uber finally revealed the results: Mike Isaac, “Uber Fires 20 Amid Investigation into Workplace Culture,” New York Times, June 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/technology/uber-fired.html. Uber’s board adopted: “Uber Report: Eric Holder’s Recommendations for Change,” New York Times, June 13, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/technology/uber-report-eric-holders-recommendations-for-change.html. his own “selfish ends”: Mike Isaac, “Uber Investor Sues Travis Kalanick for Fraud,” New York Times, Aug. 10, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/technology/travis-kalanick-uber-lawsuit-benchmark-capital.html.

…

Setting all this in motion was a young engineer at Uber, Susan Fowler, who accused her manager of propositioning her for sex. Her memo, remarkably, led to a companywide investigation of Uber’s bro culture that revealed forty-seven cases of sexual harassment, resulting in the departure of twenty employees. In a dramatic climax, Uber’s investors forced out CEO Travis Kalanick. Many women who have been victimized have been silenced by a long tradition of settlements and nondisparagement agreements, especially in the tech industry. A few have chosen to go public with their claims, filing sexual harassment suits with varying outcomes. Then, in 2017, as reports of unwanted advances piled up, women across industries and backgrounds banded together on social media to speak up in a #MeToo campaign.

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Several tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Twitter, now face gender discrimination lawsuits, some with class action status, representing other female employees. NAVIGATING BROTOPIA In 2015, I interviewed billionaire venture capitalist Chris Sacca, who boasted to me about hot tub parties he holds at his home near Lake Tahoe, California, to brainstorm and bond with up-and-coming entrepreneurs. He noted how impressed he was by then Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s endurance. “Travis can spend eight to ten hours in a hot tub. I’ve never seen a human with that kind of staying power,” Sacca said. “Normal people can’t make it that long. He can.” These hot tub sessions, he implied, became something of a test to determine whether the entrepreneurs he might fund could really “hang.”

Extreme Economies: Survival, Failure, Future – Lessons From the World’s Limits
by Richard Davies
Published 4 Sep 2019

Doing these big batches keeps costs down, and his employees then transport trays of baked goods to his four outlet kiosks dotted across Zaatari. Offering a taste of Syria is so popular that he is opening a fifth outlet soon. This hub-and-spoke method of cooking and selling food is exactly the so-called ‘dark kitchen’ model now being pursued by Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber. Other entrepreneurs pull on the refugees’ nostalgia for their lost homeland too. Hamid Harriri’s sweet shop mainly sells knockoffs including ‘Chiko’ chocolate eclairs, an imitation of the Cadbury’s version. But his most prized candies are the real thing: sugar-coated almonds called mlabbas that he imports from Syria.

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Abercrombie, Sir Patrick 203 Aceh 2–39, 10, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335 ‘building back better’ 24–5, 29–31, 42 civil war 32–3 education 13, 31 financial system 20–22 history 17–18 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 32, 33 tsunami 2–3, 6, 12–14, 15, 16, 18–19, 23 ageing populations 6, 212–49, 331 agglomeration see industrial agglomeration AI see artificial intelligence Akita, Japan 212–49 ageing population/ low birth rate 7, 213–25, 227–49, 331 suicides 225–6 Allende, Salvador 296–8, 301 amoral familism 196, 202 Anglo-Dutch wars 25 Angola: Kongo people 83 Angola (Louisiana penitentiary) 5, 76–104, 331, 335, Angolite, The 80 Argentina 110, 144, 291, 303 Arkwright, Richard 267 Arrol, Sir William 191 artificial intelligence (AI) 245, 268–9, 270, 284, 286, 287, 378 automation: and job losses 253 see also technology Azraq refugee camp 57–67, 71, 72, 144, 334, 340, 348–9 Bajo Chiquito, Panama 106, 108–9, 1112, 133, 136, 139 Banda Aceh 13, 16, 18, 20, 26–7, 34–5 Bandal, Kinshasa 144, 162 Bandudu, Congo 164, 165 banks 97, 99 in Aceh 19, 21, 22 Chilean 296, 297, 302 in Kinshasa/ Congo 151, 158 online 99, 278 Panamanian 131 Barbour, Mary 203, 366 barter economy, prison 89–90 Bevan, Aneurin 201 birth rates, falling 215–16, 226–7, 233, 247 Blockbuster Video 97 blood circulation (William Harvey) 3–4 borders: and conservation of common resources 126–7 Borland, Francis: History of Darien 107 Brazil: ageing population 213, 214 Brazzaville, Congo 174–5 Bruce, Robert 203 Brumberg, Richard 218 buccaneers and Darien 112–14 business start-up rates 54 Calabria, negative social integration 195–6 Calton, Glasgow 179, 190, 191, 192 Cambridge University 26, 182 Cameron, Verney Lovett 141, 143, 149 cannabinoids, synthetic 93–4, 95–6, 352 cartels, Chilean 321–3 Casement, Roger: on Congo Free State 150 cash vs. barter 89–90 Castro, Fidel 298 Castro, Sergio de 301 centenarians, Japanese 215, 216 Chesterton, George Laval 77 Chicago Boys 294–5, 296, 300, 301, 314, 325 El Ladrillo (economic plan) 301–5, 315–16, 317, 323–4, 325–6 protests against 305, 317 Chile Allende period 296–8, 301 education 294, 295, 302, 304–5, 310, 311–12, 312, 313–17, 318, 324, 326, 327 national income 291–3 nationalization 296–7 Pinochet dictatorship 298, 300–1, 305, 322, 383 tsunami 15 see also Chicago Boys ‘Chilean Winter’ 317–18 Clyde shipyards 178–9, 181, 183–4, 185 Cold Bath Fields prison 91 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 113 Colombian peace accord (2016) 111, 134 common resources and conservation 124–5 depletion paradox 122–39 overgrazed land 122–3 and self-regulation 125, 126–8 Confucian ethics 220 Congo, Democratic Republic of ‘Crisis’ 151–8 GDP per capita 153, 173 independence (1960) 151 unemployment 142–3 see also Kinshasa; Mobutu, Sese Seko; Zaire consumerism as slavery 319 copper mining 143, 151, 156, 296, 323–4 corruption 133 in Kinshasa 143, 145–6, 148, 159–61, 168, 333, 361 credit: and poverty 308–10 Crompton, Samuel 267 crop rotation 279 Cunard Line 185 currencies cacao beans 91 cigarette papers 91 cigarettes/tobacco 92, 95 coffee 77, 96, 100 commodities 90–91 ‘dot’ payment system 97–100 dual-currency system 166–7 ‘EMAK’ (edible mackerel) 92 postage stamps 92 in prisons 91–101 ramen noodles 92 roles played (Jevons) 90 on Rossel Island 91 salt 91 Yoruk people 91 Cut Nyak Dhien 35 Dael, Syria: refugees 42–4 Dagahaley settlement, Kenya 45, 46 Dampier, William 113, 114 Daraa: and Syrian civil war 44 Darien Gap 6, 106, 107–39, 332, 333, 334 borders and common resource conservation 126–7 buccaneers’ accounts 112–14 eco-tourism 132 environmental damage 6, 120–21, 129–31 ethnic rivalry 126–8 externalities 131, 138, 183, 186, 332 illegal immigrants 132–7 market failure 109–10, 122–3, 129, 138 Scottish disaster 114–15, 133, 137–8 Darien National Park 126, 132 deaths lonely 225, 226, 236, 237, 248 premature (‘Glasgow effect’) 192–3 suicide 194, 213, 224, 225–6, 236, 248, 366 see also life expectancy digital divide 254, 281, 377 digital ID 277, 279 digital infrastructure, Estonian 259 drugs in Angola (prison) 81, 82, 88, 93–4, 95–6, 97, 99, 100, 101, 352 in Chile 306, 310, 322 in Darien 110, 111, 128, 134, 135 in Scotland 191–2, 193 in Tallinn 206 Dunlop, John Boyd 150 Durkheim, Emile: La Suicide 194, 196, 206 e-democracy (Estonia) 284, 287 e-Residency (Estonia) 277–8, 279, 283, 287, 379 education in Aceh 13, 31 in Chile/Santiago 295, 302, 304–5, 310, 311–12, 312, 313–17, 326, 327 in Italy 195 in Japan 220, 223, 229 in Louisiana 81 in Zaatari camp 67, 71, 349 see also universities Embera tribe 108, 109, 111, 119, 127, 128, 129, 133, 136, 137, 138–9, 357 entrepreneurs 331 in Aceh 19, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 39 in Akita, Japan 236–7, 238 in Angola (prison) 89, 102–3 Chilean 295, 296 in Darien 5, 114 Estonian 270, 275, 278–9, 281 in Glasgow 181, 182 in Kinshasa 162, 171 in Zaatari camp 43, 46, 54, 55–8, 62–3, 71 environmental damage see Darien Gap Estonia 256–7, 259 Ajujaht competition 252, 260, 275, 276, 278, 283–3 companies 281 economic revival 275–87 e-Government services 254–5 as ESSR 257–9, 272–4 labour shortage 280 Russia border 271–2 Russian population 272–4, 281–3 technology 252–6, 259–87 externalities 183, 206 Darien Gap 131, 138, 183, 186, 332 Glasgow 183–4, 186, 189–90, 333 and markets 332 extractive economy 122–39 Fairfield Heritage 349 Fairfield shipyard 178, 186, 189, 200, 206 FARC guerrillas 111, 132, 133, 134–5, 137, 355, 357 Ffrench-Davis, Ricardo 302 Foljambe, Joseph 265–6 Force Publique 150 foreign aid 23, 27–9, 54, 170 foreign exchange traders 166–7 Franklin, Isaac 83 free markets 128, 131, 174, 296, 300–3, 316, 320, 326–7, 331–2, 356 Frente Amplio coalition 318, 384 Friedman, Milton 289, 295, 303, 319, 326, 383, 384 GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) freedom fighters 18, 32, 346 Gbadolite 159 GDP see Gross Domestic Product Gécamines 155–6 Geddes, Reay: report 189–90 gender roles, Japanese 223–4, 232 Germany 187, 195, 222, 227, 247, 249, 292, 302, 360 Glasgow 6–7, 176, 177–207, 333 culture 180 drug users 191–2 externalities 183–4, 186, 189–90, 333 population density 197 shipbuilding 178–9, 181, 184–6, 187–8, 189, 190–91, 199–200, 206–7, 333, 334 tenement homes and social capital 196, 197–202, 205, 335 unemployment 190 see also Calton; Gorbals; Govan and below Glasgow City Council (GCC) 202–4 Glasgow City Improvement Trust 202–3, 366 ‘Glasgow effect’, isolation 205–6 Glassford, John 181 Glenlee 179 gold in Aceh 17, 20–22, 37, 332, 334 in the Congo 143 in Darien 109, 113, 117, 120, 356 Golden Island 114–15 Good Neighbor Policy (USA) 294, 383 Goodyear, Charles 150 Gorbals, Glasgow 176, 191, 192, 204, 205, 367 Govan, Glasgow 176, 178, 184, 186, 192, 197–8, 201–3, 206, 207 Great Depression 26 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 26 Aceh 27, 37–8 Chile 316 Congo 153, 173 Estonia 259 Hagadera refugee camp, Kenya 45 Han, Byung-Chul 319 Harberger, Arnold ‘Alito’ 295, 305, 326 Hargreaves, James 266, 267 Harris, Walter 115 Harvey, William 1, 3–4, 5, 6, 329, 330, 336 Heinla, Ahti 263–4, 268, 282, 284, 285 Hinohara, Shigeaki 211 housing 90 Aceh 12–13, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29–30, 26, 38, 39 Akita, Japan 223, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 236–7, 239, 248 Azraq and Zaatari camps 44, 45, 48, 54, 55, 59, 61, 63, 70, 71 Chile 296, 297, 300, 302, 204, 306, 207, 308, 326 Darien 118, 139 Glasgow 197–9, 202–6 Kinshasa 142 Louisiana 95, 102 human capital 38–9, 168, 305, 335, 346–7 human rights abuses 300–1 Hyakumoto, Natsue 235 ID cards, personal data 260–61 Ifo refugee camp, Kenya 45 incarceration rates, USA 76–7, 78 industrial agglomeration 182–6, 200, 206, 330–31, 333, 365 inequality 6, 18, 254, 331, 337 in Chile 6, 291–2, 292, 293, 297, 298, 304, 308, 311, 317, 318, 324–7 intergenerational (Japan) 221–3, 238, 248 informal economies 122–5, 214–15, 331, 333–4, 336 Aceh 21–2, 24, 30, 31, 34, 37 Akita 233, 248 Chile 297, 306–7, 310, 323 Darien 122, 128, 129 Estonia 258 and Glasgow 204, 206, 334 Italy 196, 336 Kinshasa 142, 146, 148, 163–6, 167–8, 170, 173–5, 334 in prisons 77, 78–9, 86–7, 91, 93, 96, 99, 100–1, 102 in Zaatari camp 43, 45, 47, 57, 61, 64, 71, 72, 86 Innophys 245 innovation in Chile 315 and currency 97, 99–100 and economies 43, 79, 80, 87, 100, 122, 162, 333, 334 in Estonia 252, 256–7, 258–87 in Glasgow 179, 180, 182, 185, 188, 192, 201 technological 97–8, 183, 187, 252, 256–7, 258–87 intergenerational inequality (Japan) 221–3, 238, 248 International African Association (IAA) 149 International Cooperation Administration (ICA) 294 International Monetary Fund 303 inventions 265–6 in Estonia 252–3, 260, 265, 275–6, 282–3 isolation, ‘Glasgow effect’ 205–6 Italy 195–6, 201, 202, 335–6, 366 ageing population 213, 220, 222, 243, 331 population decline 227, 230, 233, 249 ivory trade 149 Jackie Chan Village 35–7, 39 Jackson, Giorgio 317–20 Jadue, Daniel 322, 332 Japan ageing population 6, 213–25, 227–49, 331 common forest conservation 124, 125 education 220, 223, 229 shipyards innovation/ competition 187–8, 189 tsunamis 15 Japan Football Association (JFA) 212–13 Jendi, Mohammed 54–5, 56, 71 Jevons, William Stanley 75, 89–90, 99, 352 Kabila family 154, 161, 162, 173 Kajiwara, Kenji 238 Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya 45 Kalanick, Travis 57 Kasa-Vubu, Joseph 151 Katanga 143, 151 Katumba refugee camp, Tanzania 45 Kenya: refugee camps 45, 46 Keynes, John Maynard 5, 7 Kinshasa 6, 140, 141–75, corruption 143, 145–6, 148, 159–61, 168, 333, 361 informal economy 142, 146, 148, 163, 166, 167–8, 170, 173, 334 natural wealth 143 pillages 157–8 police 159–61 roads as informal markets 163–6 tax system 145–6, 147–8, 16 Kirkaldy, David 4, 5, 6, 330 Kuala Lumpur 293 Kuna tribe 126, 340 Laar, Mart 258 labour pools, industrial agglomeration 183, 184–5, 200 Ladrillo, El see Chicago Boys Lagos 293 Lampuuk 2–3, 6, 13, 14, 22–3, 26, 32, 33, 35, 37, 345 Lancashire 266, 267 Las Condes 288, 290, 293, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 321, 322, 325 Lasnamäe, Tallinn 272, 281 Le Corbusier: Cité radieuse 203 Leontief, Wassily: Machines and Man 251, 377 Leopold II, King of the Belgians 149–50 Lhokgna 10, 12–13, 14, 26, 27–8, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38, 345 life-cycle hypothesis 218–19, 248 life expectancy Glasgow 179, 190, 191–3 Japan 215 Russia 273–4 Swaziland 179 Lima 293 Liverpool 89, 177, 192, 193, 205–6 Livingstone, David 148–9 Lloyd, William Forster 122–3 lonely deaths 225, 226, 236, 237, 248 Louisiana 74, 76, 81 Department of Public Safety and Corrections 83 Prison Enterprises 83–4, 85, 351 State Penitentiary see Angola Lüders, Rolf 293, 295, 304, 305, 325 Lumumba, Patrice 151 machine learning 268–70 Makarova, Marianna 272, 274 Malacca Strait 10, 17,. 18, 35, 39 Malahayati, Admiral Laksamana 34–5 Maluku steel mill, Kinshasa 155, 156–7 Manchester 192, 193, 205–6 market economies Chile 297, 302, 305, 317 prison 78, 79, 87, 89, 100, 101, 103 markets 71, 122, 332–3, 336 Aceh 20–22, 36–7, 38, 144, 331 Azraq camp 62–4, 71, 144 Chile 295, 296, 297, 298–9, 304, 309, 319, 320–23 Darien 122, 126–7, 128, 129, 131, 138 free 128, 131, 174, 296, 300–3, 316, 320, 326–7, 331–2, 356 Glasgow 181, 190 Japan 232, 233, 248, 249 Kinshasa 143, 145, 146–7, 162, 163–6, 167, 173, 174 Zaatari supermarkets 48–53, 64, 348 Marshall, Alfred 182–3, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 194, 200, 206, 329, 330, 365 Maslow, Abraham 41, 65–7, 68, 71, 72, 286, 319, 326, 349 Meikle, Andrew 266 Melvin, Jean 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 205 ménage lending system 201, 334 Menger, Carl 90, 99, 352 Michelin brothers 150 military coup, Pinochet’s 298 Mill, John Stuart 11, 38, 335, 346–7 minimum wages 94, 267, 296, 307–8, 310 Mishamo refugee camp, Tanzania 45 Mississippi River 74, 76 Mobutu, Sese Seko (formerly Joseph-Désiré) 141, 151–2, 154–9, 161, 162, 166, 173, 297, 333, 360–61 Modigliani, Franco 218–19, 372 Mojo (synthetic cannabis) 92–4, 95–6, 97 monopolies, facilitated 319 Montgomery, Hugh 3–4 Moore, Gordon 269 Morgan, Henry 112–13 Narva, Estonia 250, 271, 272, 274, 283, 287, 378 National Health Service 201–2 nationalization 187, 296, 301–2, 383 natural disasters: and economic growth 24–5 New Caledonia 114, 356 New Orleans 74, 76, 79, 93, 101, 102, 103 Ninagawa, Yukio 234–5 norms, economics and 196, 200, 201, 323, 334, 336 obesity 81, 309, 326, 351 opportunism: and depletion of common resources 126–38 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 291, 316, 326, 377 Ostrom, Elinor 123–5, 137 Pan-American Highway 106, 110, 111, 115–17, 118–19, 121, 139, 355 Panama 106, 108-9, 110, 111, 113, 117, 118, 121, 130, 131, 356–7 see also Darien Gap; FARC guerrillas Panian refugee camp, Pakistan 45 Paro robot 243–5 Paterson, William: A Proposal to Plant a Colony in Darien 107 pawn shops 200, 334, 367 Penguins’ Revolution 317 pepper: global boom 17, 345 Pepper robot 246–7 personal data 260–61 Petty, William 25–6, 38n, 346 Piñera, Sebastián 309 Pinochet, General Augustine 298, 300–1, 305, 322, 383 pirate economies see informal economies population 122, 125, 330, 347 Aceh 14, 16, 18 Chile/Santiago 291, 324 China 76 Congo/Kinshasa 143, 150 Dael 42 Darien Gap 126, 128 Estonia 255, 256, 265, 272 Glasgow 179, 197 Greece 238 Japan 226–7, 229 Portugal 238 refugee camps 44, 45, 49, 57, 348 Sweden 238 US prisons 76–7 see also ageing populations Portugal 213, 227, 230, 233, 238, 243, 249, 291, 331, 351, 360 poverty Chile 291, 293, 300, 301, 303–4, 305, 208, 311. 15. 326 Congo/Kinshasa 143, 144, 160, 169, 11, 173 Glasgow 192 Italy 195 Japan 220, 226, 233, 248 Louisiana 81, 351 prices 147–8, 302 Pride of York 207 Prisoner’s Dilemma 174 privatization 169, 173, 301–2, 315, 326, 361 Pugnido refugee camp, Ethiopia 45 Putnam, Robert 195–6, 201, 202, 335–6, 366 Rahmatullah mosque, Aceh 14 rainforest destruction 121, 128–31 Rand, Rait 260, 275–6, 283, 284 Red Road Estate, Glasgow 203 refugee camps 45, 46, 55, 173 see also Azraq; Zaatari Reid, Alexander 180 resilience 3, 5, 6, 13, 16, 22, 31, 34, 35–9, 78, 103, 109, 122, 123, 146, 170, 248, 293, 325, 333–7, 384 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia see FARC Rideau, Wilbert 79–80, 82, 87–8, 100, 351 Rio Chucunaque 117, 119 robotics/ robots and care 243–4, 245–7, 248 delivery robots 262–4 for egalitarian economies 284–5 human overseers/ minders 280 ‘last-mile problem’ 264 machine learning 268–70 Sony AIBO robotic dogs 245 trams, driverless 264 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 294, 356 rosewood trees 120, 128, 138 rubber trade 149–50 Russian-Estonians 272–4, 281–4, 286–7 salarymen, retired 223–4, 228, 248 Samuel, Arthur 269 Santiago 7, 288, 289–327 see also Chile schools/ schooling markets 165, 311–15 Scotland Darien disaster 114–15, 133, 137–8 see also Glasgow self-governance 125–8 shipbuilding 178–9, 181, 184–6, 187–8, 189–91, 199–200 Sikkut, Siim 259, 277, 284 Skype 254, 263, slavery 82–6 smuggling 42, 46–8, 68 social capital 195–6, 199, 200, 202, 323, 325, 335–6, 366 social inequality 142–3, 324–5 Somalia 15 South Korea 213, 214, 220, 227, 233, 247, 319, 373 Spain 115, 137, 213, 222, 227, 243, 331 Spice (synthetic cannabis) 352 Spice Islands 17 Spiers, Alexander 181 Spinning Jenny 267, 269, 274, 378 Sri Lanka 15, 17, 49 Stanley, Henry Morton 148–9 Stanyforth, Disney 266 Starship Technologies 262–4, 269, 280 stateless people 255 store cards, prepaid 97–8 students 81, 168, 218, 221, 223, 236–7, 238, 248, 282, 283, 294–5, 304–5, 311–14, 315–18 suicide 194, 213, 224, 225–6, 236, 248, 366 Sumatra 17-18, see also Aceh supermarkets, Zaatari 48–53, 64, 348 Swing Riots 266, 378 synthetic cannabis see Mojo; Spice Takahashi, Kiyoshi 235, 236 Tallinn 7, 250, 251–87 Russian population 272–4, 281–4, 286–7 start-up paradise 254 Tallinn, Harry 278, 282–3 Tanzania: refugee camps 45 taxation 25, 346 Aceh 32 Chile 295, 302, 307, 315–17, 325 Darien 111, 130 Estonia 256–7, 259, 273, 278, 287 Glasgow 190 Japan 220, 231 Kinshasa 145–6, 147–8, 151, 152, 158, 161–2, 165, 167–8, 169, 173–4 in Zaatari refugee camp 48, 56 Tay Bridge collapse 5 teak trees 116, 130–31, 138, 333, 356, 357 technology and inequality 253–4 innovation 97–8, 183, 187, 256–7, 258–9 spill-overs 183, 189 and unemployment 253, 262, 270, 279, 286, 287, 377, 379 tectonic plates 13–14 tenement buildings, Glaswegian 196, 197–202, 205, 335 Thailand 15, 144, 213 tobacco 77, 85–6, 92, 95, 100, 143, 156, 181, 191, 202, 365 Tomaya, Yoichi 235 Törbel, Switzerland: forest conservation 124 towerblocks 203, 204, 205 trade in prison 97–100 in Zaatari camp 43–57, 67–70 see also markets traditions, economic resilience and 21, 22, 24, 34, 196, 336 trust 148, 150, 174, 196, 199, 201, 206, 248, 261, 295, 321, 323, 325, 335 Tshisekedi, Félix 154 tsunamis 2–3, 12–14, 15, 16, 18–19, 22–3, 25 Tull, Jethrow 266 Turkey 28, 58, 144, 213 Uber 57 Ukegawa, Sachiko 234 underground economies 77–9, 87–101 see also informal economies unemployment 64–5, 142–3, 190, 275 Chile 290, 297, 302, 307, 311 Congo 142, 359 Estonia 270, 273, 275, 279, 283, 379 Glasgow 179, 190, 191 and technology 253, 262, 270, 279, 286, 287, 377, 379 United Kingdom 4, 18, 26, 181, 187, 188, 199, 213, 223, 278, 335 agriculture 265, 267 housing 232 jails 86, 91, 96, 352 National Health Service 201, 203 population 226 and technology 253, 254, 257, 260, 262, 264 see also Glasgow; Scotland United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 44, 46, 48, 54, 57, 72, 348 World Food Programme (WFP), and Zaatari 48, 49–50 universities Aceh 13, 33, 34 Akita, Japan 221, 223 Chile 294, 305, 313, 314, 315, 316–17, 318, 324, 326 Congo/Kinshasa 151, 160, 166, 168 Estonia 275, 282, 283 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) 189 urbanization: and agglomeration forces 330–31 United States 26, 54, 76, 83, 93, 213, 223, 253, 262, 279, 292, 294, 297–8 prisons 76–7, 78, 81, 91–2, see also Angola population 226 and technology 260, 262, 264, 267, 269, 276 USAID 28, 29 Valdez, Samuel 121, 128–9, 130 Vallejo, Camila 317–18, 384 Van Gogh, Vincent 180 Vatter, Ott 277, 278 Viik, Linnar 257, 258–60, 261–2 Wafer, Lionel 113–14, 134, 355 Waisbluth, Mario 313 Walpole, Sir Spencer: A History of England 177 Walsh, David: History, Politics and Vulnerability … 177 Watanabe, Hiroshi 234 wealth 4–5, 159, 218–19, 324–5, 329, 334–6 nation’s 25, 38n, 346–7 natural 109, 132, 143 workforce 184–5, 264–8, 275, 297 World Bank 303, 305, 346 World Health Organization (WHO) 63, 215 World Trade Organization 303 Wounan tribe 126, 127 X-Road data system 261, 274–5, 279, 283, 377 Y Combinator 252 Yamamoto, Ryo 236–7 Yaviza, Panama 110, 111, 116–20, 127, 132, 135, 138, 144, 356 Yida refuge camp, South Sudan 45 Zaatari Syrian refugee camp 6, 40, 41–73, 86, 89, 100, 163, 173, 308, 331, 332, 334, 335, 348, 349 declining population 57 education 67, 71, 349 informal economy 43, 45, 47, 57, 61, 64, 71, 72, 86 smuggler children 42, 46–8, 68 supermarkets 48–53, 64, 348 trade development 43–57, 67–70, 71, 72 UNHCR cedes control 44–6 Zaire 152, 154, 155–6, 159, 361 Zorrones 324 TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS 61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA penguin.co.uk Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It
by Kashmir Hill
Published 19 Sep 2023

