Uber Business Case Study

Remember when Uber was such a big deal it became a model company? There were intense city-by-city launches, and an increase in sharing economy businesses that take away market share from established businesses. Other examples include Airbnb (which crowd-sourced bed and breakfasts), Homejoy (which crowd-sourced home cleaning workers), or Postmates (which crowd-sourced courier services). The rise of these sharing economy businesses inspired a whole gamut of more, each finding a new industry to take market share away from. This rise was part a hype that introduced the ubiquitous use of the word “disrupting.” Aspiring entrepreneurs wanted to “disrupt” industries so much to the point where it has been nothing more than a ridiculous buzzword--“disrupting” things became the new black. However, if one observes carefully, the word “disrupt” doesn’t carry a positive connotation, and applying this term to a service or product a new startup is creating taints in a negative manner. Merriam-Webster’s first definition of the word “disrupt” is a) to break apart and b) to throw into disorder. How and why did people become so obsessed with “disrupting” existing …show more content…
This has gotten to the point that people create “corporate BS generators” that spews startup-speak phrases such as “revolutionize user-centric technologies” or “empower cutting-edge methodologies.” What do these phrases really mean? No one really knows exactly. Many people both inside and outside of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial bubble would agree that this kind of language is unique and doesn’t necessarily have an effect on the future of technology that will make innovation progress forward and cause the environment to churn out more companies that instigate waves of impact across the nation, across the