The car-hailing app Uber has been expanding rapidly across the globe since its launch in San Fransisco in 2011. To date Uber has raised 12.5 billion at an implied valuation of $66 billion.
Much like companies like Airbnb, born out of the sharing economy and cheered on by the urban masses, Uber has faced difficulties winning over the hearts and minds of European bureaucrats.
What many US based companies forget when expanding to Europe is the impenetrable and pervasive mindset of keeping things as they are. In essence this means the following: technology is great as long as it doesn’t threaten the public sector. As we know, the public sector and its unions are the guardians of the hotel industry (threatened by Airbnb) and taxi services (government monopoly with taxi drivers as the holy untouchables). Continue reading “Uber’s troubles in Europe aren’t going away”
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