The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World

by Brad Stone

Wolpert left Cabulous in 2011 after Uber was starting to drive laps around it, ceding the fight to a more experienced CEO. Years later, when the company changed its name to Flywheel, the brand started appearing all over the exteriors of San Francisco taxis owned by DeSoto Cab, part of a co-marketing agreement.2 Wolpert now gets emotional when he sees it. “I may not be rich from this, but I changed the face of the city,” he says. “It makes me happy.” He concedes that it was probably a mistake to partner with yellow-cab drivers and taxi fleets, which were handcuffed by regulation and ill prepared to counter the disruptive threat posed by Uber. “It was like watching a shark devour a seal,” he says. “We are living in an era of robber barons. If you have enough money and can make the right phone call, you can disregard whatever rules are in place and then use that as a way of getting PR. And you can win.”