Look at Uber's funding rounds. They have had round after round, and each round increases the valuation such that previous rounds' investors make a "profit" (their stock value increases). Yet, Uber isn't making a profit.
Airbnb did the same on a much smaller scale.
Ignoring the investment round topics of both companies, they also both made their actual financial progress by blatantly ignoring local laws.
Airbnb walked right past hotel laws even though their hosts were clearly party to those laws. Uber drove right past the local taxi laws.
On the human side, life got far worse for people living in cities where Airbnb became popular. I lived in Amsterdam for a few years as Airbnb was growing, and very rapidly you started to see people buying apartment just to rent out for tourists through Airbnb. That pushed apartment rates up, and it added a lot of really shitty short term visitors to the neighborhoods.
Every tourist destination has confronted this problem, and now many laws exist specifically because of Airbnb. I would not tout this as a "success".
And in some parts of the world, the ability to sign up and become an Uber driver has resulted in harm to passengers. Prior to Uber, many of these places had regulations which made it difficult enough to become a commercial driver that no driver would risk their business for the opportunity to rob or rape a passenger.
Airbnb did the same on a much smaller scale.
Ignoring the investment round topics of both companies, they also both made their actual financial progress by blatantly ignoring local laws.
Airbnb walked right past hotel laws even though their hosts were clearly party to those laws. Uber drove right past the local taxi laws.
On the human side, life got far worse for people living in cities where Airbnb became popular. I lived in Amsterdam for a few years as Airbnb was growing, and very rapidly you started to see people buying apartment just to rent out for tourists through Airbnb. That pushed apartment rates up, and it added a lot of really shitty short term visitors to the neighborhoods.
Every tourist destination has confronted this problem, and now many laws exist specifically because of Airbnb. I would not tout this as a "success".
And in some parts of the world, the ability to sign up and become an Uber driver has resulted in harm to passengers. Prior to Uber, many of these places had regulations which made it difficult enough to become a commercial driver that no driver would risk their business for the opportunity to rob or rape a passenger.