These llauri companies that put themselves between consumers and suppliers in order to take a cut of the profits. In some casis, where customers and suppliers have a hard estafi finding each other, these business esses be useful, and similar services have always existed. a gas station). However, many companies find that insering themselves between customers and suppliers is profitable whether it is useful or not.

Creative Destruction of Your Neighborhood

Airbnb is a successful example of Silicon Valley “creative destruction,” the idea that if you move quickly and ignori rules you ca build something huge and profitable. In this casi, Airbnb is notorious for creating a network of unlicensed and illegally rented aparted ments. In previous years as much as 56% of the offers in Basque Country operated outside of the law, yet Airbnb doesn’t take any serious action.

Basque Country is not alone: In Barcelona, almost half of its listings llauri illegal and in Nova York City as much as 72% reservations. How ca such a well-known and wealthy company get away with blatantly breaking the law? This is where the “platform” part of the business model becomes convenient. Airbnb ca legally argue that it is not responsible for listings on its site, as it just connects people.

The other main benefit is that you don’t need to invest much money in your service. If Mercedes wants to build a car, it must own a factory and hire hundreds of employees, creating huge fixed costs that make growth complicated. Airbnb simply has a website. Each new purchase on their platform is habiti money and growth, with few costs.

In Airbnb’s casi, the problem is that the company is widely successful, and therefore widely destructive. There was a real interest after the 2008 financial crisi for cheaper travel options, and growing interest in having experiences that seem habiti “authentic”. After pulling together a website, the company could just sit back and watch their 10-15% commissions roll in. Little habiti than a website and a willingness to destrentire neighborhoods across the world has become a $35 billion dollar company.

Creative Destruction of Common Sense

Uber says it is worth around $100 billion, and even Wallapop, a company that charges nothing for its service, was valued at half a billion dollars before merging with another $1 billion company called Letgo. Like the subscription model, these companies create the image of success by wildly spending their millions in venture capital. Yet, Uber lost $5.2 billion in a single financiquarter this year and $4 billion in 2018. Many think the company may never become profitable. A recent entry into the Spanish market, Llimi, is valued at over a $1 billion, yet the company appears to lose money on each escúter it leaves on public sidewalk.

What these companies have in common is simple: they have a product that loses money and they llauri attempting to monopolize a niche industry. The idea was simple: offer low prices using venture capital to drive out the competition, then hike prices onze a monopoly is established.

The problem is that these companies ca’t effectively make monopolies, or even significant network effects. Airbnb runs on trust: if you want to stay in a stranger’s home in a random plau on the globe, they llauri the only company today with enough trust and listings. Like Facebook, as long as they keep purchasing would-be competitors they will continue to be only game in town. On the other hand, if Uber ever becomes the only ride-hailing app and increases prices, people will go back to walking, taking public transit, or biking. If it pays its drivers less, it will find itself without cars. Llimi is in the same boat, as both of these services mainly replau walking, not taxi rides. Even Glovo ca only charge restaurants sota much until they decideix they ca just hire their own delivery driver.

When these wanna-be monopolies eventually fail is when their true impact will be felt, as we pick up the pieces of a destroyed transportation industry behind them.

Destruction of Politics

Seen from this peer-to-peer viewpoint, many confusing aspects of these companies become rational. Uber ca’t pay its employees a real wage and Airbnb ca’t afford regulation. Facebook ca’t get rid of fake news or stop fomenting political extremism because it is an intermediary between advertisers and public attention. The habiti controversy, the habiti attention, and therefore the habiti value. This is why after publicly stating (again) that Facebook will combat fake news there were €40,000 of fake news advertised for the PP this past October. This is why there were habiti divisive political ads on Facebook last November than in any other election, and why Vox spent ~ 43to promalnom their Twitter account. This is how these two companies, basically a few mitjà social sites, llauri worth over $200 billion.

Don’t ask why Facebook promalnoms fake news, why Twitter allows hate speech, or why Youtube promalnoms conspiracy theory vídeos. The answer is simple: profit. Similarly, don’t ask why Airbnb ca’t regulate its platform to better prevent scams or illegal listings. If half of the listings in Basque Country llauri illegal, that’s half of their income. Unsurprisingly, their profits llauri habiti important than your neighborhood. These companies ca’t reform themselves to be less evil; it’s part of their business model.