“The delta between the path they’re on and the path they could be on is a trillion dollars,” Scalzo said. “Let it be free! Instead they’re artificially caging it. If this thing went to consumers, it would go to fifty million users in, like, four days.” He had thought that Ton-That and Schwartz had spines like that of Travis Kalanick, the Uber chief executive who had rolled his ride-hailing app out around the world, ignoring lawsuits and regulators screaming at him that the business model wasn’t legal. Scalzo said that Clearview had transformed from a rocket ship into a “GoFundMe for lawyers.” That wasn’t all. It was also turning into a punching bag for global privacy regulators.

…

See also NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Faraday bags, 227 FarmVille, 4–5, 6 “fatface,” 32 Fawkes, 242 FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Capitol insurrection and, 229 Congress and, 142, 143–144, 158 Government Accountability Office and, 247 NIST and, 70, 71 NYPD and, 132 Federal Police of Brazil, 136 Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 121–123, 126–127, 143, 240 FERET, 67–68, 103 Ferg-Cadima, James, 82–87, 151, 158 Ferrara, Nicholas, xii–xiii Fight for the Future, 238 Financial Crimes Task Force, 128–131 FindFace, 34–35, 220–222 Findley, Josh, 134–136 fingerprints/fingerprinting early efforts regarding, 22 Pay by Touch and, 82, 84–87 theft of, 84 First 48, The, 230 First Amendment Abrams case and, 206–207, 208–209, 212–213 Gawker and, 15 violence and, 306n206 FitMob, 8 Flanagan, Chris, 129, 131 Flickr, 199, 242, 246–247 Flipshot, 9 Floyd, George, 207, 239 FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), 141, 157 4Chan, 94 Fourth Amendment, 141 Franken, Al, 140–144, 148–151 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 141, 157 FreeOnes, 197 Frydman, Ken, 28 FTC (Federal Trade Commission), 121–123, 126–127, 143, 240 Fuller, Matt, 274n52 Fussey, Pete, 218–219, 235 G Gaetz, Matt, 285n95 Galaxy Nexus, 109 Galton, Francis, 17–20, 22, 25, 33 GAO (General Accounting Office), 62, 65–66 Garrison, Jessica Medeiros, 138–139, 160 Garvie, Clare, 156–157, 178 Gaslight lounge, 50–51 Gawker Media Johnson and, 11, 12 Pay by Touch and, 85 Thiel and, 14–15 Ton-That and, xi, 7, 93, 116, 164 gaydar, 31 GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), 191 gender Congressional representation and, 89 differences in facial recognition and, 48, 69–70, 124, 125, 156, 178, 240 IQ and, 32 General Accounting Office (GAO), 62, 65–66 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), 191 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), 83 Gibson, William, 113 Giesea, Jeff, 53 Gilbert, John J., III, 129 GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act), 83 Girard, René, 12 GitHub, 72, 74 Giuliani, Rudy Schwartz and, 27–28, 29, 89, 90, 129, 161 Waxman and, 80 Global Positioning System (GPS), 43 Gmail, 102 Gone Wild, 200 Good, John, x, 160 Google AI Principles of, 108 BIPA and, 151 Clearview AI and, 96, 165 CSAM and, 135 diverse datasets and, 179 “Face Facts” workshop and, 121–122 Face Unlock and, 109, 179 Franken and, 141, 142 FTC and, 123 Goggles and, 99–100, 102 hesitation of regarding facial recognition technology, 99–110 identification technology and, 145 Images, 79 lawsuits against, 306n206 Lunar XPRIZE and, 192 Maps and, 100–101, 102 mining of Gmail by, 102 monetization and, 6–7 neural networks technology and, 74 phone locks and, ix Photos app, 272n48 PittPatt and, 108–109, 110 Schmidt and, 27 State Privacy and Security Coalition and, 150 Street View and, 100–101, 102 TensorFlow and, 208 ViddyHo and, 7 GotNews, 11–12 Government Accountability Office, 247 GPS (Global Positioning System), 43 Greenwald, Glenn, 149 Greer, Evan, 237–238 Grewal, Gurbir, 165 Gristedes, 114 Grossenbacher, Timo, 194–196 Grother, Patrick, 69–70 Grunin, Nikolay, 309n222 Guardian, The, 149 gunshot detection systems, 232–233, 234 Gutierrez, Alejandro (“Gooty”), 231–232, 234 H Hacker News, 4 Hamburg Data Protection Authority (DPA), 192 Haralick, Robert, 271n47 Harrelson, Woody, 156–157 Harris, Andy, 274n52 Harvard Law Review, on privacy, viii Harvey, Adam, 241 Haskell, 4 Health and Human Services Department, 247 Hereditary Genius (Galton), 20 Hikvision, 177, 215–216, 226 Hinton, Geoffrey, 73, 74, 295n146 History of Animals (Aristotle), 17 Hogan, Hulk, 15 Hola, 275n58 Hollerith, Herman, 24–25 Homeland Security, Department of, 134–136, 235 Hooton, Earnest A., 25, 26 Hot Ones, 115 Howard, Zach, 145 Howell, Christopher, 207–208 HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), 78 Huawei, 226 HuffPost, 165 Hungary, 56–59 Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), 78 I “I Have a Dream” speech (King), 39 IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity), 106 IBM, 25, 156, 239 Incredibles, The, 119 Independent, The, 34 Indiana State Police, 133 Inmar Intelligence, 87 Insight Camera, 187 Instagram Brown and, 11 Clearview AI and, vii Marx and, 192 scraping and, 195 Williams and, 182 Instaloader, 194–195 Instant Checkmate, 58 Intel, ix, 123–125 Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), 106 internet DARPA and, 43 embodied, 145–146 Trump and, 54 Internet Archive, 78 Interpol, 136 Intimcity, 221 investigative lead reports, 71, 131, 176, 180 iPhone developer tools for, 9 release of, ix, 6 unlocking and, 109 IQ, 32 “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” 125 Iveco vans, 214 J James, LeBron, 14 January 6 insurrection, 228–230 Java, 4 Jayapal, Pramila, 239 Je Suis Maidan, 222 Jenner, Kendall, 115 Jewel-Osco, 82 Jobs, Steve, ix Johnson, Charles Carlisle “Chuck” background of, 11–12 on blocking author’s face, 163 contact with, 165 early plans of, 31, 34 FindFace and, 220 Gawker and, 15 investors and, 116 Jukic and, 134 Orbán and, 56 ouster of, 94–96 at Republican Convention, 11, 15–16 Scalzo and, 118–119 Schwartz and, 29, 161–162 Smartcheckr and, 52–53, 72, 79, 80 Ton-That and, 12–14, 27, 33, 161–162, 247–249 Trump and, 50, 51–52, 53, 54 Joint Terrorism Task Force, 132 Jukic, Marko, xvii–xviii, 134, 162 Justice Department, 66, 247 K Kalanick, Travis, 189 Kanade, Takeo, 40, 41–42, 103 Keeper, 117 Kennedy, John F., 41 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 39–40 King-Hurley Research Group, 268–269n38 Kirenaga Partners, xiv–xv, 111, 112, 160 Knox, Belle, 198 Kodak, viii, 104, 179 Krizhevsky, Alex, 295n146 Kroger’s, 87 Krolik, Aaron, 164 Kutcher, Ashton, 114–115 Kuznetsova, Anna, 222–223 L L-1 Identity Solutions, 71 labeled data, 67 Lambert, Hal, 118 law enforcement.

The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times
by Lionel Barber
Published 5 Nov 2020

The only issue is whether Perkins is legally exposed. My bet is they won’t dare touch her. And I’m right. At the end of 2019, the FT named Susan Fowler, the software engineer who lifted the lid on sexual harassment at Uber, as Person of the Year. Her revelations helped to topple Uber’s founder, Travis Kalanick. The choice of Fowler broke with an unspoken tradition of selecting establishment figures and reflected a new balance of power in the workplace and in Silicon Valley. Previously untouchable bosses would soon come under the spotlight. As in the Weinstein case, even the most high-powered, expensive lawyers would no longer be able to keep stories of abuse and sexual harassment out of the public domain.

