For this exercise, however, I'm going to talk about Uber because if there was any exposure to Entrepreneurship that has made me question just how powerful it really is, it was that service.
Over the summer, while doing an internship with a small news aggregation company in Midtown, New York, just a few blocks from Grand Central, my job was scoping out news stories from all different providers and perspectives and then, using my own summarized understanding and viewpoint, creating original content to use as catches for their website. Until this summer I knew nothing about Uber. One day I stumbled on an article about some of the issues they kept running into concerning taxi drivers in other countries and even some states in the U.S. and in respect to Entrepreneurship, you could say I opened the modern and mobile Pandora's Box.
At first I understood Uber as a private, "for the people," taxi service and coming from New York I already thought it was a reprieve. However, then I saw the magic in the business model, drivers being their own boss while at the same time a mobile office for the company. Operating as an application, in the mobile age revolutionized the idea of the taxi where instead of having to be at the right place in the right time, you could be any where and the service catered to you, on the go, on demand.
Initially, the service was the solution to horrible taxi service in San Francisco, but with a few tweaks it was the service for the modern American where convenience and on-demand are traits prized above all else. You literally see more Uber cars in New York than taxi's if you were to go today. Mind blown, I thought 'why didn't anyone think of it before?' and inspired I thought, 'what if I could pull something like that off?'
That inspiration is the reason why I enrolled into ENT 3003. All summer I read about business, start-ups and the famed silicon valley. Instead of reading about it why not go out and be apart of it?
As an avid user of Uber, i had not idea this was the case. It is amazing that you found your inspiration in something that is all around us, somewhere most of us wouldn't think of looking.
ReplyDeleteItza Garcia , Jan 17 at 6:35pm
I think for the most part, the majority of the people also understood that Uber was a private, "for the people," taxi service. The fact that the drivers play such a large managerial role in it all is interesting.
Itza Garcia , Jan 19 at 8:24pm
http://tmblr.co/Z5Q3Hi1-uUwFN
This is so interesting on how you came to make that realization and how you found an interest through just taking a closer loo at the world around you. One of my favorite things about Uber is the idea of being your own boss and I think that's why I have such an interest and curiousity of entrepreneurship because one day I want to become my own boss. I think the most important thing here is the idea that initially it was meant for San Francicsco but with some adjusting it become bery successful and there's a lesson to be learned there. Check out my story where I talk about a guy who started his own companies which were successful but he made some tough calls and decision. Find out what happens next here. http://mastercheffortiz.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-entrepreneurship-story.html
ReplyDelete