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

by Brad Stone

we only implement dynamic pricing, or surge pricing, if it will increase the number of rides that happen. When prices go up, more drivers come out. When more drivers come out, more rides happen. That means less people are stranded and more people have an option.” That, of course, was only part of the story. Uber was addressing the chronic shortage of cars during spikes in demands by tailoring the service to people who could afford to pay extra. There was a kind of cruel economics at play, and riders would continue to have visceral resistance to the idea that the same ride could cost more at different times. Observers would connect the tactic with Kalanick’s Twitter avatar—at that point, the cover of one of Ayn Rand’s manifestos, The Fountainhead. “It’s less of a political statement,” Kalanick told the Washington Post reporter who asked about it in 2012. “It’s just personally one of my favorite books. I’m a fan of architecture.” But Kalanick’s stubborn defense of surge pricing impressed at least one observer. “Travis is a real entrepreneur,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told board member Bill Gurley after a surge fracas, according to Gurley. “Most CEOs would have caved.”