…

W. 54, 63, 188, 314 Bush, George W. 31, 54, 55, 56, 63, 106, 110, 169, 188, 233, 435 Buttigieg, Pete 413 BuzzFeed 258, 395 Cadbury 263 Cambridge Analytica 394, 394n Cameron, David ix, xvi, 81–2, 97, 98, 125, 148, 151, 152, 158, 159, 161–2, 164, 174, 177, 180–81, 191–2, 193, 195, 196, 198, 203, 204, 205, 209, 222, 223, 226–7, 244, 259, 260, 263, 267, 283, 286, 288, 289, 290, 304–5, 308–10, 316, 319, 320, 321, 323, 326, 333, 344, 345, 374–5, 382–3, 388, 389, 414, 417, 427, 438 Cameron, Samantha 81–2, 161–2, 198, 304 capitalism: liberal capitalism model xi, xii, 117, 147n, 276, 312, 330, 334, 335, 339, 353, 355, 401, 419, 434, 436, 439; reform of 352, 353, 410, 439 Carnegy, Hugh 321 Carney, Mark 122, 323–4, 327, 341, 365–6, 371, 412 Catalan independence movement 219, 226 Cayne, Jimmy 24, 25, 85 Centre for European Reform 388–9 Chan, Andy 393 Charles, Prince x, xii, 264–6, 267, 268–70 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack (2015) xv, 281 Cheney, Dick 54, 56, 233 Chidambaram, P. 38 China xi, 30, 31, 31n, 98–9, 117, 120, 123–4, 123n, 133, 140, 162–3, 169, 182–3, 206–7, 213–14, 228, 233, 241–2, 271, 303–6, 309, 344, 347–8, 351–2, 366, 374–5, 376, 390, 392–3, 395–8, 399, 410, 414, 434, 436, 439, 440 China Entrepreneur Club 233 Chubais, Anatoly 229 Churchill, Winston 24, 24n, 95, 128, 314, 310, 364, 422 Citigroup 68, 69, 85, 113, 114, 228, 404 City Lecture, Cambridge University 264 City of London xii, xiii, 25n, 106, 180, 224, 259, 297, 334, 365, 366, 429 Clark, Pilita 379 Clegg, Miriam 151, 195 Clegg, Nick 151–2, 158, 159, 162, 195–6, 275n, 286, 321, 394, 395, 414 Clinton, Bill 82, 150, 206, 208, 233 Clinton, Hillary 82, 96, 133, 233, 315–16, 331, 332 Clooney, George 204–5 Coalition government, UK 156–7, 158, 159–60, 193, 195–6, 209, 258–60, 275, 275n, 288, 289, 290, 354; austerity policies 209, 210, 259, 273, 289, 319, 438; Big Society concept 152–3 Cochrane, Alan 273 Cohen, Jared 332 Cohn, Gary 341–2 Cold War 96, 233, 314, 354, 395, 396, 398, 436, 438 collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) 45 Collins Stewart 14–15, 17–18, 19–20 Colloque (Anglo-French forum) 255–6 Colombia 140–42 Comcast 268 Communism, collapse of Soviet 88, 129, 137, 228, 344 Conservative Party 67, 71, 97, 106, 128, 139, 148, 151, 152–3, 156–8, 158n, 159, 174, 180n, 195–6, 217n, 223n, 227, 227n, 232, 244, 260, 273–5, 275n, 283–4, 287, 288, 289–90, 309, 310, 327, 333, 343, 345–6, 353–4, 358, 359–60, 365, 381, 388, 410, 410n, 411, 412, 414, 423 Corbyn, Jeremy 11n, 303, 340, 341, 345–6, 354, 363, 399, 402, 410, 427 Costolo, Dick 210–11 Coulson, Andy 191, 223, 223n Covid-19 xi, xvii, 123, 130, 383, 398, 433, 434–6, 438–9, 440–41 Cox, Jo 319 Crabtree, James 247 credit derivatives 37, 62, 66, 186 credit-rating agencies 62, 62n, 84 Crimea 91, 91n, 237n, 239, 275, 277 Crosby, Lynton xvi, 283–4, 287–8, 290, 345–6, 388 Crosby, James 18–19 Cummings, Dominic xv, 313–14, 420n, 423–4, 438 Dacre, Paul x, 76, 192, 195, 196–7, 220, 221, 227, 233, 239, 257, 331, 331n, 357, 363 Daily Mail x, 41, 67, 126, 151, 152, 192, 195, 220, 221, 239, 316, 327, 331, 334, 363 Daily Mirror 11, 32, 100 Daily Telegraph 32, 35, 51, 67, 126, 135–6, 135n, 192, 197, 273, 358, 358n, 359, 422 Dalian Wanda 213 Dalton, Stephen 148, 150 Danone 263 Darling, Alistair 69–70, 83n, 101, 101n, 136, 273 Darroch, Jeremy 267–8 Davidson, Heather 83 Davies, Howard 76–7, 76n, 190 Davis, David 362–4, 363n Davis, Ian 122, 197 DDB (advertising agency) 34 deflation 39, 391 Dell, Michael 120–21 Delors, Jacques 83, 341 Democratic Party, US 82, 98, 99, 187–8, 330, 332, 396; convention (2004) 82, 99; convention (2008) 98, 99; Democratic National Committee (DNC) 330 see also US Presidential Election Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 157, 157n, 399, 425 Deng, Wendi 191 Deng Xiaoping 124, 129, 183 ‘de-platforming’ 262 Deutsche Bank 295, 383, 404, 410 Diamond, Bob x, 167–8, 212 Dickie, Mure 185 Dickson, Martin 13, 18–19, 102, 106–7, 431 Dilenschneider, Robert 84–5, 332 Dimbleby, Jonathan 340 Dimon, Jamie xiv, 24, 24n, 93–4 Dinmore, Guy 162 Disney 213, 214, 268 Doerr, John 215–16 Döpfner, Mathias x, 283, 291–3, 295, 407 dotcom crash (2000–2001) 4, 16, 76, 84, 184, 228 Dow Jones 59–60, 65, 66, 135n, 282 Dowler, Milly 190 Draghi, Mario xiv, 178–9, 198–9, 200, 212–13, 223, 226, 320, 341, 367, 368, 402, 412–13, 415 DreamWorks 213 Dubai xiv, 102–3, 111, 112, 135, 168, 175 Duberstein, Ken 188 Dudley, Bob 163, 239 Dumfries House 264–5, 269 Duque, Iván 142 Economist, The 26, 205, 221, 238, 258, 282, 294, 354, 381, 389 Edano, Yukio 185–6 Edelstein, Jillian 208 Edinburgh, Prince Philip, Duke of 304 Edward VIII, King 198, 201 Egypt 54, 107, 177, 331 El-Erian, Mohamed: When Markets Collide 113 Elizabeth II, Queen 23, 271, 303–4, 305 England, Andrew 260–61 En Marche 353 Entwistle, George 217–18 Epstein, Jeffrey 7, 7n Erdoğan, Recep Tayyip 335 euro xiii, 61, 64, 84, 100, 172–3, 178, 179, 180, 198, 212, 223, 228, 413, 429 European Central Bank (ECB) xiv, 61, 69, 84, 100, 178–9, 179n, 188, 198–9, 203, 212, 223, 226, 367–8, 402, 412–13, 415–16, 436 European Commission 83, 84, 84n, 179, 274, 343, 344, 363, 402, 406 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) 274 European Economic Community (EEC) 227 European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) 198–9 European People’s Party (EPP) 97 European Round Table of Industrialists 409 European Union 437; Brexit see Brexit; Covid-19 and 436, 437; Customs Union 328, 339, 354; euro see euro; fatal flaw in 99–101; ‘fiscal compact’ proposal 198; free movement of people 324; Lisbon treaty 64, 64n, 67, 381; Maastricht treaty 64n, 342, 389, 426, 433; Single Market 196, 315, 324, 328, 339, 341, 354, 366, 425; sovereign debt crisis 100–101, 148, 153–5, 172–3, 177, 179, 180, 188, 198–9, 212, 219, 224, 226, 238–9, 253, 341, 368, 413, 415–16 European University Institute, Fiesole 178 Evans, Harry 6–7, 10 Evening Standard 126, 136–7, 138–9, 345 Exxon Mobil 155 Facebook xi, 178, 200, 215, 216, 222, 247, 347, 394–5, 394n, 439 Fairhead, Rona 29, 66 ‘fake news’ 41, 346, 347 Fallon, John x, 251–2, 257, 281–3, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 302 Farage, Nigel 253, 259, 262, 266, 284, 349, 412 ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ news 240, 255 Federal Reserve, US 76, 85–7, 86n, 88, 94–5, 114, 199, 241, 415, 436 Federal Reserve Bank of New York 87–8 Felsted, Andrea 235 Ferguson, Jason 247 Ferguson, Alex 247–8, 251, 389 Fidler, Stephen 21 Fillon, François 205 financial crisis, global xi, xiii–xiv, 19, 22n, 25, 31n, 37n, 44, 62, 66, 69–72, 74–7, 81, 83–8, 92, 93–5, 96, 100–107, 108, 109, 110–13, 114–16, 117–23, 123n, 124, 125, 127–9, 130, 131, 133, 134, 138, 144, 154, 173, 174, 186–7, 228, 232, 245n, 364, 401, 434, 435, 436; Bear Stearns collapse 25, 85, 87–8, 93, 98, 104; Lehman Brothers collapse xiv, 5n, 37, 81, 101–2, 104, 105, 107, 121, 160, 199, 432 financial liberalisation, era of 129 Financial Services Authority 76n, 106, 138 Financial Times xi; ‘A List’ contributors 189–90; advertising revenues 4, 9, 26, 255, 288; advertising/marketing campaigns 4, 33, 34, 70; alpha-male problem 209; app 137–8, 214; ‘B2B’ business 118–20; Boldness in Business awards 262; Bracken House, headquarters move from One Southwark Bridge to 373, 391, 404, 411; Bracken Room 24, 25, 101, 398; ‘Brighton’ meeting 73–4; British Press Awards newspaper of the year (2008) 92; British Press Awards newspaper of the year (2018) 379; Business Book of the Year 112–13, 166, 243–4; Business of Luxury Summit, Monaco (2009) 156; circulation 4, 26, 312, 379, 401, 406–7, 431 see also subscriptions, digital; code of conduct 201; Collins Stewart libel case 14–15, 17–18, 19–20; Commodities Summit 286–7; core mission 9; cost cutting 16, 26, 147–8; ‘digital first’ journalism 224–5, 240, 255, 403, 440; digital transformation of xi, xv, 10, 17, 43, 74, 92, 117–18, 147, 201, 218, 224–5, 240, 241, 255, 257, 272, 285, 394, 395, 401, 403, 432, 440; editorial independence, principle of 60, 93, 251, 282, 288–9, 292, 294–5, 297, 299, 311, 394; editorial leader conference 209–10; FastFT 224; FT Alphaville financial blog 27; ft.com 6, 69–70, 114, 117–19, 167, 240, 321, 380; Future of Capitalism series 129, 133; Future of News conference 379–80; gender balance at top of, plans for 340; Gulf, edition for the 135; ‘Here Day’ 202, 202n; hiring of staff/power to shape through appointments 5, 6, 12–13, 16, 26–7, 43, 51, 158, 189–90, 255, 403; House and Home, Weekend FT supplement 174, 264, 270; How to Spend It 104; in-house lawyer 20n, 200–201, 258, 405; independent sources, stories supported by two 9, 20, 56, 201; ‘Inside Blair Inc’ feature 142; investigations team 291, 368–9, 381–2, 405; Latin America coverage 140–42; LB accepts Nikkei request to stay on as editor 300; LB appointed editor 3–10; LB daily routine as Editor 35–6, 175–6; LB hosts team leader summer event 296–7; LB leaves post as Editor of 430–32; LB news editor of 9, 15; LB rotates top team 147, 302; LB’s essays for 355, 381, 427, 429; LB’s New Year note to staff, LB’s 224–5; LB’s overseas trips see individual nation name; LB’s second term as editor of 197–8, 202–3; LB succession planning at 252, 312, 391, 395, 401, 404, 426, 428, 429–31; LB US managing editor of 3–5; LB ‘walking the floor’ of 431; letters to the FT editor 83; Leveson inquiry and see Leveson inquiry; Lex Column 99–100, 361; Lunch with the FT 72–3, 120, 175, 176, 188, 229–30, 325, 326, 343; Magazine, weekend 208–9, 219, 302, 381, 401, 429; managing editor, change of 26n, 117, 147, 203, 224, 403; mid-morning meeting of commentators and ‘leader writers’ 103–4; motto, revival of original 58; Nikkei and see Nikkei; 125th anniversary 224, 225, 228–30, 234, 235; 1 million paying readers by 2020 target 312, 379, 401, 406–7, 431; origins 24–5, 25n, 224; Pearson and see Pearson; Pearson sells to Nikkei xiv, xv, 281–3, 284–5, 288–9, 291–300, 301–3, 304, 305–6, 310–11, 312, 403, 407, 428; pensioners’ lunch 277; Person in the News 21, 21n; Person of the Year 166–7, 223, 314, 357–8; publishing system 15–16, 26; ‘rebrush’/redesigns 34, 58, 254–5, 272; self-regulation, system of 257–8, 258n; sponsors 166, 243, 262; subscription business 26, 92, 118, 119, 229, 285, 312, 322, 339, 346, 379, 401, 406–7, 431; ‘thought leader’ brand 172; union members 202–3, 202n; US managing editor 5, 5n, 130, 147, 389; US, move into 3–4; ‘We Live in Financial Times’ marketing slogan 34, 44; Weekend FT 127, 174, 194, 208–9, 219, 302, 381, 401, 429 Fischer, Hartwig 377, 377n 5G technology 184, 375 Five Star Movement 203, 380 Flanders, Stephanie 42–3 Fleurot, Olivier 8, 9, 15–16, 25–6, 29 Ford, Jonathan 158 Fowler, Susan 357–8 Fox, Liam 274 Foy, Henry 417, 419 France x, 62, 69, 91–2, 95, 172, 177, 185, 198, 205, 255–6, 263, 326–7, 339, 341, 343–4, 353, 355, 366, 380, 408, 412–13 Fraser, Simon 319–20 Freeland, Chrystia 12–13, 12n, 85, 130, 147, 147n Fridman, Mikhail 90, 275 Friedman, Alan 27–8, 27n Frost, David 45, 137, 245 Frost/Nixon (Morgan) 45 FT Group 29 Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster (2011) 181, 185 Fuld, Dick x, xiv, 46, 85–6, 105 Fu Ying x, 124, 125–6, 241, 242 Gaddafi, Muammar 142, 177, 180, 259 Gandhi, Indira 407 Gandhi, Mahatma 408 Gandhi, Rahul 245 Ganesh, Janan 205 Gapper, John 43, 70, 88, 104–5, 190, 209–10, 221, 432 Garrahan, Matthew 213, 357, 379, 384 G8 237, 237n General Election, UK: (1992) 157, 228, 261; (1997) 12, 101n, 157; (2001) 12, 157; (2005) 12, 157; (2010) 148, 150–53, 156–9, 158n, 174, 173; (2015) 11n, 274, 283–4, 286–8, 289–90, 345; (2017) 343, 345–6, 353–4, 363, 388; (2019) 402 General Electric (GE) 66, 162–3 General Motors (GM) 221, 376 George, Eddie 138 Georgian National Theatre Company 192–3 Germany ix, xiii, xv, 31, 67, 69, 90n, 95, 101, 149, 172, 173, 179, 180, 188, 198, 199, 203, 219, 228, 237–8, 238n, 242n, 274, 283, 291, 292, 309, 331, 339, 343, 358–9, 368, 401, 404, 405, 406, 407, 413, 415, 416, 419, 421, 427, 433–5, 437 Ghosn, Carlos 375, 375n Giampaolo, David 233 Gibbs, Robert 131, 359 Gibson, Janine 395 Giles, Chris 210 Glasenberg, Ivan 287, 428, 428n Glastonbury Festival 322 Glencore 286, 287, 428n globalisation 34, 116, 228, 312, 333, 335, 348, 434 Gnodde, Richard 429–30 Gold, Dore 109, 109n Goldman Sachs xiv–xv, 24n, 31, 31n, 37, 55, 84n, 86, 87, 112, 122, 166–7, 178, 179, 243, 341, 342, 429 González, Felipe 225 Goodwin, Fred 22–3, 22n, 72, 75 Google xi, 137, 160–61, 178, 214–15, 326, 332, 439; Google Camp conference, Sicily 422; Mountain View headquarters 73–4; Street View 160–61 Gorbachev, Mikhail 90, 136–7, 138, 250, 344 Gordon, Sarah 209, 287, 383 Gove, Michael 255, 315, 316–17, 318, 323, 362, 410 Gowers, Andrew 5, 5n, 7–8, 12, 13, 26, 46, 105, 160 Grade, Michael 65 Grant, Charles 388–9 Grauer, Peter 212–13 Grayling, Chris 274 Great Depression 94, 114, 130, 335 Greece 99–100, 148, 153, 154, 172–3, 177, 211, 212, 238, 253, 341, 413 Greenberg, Maurice ‘Hank’ 36 Green, Damien 362–3 Green, Philip x, 162, 167, 235, 371 Greenspan, Alan 76–7, 88, 94, 129 Greig, Geordie 265 Grimes, Chris 403 Grove, Andy 420 G20 92, 117, 123, 123n, 131, 143, 408, 419, 420 Guardian 27, 35, 76, 82–3, 151, 161, 165, 190, 191–2, 197, 236, 237, 255, 258, 290–91, 318, 395, 440 Guerrera, Francesco 102 Guha, Krishna 94 Guinness, Sabrina 300–301 Gu Kailai 206 Gunvor 286, 287 Guthrie, Jonathan 361 Haass, Richard xvi–xvii Hague, William 274–5, 275n Hall, Jerry 317 Hall, Tony 217 Hamas 54, 108, 108n Hammond, Philip 324, 342–3, 345, 362, 365, 373, 420, 420n Hancock, Matt 413 Hannigan, Robert 149, 149n Hanson, Nigel 20n, 200–201, 258, 405 Harding, James 28, 192, 389 Harding, Robin 181, 284, 391 Harry, Prince 422 Hastings, Max 126–7 Hastings, Reed 398–9 Hayward, Tony 160, 163 HBOS 18–19, 104, 122, 127, 128 Heinz 263 see also Kraft Heinz Heywood, Neil 206 Heywood, Jeremy 258–60, 342, 364–5, 414–15 Hill, Andrew 244 Hill, Dave 11 Hille, Kathrin 183 Hill, Fiona 342, 349, 349n Hill, Jonathan 342–3, 342n Hilton, Steve 345 Hiroshima, Japan 284 Hitchens, Christopher 56–8, 57n, 72–3, 205–6 Hizbollah 107, 249 HK National Party 393 Holbrooke, Richard 57, 132–3, 132n, 148n, 170 Hollande, François 255–6 Hong Kong xvi, 60, 217n, 304, 350–52, 390, 392–3, 414 Hornby, Andy 19 Hoskins, Carine Patry 201 House of Commons 152, 193, 259, 343, 363n, 399–400, 423; Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee 216n, 239–40; Treasury Select Committee 127 House of Lords 72, 158, 229, 275, 275n, 349, 363, 363n, 394, 438 House of Representatives, US 106 Howard, John 283 HSBC 22, 22n, 121, 122, 237 Huawei xii, 182–4, 375, 398, 399 Huffington, Ariana 99 Huffington Post 99, 258, 380n Hu Jintao 99 Hunt, Jeremy 274, 410, 411–12, 413, 425 Hussein of Jordan, King 102, 110 Hussein, Saddam 28, 57 Hutton, John 71 Hyon Hak-Bong 253–4 Ignatius, David 276 IMF (International Monetary Fund) 118, 123, 219, 246n, 402, 412 Immelt, Jeffrey 162–3 immigration xi, 67, 203, 283–4, 309, 313, 318, 319, 334, 335, 343, 354, 410, 420 Inagaki, Kana 181 Independent 32, 41, 192 Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) 257, 257n India ix, 30, 37–40, 123n, 129, 168–70, 203, 228, 244–7, 309, 348, 383, 407–9 inequality xiii, 193, 273, 410 inflation 30, 52, 95, 138, 251, 415, 435 Instagram 200, 347, 395 interest rates 30–31, 61, 70, 86, 100, 138, 323, 415 International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 149, 150 Iran 54, 245n, 248–9, 249n, 250, 251, 251n, 259, 307, 377, 425; US nuclear deal with 248–9, 250, 251, 259, 307 Iraq 28, 108, 111, 243n; US-led war in 11, 12, 54, 55, 56, 57, 108, 110, 111, 142, 206, 208–9, 228, 330, 377, 387 Ireland 148, 188–9, 212, 425 ISIS 378 Islam, radical xv, 107, 108n, 170, 171, 248, 249, 251, 281, 378, 397 Israel xiv, 102, 107–9, 109n, 141, 208–9, 250, 251, 292, 319, 378, 382 Italy 27–8, 27n, 99, 100, 162–3, 178–9, 196, 203–4, 212, 214, 238, 239–40, 367, 380, 400, 413 Ivanov, Sergei 329–31, 417 Jackson, Andrew 348 Jacobs, Emma Gilpin 201 Jacques, Jean-Sébastien 386–7 Jain, Anshu 295 Jaitley, Arun 244–5 Jang Song-thaek 253–4 Japan ix, xv, xvi, 17n, 69, 181, 185–6, 281, 283, 284–5, 296, 298–9, 300, 301–3, 304, 305–6, 308, 325, 334, 359, 367, 371–2, 374, 390–92, 402, 403–4, 408, 411, 420, 427–9 Javid, Sajid 410, 420n Jenkins, Antony 285–6 Jenkins, Patrick 166 Jio 40, 247 jishuku (‘self-restraint’) 185–6 Johnson, Boris xvi, 37–8, 38n, 40, 98–9, 138, 139n, 158, 159, 200, 242–3, 244, 310, 315, 323, 325, 344, 345, 358, 359, 362, 371, 373, 388, 402, 410, 410n, 412, 420, 420n, 421, 422, 423, 425–6, 435, 437 Johnson, Jo 37–8, 38n, 40, 244, 373 Johnson, Woody 364 Jones, Claire 416 Jonsson, Martin 240 Jordan 102, 107, 108, 110 JPMorgan Chase xv, 24n, 88, 93–4, 98, 142 Judge, Igor 194–5 Juncker, Jean-Claude 274–5, 343–4, 406 Kagame, Paul ix, xvi, 142, 340, 354–6, 380 Kaiser, Bob 332 Kalanick, Travis 357 Karzai, Hamid 149–50 Kasparov, Garry 89, 91 Katzenberg, Jeffrey 213–14 Kaufman, Henry 186–7 Kazmin, Amy 407 Kellaway, Lucy 159 Kelly, General John 366n, 367, 367n Kelner, Simon 32, 41 Ken Hu 183, 398, 399 Kengeter, Carsten 193 Kennedy, John F. 96n, 380–81, 381n Kenny, Enda 188–9 Kerr, Simon 112 Kerry, John 68, 222 Keswick, Henry 304, 304n Keynes, John Maynard 88, 129 Khalaf, Roula x, 29, 102–3, 110, 111–12, 135, 177, 209, 248, 250, 302, 306, 308, 321, 322, 339, 371, 379, 390, 392, 428–9, 430, 431, 432 Khan, Imran 170–71 Khan, Sonia 420, 420n Khashoggi, Jamal 308, 392 Kim Jong-un 253, 374, 397 King, Mervyn 30–31, 31n, 71–2, 76, 106, 128–9, 173, 212 King, Rodney 148 King, Stephen 237 Kinnock, Neil 157, 261 Kissinger, Henry 54, 207 Kita, Tsuneo 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 310–11, 312, 321, 391, 401, 402, 404, 411, 428–9, 430, 432 Klerk, F.W. de 229–30 Knight-Bagehot fellowship programme, Columbia Journalism School 46 Kock, Gerhard de 51 Kohl, Helmut 344, 426 Kosovo 89, 89m Kraft Heinz 263, 352, 353 Kushner, Jared 367 Kuwait 111, 142, 206, 208 Kynge, James 124, 303, 393 Kyriacou, Kristina 268, 270 labour market, growth in size of world’s 228 Labour Party 11, 11n, 12, 30, 41, 64, 68, 71–2, 101n, 127, 128, 151, 157–8, 158n, 159, 162, 163–4, 193, 207, 228, 239, 259, 273, 284, 287, 288, 290, 303, 319, 340, 341, 354, 377n, 402, 438 Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford 395 Lambert, Richard 115–16, 244, 252, 297, 411 Lam, Carrie xvi, 350–51, 393, 414 Lamont, James 168, 203, 224, 302, 403 Lansley, Andrew 180, 180n Lavrov, Sergei 237 Lawson, Nigel 229 Lazard 121, 121n Leahy, Terry x, 23–4 Lebedev, Alexander 137, 138–9 Lebedev, Evgeny 136–7, 138–9, 139n, 376–7 Lee Jae-yong (J.Y.

Driverless Cars: On a Road to Nowhere
by Christian Wolmar
Published 18 Jan 2018

However, the relationship quickly soured when he found himself being charged for a ride in one of the taxis, despite Uber’s promise that all journeys would be free during the experimental phase. The mayor also claimed that the company broke its commitment to allow city officials access to the data from trips taken by its passengers. As an embittered Peduto told the New York Times: ‘When it came to what Uber and what Travis Kalanick wanted, Pittsburgh delivered, but when it came to our vision of how this industry could enhance people, planet and place, that message fell on deaf ears.’ 13 This contrast between the imminent driverless revolution presented in the headlines and the reality in the details of the story is almost a daily feature of news coverage of the issue.

…

While it took approximately 50 years for electricity to be adopted by 60% of US households, it took cell phones only about 10 years and … smartphones only about five years to reach the same penetration. A more sober assessment was made by the New York Times in August 2017 in an article responding to the claim by Travis Kalanick (by then recently deposed as Uber CEO) that its vehicles would be entirely driverless by 2030: Most experts (including those previously bullish on self-driving technology, such as the editors of The Economist magazine) have recognized that autonomous vehicles are at least 20 years from fruition.

…

And yet even an article headed ‘Elon Musk is right: driverless cars will arrive by 2021’ on a website called ‘The Next Web’ concluded that ‘2021 might be a tad optimistic but it seems we are closer than decades away.’ It is not only politicians, the auto manufacturers and tech companies making these predictions either. Uber’s (later-ejected) chief executive Travis Kalanick tweeted in August 2015 that he expected Uber’s fleet to be driverless by 2030 and that the service would then be so inexpensive and ubiquitous that car ownership would be obsolete. However, as we have seen, Uber has not found it so easy to dispense with drivers. Uber, in fact, sees getting rid of drivers as key to its ultimate profitability; it is currently losing billions of dollars annually, more than any other tech start-up company: a staggering $3 billion in 2016, not including its operations in China, where it probably lost another $1 billion.

The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power
by Max Chafkin
Published 14 Sep 2021

There would be a term of art for this, “blitzscaling,” coined, naturally, by Reid Hoffman, Thiel’s good friend and PayPal deputy. Many companies interpreted it to mean spending huge sums of money to try to take over a market, and then, once they’d achieved market dominance, trying to raise prices. But quite a few entrepreneurs—people like Zuckerberg and Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick—seemed to see a moral philosophy in blitzscaling as well. Whereas Jobs viewed business as a form of cultural expression, even art, for Thiel and his peers it was a mode of transgression, even activism—a version of what he’d been trying to do at the Stanford Review. To start a company was no longer to help people reach their true potential; it was to flaunt norms, then change them, and, in changing them, set yourself up to get rich off the new order.

…

Olin Foundation, 42 Johnson, Charles, 197–204, 225–26, 229, 231–33, 239, 242–43, 268, 269, 278–79, 281, 285, 289, 296–97, 318, 333 Jones, Paul, 243 Jordan, David Starr, 13–14, 33, 94, 144 Jordan, Jeff, 89–90 JPMorgan, 118–19, 215, 216 Jungle, The (Sinclair), 14 Juul, 77 Justice Department, 274 Kaczynski, Ted, 252–53 Kalanick, Travis, 76, 77 Karp, Alex, 114–18, 150–52, 154–55, 215–19, 235, 258–59, 264, 283, 287, 311, 312, 317, 319 on Silicon Valley, 317–18 Kasich, John, 224, 236 kayfabe, 262, 282 Kelly, April, 89 Kennedy, Anthony, 33, 39 Kennedy, Donald, 26 Kennedy, Gregory, 33, 39 Kesey, Ken, 162 Kester, Scott, 97 Key, John, 208, 210 Kickstarter, 202 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 178, 303 Kleiner Perkins, 115 Kobach, Kris, 139, 266, 286, 314–15, 328 Koch, Charles, 140 Kogan, Alexander, 220 Köppel, Roger, 328 Kosinski, Michal, 219, 220 Kothanek, John, 78–79 Kotlyar, Grisha, 22 Kratsios, Michael, 248, 255–56, 283 Kristol, William, 42 Krzanich, Brian, 236, 264 Ku Klux Klan, 31 Kushner, Jared, 249, 257, 303, 304 Kvamme, Floyd, 93 Kyl, Jon, 83 Lambert, Hal, 225 Langham, Wallace, 159 Lapham, Lewis, 176 Lashinsky, Adam, 275 Last Ringbearer, The, 175 Law Review, 33 Lean In (Sandberg), viii, 298 Lehman Brothers, 131–33 Less Than Zero (Ellis), 25 Levandowski, Anthony, 328 Levchin, Max, 48–51, 53, 54, 56, 58–59, 67, 70–72, 78–80, 85, 86, 92, 98, 112, 151, 164, 171, 233, 274, 331 Lewinsky, Monica, 47 Lewis, Geoff, 269 Lewis, Michael, 132 libertarianism, 82, 94, 114, 140, 161, 175, 182, 184, 186, 250, 287 competitive government and, 140 seasteading and, 136–38, 169, 192, 229 of Thiel, xiv, 52, 80, 83, 94, 112, 122, 140–41, 209, 250 Thiel Fellowship and, 161, 166, 167 Liberty Defined (Paul), 178 Libra, 302 Lief, Adam, 21, 22 life extension, 23, 325–27, 335 cryonics, 23, 101 Halcyon Molecular, 138, 167–68 Methuselah Foundation, 101, 138 parabiosis, 325–27, 329, 330, 335 SENS Research Foundation, 138, 326–27 LinkedIn, xiii, 105, 107 Linn, Nathan, 33, 53, 101 Lockheed Martin, 147 Lonsdale, Jeff, 136 Lonsdale, Joe, 101, 105, 113, 114, 117, 118, 131, 289–90 Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien), 8, 10, 113, 154, 175, 176, 285 Los Angeles riots, 178 Los Angeles Times, 26 Lotus, 97 Louden, Greg, 16 Lucent Technologies, 223 Luckey, Palmer, 285, 296, 309 Luminar, 271 Lyft, xiii, 189, 190, 269 Lythcott-Haims, Julie, 19 Mac, Ryan, 230 MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 26 Majority Report, 287 Manafort, Paul, 237 Mandela, Nelson, 176 marijuana, 179 Markoff, John, 145 Marshall, Roger, 314, 315 Martin, Paul, 53, 67, 70 Marxism, 15 Massie, Thomas, 186 Massyn, Pierre, 5 Mast, Lucas, 99 Masters, Blake, 170–71, 190, 201, 256, 265, 314, 319, 332–33 Matthies, Dennis, 34–35 Mattis, Jim, 283 Maxwell, Megan, 16, 18–19, 32 Mayer, Marissa, 123 McCain, John, 135, 236 McConnell, Mitch, 242 McCormack, Andrew, 97, 98, 209–10 McHugh, John, 216 McHugh, Katie, 204 Mckesson, DeRay, 202 McMaster, H.

Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley
by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans
Published 25 Apr 2023

Despite Tony’s alarming behavior at Winter Camp, attending the film festival had offered what appeared to be a brief return to normalcy in Tony’s life just days before he officiated the wedding. That year for Sundance, Zappos partnered with a digital content company called HitRecord, which was co-founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the actor who would go on to play Uber founder Travis Kalanick in a Showtime special called Super Pumped, based on the book of the same name by New York Times journalist Mike Isaac. Together, they aired ten mini-documentaries at Sundance, each representing one of Zappos’s ten core values. Tony spent time with Joseph at the festival, as well as with singer Paula Abdul, whom he had met just a few weeks prior.

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Groth, Aimee Gruber, Frank grunge rock Guadagnoli, Mark Guadagnoli, Max Guadalajara Guangdong Province, China Guardian Angels Haidt, Jonathan Haines, Pat Hallerman, Elisa Halloween golf tournament Happier (Ben-Shahar) happiness, science of Happiness Hypothesis, The (Haidt) Hard Rock Casino (Vegas) Harvard Bartending School Harvard Student Agencies Harvard University Business School Hawaii Hawk, Tony Hayashi, Kami Henderson, Nevada Henrikson, James Henry, Mike Hill, David Hilton, Paris HitRecord Hof, Wim “the Ice Man” Holacracy Hollis, Brandon homelessness Hong Kong Hsieh, Andrew Chia-Pei “Andy” (brother) childhood and youth and death of Tony and education of Elizabeth Pezzello and Life Is Beautiful and Lux Delux built by Tony’s decline and Tony’s estate and Tony’s mid-career relationship with Tony’s resignation from Zappos and Van Ness condo and works at Zappos Hsieh, Anthony Chia-Hua “Tony” ADHD and Airstream Park and Alfred Lin as partner and check on Alfred’s departure and awards and honors and biohacking and birth of brother Andy and brother Dave and Burning Man and button business as teen and childhood and early youth of Club BIO and conservatorship attempts and costumes and crypto and cult accusations and death of, in New London fire Delivering Happiness company and Delivering Happiness memoir and Delivering Happiness tours and depression and dog Blizzy and dog Blizzy’s death and Downtown Project and Downtown Project focus changed by Downtown Project layoffs and Downtown Project suicides and dress and style at Zappos and drinking and alcoholism and drug-induced psychosis, entourage, and decline of drugs and early jobs and early poems by early reading education of, at Chinese school education of, at Harvard education of, at Miller Creek Elementary and Middle Schools education of, at the Branson School entourage grows in Vegas estate of, and lawsuits Excedrin and family and friends attempt to help with interventions and welfare checks financial crisis of 2008 and fireflies and flow states and Fred Mossler as partner at Zappos and Fred’s departure from Zappos and friendships with Chinese students at NYU and friendship with Holly McNamara and friendship with James Henrikson and friendship with Janice Lopez and friendship with Jenn Lim and friendship with Ying Liu and Gobbler, The, created by happiness mantra and Harvard classmates cruise and hero’s journeys and Holacracy and image and physical appearance of Internet Marketing Solutions and Jewel’s attempts to help job at Oracle and jobs at Harvard and Kanye West and ketamine and Las Vegas real estate portfolio and Las Vegas toast to memory of leadership ability and Life Is Beautiful and LinkExchange founded by LinkExchange sale to Microsoft and LinkExchange sale to Yahoo rejected by market-based dynamics and Mark Guadagnoli builds employee orientation for MDMA or Ecstasy and media and megalomania and Mimi Pham as personal assistant of nitrous oxide (laughing gas; Whip-Its) and NSFWCorp and octopus image and early poem of Ogden building home in Vegas and old friends visit during Downtown Project years Oprah interview and parents and parents and friends cut off by Park City entourage and spending during decline of Park City hospitalizations and Park City move and disturbing behavior of Park City psychotic break and Park City rehab attempt and personality of piano playing and pickup community techniques and poker and polygamy-based parenting and private search for inner peace and public image of, as head of Zappos Quincy House Grille at Harvard and rave scene and “return on community” philosophy and romance and friendship with Michelle D’Attilio romance with Eva Lee romantic relationships and polyamory of Ryan Doherty’s party and weird behavior of Sequoia and Soiled Dove event and Southern Highlands mansion of SpaceX and speaking by stereotypes eluded by Summit conference and SXSW and trips to Hawaii and trip to Alaska and trip to Belcampo farm and trip to Holmstead Ranch Resort and trip to Hong Kong while at Harvard and trip to Mexico as teen to view eclipse and trip to Montana and meltdown by trip to Mount Kilimanjaro and trip to New London from Park City trip to Taiwan and trip to Yosemite and TV appearances of Tyler Williams and Van Ness Avenue home and Club BIO and Venture Frogs and Victor Oviedo asked to join Zappos by, with departure of Fred wealth of, vs. happiness goal WHISKY for Zappos and Winter Camp and as Zappos CEO, after sale to Amazon as Zappos CEO, during dot-com bust Zappos corporate culture and Zappos customer service and Zappos idea first pitched to Zappos launch and early funding and Zappos management and Zappos move to Las Vegas and Zappos name and Zappos resignation by Zappos sale to Amazon and Hsieh, David (brother) Hsieh, Judy Shiao-Ling Lee (mother) Hsieh, Richard Chuan-Kang (father) background and career of death of Tony and intervention and Tony’s estate and Tony’s psychotic breaks and Hsu, Alex Hsu, Eleen Hsu, Maggie Huffington Post hypomania Hypomanic Edge, The (Gartner) IBM Imagine Dragons India “Inside Zappos CEO’s Wild, Wonderful Life” (video) Inspire Theater Inspiring Children Foundation InstaCart Instagram Internet Marketing Solutions Isaac, Mike Jackson, Michael Jansen, Karl Japan Jay-Z Jewel Jobs, Steve John, Elton Johns Hopkins University Medical School Jorgensen, Ben Journeys into the Bright World (Moore and Alltounian) Juliet (Tony’s assistant) Kalanick, Travis Kane, Shawn Kao, Min Karolinska Institutet Karp, Alexander Kate O’Brien’s bar Kentucky warehouse Kessler, Todd ketamine Khosrowshahi, Dara Killers, The Kingdom of Happiness, The (Groth) Kings of Leon Kleiner Perkins Knoll, Kimberly Knowledge Society Koran Kotler, Steven Krawiec, Peter Krippner, Stanley Krupitsky, Evgeny Kushner, Jared Kutcher, Ashton Lagunitas Country Club Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity Las Vegas.

New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World--And How to Make It Work for You
by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms
Published 2 Apr 2018

We see similar challenges playing out on a much larger scale with some well-known new power models. In the previous chapter, we saw how out of whack Uber’s triangle has become. In 2017, as those tensions started to reverberate around its wider circle, they cost founder and CEO Travis Kalanick his job. Over the years, Uber had almost seemed to delight in picking fights with others in its circle. In 2014, Travis Kalanick explained Uber’s worldview this way: “We’re in a political campaign, and the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi.” (It is fair to say, given Kalanick’s own personal brand, that Taxi might see its opponent in similar terms.)

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Dividing the world into winners and losers, this mindset considers success a zero-sum equation. It is the classic thinking behind much of corporate life and essential to the culture of sales teams in almost every industry. Donald Trump is steeped in these values, as is Uber, especially under the leadership of its co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. Despite its new power model, Uber has a track record of sabotaging its competitors, intimidating journalists, and hoodwinking government regulators to come out on top. In a leaked document that detailed what it looked for in employees, Uber highlights “fierceness” and “super-pumpedness,” all part of a “hustle” culture.

…

Over time, Lyft has mostly ditched the mustaches and the fist-bumping, but still positions itself as trying to get closer to its drivers, and its riders. Uber is defined by its remoteness—with a cutthroat “bro” culture that has created a toxic relationship with its key constituents and led to the downfall of founder and CEO Travis Kalanick. A typical comment from Kalanick, anticipating driverless cars, summed up the company’s attitude, casting its drivers as little more than a cost center: “The reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re not just paying for the car—you’re paying for the other dude in the car.” Yet the Uber story goes much deeper than the personal failings of Kalanick.

The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
Published 19 Jul 2021

isn’t viewed as permissively: Ellen Huet and Shawn Wen, “IPO—Just Kidding,” Foundering (podcast), episode 6, Bloomberg News, July 23, 2020. Schwartz, who had recently praised: Maureen Farrell et al., “Some WeWork Board Members Seek to Remove Adam Neumann as CEO,” Wall Street Journal, Sept. 22, 2019. pushed to remove CEO Travis Kalanick: Mike Isaac, “Inside Travis Kalanick’s Resignation as Uber’s CEO,” New York Times, June 21, 2017. An onlooker snapped a photo: Reeves Wiedeman, Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork (New York: Little, Brown, 2020), 302. Journal published its story: Farrell et al., “Some WeWork Board Members Seek to Remove Adam Neumann as CEO.”

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Seeing the massive demand from the mutual funds, Neumann added a condition to the deals. He wanted to sell some of his own shares too, and he wanted to sell them at the valuation at which the funds were investing. He wanted tens of millions of dollars from each of them. T. Rowe Price asked Neumann why he would need so much money. It was an unusual move, after all: Travis Kalanick at Uber had made a point of telling investors and employees that to demonstrate his commitment to the company, he hadn’t sold a single share. But Neumann explained that it was just a small slice of his overall holdings—a few percentage points—and that millions of these dollars were earmarked for charity.

…

Founders who looked and acted the part—decisive leadership, expansive vision—had plenty of sway over investors eager to place bets on the next Steve Jobs. Mark Zuckerberg had secured his control over Facebook by selling shares to Russian investors years before the IPO, in exchange for the ability to vote those shares. He also had shares with ten times the votes of a standard share. Travis Kalanick of Uber and Evan Spiegel of Snapchat struck similar arrangements. Neumann was trying to build a company the size of Google, and Google’s founders had voting control. Why shouldn’t he get it, too? Dunlevie relented. He wouldn’t vote against the structure, he told Neumann. Making him rework the terms could be a bad look for the new investors, and other CEOs of hot startups indeed had similar setups.

Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology From Capitalism
by Wendy Liu
Published 22 Mar 2020

In short, it means developing technology outside the logic of capital. When we think of the tech industry, it’s easy to get caught up in the quirks of the individuals involved. The mind conjures images of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg robotically testifying in front of Congress,2 or Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick lecturing an Uber driver about personal responsibility.3 We associate Google with its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Twitter with CEO Jack Dorsey; Apple with founder Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook; Microsoft with founder Bill Gates. As a result, we’re tempted to believe that the problems of the industry originate with the specific individuals at the helm, who are somehow uniquely bad, and that if we simply swapped in some people with better ethical codes, everything would be fixed.

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By the time we got back to Montreal and its streets lined with slumbering mounds of brown snow, we decided that we didn’t need Y Combinator’s mark of validation after all. As long as we believed, we could figure out the rest. FOUR: FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT As an entrepreneur, I try to push the limits. Pedal to the metal. — Travis Kalanick in December 2014, while he was the CEO of Uber. He was ousted from his role several years later after a series of scandals.1 May: springtime, the snow melted, Montreal abruptly shifting from the bleak dregs of winter to blazing hot near-summer. I passed my last exam by the thinnest of margins and, after changing majors several times over the years, I would be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics.

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Silicon Valley’s tech-inflected brand of capitalism is only the latest battleground in a long war; others are doing what they can to push back, and they’ve been doing this for a long time. May of 2019, there’s a protest outside Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco. The immediate occasion is Uber’s upcoming IPO, which is projected to bring the company to a valuation of nearly $100 billion. If it reaches that, Travis Kalanick — a co-founder and former CEO who departed the company after a wave of scandals in 2017 — will mint several billion dollars. Garrett Camp, the company’s lesser-known co-founder who hasn’t worked for the company in years, will also be a billionaire. Early investors will make back several times their initial investments; the executives will make many millions; lower-level employees might become millionaires, depending on how long ago they joined and how valuable the company finds their work.

Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups
by Ali Tamaseb
Published 14 Sep 2021

The lesson: if you want to join a very early-stage startup, looking for companies created by Super Founders could increase your odds of success. Eleven months later, in December 2010, Kalanick was convinced of the potential; he joined full-time, was named a co-founder, and succeeded Graves as CEO. Travis Kalanick looking for a general manager for Uber on Twitter. Source: Travis Kalanick (@travisk), Twitter, January 5, 2010, https://twitter.com/travisk/status/7422828552?lang=en Many of the stories from earlier chapters also involve Super Founders. Langley Steinert founded TripAdvisor before starting CarGurus. Guy Haddleton started Adaytum before Anaplan.

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Daniel Laynon, “Credit Karma’s UK Plans: An Interview with Nichole Mustard,” AltFi, March 5, 2019, www.altfi.com/article/5123_credit-karmas-uk-plans-an-interview-with-nichole-mustard. CHAPTER 4: THE SUPER FOUNDER 1. Alyson Shontell, “All Hail the Uber Man! How Sharp-Elbowed Salesman Travis Kalanick Became Silicon Valley’s Newest Star.” Business Insider, January 11, 2014, www.businessinsider.com/uber-travis-kalanick-bio-2014-1. 2. Rachel King, “How Aaron Levie and His Childhood Friends Built Box into a $2 Billion Business, Without Stabbing Each Other in the Back,” TechRepublic, March 6, 2014, www.techrepublic.com/article/how-aaron-levie-and-his-childhood-friends-built-box-into-a-2-billion-business-without-stabbing-each-other-in-the-back/.

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He quickly sketched out the concept and called it UberCab, which used the customer’s GPS location to send a text message to the closest driver. Camp had just turned thirty. He had a master’s degree in software engineering and a couple of willing friends, Oscar Salazar and Conrad Whelan, who agreed to build a prototype for his idea. When it seemed like it might work, he invited Travis Kalanick to join as an investor and “mega advisor.” Uber would go on to become one of the most successful companies of its time. Ten years after the fateful New Year’s Eve ride, Uber debuted on the New York Stock Exchange with a valuation of over $50 billion. It made both Camp and Kalanick billionaires.

Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection
by Jacob Silverman
Published 17 Mar 2015

This is because the transportation industry is highly regulated, something that Uber would like to disrupt. Government, with its pernicious regulatory apparatus, is simply making the market inefficient and costing consumers and businesspeople in both cash and intimacy with one another. (For a time, Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder, used a cropped cover of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged for his Twitter avatar before replacing it with a drawing of Alexander Hamilton’s face. Promoting individual economic liberty is presented as part of the company’s mandate.) In the case of Lyft, potential drivers have to apply for work through their Facebook accounts.

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, 149–50 Jezebel blog, 169 Jobs, Steve, 3 Johnson, Benny, 116 journalism and conflicting reports, 108–9 false stories leading to contact with targets, 107–8 feedback loop on social media, 97 immediacy of report vs. facts, 108–10, 113–14 outrage and grievance applied to, 120–21 and tenor of the viral Web, 102–3 See also news organizations journalists overview, ix, 102–3 climate change writer, 333–35, 336–37, 340–41, 343, 346, 347 information overwhelm, 334–36, 340 and social media, 108, 148 and social news, 127 and unconfirmed reports, 110 and virality, 102–3, 105 junk mail with “Daughter Killed in a Car Crash” in address, 279–80 Jurgenson, Nathan, 61 Just Mugshots, 208 Kalanick, Travis, 235 Kardashian, Kim, 67 Karim, Jawed, 15 Karp, David, 27, 29–30 Keller, Jared, 84, 144 Kelly, Kevin, 280–81, 282 Kelly, Ray, 287 Kickstarter Web site, 84 Kirn, Walter, 142–43 Klein, Ezra, 124 Klout, 194–96, 200 Know More Web site (Washington Post:Wonkblog), 123–24 Kunkel, Benjamin, 274 Kurzweil, Ray, 5 labor markets overview, 226, 234–35, 247 Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 90, 226, 228, 229–30 exploitative nature of, 228–30, 243–44 Gigwalk, 232 social media compared to, 227 TaskRabbit, 222–26, 236–37, 242, 245 workers trapped by, 231–33 See also employment; fractional work Landy, Andy, 187–88 Lanier, Jaron, 138–39, 328 Lasch, Christopher, 23, 45, 319, 342, 343, 345 Law, Rachel, 357–58 Lazewatsky, Miriam, 79–80 Leibovitz, Liel, 348–49 Lenddo, 309 Lenticular printing, 299–300 Leonard, Franklin, 182–83 Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 167–68 libel lawsuit, 113 libertarianism, 1–3, 19.

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles--And All of US
by Rana Foroohar
Published 5 Nov 2019

You could argue that all of this is simply part of the “think different” mind-set, one that is necessary for entrepreneurship and radical change. The problem is that with it often comes a strong sense of entitlement and a weak sense of responsibility for any consequence of one’s actions. Uber’s Travis Kalanick, who became infamous for calling his company “Boober”—a crude reference to how it helped him get dates—is a great example of how this sort of tunnel vision can manifest.10 This wasn’t just adolescent posturing or “locker room talk,” either; it’s just one of many examples of the toxic, misogynistic culture that eventually resulted in his resignation as CEO.

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These are pressing questions, because as we’ve already seen, not just from Amazon or Google, but from start-ups like Airbnb and Uber as well, digital giants can come from out of nowhere and disrupt incumbents, consumers, workers, and even entire cities in one fell swoop, at a pace that would have once been unthinkable. CHAPTER 8 The Uberization of Everything February 2017 wasn’t a good month for former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. The ubiquitous ride-hailing business he founded had been drawing criticism from municipal lawmakers and union activists—particularly in large cities like New York and San Francisco—for years, but their PR crisis reached a boiling point following a series of scandals that started with a blog post from a former engineer, Susan Fowler, alleging harassment and rampant sexism at the company.

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Sheelah Kolhatkar, “At Uber, a New CEO Shifts Gears,” The New Yorker, March 30, 2018. 5. Hook, “Uber.” 6. Eric Newcomer, Sonali Basak, and Sridhar Natarajan, “Uber’s Blame Game Focuses on Morgan Stanley After Shares Drop,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 20, 2019. 7. Rana Foroohar, “Travis Kalanick: With His $62.5 Billion Startup, the Uber Founder Is Changing the Nature of Work,” Time, 2015. 8. Theron Mohamed, “Uber Is Paying Drivers up to $40,000 Each to Celebrate Its IPO,” Markets Insider, April 26, 2019. 9. Alex Rosenblat, Uberland: How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work (Oakland: University of California Press, 2018), 5. 10.

Life as a Passenger: How Driverless Cars Will Change the World
by David Kerrigan
Published 18 Jun 2017

MOD=AJPERES [107] https://waymo.com/apply/ [108] https://medium.com/waymo/introducing-waymos-suite-of-custom-built-self-driving-hardware-c47d1714563 [109] https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/08/waymo-reveals-completely-homegrown-sensor-suite-for-pacifica-autonomous-test-car/ [110] https://medium.com/@christianhern/self-driving-cars-as-the-new-toolbar-8c8a47a3c598 [111] https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux [112] https://www.tesla.com/blog/your-autopilot-has-arrived [113] https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-tesla-cars-being-produced-now-have-full-self-driving-hardware [114] http://www.nvidia.com/object/drive-px.html [115] https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux [116] http://uk.businessinsider.com/travis-kalanick-interview-on-self-driving-cars-future-driver-jobs-2016-8?r=US&IR=T [117] http://uk.businessinsider.com/travis-kalanick-interview-on-self-driving-cars-future-driver-jobs-2016-8?r=DE&IR=T [118] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/14/technology/lyft-waymo-self-driving-cars.html?_r=0 [119] http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0TX0VB20151214#PUdiIB2o4QBfK5m5.97 [120] https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/18/baidu-project-apollo/ [121] http://fortune.com/2015/11/17/uber-disruption-christensen/ [122] https://www.regulations.gov/document?

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Rather, they Tesla documentation states they can only do so as part of what is now being called the Tesla Network. Uber "If we are not tied for first, then the person who is in first, or the entity that's in first, then rolls out a ride-sharing network that is far cheaper or far higher-quality than Uber's, then Uber is no longer a thing" Travis Kalanick, Uber CEO [116] San Francisco-based ride-hailing company Uber is also a high-profile member of the race for driverless car technology. It signalled its intent in the space launching a test vehicle on the streets of Pittsburgh, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. Its Advanced Technology Group (ATG) had worked to outfit a Ford Fusion with a combination of radar, LiDAR and cameras, as well as developing the software required to interpret the sensor data.

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Their next generation test vehicles, built in collaboration with Volvo, show a more streamlined set of sensors. Uber also grabbed headlines when they purchased Otto, a start-up team working on self-driving trucks for over $600m, but we’ll return to the topic of commercial vehicles in Chapter 5. Image Courtesy Uber. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick believes that driverless cars pose an existential risk to Uber,[117] and they are working hard to catch up with others in the area. Their big fear is that if someone else develops driverless cars first and launches a fleet of vehicles, they would be able to offer rides at a fraction of the cost that Uber charge, where the bulk of the ride cost is the cost of the driver.

