Ten years ago, the idea of getting into a stranger's car, or a walking into a stranger's home, would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it's as common as ordering a book online. Uber and Airbnb have ushered in a new era: redefining neighborhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business, and changing the way we travel. In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries. These are the upstarts, idiosyncratic founders with limitless drive and an abundance of self-confidence. Led by such visionaries as Travis Kalanick of Uber and Brian Chesky of Airbnb, they are rewriting the rules of business and often sidestepping serious ethical and legal obstacles in the process. The Upstarts is the definitive story of two new titans of business and a dawning age of tenacity, conflict and wealth. In Brad Stone's riveting account of the most radical companies of the new Silicon Valley, we discover how it all happened and what it took to change the world.


十年前，若要你搭陌生人的車或夜宿陌生人的家，你一定會覺得危險且古怪，但如今這兩件事卻跟上網買書一樣稀鬆平常。優步與愛彼迎開啟了一個新世代，不僅改變我們對街坊鄰里的定義，挑戰政府對公司企業的規範，也改變了我們旅遊的方式。新一代的創業新貴從矽谷叛逆精神的代表賈伯斯和比爾蓋茲的手中接棒，運用科技顛覆傳統，打破整個產業格局，這些科技新貴雖行徑古怪又自命不凡，但也富有自信且幹勁無窮。高瞻遠矚的科技創業家如優步執行長卡拉尼克與愛彼迎執行長切斯基，兩人以領頭羊之姿，帶頭改寫商業規則，甚至時常規避道德或法律上的障礙。本書第一手解讀兩位商業新起巨人與一個充滿堅毅、衝突與商機的嶄新時代。作者布萊德．史東以引人入勝的文筆，解析新興矽谷企業裡最有衝勁的公司，讓我們了解這些公司是如何開始，以及顛覆世界需要什麼樣的能耐。