Lab Rats: How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us
by Dan Lyons
Published 22 Oct 2018

“No one stopped them from running massive sociological and psychological experiments on their users,” Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and early Facebook backer, wrote in Washington Monthly in the spring of 2018, in an article calling for greater regulation of Facebook and other online platforms. In fifth place on the Vanity Fair list was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose factory workers complained to the Guardian in 2017 about stressful, dangerous working conditions, and overworked colleagues collapsing on the production floor. Also on the list were Uber founder Travis Kalanick and his successor as Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, whose company exploits drivers so badly that they have repeatedly sued the company. In 2016, Uber offered a proposed $100 million settlement for a lawsuit brought by drivers demanding to be categorized as employees, with salaries and benefits. Exploiting workers is paying off.

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Some companies try to instill a little bit of Silicon Valley culture by building miniature start-ups inside their old-company walls, hiring Millennials who fan out across the organization, wearing Converse sneakers and untucked shirts, running hackathons and teaching oldsters how to get “super pumped” and “mastermind some shit” in a “jam sesh,” as Uber founder Travis Kalanick once put it. Also, many companies are latching on to faddish Silicon Valley management methodologies, like Agile and Lean Startup, because they are convinced that these tech-spawned ideas will make them as nimble as start-ups. Basically, they want a transfusion. They want that teenage boy blood.

…

The company has obligations of more than $28 billion, some of it debt raised by selling junk bonds, a risky strategy that “recalls the dot-com era,” as Crain’s New York Business put it in a May 2018 article. Uber, despite its claims about a culture that produces “diamonds,” stumbled in 2017, specifically because of its culture. After a string of scandals, the board fired Travis Kalanick, the company’s CEO and founder. The Old Guys Not so long ago it was considered admirable for CEOs to care about the welfare of their employees and their families. CEOs bragged about providing employees with steady, secure employment. Some companies paid employees more than they needed to, and gave people a chance to move up inside the organization.

Silicon City: San Francisco in the Long Shadow of the Valley
by Cary McClelland
Published 8 Oct 2018

Electronic technology is just another goldmine. In a sense, unleashing and controlling the power of the electron is no different than digging in the ground, smelting, yada, yada, yada. The nineteenth century looks primitive today, and we’ll look primitive in a hundred years. The Elon Musk effect, the Travis Kalanick obsession—they’re just the lucky sons of guns who staked their claim on the right river. And it’s produced a volcanic eruption of money. There’s reinvestment: a lot of money gets plowed back into tech. Hell, since the housing meltdown in 2008, the global economy is so shitty, a lot of the world’s surplus money gets buried in tech because it doesn’t know what else to do.

…

He goes, “How do they make $10 billion?” I told him, “Well, Picasso used to paint and make $15 million within five minutes. Why can’t I? What separates me and you from him?” The guy got frustrated and asked, “Can you please just drop me here?” We get that more and more now. I was here when Uber was at the beginning, when Travis Kalanick was at his beginning, or Brian Chesky from Airbnb, or Jack Dorsey was trying to make Square, and the beginning of Elon Musk doing Tesla.§ I have driven many of them. From my own experience, when you meet them, you don’t see anything inspiring on them. You don’t see that genius in them. These are normal people with regular IQs, maybe they’re sneakier than others.

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‡ A controversial state law that lets landlords evict residential tenants in order to remove their units from “rental use.” Critics argue the measure allows landlords to bypass rent control and capitalize on the inflated housing market—selling the building, flipping the units into condominiums, or re-renting them at peak rents—while tenants relocate without proper notice or resources. § In June 2017, Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO of Uber, forced out by investors after a series of scandals rocked the already controversial company. ¶ Tim got his initiative back on the ballot in 2018. This time, he is calling to break the state into three Californias, not six. PART IV THE BREAKDOWN Like any big American city, San Francisco has struggled with crime, with homelessness, with lagging public services.

The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind
by Raghuram Rajan
Published 26 Feb 2019

This view became particularly influential when a study by Michael Jensen and Kevin Murphy in 1990 found that for every $1,000 change in shareholder wealth in the United States, the wealth of top management went up by only $3.25.41 The authors suggested it should be much more. Corporate chieftains obviously loved this message. Second, large activist shareholders ought to monitor firm management and push it to do the right thing for shareholders—a recent example was when the influential shareholders of the vehicle hire company Uber came together to depose the CEO, Travis Kalanick, whose aggressive management style and actions were apparently eroding Uber’s business prospects. Finally, there should be an active market for corporate control, where raiders could take over the management of underperforming corporations, even if existing management resisted. The raiders would gain from bringing in their own management and increasing share value in the most poorly managed firms, while the fear of hostile takeovers would discipline behavior in even the better-managed firms.

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R., 287 American Medical Association, 137, 207 Amish, 8 amoral familism, 14 Antitrust Paradox, The (Bork), 202 antitrust regulators, 202 apathy, 113–15, 347 Apple, 178, 182–83, 383 Arab Spring, 330 aristocracy, 54–56, 72, 78, 87 Aristotle, 21, 39, 40, 48 Arthashastra, 31 Augustine, St., 39 authoritarianism, xvii, xviii, 97, 106, 108–9, 112, 139, 160, 244, 253, 257, 274 legitimacy-seeking, 253 automobiles, 152, 179–80, 261 automation, xii, xviii, 3, 18, 84, 179, 180, 143–44, 175, 178, 185–87, 284, 314, 324 Autor, David, 185 Bacon, Francis, 41 Bakunin, Mikhail, 91 Banfield, Edward, 12–14, 227 Bank of England, 68, 69 banks, 15–16, 72, 104, 178–79, 209, 219, 381, 385, 386 Global Financial Crisis and, 237–39, 358 inflation and, 366 regulation of, 358–60 Baosteel Group, 253 Barry, Ellen, 19–20 Basel Accords, 358, 360 Basix, 336, 337 “beggar thy neighbor” policies, 364 “beggar thyself” policies, 364 Bell, Daniel, 257 Beveridge, William, 155–56 Beveridge Report, 155–56, 318, 319, 321 Bible, 119 usury and, 31–32, 34, 48 Billington, Elizabeth, 193 Bismarck, Otto von, 112, 132 Black Death, 40, 41–42 BoBos (bourgeois bohemians), 218 Bohannan, Laura, 7–8 Boldrin, Michele, 382–83 Boleyn, Anne, 54 Book of Rates, 63 borders, 290, 351–54, 371 Bork, Robert, 202 Bowling Alone (Putnam), 334 Bretton Woods system, 160, 169 Brexit, 242 Britain, see England; United Kingdom Brooks, David, 218, 227 Bryan, William Jennings, 100 bubonic plague (Black Death), 40, 41–42 Burnham, Daniel, xxviii Bush, George W., 158 Calvin, John, 47–49, 82 Calvinism, 47–49, 55, 82, 86, 218 Canada, 294, 298, 342, 368 cannons, 42–44, 51 capitalism, 145, 147 Calvinism and, 47–48 in China, 252–55 crony, 99, 106, 108–9, 257–58 Marxist view of, 88–90 Weber’s view of, 47 Capitalism for the People, A (Zingales), 200 caregivers, 319–20 Carlyle, Thomas, 83 cars, 152, 179–80, 261 Carter, Jimmy, 163, 165, 235 Catholic Church, 29, 42, 49–50, 57, 59, 66–67, 72 Councils of, 34 monasteries of, 54, 57, 72 Papal Revolution in, 38, 40 Reformation and, 40–41, 47, 49 reform in attitudes toward business and interest, 47–49 state and, 45–46 usury and, 34–42, 44–46, 49 wealth of, 44–45 Celler-Kefauver Act, 380 CEOs, 193–94, 198–99, 209 Chandragupta Maurya, 31 Charles I, King, 66 Chernow, Ron, 85 Chetty, Raj, xvi Chicago, Ill., xxii, xxiii, 308, 312, 340–41 Pilsen community in, xxii–xxvi, 12, 298, 344, 381 Chicago Tribune, xxiii chickens, 354–55, 357 children, 222–31 meritocracy and, 224–25, 228 China, xxviii, 42, 97, 144, 145, 147, 185, 245, 246, 291, 342, 352 aging population in, 260, 292 anti-corruption campaign in, 261, 265 capitalism in, 252–55 change in, 258–64 Communist Party in, 144, 247–67 construction sector in, 275 crony competition in, 257–58 Deng in, 249–52, 265, 278 Global Financial Crisis and, 258, 259 growth of, 258, 368–69 households in, 255–56, 259–60, 263–64 imports from, 185 income inequality in, 260 India compared with, 247–48, 267, 269, 270, 275–76 infrastructure in, 259 internet and, 266, 350 liberalization in, 248–67, 276 Maoism in, 247, 248–50 medieval, 20–21 meritocracy in, 257, 265 one-child policy in, 260 in Opium Wars, 349–50 path not taken in, 249–52 populist nationalism in, 276–79 social credit system proposed in, 266 state, markets, and democracy in, 264–67 technology and, 261–62, 278 Tiananmen Square protests in, 250–51 United States and, 278 Xiushui Market in Beijing, 255 Church, see Catholic Church citizenship, 290, 295–99, 302 global, 369 civic nationalism, 297–99, 302 Civil Rights movement, 138, 157, 229, 230, 235 Clay, Lucius, 150 climate change, xii, 245, 284, 365, 396–97 Clinton, Hillary, 235 Coleman, James, 225 colleges and universities, 190–91, 220–21, 308–9, 340 credentials and, 233–34, 317 communications technology: community and, 330–35 see also Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution; internet communism, xvii, 91, 97, 145–47 in China, 144, 247–67 in France, 168 community(ies), xiii, xxvii, 1–22, 25, 243, 283, 285–87, 297, 303–4, 325, 392, 393, 394 alternatives and, 15–17 assets of, 339–41 in the balance, 107–40 benefits of, 327–29 common themes in revival of, 338 communications technology and, 330–35 competition between, 306–7, 329 conflict resolution in, 9–10 crime and drug abuse in, 343–44 dealing with failure in, 347–48 definition of, xiv downsides of, 329 dysfunctional, xiii, xix, 12–15, 173, 227, 325, 378 economic segregation in, 307–9 economic value of, 11 Elberfeld system in, 129–31, 320 engagement in, 344–45 feudal, see feudalism, feudal communities financing revival in, 346–47 Galena, 337–38, 339, 344 ICT revolution and, xviii–xx, 176, 184–88 importance of, xiv–xviii and importance of location, 219–21 and incentive to change, 18–19 Indore, 335–37, 339, 344 infrastructure and, 309–11 insular, costs of, 19–21 leadership in, 339, 344–45 local government, xiv, xv, xvi, 11–12, 286, 305, 311–13 localizing powers and public services in, 306–13 and loss of faith in markets, 115–19 market adjustments and, 388–91 outside choice and, 15, 18, 19 people as assets in, 342–43 physically proximate, 1–4, 327–30, 335–45, 395 Pilsen, xxii–xxvi, 12, 298, 344, 381 as political training ground, xvii positive roles of, 4–10 regulations and, 285, 304, 306–7, 341, 357 reinvigorating, xx–xxi, 327–48, 352, 395 relief efforts from, 131–33 safety net and, 127–38, 318–25 schools and, 119–25, 225–28, 232–34, 313–18 separation of markets and state from, xiv–xv social relationships in, 7–8 sorting and, see residential sorting state and, 303–25, 345–46 tax incentives and, 345 technology and, 119, 335, 344–45 trade and, xviii–xx, 335, 352 training and socializing of young in, 5–7 transactions in, 3, 8–9, 10–11 value of, 10–12 values in, and tolerance for markets, 390–92 varieties of, 2, 329–35 village, 4 virtual, 327, 329, 330 compass, 41–42, 43 competition, xxii, 52, 64, 71, 84–87, 89, 91, 105, 106, 108–10, 139, 145, 176, 207–8, 283, 374, 392, 393 between communities, 306–7, 329 curbs on, 138 enhancing, 379–86 European Union and, 208–9 monopolies and, see monopolies non-compete agreements, 205, 206, 387 patent protection and, 383 preservation of, in U.S., 98–105 property rights and, 286 regulation and, 165, 387–88 scaring away, 203–6 computers, 117, 175, 185, 186, 314 see also Information and Communications Technology revolution; internet Confessions (Augustine), 39 conflict resolution, 9–10 consensus politics, 153 construction, 275 Constitution, U.S., 71 constitutional patriotism, 298 constitutions, 285 Consumer Price Index (CPI), 189 copyhold tenancy, 36 copyright laws, 204–6 corporations, 173, 176, 194, 195, 206, 355–56, 373–74 CEOs of, 193–94, 198–99, 209 and change in attitudes toward profit and incomes, 195–201 European, 209 lobbying by, 378, 389 monopolies by, see monopolies new business creation, 201–7, 380–81 profit maximization and value maximization in, 374–79 social responsibility of, 378–79 corruption, 98–100, 109, 114, 138 in China, 261, 265 in India, 272 Cowen, Tyler, 161 Crecy, battle of, 42 crime, 343–44 Cristo Rey Catholic School, xxiv Cromwell, Oliver, 66 cronyism, 99, 106, 108–9, 113–15, 139, 176, 244, 274, 184, 352, 392 in China, 257–58 in India, 268, 269 data, as market power, 384–86 David, Paul, 161 debt contract, 29–31 see also loans de la Croix, David, 20 democracy(ies), xxvii, 79, 91, 97, 98, 118, 143, 160, 172, 218, 244, 319, 352, 357, 371, 380, 396 crony, 113–15 illiberal, 113 in India, 268–70, 272–74 markets and, 106, 110 public hearings and, 389–90 Democrats, 235–36, 240 Deng Xiaoping, 249–52, 265, 278 Depression, Great, see Great Depression Depression of 1893, 133, 134 developing countries, 245 Dewey, John, 124–25, 227 Dickens, Charles, 129 diversity, 128, 134, 148, 177, 284, 287, 289, 302, 357 benefits of, 290–95 costs of, 293–95 see also immigration, immigrants divorce, 235 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 204 Doepke, Matthias, 20 Douthat, Ross, 235 Dream Hoarders (Reeves), 224 drugs, drug companies, 183, 184, 204, 354, 362–63, 384 East India Company, 68, 69 Economist, 202 Edison, Thomas, 117 education and schools, xx, 6, 72, 83, 140, 158, 162, 221, 228–29, 283, 286, 290, 305, 308–9, 343 colleges and universities, see colleges and universities community and, 119–25, 225–28, 232–34, 313–18 credentials and, 233–34, 317, 393 decentralization in, 316 decline in school quality, 232–34 in France, 125–27, 317 GI Bill and, 156, 157 new tools and methods in, 314–15 paying for, 317–18 segregation and, 229–30 teachers, 102–3 technological progress and, 122–23 in U.S., 119–25, 127, 190–91, 233–34, 317 worker capabilities and, 313–18 Einstein, Albert, 384 Einsweiler, Frank, 337, 339 Elberfeld system, 129–31, 320 Ellikson, Robert, 9–10 emerging markets, 245, 271 see also China; India Engels, Frederick, 88, 90 Engerman, Stanley, 72, 96 England, 52, 59–60, 64–65, 67, 73, 132–33 agricultural laborer revolt in, 94–95 Chartist movement in, 95 Civil War in, 66, 70 Declaration of Rights in, 67–68, 71 emergence as constitutionally limited state, 52–74, 83 Glorious Revolution in, 67–71 Industrial Revolution in, see Industrial Revolution Parliament in, 57, 60–62, 65–70, 74, 77, 84, 105 Poor Law in, 19, 84 Stuarts in, 52, 58, 65–67, 73, 108 Tudors in, 51–54, 73 voting rights in, 92, 94–95 William and Mary in, 67 environment, 365, 371–72, 396 climate change, xii, 245, 284, 365, 396–97 Erhard, Ludwig, 154 Essay on the Principles of Population, An (Malthus), 83 ethnicity and race, xxi–xxii, 298, 397 residential sorting and, 229–31 see also African Americans; diversity; immigration, immigrants; minorities ethnic nationalism, 215–16 populist, 216–17; see also populist nationalism Europe, 52, 59, 74, 160, 167–68, 236, 368, 370 feudalism in, see feudalism, feudal communities immigration in, 144, 159, 167, 210, 241–43 inequalities in, 177 populist nationalism in, 241–43 regulators in, 359 safety nets in, 156 after World War II, 148–54 European Coal and Steel Community, 150 European Economic Community (EEC), 150 European Payment Services Directive, 385 European Payments Union, 150 European Union (EU), 168–73, 208–10, 310, 369, 370 Brexit and, 242 competition and, 208–9 creation of, 168 currency integration in, 169, 237 immigration crisis and, 242 loss of sovereignty in, 171–72 poultry farms in, 355, 356 Stability and Growth Pact in, 169, 170 factories, 18, 78, 88–89, 104, 185 fairness, 115–16 Fallows, Deborah, 344 Fallows, James, 344 families, 231, 235 familism, amoral, 14 Farmers’ Alliance, 23 fascism, xvii, 97, 138, 145, 153 Fault Lines (Rajan), xxvi Federal Reserve, 104, 163, 366 feudalism, feudal communities, xxvii, 19, 25, 35–36, 42, 51–52, 55, 64, 73, 74, 83, 84, 91, 92 and Church’s attack on usury, 34–40 commercial revolution and, 36–39 technology and, 41–42 financial crises: technological change and, 118, 119 of 2007–2008, see Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2008 in U.S., 87–88, 118 Food and Drug Administration, 387 Forastie, Jean, 153 Forbes 400, 192 Ford, Gerald, 235 Ford, Henry, 179–80 France, 59, 145, 168, 246, 298 in European Union, 169, 170 income in, 191, 192 in postwar period, 150, 152–54 Revolution in, 74, 94, 125–26 schooling in, 125–27, 317 free-rider problem, 17 Friedman, Milton, 139–40, 164, 195–201, 375, 377 Friedman, Rose, 139–40 Furstenberg, Carl, 209 G7 nations, 368 Galena, Ill., 337–38, 339, 344 gaming, 334 Gandhi, Indira, 269, 271 Gandhi, Mohandas K., 281, 298 Gao, Xiaohui, 201 Gaud, Malinil, 336, 339 GDP, 163, 164 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 146, 150, 353 gentry, 54–58, 64–66, 71, 72 Gentzkow, Matt, 332–33 Germany, 73, 74, 162, 236, 238, 241 Elberfeld system of assistance in, 129–31, 320 in European Union, 169–71 income in, 191, 192 migrants and foreign workers in, 159, 242 Nazi, 112, 157, 380 in postwar period, 150, 153, 154 social insurance in, 132, 156 state and industry linked in, 111–12 Giersch, Herbert, 167 Giving Pledge, 396 Glaeser, Edward, 98, 137 Glass-Steagall Act, 104 Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2008, xiii, xxvi, xxviii, 88, 144, 199, 204, 213, 236–43, 353–54, 358, 370, 393 China and, 258, 259 global governance, 245–46, 367–70 globalization, 371–72 gold, 100, 101 Goldin, Claudia, 98 Goldstein, Amy, 186 Google, 201, 203, 350, 386 Gorbachev, Mikhail, 251 Gordon, Robert, 161 government, governance, xv, 107, 139, 394 centralization of, 51 deficits, 162–64, 324 federal, xiii–xiv, xvi; see also state global, 245–46, 367–70 local, xiv, xv, xvi, 11–12, 286, 305, 311–13; see also community promises made by, 145–73, 324–25 promotion of views in, 107 Grant, Ulysses S., 98, 337 Great Britain, see England; United Kingdom Great Depression, xxvii, 88, 119, 134–38, 139, 145–47, 151, 157, 210, 237, 364 safety nets in the U.S. before, 133–34 Great Recession, xiii, 238, 334 Great Society, 158 Greece, 145, 170, 237, 238, 359 Gregory VII, Pope, 38, 54 guilds, 58–62, 64, 81 gunpowder, 41–42 Gutenberg, Johannes, 46 Habermas, Jurgen, 298 Hampton, Keith, 331 handloom weavers, 18–19, 116, 188 Hanson, Gordon, 185 Harrington, James, 58 Hart, Oliver, 11 Harvard University, 98, 137, 197, 233, 242, 293, 362, 364, 371, 389 Hayek, Friedrich, 91, 164 health care, 156, 162–63, 318–19, 324 Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), 144, 214, 239–41 drugs, 183, 184, 204, 354, 362–63 training and wages in, 388 in U.K., 156 in U.S., 158, 203 Heckman, James, 6, 223, 225, 226 Hendren, Nathaniel, xvi Henry VII, King, 53–54 Henry VIII, King, 54, 57 Hicks, John, 99 Hillbilly Elegy (Vance), 300–301 Hochschild, Arlie Russell, 239–40 Holland, 65 housing, 237, 307–9 Hsieh, Chang-Tai, 220, 253, 258 Huang, Yasheng, 251 Hume, David, 63 Hurst, Erik, 333–34 Icahn, Carl, 197 ICT, see Information and Communications Technology revolution Idea of India, The (Khilnani), 298 Ignatieff, Michael, 299 immigration, immigrants, xvi, xviii, 121, 134, 137, 147, 148, 159–60, 173, 218, 219, 245, 284, 286, 289, 297, 302, 348 benefits of, 290–95 distressed communities and, 342 in Europe, 144, 159, 167, 210, 241–43 Harvard study on, 242, 293 Japan and, 292–93 Muslim, 241, 242 population aging and, 260, 284, 286, 292–93, 396 residential sorting and, 229–31 talent and, 290–91 in U.S., 137, 159–60, 292 inclusive civic nationalism, 297–99, 302 inclusive localism, xxii, 22, 285–87, 289–302, 327, 351, 394 income and wages, 90, 127, 152, 213, 388, 395, 396 dispersion across US cities, 220 of doctors, 388 Earned Income Tax Credit and, 345–46 economic segregation and, 307–9 effects of technology and trade on, 188–94 median wage, 189–91 occupational licensing and, 207 top one percent, 102, 191–94 universal basic income, 322–23 India, xxvi, xxviii, 19–20, 31, 113–15, 139, 144, 245, 246, 267–74, 287, 298, 317, 350, 391 affirmative action in, 300–302 bribery in, 312 China compared with, 247–48, 267, 269, 270, 275–76 corruption in, 272 cronyism in, 268, 269 decentralization in, 270, 272 democracy in, 268–70, 272–74 economic growth of villages in, 275 Finance Ministry in, 274 Indore, 335–37, 339, 344 land acquisition for public projects in, 275–76 liberalization in, 269–71, 273, 276 populism in, 272, 276–78 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in, xix, 277 socialism in, 267–69, 391 state, markets, and democracy in, 272–74 individualism, 194–96, 201, 284 Indore, 335–37, 339, 344 industrialization, 75, 88, 127, 275 Industrial Revolution(s), 16, 18, 26, 70, 74, 78, 84, 87, 91, 230 First, 116–17 Fourth, 117 handloom weavers and, 18–19, 116, 188 Second, 117–19, 122, 146, 147, 152, 153, 160–61 Third, 117 in U.S., 121 see also Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution inflation, 56–57, 163, 164, 366 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution, xii–xiii, xxi, xxviii, 117, 148, 161, 162, 175–211, 213, 313, 321–22, 338, 340, 382, 393, 394 automation in, xii, xviii, 3, 143–44, 175, 178, 185–87, 314 communities and, xviii–xx, 176, 184–88 decentralization and, 312–13 interconnected world and, 350–51 jobs and, 143–44, 173, 175, 177–88, 395 trade and, 143–44, 173, 181–88 inheritance, 37, 45, 105 Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, An (Smith), 80 intellectual property, 73, 183, 278, 351, 362–63, 382–84 patents, 204–6, 362, 382–84 International Monetary Fund (IMF), xxvi, 146, 151, 270, 367, 368–69 international responsibilities, 363–67, 372, 397 internet, 117, 310 China and, 266, 350 community and, 330–35 political views and, 332–33 Ireland, 237, 238, 353–54 Italy, 145, 162, 303–4, 359 in European Union, 169 Montegrano, 12–14, 113, 227 in postwar period, 149, 152 Jackson, Andrew, 93 James I, King, 66–67 Jams II, King, 70 Janesville, Wisc., 341 Janesville (Goldstein), 186 Japan, 157, 160, 302, 368, 380 aging population in, 292–93 currency in, 366 immigration and, 292–93 income in, 191 in postwar period, 148, 153 protectionism in, 354 Jeffers, Jessica, 205 Jefferson, Thomas, 58 Jensen, Michael, 196 Jiang Zemin, 251 jobs, xii, xviii, 163, 164, 224, 343, 389, 395 African Americans and, 230–31 credentials and, 233–34, 317, 393 ICT revolution and, 143–44, 173, 175, 177–88, 395 and lump of labor fallacy, 180 mercantilism and, 62–63 occupational licensing and, 206–7, 387–88, 393 Second Industrial Revolution and, 122 see also income and wages; workers Johnson, Lyndon, 157–58, 229 Juncker, Jean-Claude, 172 Jungle, The (Sinclair), 104 Justice, US Department of, 202 Kahn, Alfred, 165 Kalanick, Travis, 196 Kaplan, Steve, 192 Katz, Bruce, 303 Kautilya, 31 Keynes, John Maynard, 154, 163, 395 Khan, Khizr, xxi Khilnani, Sunil, 298 Khodorkovsky, Mikhail, 111 Kim, Han, 220 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 157, 158, 397 Kleiner, Morris, 207 knowledge, diffusion of, 204–6 Krueger, Alan, 207 Kyoto Protocol, 365 laissez-faire, 77–78, 81, 83 landowners, 37, 58, 72, 74 gentry, 54–58, 64–66, 71, 72 Lasch, Christopher, 227 Latin America, 72, 93, 96 Lee Kuan Yew, 247 LEGO, 391 lending, see loans Le Pen, Marine, 236 Lerner, Josh, 362 Levine, David, 382–83 liberal democracy, 74–75 liberalism, 83, 160 liberalization, 206 in China, 248–67, 276 in India, 269–71, 273, 276 private sector’s reaction to, 194–201, 207–8 liberal market democracies, xiii, xx, xxvii libertarianism, 115 limited-access societies, 97–98 Lindsey, Brink, 205 loans, 44–45, 48 contract in, 29–31 see also usury lobbying, 378, 389 localism, xxi, xxviii, 285, 286, 303 inclusive, xxii, 22, 285–87, 289–302, 327, 351, 394 long-term benefits of, 303 location, importance of, 219–21 Long, Huey, 136 looms, 18–19, 116, 188 Louis XIV, King, 60, 65, 66 Luce, Edward, 227 Luther, Martin, 46 Madison, James, 97, 218 magnates, decline of, 53–54 Mahajan, Vijay, 337 Malthus, Thomas Robert, 83 Mann, Horace, 121 manufacturing, 152, 184–85, 206 Mao Zedong, 247–50 markets, xiii, xv, xvii–xviii, xx, xxii, xxvii–xxviii, 25–27, 50, 56, 77–106, 145, 154, 172, 173, 243–44, 283, 184, 285–87, 304, 393, 394 community adjustment to, 388–92 community and state buffers against volatility in, 127–38 community loss of faith in, 115–19 community values and, 390–92 competition in, see competition data in, 384–86 definition of, xiv democracy and, 106, 110 emerging, 245, 271; see also China; India fairness in, 115–16 freeing, 80–81 laissez-faire and, 77–78, 81, 83 liberalization of, see liberalization liberal market democracies, xiii, xx, xxvii perceived legitimacy of players in, 110–12 philosophy for, 81–84 reforming, 373–92 separation from community, xiv–xv state and, 304 transactions in, 3, 4 unbridled, 84–87 see also trade marriage, 231, 235 Marshall Plan, 149–51, 365 marshmallow test, 222–23 Marx, Karl, 49, 78, 87–91 Marxism, 87–91, 112, 115, 249, 287 Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding (Moynihan), 158 McClure’s Magazine, 103 McKinley, William, 106 McLean, Malcolm, 181 meatpacking industry, 104, 107–8 Medicare, 241, 324 mercantilism, 62–65, 80 Merchant of Venice, The (Shakespeare), 30 meritocracy, 390, 393 children and, 224–25, 228 in China, 257, 265 Merkel, Angela, 241 military technologies, 42–44, 51, 53 Mill, Harriet, 81 Mill, John Stuart, 81–83 minorities, 218, 219, 289, 296–97 affirmative action and, 300–302 see also African Americans; immigration, immigrants Mischel, Walter, 223 misery index, 163 Mitterand, François, 168 Mokyr, Joel, 20, 21 monarchy, 51–53, 56–59, 61–63, 65, 73 monasteries, 54, 57, 72 moneylending, see loans Monnet, Jean, 154 monopolies, 58–62, 64, 80, 81, 87, 91, 97, 99, 105, 106, 108, 109, 112, 201–7, 283, 379–82 antitrust laws and, 101, 103–4, 381–82 Montegrano, 12–14, 113, 227 Moore, Barrington, 73 Moretti, Enrico, 220 Morgan, John Pierpont, 99, 104 Morse, Adair, 220 Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 158, 340 multilateral institutions, 367–70 Murphy, Kevin, 196 Murray, Charles, 227 muskets, 42–43 Muslims, 21, 35, 36, 241, 242, 272, 277 Napoleon I, 126 nationalism, xvii, 64, 184, 330, 397 civic, 297–99, 302 ethnic, 215–17; see also populist nationalism mercantilism and, 63 populist, see populist nationalism Nation at Risk, A, 232–33 nation-states, 26, 42, 50, 51–52, 61–62 Nehru, Jawaharlal, 267, 270, 287, 298 neighborhoods, 297 isolation index and, 333 sorting and, see residential sorting see also community Netville, 331–32 Neumann, Franz, 112 New Deal, 134–35 New Localism, The (Katz and Nowak), 303 news consumption, and diversity of opinions, 332–33 New York Times, 19, 98, 218, 387 Nixon, Richard, 98, 108 North, Douglass, 70, 97 Nowak, Jeremy, 303 Obama, Barack, xvii, 158, 235, 240 India visited by, 273 Obama, Michelle, 240 Obamacare, 144, 214, 239–41 Oceana (Harrington), 58 oil industry, 84–86, 99, 103, 107, 111 Oliver, Douglas, 9 one percent, 102, 191–94 On Liberty (Mill), 81–83 open-access societies, 98 Opium Wars, 349–50 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 189–90 Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America (Fallows and Fallows), 344 Owen, Robert, 88 Owens, Ann, 226 Papal Revolution, 38, 40 parents, 222–31, 343 Paris Agreement, 365 parliaments, 77, 78–79 English, 57, 60–62, 65–70, 74, 77, 84, 105 patents, 204–6, 362, 382–84 patriotism, 298 peasants, 37–38, 73, 74, 78 see also feudalism, feudal communities Peltzman, Sam, 202 Perez, Carlotta, 118 Petersen, Mitchell, 15, 219 pharmaceutical drugs and companies, 183, 184, 204, 354, 362–63, 384 Physiocrats, 77 Piketty, Thomas, 191 Pilsen community, xxii–xxvi, 12, 298, 344, 381 Pirenne, Henri, 45 plague (Black Death), 40, 41–42 Polanyi, Karl, 84 police officers, 312 politics: conflict over, 234–36 isolation index and, 332–33 left-wing, xiii, xix, xxvii, 214, 217, 394 right-wing, xiii, xix, 214–17, 394 Polybius, 118 population aging, 260, 284, 286, 292–93, 324, 342–43, 348, 396 population diversity, see diversity population growth, 83, 152, 162–63 populism, xiii, xix, xxviii, 63, 136, 137, 211, 213–44, 284 in China, 276–79 and conflict over values and politics, 234–36 in Europe, 241–43 Global Financial Crisis and, 236–43 growing divide and, 218–19 in India, 272, 276–78 left-wing, 214, 217 Obamacare and, 239–41 Populist movement at turn of nineteenth century, 23, 26, 79, 98–101, 102, 105–6, 112, 244, 265 reemergence in the industrial West, 213–44 right-wing, 214–17 types of, 214–18 populist nationalism, xiii, xix–xx, xxi, xxvii, 144, 216–17, 241–44, 246, 276–79, 286, 289, 295–300, 302, 352, 353 in China, 276–79 in Europe, 241–43 in India, 276–78 why it cannot work, 296–97 Populist Revolt, The (Hicks), 99 Portugal, 148, 238 Poterba, James, 140 poultry farms, 354–55, 357 poverty, 396 African Americans and, 157 Elberfeld system of assistance, 129–31, 320 War on, 158, 160, 229 Powell, Enoch, 159 presidential election of 2016, 235, 236, 333, 354 Price, Brendan, 185 Princeton University, 125 printing press, 41–42, 46 private sector, 107–8, 111, 139, 147, 283, 284, 352, 371 liberalization and, 194–201, 207–8 Progressives, 26, 79, 98–99, 102–6, 112, 124, 134, 137, 244, 265 property, 26, 52, 57, 58, 74, 79, 83, 103, 115, 352, 362, 374, 394 competition and, 286 intellectual, see intellectual property land, see landowners taxes on, 121, 123 as theft, 110–11 protectionism, 108, 258–59, 278, 306, 353–56, 364 Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, The (Weber), 47 Protestant Reformation, 40–41, 47, 49 Protestants, 48, 49 public hearings, 389–90 Putnam, Robert, 227, 334 Quakers, 16–17, 230 race, see ethnicity and race race to the bottom, 358–60 railroad industry, 85, 87, 99, 101 Ramanathan, Swati, 312 Ramcharan, Rodney, 72 ranchers, 9–10, 11 Rand, Ayn, 80, 391 R&D, 183–84 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), xix, 277 Rauh, Joshua, 192 Rawls, John, 115 Raymundo, Raul, xxiii, xxvi Reagan, Ronald, 165, 194, 232 Reeves, Richard, 224 Reformation, 40–41, 47, 49 regulation(s), 103–5, 107–8, 165, 172 antitrust, 202 of banks, 358–60 communities and, 285, 304, 306–7, 341, 357 competition and, 165, 387–88 deregulation, 165–67, 194, 197 harmonization of, 354–63, 365, 371 relief efforts, 131–33, 135 see also safety nets religion, 49, 51, 64 Protestant Reformation, 40–41, 47, 49 Protestants, 48, 49 see also Catholic Church Republicans, 235–36 residential sorting, 144, 177, 222, 227, 314 by income, 307–9 race and immigration and, 229–31 resources, policies on, 365 Resurrection Project, xxiii–xxvi Ritter, Jay, 201 Robinson, James, 94 Rockefeller, John D., 84–91, 98, 103, 104, 108, 200 Rodgers, Daniel, 334 Rodrik, Dani, 364–65, 371 Roman Republic, 58 Romney, Mitt, 235 Roosevelt, Franklin, 134–37, 156 Roosevelt, Theodore, 106 Rosen, Sherwin, 193 Russell, John, 95 Russia, 97, 287, 292, 354, 369 wealthy in, 111 Saez, Emmanuel, 191 safety nets, 139, 173, 290 caregivers and, 319–20 community and, 127–38, 318–25 in Europe, 156 government support in, 322–24 health care, see health care paying for, 324–25 for peasants, 37–38 in U.K., 155–56 in U.S., 133–34, 156, 157–58, 320–21, 324 welfare, 129, 137, 148, 158, 230 Salam, Reihan, 235 Sandel, Michael, 389–90 Sanders, Bernie, 214 Satyanath, Shaker, 112 schools, see education and schools Schumpeter, Joseph, 203, 379 Schwartz, Heather, 225–26 science, 21 “Second Coming, The” (Yeats), 141 Second Federal Bank, xxv SeeClickFix, 311–12 Sen, Amartya, 287 Shakespeare, William, 30 Shapiro, Jesse, 332–33 Share Our Wealth Society plan, 136 Shleifer, Andrei, 197 Sinclair, Upton, 104 Singapore, 247, 291, 318 Singh, Manish, 336 Singh, Manmohan, 270 Siuai people, 9 smartphones, 175, 178, 182–83 Smith, Adam, 17, 64, 77, 80–81, 83, 84, 87, 91, 105, 200 Smoot Hawley Act, 138 socialism, 132, 138, 145–47, 168, 250 in India, 267–69, 391 socializing the young, 5–7 social media, 330, 354, 386 social relationships, 7–8 social safety nets, see safety nets Social Security, 134–38, 187, 241, 324 Sokoloff, Kenneth, 72, 96 sorting, see residential sorting South Sea Company, 68, 69–70 sovereignty, 349–72 and controlling flows, 351–54 and harmonization of regulation, 354–63 Soviet Union, 91, 145–47, 153–54, 250, 251, 267, 287, 367 Spain, 148, 162, 169, 237, 238, 353–54 Spence, Michael, 234 stagflation, 163 Standard Oil, 86, 99, 103, 107 Stanford marshmallow test, 222–23 state, xiii, xv, xvii–xviii, xx–xxi, xxvii–xxviii, 25–27, 50, 139, 140, 172, 283–86, 304, 393 anti-state ideology and, 176 buffers against market volatility, 127–38 Church and, 45–46 community and, 303–25, 345–46 constitutionally limited, 52–74, 83 definition of, xiii–xiv growth of, 145 international responsibilities and, 363–67, 372, 397 laissez-faire and, 77–78, 81, 83 markets and, 304 relief efforts from, 131–33 separation from community, xiv–xv strong but limited, rise of, 51–75 sustainable financing for, 65–71 steel industries, 87, 99, 122, 185, 186, 253, 261, 338, 364, 366 European Coal and Steel Community, 150 student loans, 317–18 suffrage, see voting, suffrage Summers, Larry, 197 Supreme Court, U.S., 103, 384 Sweden, 138 Swift, Taylor, 193 Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, 66 Tarbell, Ida, 103, 200 tariffs, 61, 63–64, 80–81, 100, 108, 138, 150–51, 164, 181–83, 217, 242, 258–59, 271, 277, 352–53, 356, 363, 364, 366, 371 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 146, 150, 353 Tawney, Richard, 34–35, 46 taxes, 59, 61–62, 102–5, 156–57, 163–64, 206, 308–9, 364 for education, 121, 123 property, 121, 123 tax holidays, 341 tax incentives, 345 on towns, 59–60 universal basic income and, 322–23 tax preparation, 179, 180 Tea Party movement, 239–41, 242, 333 technology, xii, xxviii, 117, 160–62, 175–76, 283, 284, 286, 287 automation in, 18, 84, 179, 180, 284 China and, 261–62, 278 community and, 119, 335, 344–45 disruptive change from, xii–xiii, xix education and, 122–23 feudal community and, 41–42 financial crises and, 118 incomes and, 188–94 job losses from, xii, xviii public anxiety about, 116–18 winner-take-most effects of, 191–94 see also Industrial Revolution; Information and Communications Technology revolution Teles, Steven, 205 Thatcher, Margaret, 165–66, 194 three pillars, xiii, 25–27, 393, 394 balance between, xvii–xviii, 175, 394 see also community; markets; state Tiananmen Square protests, 250–51 Tiv people, 7–8 Tönnies, Ferdinand, 3–4 totalitarian regimes, 97 trade, 62–64, 80–81, 143, 146, 149–51, 154, 160, 164–65, 172, 181, 245, 271, 283, 307, 352–53, 363, 371 “beggar thy neighbor” policies and, 364 communications costs and, 181, 182 communities and, xviii–xx, 335, 352 European, with Muslim lands, 36 ICT revolution and, 143–44, 173, 181–88 incomes and, 188–94 protectionism and, 108, 258–59, 278, 306, 353–56, 364 tariffs and, see tariffs transportation costs and, 181–82 Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), 362 training and socializing the young, 5–7 transactions: in communities, 3, 8–9, 10–11 market, 3, 4 Trotsky, Leon, 90 Trump, Donald, 235 Truly Disadvantaged, The (Wilson), 230 Turkey, xix, 97, 167, 190, 245 Uber, 196 Unified Payments Interface (UPI), 386 unions, 165, 198, 206, 360, 361 United Kingdom, 173 Companies Act in, 377 health care in, 156 income in, 191, 192 in Opium Wars, 349–50 safety net in, 155–56 United Nations, 367 United States, 143, 145, 149, 246, 298 African Americans in, see African Americans agriculture in, 184 China and, 278 Civil War in, 74, 93, 133–34 competitive market in, 98–105 Constitution of, 71 diversity in population of, 134 financial crises in, 87–88, 118 GI Bill in, 156, 157 Gilded Age in, 87 gold standard in, 100 government debt in, 324 growth of, 148, 162 health care in, 158, 203 hegemony of, 148, 367–69 immigration and, 137, 159–60, 292 Industrial Revolution in, 121 manufacturing in, 184–85 Marshall Plan of, 149–51, 365 in postwar period, 148 presidential election of 2016, 235, 236, 333, 354 safety net in, 133–34, 157–58, 320–21, 324 schools in, 119–25, 127, 190–91, 233–34, 317 South of, 72, 74 Supreme Court, 103, 384 voting rights in, 92–93, 96 Western settlers in, 72, 99–100 universal basic income (UBI), 322–23 universities, see colleges and universities University of Chicago, xxiii, xxvi, 87, 124–25, 164, 290–91 University of Rochester, 223 usury: Catholic Church and, 34–42, 44–46, 49 favorable public attitudes toward, 44 intellectual support for ban on, 39–40 prohibition on, 31–32 rationale for proscribing, 32–34 values: community, and tolerance for markets, 390–92 conflict over, 234–36 Virginia, 58 Voigtländer, Nico, 112 Volcker, Paul, 163 Voth, Hans-Joachim, 112 voting and suffrage, xxvii, 26, 79, 105 extension of franchise, 91–98 wages, see income and wages Wallis, John, 97 Washington Post, 108 wealth, 111, 395–96 Wealth of Nations, The (Smith), 80 weavers, 18–19, 116, 188 Weber, Max, 47, 38 Weingast, Barry, 70, 97–98 welfare, 129, 137, 148, 158, 230 Wellman, Andrew, 331 Whigs, 67, 95 William of Orange, 67 Wilson, William Junius, 230, 231 Wilson, Woodrow, 125 Wolf, Martin, 355 workers, 75, 78, 79, 87, 89, 97, 127–28 education and capabilities of, 313–18 insurance plans for, 132 rights of, 360–61 strikes by, 102 unions for, 165, 198, 206, 360, 361 see also income and wages; jobs working at a distance, 219, 220 World Bank, 151, 253–54 World Trade Organization (WTO), 353, 356, 362 World Values Survey, 297 World War I, 103, 112, 124 World War II, xxvii, 138, 139, 140, 143, 145, 146, 155–57, 210, 243, 367 Marshall Plan and, 149–51, 365 postwar period, 148–54 Wulf, Julie, 193 Xi Jinping, 261, 278 Xiushui Market, 255 Yeats, W.

Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
by Brian Merchant
Published 25 Sep 2023

These were men who were less innovative than relentless in their pursuit of disrupting a previous mode of work as they strove to monopolize a market. (The word innovation, it’s worth noting, carried negative connotations until the mid-twentieth century or so; Edmund Burke famously called the French Revolution “a revolt of innovation.”) They can perhaps be seen as precursors to the likes of Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber, the pugnacious trampler of the taxi industry. Kalanick’s business idea—that it would be convenient to hail a taxi from your smartphone—was not remarkably inventive. But he had intense levels of self-determination and pugnacity, which helped him overrun the taxi cartels and dozens of cities’ regulatory codes.

…

It says its workers are not, in fact, taxi drivers, or even workers, but independent contractors, who are incidental to its proprietary software. Uber argued exactly this as it moved into city after city after city, setting up shop, recruiting drivers, running ad campaigns, and launching the service whether or not it was sanctioned by local laws. Led by its brash and regulation-despising founder, Travis Kalanick, Uber deployed a strategy to undercut the local taxi drivers, establish its service as the cheaper, sleeker, modern alternative, and gain a foothold if not a dominant share—steamrolling any laws already in place to protect workers in the industry and dealing with local officials after the fact.

…

When Cartwright turned the Luddites away in a hail of gunfire that night at Rawfolds Mill, and when the state decided to lash the hired hand who would not fire on them, and to hang dozens of machine breakers in York, the way was laid. Two centuries later, as taxi drivers in France organized angry protests against the rise of Uber, company executives debated whether to send its drivers into affected areas. Some in the inner circle felt it would endanger workers’ lives. “I think it’s worth it,” Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick retorted. “Violence guarantee[s] success.” The domestic system was swallowed up by the factory, which in turn gave rise to the office, which informed the rise of algorithmic work platforms. Ever since the Luddites, wage-earning workers have been, in one form or another, at the whims of an overseer who deploys technology to control the division of labor.

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World
by Anand Giridharadas
Published 27 Aug 2018

Those investments earned the kind of returns that could allow one’s grandchildren to be full-time philanthropists. Pishevar was an Iranian-born immigrant whose adopted country, through its Department of Homeland Security, had named him an Outstanding American by Choice. He was a kingmaker in the Valley, whom the founder of Uber, Travis Kalanick, had reportedly leaned on as a tutor in the art of going clubbing in Los Angeles, with Pishevar providing “club clothes,” according to the New York Times. And the entrepreneurs at Summit at Sea knew that a VC like Pishevar, whose firm was called Sherpa Ventures, was in a position, should he so choose, to guide any of them to the mountaintop.

…

It had nothing to do with their being more luckily born than you, unburdened by racial and gender discrimination and with greater access to seed capital from family and friends. It was that they were braver, bolder than you—some might say ruthless—willing to take on power, no matter the cost. Citing Travis Kalanick of Uber and Elon Musk of Tesla, he said, “They are most comfortable in the uncomfortable places. What that means is, they’re very comfortable having uncomfortable conversations. And most of us want to just be kumbaya, everything’s great, I’m happy, you’re happy, we’re good, besties, BFFs—and it’s like, ‘No.

…

For every thought leader who offered advice on how to build a career in a merciless new economy, there were many less-heard critics aspiring to make the economy less merciless. The Hilary Cohens and Stacey Ashers and Justin Rosensteins and Greg Ferensteins and Emmett Carsons and Jane Leibrocks and Shervin Pishevars and Chris Saccas and Travis Kalanicks of the world needed thinkers to formulate the visions of change by which they would live—and to convince the wider public that they, the elite, were change agents, were the solutions to the problem, and therefore not the problem. In an age of inequality, these winners longed to feel, on one hand, that they had “some kind of ethical philosophy,” as Pishevar put it.

Hype: How Scammers, Grifters, and Con Artists Are Taking Over the Internet―and Why We're Following
by Gabrielle Bluestone
Published 5 Apr 2021

Looking back, I think that’s why a lot of people I talked to while first reporting this story entertained serious doubts about whether McFarland had always been a scammer, or whether he was a good kid who just got in a little over his head. To his sympathizers, McFarland had just been sloppily, perhaps somewhat naively, following a playbook established long before he ever splung his first Spling. If other rule-breaking start-up founders like Elon Musk and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick were all walking free with billions of dollars to their name, why, they suggested, should McFarland be in prison? Hadn’t Uber recently begun jockeying for an initial public offering (IPO) despite losing billions of dollars a year?43 Hadn’t Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes faced exactly zero consequences in the wake of her $9 billion blood-test fraud44 (at least not that year anyway)?

…

Uber is not and has never been a profitable company, for example, losing billions of dollars each quarter even as its valuation continues to grow. Nor has it traditionally abided by any rules and regulations it deems unfavorable to its business, though current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s entire personality does seem to hinge on not being former CEO Travis Kalanick, who’s taken the brunt of the blame for the company’s early lawlessness. But when McFarland was still in business and Kalanick was still at the ride share company’s helm, Uber’s lawbreaking was seen as such a feature and not a bug of its business that the company had even managed to optimize its anarchic methods.

…

Ghost kitchens, on the other hand, can be located anywhere, cost less money to operate since there’s no front of house staff, and are often referred to as virtual brands. As democratic as it sounds, the sleight of hand allows the VCs who have descended on the sector—including Uber’s former CEO, Travis Kalanick, the new founder of CloudKitchens—to shortstop business that might otherwise go to real, established restaurants fighting to hold on to their slice of the industry. And the ghost-kitchen business is so lucrative that there’s even a sort of WeWork for ghost chefs now—Creating Culinary Communities—which matches the virtual brands with vacant spaces.

Superminds: The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together
by Thomas W. Malone
Published 14 May 2018

For example, both Apple and Microsoft are leaders in their respective ecosystems of IT companies. See James F. Moore, “Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition,” Harvard Business Review (May–June 1993): 75–86. 2. Erin Griffith, “Why Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s Resignation Matters,” Fortune, June 21, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/06/21/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-why-it-matter. 3. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (London: John Murray, 1859). 4. Richard R. Nelson and Sidney G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982); Michael T.

…

Communities try to serve the interests of their members, but they sometimes systematically—even violently—oppress some of their members, such as those in racial and other minorities. Sometimes a supermind’s goals can even be different from those of its most powerful members. Uber, for instance, forced Travis Kalanick to resign in 2017, even though he was not only the CEO of the company; he also held a majority of the company’s voting shares.2 In some cases (like the firing of a CEO), we may be able to identify specific individuals who play a key role in a supermind’s decision. But often, the decisions just emerge from the actions of many people in the group.

Blood and Oil: Mohammed Bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power
by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck
Published 14 Sep 2020

The sovereign wealth fund debut showed the world Mohammed was planning to spend. A month later he hosted US secretary of state John Kerry on his yacht the Serene. But he still needed a splashy deal to introduce the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as the new investor on the block. Not long before, Mohammed had been introduced to Travis Kalanick, founder of the then-hot start-up Uber. The men developed a rapport—the prince would later call the entrepreneur a friend—and Mohammed saw Uber as an attractive investment. The business press fawned over the company. It was expanding quickly all over the world and could play a big domestic role in Saudi Arabia, with women still prohibited from driving.

…

In the lobbies and hallways of the Ritz, Saudi government officials were in such demand that one of them remarked in private to a friend that it was like being the most popular kid in school. One of the world’s largest money managers, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, was there, along with SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, former British prime minister Tony Blair, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and Hollywood kingmaker Ari Emanuel. Foreign media called the event “Davos in the Desert,” a moniker also used in the early 2000s for a World Economic Forum event in Jordan. Top CEOs, bankers, consultants, and political figures, all of them clamoring for fees or investment, lined up for meetings with Rumayyan and Mohammed.

…

Other executives who wanted to avoid public association with the crown prince but maintain the Saudi financial relationship gathered for an opulent roast lamb dinner under purple-lit palm trees at the home of Yasir al-Rumayyan, the man Mohammed put in charge of the sovereign wealth fund investing in Uber and SoftBank. Guests included banker Ken Moelis, Republican congressman-cum-financier Eric Cantor, and a cohort of Silicon Valley notables, including Uber founder Travis Kalanick, venture capitalist Jim Breyer, and a manager working for Peter Thiel’s firm. For some, the Saudi relationship was too valuable to scrap over a single murder. Bloomberg LP moved ahead with its joint venture with the Salman family’s media company. Jay Penske, whose firm owns Rolling Stone magazine, moved ahead with a $200 million investment from the PIF.

Rich White Men: What It Takes to Uproot the Old Boys' Club and Transform America
by Garrett Neiman
Published 19 Jun 2023

“Consent Is a Third Option,” Circle Forward, accessed September 19, 2022, https://circleforward.us/consent-is-a-third-option/. 13. Ronald J. Gilson and Curtis J. Milhaupt, “Economically Benevolent Dictators: Lessons for Developing Democracies,” American Journal of Comparative Law 59, no. 1 (2011): 227–288. 14. Mike Isaac, “Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.,” New York Times, June 21, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick.html. 15. Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality (Boston: Shambhala, 2000). 16. Frederic Laloux, Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness (Brussels: Nelson Parker, 2014). 17.

…

Many investors like to invest in companies that they describe as being led by a “benevolent dictator,”13 but that approach only works until the dictators are no longer benevolent. And from what I’ve observed, the dictator often discards any benevolence after their power swells. Just ask Uber’s board members how difficult it was to oust founder Travis Kalanick, even after chronic abuses of power.14 Sociocracy is part of a larger movement to transform the future of governance. Among the many pioneers in this emerging field is Ken Wilber, an American philosopher and writer. In his 2000 book A Theory of Everything, Wilber offers a conceptual model of the world.

Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising
by Ryan Holiday
Published 2 Sep 2013

If they are fashionistas, they are regularly checking a handful of fashion blogs like Lookbook.nu or Hypebeast. If they are _______________, like you and your founders are, they are reading and doing the same things you do every day. Catch their attention and pull them in. It’s as simple as that. Uber, a car service start-up founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, has been giving out free rides during Austin’s SXSW Conference for several years. During a single week, thousands of potential Uber customers—tech-obsessed, high-income young adults who cannot find a cab—are motivated to try out this service. One year Uber offered free rides.

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
by David Graeber
Published 14 May 2018

Some Belgian friends told me the net effects were extremely beneficial, as almost all major parties were committed to the then European-wide consensus about the need for austerity, but the lack of a government in Belgium at that critical moment meant reforms were not carried out, and the Belgian economy ended up growing substantially faster than its neighbors’. It’s also worth noting that Belgium does have seven different regional governments that were unaffected. 11. Caitlin Huston, “Uber IPO Prospects May Be Helped by Resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick,” MarketWatch, last modified June 22, 2017, www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-ipo-prospects-may-be-helped-by-resignation-of-ceo-travis-kalanick-2017-06-21. 12. Rutger Bregman, Utopia for Realists: The Case for Universal Basic Income, Open Borders, and a 15-Hour Workweek (New York: Little, Brown, 2017). Even police strikes rarely have the anticipated effects. In December 2015 New York police carried out a work stoppage for all but “urgent” police business; there was no effect on crime rate, but city revenues plummeted owing to the lack of fines for traffic violation and similar infractions.

…

One has to imagine that if the situation were to endure for decades, it would make some sort of difference; but it’s not clear how much of one or whether the positive effects would outweigh the negative ones.10 Similarly, at time of writing, the Uber corporation, considered one of the world’s most dynamic, has seen the resignation not only of its founder, Travis Kalanick, but a host of other top executives, with the result that it “is currently operating without a CEO, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, or chief marketing officer”—all without any apparent effect on day-to-day operations.11 Similarly, there’s a reason why those who work in the financial sector, and who have extremely well-paid occupations more generally, almost never go on strike.

The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism
by David Golumbia
Published 25 Sep 2016

Certainly, many leaders in the digital technology industries, and quite a few leaders who do not work for corporations, openly declare their adherence to libertarian or other right-wing ideologies. Just a brief list of these includes figures like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Eric Raymond, Jimmy Wales, Eric Schmidt, and Travis Kalanick. Furthermore, the number of leaders who demur from such political points of view is small, and their demurrals are often shallow. But the group of people whose beliefs deserve to be labeled “cyberlibertarian” is much larger than this. The core tenet of cyberlibertarianism—the insistence that “governments should not regulate the internet”—appears to be compatible with a wide range of political viewpoints.

No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends
by Richard Dobbs and James Manyika
Published 12 May 2015

“Hailo arrives in Cork” (press release), July 1, 2013, https://hailocab.com/ireland/press-releases/hailo-cork-release. 8. www.uber.com/cities. 9. Evelyn M. Rusli and Douglas MacMillan, “Uber gets an uber-valuation,” Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2014, http://online.wsj.com/articles/uber-gets-uber-valuation-of-18-2-billion-1402073876. 10. Ian Silvera, “Uber CEO Travis Kalanick: We will have 42,000 London drivers in 2016,” International Business Times, October 2014, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-we-will-have-42000-london-drivers-2016-1468436. 11. “Angry London cabbies attack Hailo taxi app office,” BBC.com, May 22, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27517914. 12. Rhiannon Williams, “Uber adds black cabs amid claims taxi strike ‘could cost lives,’” Telegraph (London), June 11, 2014, www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10891442/Uber-adds-black-cabs-amid-claims-taxi-strike-could-cost-lives.html. 13. “2,500,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE timeline,” Jeremy Norman’s HistoryofInformation.com, www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?

Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime
by Julian Guthrie
Published 15 Nov 2019

Things were not that different in the more recent gold rush. The Valley was always a region dominated by men, from William Hewlett, Dave Packard, Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak to, decades later, in the twenty-first century, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Travis Kalanick, and Marc Benioff. Mary Jane, fueled by peanut butter sandwiches packed in wax paper for the two-day journey, was under no illusion that it would be easy to navigate the old boys’ club of Sand Hill Road and Silicon Valley. Even today, decades after Mary Jane first arrived, 94 percent of investing partners at venture capital firms—the financial decision makers shaping the future—are men, and more than 80 percent of venture firms have never had a woman investing partner.

…

Now a flurry of stories, allegations, and lawsuits filled the news and was spreading from industry to industry. Female entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley were coming forward to say they had been afraid until now to report the misconduct of certain venture capitalists. Susan Fowler, an engineer at Uber, accused her company of fostering a toxic culture of sexism. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had quipped to a reporter in an interview years earlier that he should call the company “boober” for all the women he gets “on demand.” New allegations of abuse and bad behavior seemed to make headlines every day. Everyone at the Broadway Angels table knew someone who was accused of misconduct or worse.

Masters of Scale: Surprising Truths From the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs
by Reid Hoffman , June Cohen and Deron Triff
Published 14 Oct 2021

But its size came with a cost; as Uber scaled rapidly, its culture began to veer out of control, owing to a combination of toxic leadership and questionable business tactics. Soon the company was awash in bad press, tales of political infighting, allegations of corporate espionage, and even criminal investigations. It didn’t help that the company’s leadership team, headed by founder Travis Kalanick, also displayed a cavalier attitude toward spending. There were run-ins with regulators, taxi firms, and even Uber’s own drivers. Uber saw a backlash in its key markets and withdrew from some, such as China. Back home, Uber’s controversial approach to charging higher fares at peak times came to a head with the #DeleteUber campaign.

…

Instead, Dara told them, “You already know what the right thing is. And from now on, that’s what we’re going to do.” Dara also started an employee-led listening program called 180 Days of Change that immediately focused in on the company’s strained relationship with drivers (a problem that had been very publicly highlighted in a video of Travis Kalanick yelling at an Uber driver, which had gone viral). Dara, who makes a point to meet with local drivers everywhere he travels, took a markedly different approach to that critical relationship. “We call our drivers ‘driver-partners,’ ” he says. “And I wanted to treat them like that.” Employee input led to some immediate pro-driver changes, like allowing tipping and paying drivers for time spent waiting on late-arriving passengers.

Money Moments: Simple Steps to Financial Well-Being
by Jason Butler
Published 22 Nov 2017

The advent of ride hailing apps like Uber and Lyft, and the eventual availability of autonomous electric cars, together with wider adoption of car-sharing and better public transport, as well as rising vehicle running costs, are combining to undermine car ownership among younger people in urban areas. ‘Our intention is to make Uber so efficient, cars so highly utilized, that for most people it is cheaper than owning a car.’ said Uber’s then CEO Travis Kalanick in 2015. Interestingly the majority of UK automotive executives expect that more than half of today’s car owners will not want to own a car in less than a decade.25 While car ownership may always be relevant for families and those living in more remote rural places, it looks like young single urban dwellers will increasingly turn to alternative mobility as a service (MaaS) model.

Team Human
by Douglas Rushkoff
Published 22 Jan 2019

The Soviets’ launch of the Sputnik satellite in the 1960s led America to begin offering advanced math in high school Alvin Powell, “How Sputnik Changed U.S. Education,” Harvard Gazette, October 11, 2007. 27. For these reasons, many of the most ambitious engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs end up dropping out of college altogether Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Williams, Travis Kalanick, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, John Mackey, Jan Koum, to name only a few. 28. Consider Thomas Jefferson’s famous invention, the dumbwaiter Silvio A. Bedini, Thomas Jefferson: Statesman of Science (Basing­stoke: Palgrave–MacMillan, 1990). Even today, Chinese laborers “finish” smartphones by wiping off any fingerprints Victoria Turk, “China’s Workers Need Help to Fight Factories’ Toxic Practices,” New Scientist, March 22, 2017. 29.

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
by Kevin Roose
Published 9 Mar 2021

Often “eliminating friction” in a tech product simply means transferring the burden to a low-paid worker. Amazon’s all-out attempts to reduce customer friction have put additional pressures on its warehouse workers. Uber drivers lost out on millions of dollars in customer tips because former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick thought that giving riders a tipping option inside the app would create unnecessary friction. (After Kalanick’s ouster, the company came to its senses and added the feature.) The biggest problem with frictionless systems, though, is what they do to our autonomy. Just like recommendation algorithms, they pull us into the middle of the bell curve—training us to pick the most popular option, the most probable outcome, the path of least resistance.

Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok and China's ByteDance
by Matthew Brennan
Published 9 Oct 2020

But as far as he saw, no one product in China had addressed these three pain points simultaneously. They needed a flagship product, something more ambitious. “Although we tried many vertical fields at the time, we must do something big in the end,” explained Huang He. Toutiao - Today’s Headlines “Just as Zuckerberg founded Facebook to connect people and people, Travis (Kalanick) founded Uber to connect people and cars, Toutiao 49 makes information and people more widely and efficiently matched.” 50 was how Yiming later described the big picture vision for this new flagship product. The team set about building a more ambitious app with a broad vision to aggregate and organize many content forms from across the internet.

Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet
by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider
Published 14 Aug 2017

In Average Is Over, the economist Tyler Cowen foresees a future in which a tiny “hyper meritocracy” would make millions while the rest of us struggle to survive on anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000 a year. It already works quite well in Mexico, Cowen quips. Carl B. Frey and Michael A. Osborne predict that 47 percent of all jobs are at risk of being automated over the next twenty years. And I have no doubt about the vision of platform owners like Travis Kalanick (Uber), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), or Lukas Biewald (CrowdFlower)—who, in the absence of government regulation and resistance from workers, will simply exploit their undervalued workers. I’m all on board for Paul Mason’s and Kathi Weeks’ visions for a post-capitalist, post-work future where universal basic income will rule the way we think about life opportunities.

Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy
by Jonathan Taplin
Published 17 Apr 2017

It plays out perfectly in these lines from The Fountainhead: “Do you mean to tell me that you’re thinking seriously of building that way, when and if you are an architect?” “Yes.” “My dear fellow, who will let you?” “That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?” “Who will stop me.” This became the central tenet of Internet disrupters, from Thiel’s PayPal right up to Travis Kalanick’s Uber. 3. The ideas of Ayn Rand have not only inspired men like Thiel, they have also found a home in the highest political offices in the country. Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, told the Weekly Standard, “I give out Atlas Shrugged as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it.”

To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death
by Mark O'Connell
Published 28 Feb 2017

But when the race was held again the following year, five cars finished the route, and the winning team went on to form the nucleus of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project, under the auspices of which, even now, California’s roads were being successfully navigated by vehicles unguided by human hands, luxury ghostmobiles on the decaying highways, an advance guard of an automated future. Uber, the drive-sharing service that had seriously damaged the taxi sector in recent years, was already speaking openly about its plans to replace all of its drivers with automated cars as soon as the technology allowed. At a conference in 2014, the company’s preeminently obnoxious CEO Travis Kalanick had explained that “the reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re not just paying for the car, you’re paying for the other dude in the car. When there’s no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle.” When asked how he might explain to these other dudes the reality of their obsolescence, their versioning out, he said this: “Look, this is the way of the world, and the world isn’t always great.

How Democracy Ends
by David Runciman
Published 9 May 2018

In practice, these rules are not neutral because they currently reflect the interests of the giant technology companies and of the states that are trying to regulate them. But in theory they could be neutral. The internet certainly has room for multiple different visions of the good life to co-exist. Nozick’s list would need to be updated for the twenty-first century (here’s mine, though really it could be anyone’s): ‘Rihanna, Ai Weiwei, Margaret Atwood, Travis Kalanick, Maria Sharapova, PSY, Janet Yellen, Russell Brand, Larry David, J. K. Rowling, Pope Francis, Lena Dunham, Mohammed al-Zawahiri, Kid Rock, etc., etc.’ In fact, what’s most dated about Nozick’s litany of names (apart from the fact that they are almost all men) is the assumption that someone needs to be famous to have a vision of the good life we can recognise.

People Powered: How Communities Can Supercharge Your Business, Brand, and Teams
by Jono Bacon
Published 12 Nov 2019

Lizette Chapman and Eric Newcomer, “Software Maker Docker Is Raising Funding at $1.3 Billion Valuation,” Bloomberg, August 9, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-09/docker-is-said-to-be-raising-funding-at-1-3-billion-valuation. 17. Johana Bhuiyan, “Drivers Don’t Trust Uber. This Is How It’s Trying to Win Them Back,” Recode, February 5, 2018, https://www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16777536/uber-travis-kalanick-recruit-drivers-tipping; Chris Matyszczyk “United Airlines Was Just Ranked Lower Than America’s Most Controversial Airline in Customer Satisfaction,” Inc., May 30, 2018, https://www.inc.com/chris-matyszczyk/united-airlines-was-just-ranked-lower-than-americas-most-controversial-airline-in-customer-satisfaction.html; Tom Chandler, “The Death of MySpace,” Young Academic, March 31, 2011, https://www.youngacademic.co.uk/features/the-death-of-myspace-young-academic-columns-953; Charles Arthur, “Digg Loses a Third of Its Visitors in a Month: Is It Dead?

How Boards Work: And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World
by Dambisa Moyo
Published 3 May 2021

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, March 14, 2017. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/03/14/board-of-directors-compensation-past-present-and-future/. Levin, Sam. “Uber’s Scandals, Blunders and PR Disasters: The Full List.” The Guardian, June 28, 2017. www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/uber-travis-kalanick-scandal-pr-disaster-timeline. Lewis, Leo, and Kana Inagaki. “Carlos Ghosn’s Downfall Lays Bare Nissan’s Board Problem.” Financial Times, November 23, 2018. www.ft.com/content/f5bc49c0-ee47-11e8-89c8-d36339d835c0. Li, Jun-Sheng. “How Amazon Took 50% of the E-commerce Market and What It Means for the Rest of Us.”

The Four: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Divided and Conquered the World
by Scott Galloway
Published 2 Oct 2017

See also Falcone, Phil Harris, Tristan, 123–24 Harvard University, 94–95, 238 hate crimes, 121 Hearst Magazines, 256–57 help, accepting/giving, 252 Hewlett-Packard, 7, 83–84, 179, 205 hunter/gatherer strategies, 14–16, 25–26, 44, 176 IBM and Apple, 179, 180–81 employees of, 266 Fifth Horseman potential of, 227–28, 229 and the Four, 7 success cycles of, 205, 229 “Information wants to be free” credo, 163–64 Instagram, 97, 98, 104, 110–11, 111, 258 Intel Corp., 192, 268 intellectual property theft, 157–61, 166 iPhone and competition, 90 economic disruption of, 91 and irrational decision making, 178 as luxury brand, 75–76, 85 marketshare, 70, 81 price premium for, 83 product differentiation of, 187 reaction to, 66, 68, 69 Ive, Jony, 87 JCPenney, 136–37 Jet.com, 45–47, 221 job creation, 266, 268 Jobs, Steve and Apple II, 69, 132, 180 character of, 64, 68, 77 and consumers’ buying decisions, 179 death of, 68, 77, 78 and HP, 83–84 iconic founder status, 77–78, 260 innovator status, 67, 88 intellectual property theft, 161, 166 and luxury industry, 69, 73, 88–89 risk taking, 68 secular worship of, 66, 77, 78 Kalanick, Travis, 217, 218, 225 leadership stages in life cycles of firms, 253–57 Levi Strauss & Co., 80, 81, 194 Libet experiments, 123 likability of companies, 191–94 LinkedIn, 222–25, 223, 231 long/short tails, 257–59 Lore, Marc, 45–47, 221 love, 171–72, 177 loyalty to people, 247 luxury brands and artisanship, 78–79 and founders, 76–78 and global status, 82–83 and irrational decision making, 174–75, 178–79 and price premium of, 83–86 sex appeal of, 178–79 Tesla, 214 and vertical integration, 79–80 See also Apple Ma, Jack, 206, 210 Manhattan Project, 267 marketing funnel, 98, 98 Mayer, Marissa, 161–62, 192–93 media and publishers and advertising growth, 113 decline and deaths of, 162, 256–57 and Facebook, 115–16, 119–25 and fake news, 120–21, 122–23, 124, 125, 194 and Google’s use of content, 139–47, 148, 150, 151, 154, 161–62, 166, 192–93 loss of advertising base, 162 and mobile ad spend, 113–14 and threats to civilization, 125 trust in media, 132–33 Microsoft, 153, 155, 192, 205, 222–25, 229, 260 middle class, 43, 54, 90, 267 multichannel retail, 44–49 Musk, Elon, 210, 212, 213, 260 newspapers, 106, 162, 166, 192–93.

Exponential Organizations: Why New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, and Cheaper Than Yours (And What to Do About It)
by Salim Ismail and Yuri van Geest
Published 17 Oct 2014

Even as a child, Elon Musk, perhaps the world’s most celebrated entrepreneur today, had a burning desire to address energy, transportation and space travel at a global level. His three companies (SolarCity, Tesla and SpaceX) are each addressing those spaces. Each has a Massive Transformative Purpose. Keep in mind, however, that an MTP is not a business decision. Finding your passion is a personal journey. As Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, said at the 2013 LeWeb conference in Paris, “You have to be self-aware and look for that startup idea and purpose that is a perfect fit with you—with you as a person, not as a business[person].” Howard Thurman, the American author and philosopher, summarizes the same idea as follows: “Don’t just ask what the world needs.

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh
Published 14 Apr 2018

Some entrepreneurs find it difficult to accept the increased structure and decreased freedom of a formal staff; many of these people started companies precisely because they disliked the feeling of working in a large organization. In his book on Uber, Wild Ride, the journalist Adam Lashinsky describes how Uber’s Travis Kalanick viewed his role at the helm of his giant company: “The way I do it, it doesn’t feel big,” [Kalanick] says, falling back on a favorite trope: that he approaches his day as a series of problems to be solved….“I would say you constantly want to make your company feel small,” he says. “You need to create mechanisms and cultural values so that you feel as small as possible.

A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next
by Tom Standage
Published 16 Aug 2021

This success prompted Green and Zimmer to wonder if the pairing up of drivers and riders could be extended from long, intercity journeys to shorter ones within cities. Meanwhile another start-up, called Uber, had launched a car-hailing service in San Francisco in 2011. Its founders, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, were technology entrepreneurs who saw the potential of the smartphone to link drivers with riders. To begin with, Uber’s smartphone app only allowed users to hail black town cars, and rides were more expensive than in a taxi. But the convenience of hailing a ride with a few taps on a smartphone, coupled with the difficulty of finding an ordinary taxi in San Francisco, meant some people were happy to pay extra.

AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
by Kai-Fu Lee
Published 14 Sep 2018

They aggressively copied each other’s product innovations, cut prices to the bone, launched smear campaigns, forcibly deinstalled competing software, and even reported rival CEOs to the police. For these gladiators, no dirty trick or underhanded maneuver was out of bounds. They deployed tactics that would make Uber founder Travis Kalanick blush. They also demonstrated a fanatical around-the-clock work ethic that would send Google employees running to their nap pods. Silicon Valley may have found the copying undignified and the tactics unsavory. In many cases, it was. But it was precisely this widespread cloning—the onslaught of thousands of mimicking competitors—that forced companies to innovate.

Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead
by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman
Published 22 Sep 2016

The profession of taxi driving has already been disrupted by the growing popularity of services such as Uber and Lyft, where anybody with a car can become a cabby. Driverless cars will sound the final death knell to the jobs of roughly 233,700 cabbies and chauffeurs employed in the United States.5 Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, believes that the biggest cost component of running a taxi service is paying the car’s driver. In a talk at a conference, Kalanick said, “When there’s no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle.”6 To develop a car that can drive without a “dude” behind the wheel, Uber has invested $5.5 million to develop driverless-car technology, hiring dozens of robotics researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC).7 Driverless cars will transform other jobs in the gigantic economic value chain that supports the buying, selling, and maintaining of the automobile.

Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown
Published 24 Apr 2017

For eBay, the aha moment was finding and winning one-of-a-kind items at auction from people all over the world. For Facebook, it was instantly seeing photos and updates from friends and family and sharing what you were up to. For Dropbox, it was the concept of easy file sharing and unlimited file storage. Or take Uber’s aha moment, which Uber cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick explained as, “You push a button and a black car comes up. Who’s the baller? It was a baller move to get a black car to arrive in 8 minutes.”11 An aha experience is a necessary ingredient of sustainable growth because it is one that is simply too remarkable not to value, to return to often, and to share.

The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy
by Nick Romeo
Published 15 Jan 2024

The documents cover a period when Uber was expanding in more than forty countries. One Uber executive in Asia encouraged his team to focus on growth, “even when fires start to burn,” calling this a “normal part of Uber’s business.” Warned that Uber drivers were at risk of attack during protests, cofounder and former CEO Travis Kalanick appeared to seize on a good public relations opportunity: “Violence guarantee[s] success.” Beyond brazen efforts to directly control legislators and regulators, Uber staff spoke freely of the fact that they violated laws, referring to Uber’s “other than legal status.” One executive put it more directly: “We have officially become pirates.”18 This piracy reflects a deeper structural problem.

Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane
by Brett King
Published 5 May 2016

In doing so, they redesigned the way drivers were recruited, the way Uber’s vehicles were dispatched (no radio), the way a passenger orders a car, the way you pay for your journey and a bunch of other innovations. Uber even allows its drivers to get a car lease or open a bank account when they sign up. The total taxi market size in San Francisco prior to Uber was US$150 million annually. In early 2015, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick revealed it had ballooned to US$650 million, with Uber taking US$500 million in revenue.21 By building an experience, not just an app, Uber attracted a ton of new business that would never have gone to taxi companies. Uber didn’t build a better taxi, it didn’t iterate on the journey—it started from scratch across the entire experience.

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
by Nick Bilton
Published 15 Mar 2017

But Mark Zuckerberg had no choice; he needed to grow his revenue, and this was the path forward. Uber went through it when the company defiantly refused to eliminate its “surge pricing” model, which would make customers’ car rides double, triple, and in some instances even octuple without much warning. But Travis Kalanick had no choice; he needed to grow his revenue. Every tech company has faced these challenges: Twitter, Google, Apple, Yahoo! All seemingly screwing over their customers for their own gain. People don’t realize that these are simply some of the tough decisions a CEO must make in order to survive.

A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-Or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine
by Gregory Zuckerman
Published 25 Oct 2021

“Time is your enemy,” Bancel told staffers at the company, over and over again. “If we’re not ahead we’re behind.” Bancel read a book about the growth of Uber Technologies. Others who knew the book usually focused on how ruthless and rough-edged the ride-sharing service’s original chief executive, Travis Kalanick, had been, but that wasn’t Bancel’s concern. Instead, he was struck by how swiftly the company had acted to grab market share before inevitable fierce competition emerged. In meeting after meeting at the office, Bancel kept coming back to the company. “Uber didn’t invent taxis, they didn’t invent ride-sharing,” Bancel said to senior executives.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
by John Carreyrou
Published 20 May 2018

Instead of rushing to the stock market like their dot-com predecessors had in the late 1990s, the unicorns were able to raise staggering amounts of money privately and thus avoid the close scrutiny that came with going public. The poster child of the unicorns was Uber, the ride-hailing smartphone app cofounded by the hard-charging engineer Travis Kalanick. A few weeks before Elizabeth’s Journal interview, Uber had raised $361 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion. There was also Spotify, the music streaming service that in November 2013 raised $250 million at a price per share that valued the whole company at $4 billion. These companies’ valuations would keep rising over the next few years, but for now they had been leapfrogged by Theranos.

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
by Marc Randolph
Published 16 Sep 2019

The stories told to skeptical investors, wary board members, inquisitive reporters, and—eventually—the public usually highlight a specific moment: the moment it all became clear. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia can’t afford their San Francisco rent, then realize that they can blow up an air mattress and charge people to sleep on it—that’s Airbnb. Travis Kalanick spends $800 on a private driver on New Year’s Eve and thinks there has to be a cheaper way—that’s Uber. There’s a popular story about Netflix that says the idea came to Reed after he’d rung up a $40 late fee on Apollo 13 at Blockbuster. He thought, What if there were no late fees? And BOOM! The idea for Netflix was born.

A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond
by Daniel Susskind
Published 14 Jan 2020

Just 16 percent of Americans think a four-year degree prepares students “very well” for a well-paying job.21 In part, this may have been prompted by the fact that many of today’s most successful entrepreneurs dropped out from these sorts of institutions. The list of nongraduates is striking: Sergey Brin and Larry Page left Stanford University; Elon Musk did likewise; Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard University; Steve Jobs left Reed College; Michael Dell left the University of Texas; Travis Kalanick left the University of California; Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey left the University of Nebraska and New York University, respectively; Larry Ellison left both the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago; Arash Ferdowsi (cofounder of DropBox) left MIT; and Daniel Ek (cofounder of Spotify) left the Royal Institute of Technology.22 This list could go on.

Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road
by Matthew B. Crawford
Published 8 Jun 2020

Thanks to the taxi drivers of London, for their erudition and gentlemanliness. To whoever laid out Route 9 through the Santa Cruz mountains. To my daughters, G and J, for insisting that I take the twisty road on the way home from their preschool, squealing “go faster!” Notes INTRODUCTION: DRIVING AS A HUMANISM 1.Uber’s then chief executive Travis Kalanick was named to the president’s Strategic and Policy Forum, and Trump selected Elaine Chao for transportation secretary. The driverless car industry is “salivating over Elaine Chao’s light touch when it comes to regulations and her vocal support for the ride-sharing economy,” according to the Hill.

The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
by Scott Belsky
Published 1 Oct 2018

“Culture is not something”: Ben Thompson, “The Curse of Culture,” Stratechery, May 24, 2016, https://stratechery.com/2016/the-curse-of-culture. STRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATION MERCHANDISE TO CAPTURE AND KEEP YOUR TEAM’S ATTENTION. “Year of the Driver”: Johana Bhuiyan, “Drivers Don’t Trust Uber. This Is How It’s Trying to Win Them Back,” Recode, February 5, 2018, www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16777536/uber-travis-kalanick-recruit-drivers-tipping. “Of all the things that can”: Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, “The Power of Small Wins,” Harvard Business Review, May 2011, https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins. A MOCK-UP > ANY OTHER METHOD OF SHARING YOUR VISION “When evaluating a product”: Peep Laja, “8 Things That Grab and Hold Website Visitor’s Attention,” Conversation XL, May 8, 2017, https://conversionxl.com/blog/how-to-grab-and-hold-attention.

Palace Coup: The Billionaire Brawl Over the Bankrupt Caesars Gaming Empire
by Sujeet Indap and Max Frumes
Published 16 Mar 2021

It had put money to work in the likes of Airbnb and Uber, tech “unicorns” who were expanding quickly but burning cash. These deals had new pitfalls. David Bonderman would get caught up in the ugly corporate drama at Uber, the ride-sharing company. The company was already under siege over what was widely considered a broken corporate culture instituted by founder Travis Kalanick. Bonderman resigned from the Uber board after he was caught making an irreverent, sexist comment to fellow director Arianna Huffington. If private equity firms had become more brazen in their tactics, hedge funds were not far behind. The credit default swap faceoff in Caesars, between Dave Miller of Elliott and GSO’s Ryan Mollett, would augur even grander side wagers in distressed situations.

On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane
by Emily Guendelsberger
Published 15 Jul 2019

And then there was trouble with the police. I do not know quite why, for my impression is that there were no speed-limit laws in those days. Anyway, I had to get a special permit from the mayor. My Life and Work can feel surprisingly modern for a book written almost a century ago. Ford reads like an old-timey Travis Kalanick, invoking a lot of the same mythology as Silicon Valley startups—disruption, government red tape holding back progress, the greedy fat cats of organized labor, a pathological devotion to work. Ford’s biggest contribution to the history of industry was not the car, but the assembly line. He didn’t exactly invent it, but he was the first person to really demonstrate how insanely profitable standardized large-scale mass production could be.

Innovation and Its Enemies
by Calestous Juma
Published 20 Mar 2017

Brian Arthur, Andrew Barnett, Martin Bauer, John Beddington, Sujata Bhatia, Rosina Bierbaum, Johan Bodegård, John Boright, Brantley Browning, Thomas Burke, Gordon Conway, Paul David, Mateja Dermastia, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Nina Fedoroff, Deborah Fitzgerald, Susanne Freidberg, Lynn Frewer, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Frank Geels, Kimo Goree, Philip Greenish, Brian Grottkau, Anil K. Gupta, Eric von Hippel, Heping Jia, Donald Kaberuka, Travis Kalanick, Yusuf Keshavjee, Jennifer Kuzma, Gary Marchant, R. A. Mashelkar, Janet Maughan, Robert May, Erik Millstone, Joel Mokyr, Romain Murenzi, Bernarditas de Castro Muller, Adil Najam, Nicholas Negroponte, Alan Olmstead, Owen Paterson, Samantha Power, Fernando Quezada, Atta ur Rahman, Adrian Randall, Fil Randazzo, Firoz Rasul, Gregory Robbins, Nathan Rosenberg, Marc Saner, Peter Johan Schei, Bruce Scott, Joseph Schwab, Rinn Self, Lecia Sequist, Ismail Serageldin, Peter Singer, Chris Smart, M.

Virtual Competition
by Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke
Published 30 Nov 2016

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1975, Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich, Tjalling C. Koopmans, “Mathematics in Economics: Achievements, Difficulties, Perspectives,” http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel _prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1975 /kantorovich-lecture.html. Travis Kalanick, “NYE Surge Pricing Explained,” Uber (December 31, 2011), http://newsroom.uber.com/2011/12/nye-surge-pricing-explained/; see also Annie Lowrey, “Is Uber’s Surge-Pricing an Example of High-Tech Gouging?” New York Times, January 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12 /magazine/is-ubers-surge-pricing-an-example-of-high-tech-gouging.html; Uber’s CEO defended its surge pricing: “Higher prices are required in order to get cars on the road and keep them on the road during the busiest times.

The Future Is Asian
by Parag Khanna
Published 5 Feb 2019

Now DiDi is expanding into Brazil, Ola Cabs (in which DiDi has invested) is moving into Australia, and Careem leads in the Gulf region. These Asian firms collectively own the Asian space while challenging Uber everywhere else. In many Asian cities, Uber is no longer the market leader but a transport solutions partner for indigenous champions. In stark contrast to Uber founder Travis Kalanick, DiDi founder Jean Liu—one of fifty recently minted billionaire Chinese females—is considered a nurturing mentor to her regional peers. Grab CEO Anthony Tan has said, “There’s this sense of brotherhood, that we’re in this battle together. Let’s show them the power of Asia.”29 Feeding and Fueling Asia Autarky, not conquest, is the holy grail of geopolitics.

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America
by Alec MacGillis
Published 16 Mar 2021

There were aggressively tall and slender towers rising over Midtown, like the one along Central Park where hedge-fund manager Kenneth Griffin would pay $238 million for a 24,000-square-foot apartment. There were people with means to pool together $11 million to prevent a building from going up next to them and blocking their view. There were ostentatious new neighbors such as the ex–Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who dropped $36 million for a SoHo penthouse with a private twenty-foot outdoor pool in a Renzo Piano–designed building. There were streets so congested that bicyclist deaths were rising sharply, though this didn’t keep representatives of Jeff Bezos’s Central Park West building, where one unit was on the market for nearly $10 million, from suing to block a bike lane.

Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
by Tim Higgins
Published 2 Aug 2021

One aide wrote a memo analyzing the situation: “Media continue to cover E’s tweet, with some stories mentioning that the ‘outburst’ comes ‘just a week after he said in a Bloomberg interview that he would try to be less combative on Twitter.’ ” It went on to say that a number of investors and analysts “believe his comments are adding to their concerns that he’s distracted from Tesla’s main business.” A Reuters opinion piece summarized the dilemma that Tesla’s board of directors faced: “Firing him for his ‘pedo guy’ tweet could precipitate a crisis of confidence among investors. Unlike the eventual ouster of [CEO] Travis Kalanick at then–privately held Uber, for a capital-hungry public company that might prove terminal. Directors should consider stripping him of either the chairman or chief executive title.” Early the next morning, July 17, Teller, the thirty-two-year-old chief of staff, tried to reason with Musk, saying it was time to apologize.

After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul
by Tripp Mickle
Published 2 May 2022

The cameramen bellowed at passing stars such as Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman. A cacophony of clicking cameras rose above their shouts as the divinely dressed celebrities posed. Cook walked through the commotion alongside Laurene Powell Jobs. Midway up the red carpet, he stopped to speak with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Both Silicon Valley executives looked confused as photographers called for them to face the cameras and smile. They looked in different directions before grasping what was expected of them during their unfamiliar turn as socialites. Ive made a quiet entrance and posed for photographs alone.

The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
by Robert D. Putnam
Published 12 Oct 2020

Altruism quotation from Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism (New York: Penguin, 1964), 112. 56 David Corn, “Secret Video: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He Really Thinks of Obama Voters,” Mother Jones, September 17, 2012, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser/. 57 Alvin Toffler, “Playboy Interview: Ayn Rand,” Playboy, March 1964, 35–43. 58 James Stewart, “As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. Ask Travis Kalanick,” New York Times (online), July 13, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/business/ayn-rand-business-politics-uber-kalanick.html. 59 Ryan’s words come at 2:38 of a 2005 speech to the Atlas Society, “Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand’s Ideas: In the Hot Seat Again,” The Atlas Society, April 30, 2012, https://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/4971-paul-ryan-and-ayn-rands-ideas-in-the-hot-seat-again. 60 Francis Fukuyama, The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order (New York: Free Press, 1999), 13–14. 61 Herbert Marcuse, “Selection from One Dimensional Man,” in The American Intellectual Tradition, eds.

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future
by Jean M. Twenge
Published 25 Apr 2023

Tom Anderson (b. 1970) cofounded Myspace, the social networking site that was the most popular until Facebook took over—he’s still remembered by Gen X’ers and early Millennials as “Tom from Myspace.” PayPal was founded by Peter Thiel (b. 1967) and Elon Musk (b. 1971). Twitter was founded by Jack Dorsey (b. 1976), and Uber by Travis Kalanick (b. 1976) and Garrett Camp (b. 1978). Sean Parker (b. 1979) cofounded Napster, the file-sharing music site later shut down over copyright issues, and served as the first president of Facebook. Gen X’er Sheryl Sandberg (b. 1969) didn’t found Facebook—that would be Millennial Mark Zuckerberg—but she helped run it for a decade.

Architects of Intelligence
by Martin Ford
Published 16 Nov 2018

MARTIN FORD: I saw an article recently with the CEO of Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg, saying that they’re going to have autonomous drone taxis flying people around within the next decade, what do you think of his projection? RODNEY BROOKS: I will compare that to saying that we’re going to have flying cars. Flying cars that you can drive around in and then just take off have been a dream for a long time, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think the former CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, claimed that they were going to have flying Ubers deployed autonomously in 2020. It’s not going to happen. That’s not to say that I don’t think we’ll have some form of autonomous personal transport. We already have helicopters and other machines that can reliably go from place to place without someone flying them.