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Going Disruptive Places

Two of the main vanguards of the sharing economy are Airbnb and Uber, companies that found a way to monetize sunk costs. Airbnb currently has  more than 100 million users and 640,000 hosts in 191 countries, while Uber boasts more than  eight million users, fulfills one million rides each day (more than taxis), and is active in 60 countries.

Airbnb, Uber, and other similar companies are considered "disruptive" in that they challenge the traditional ways of how people secure certain goods and services. Their radical premise proved so disruptive to current industries that many were banned or highly regulated - Uber has suspended activities in cities like Portland and San Antonio, while Airbnb hosts in New York run the risk of  incurring a fine for posting their home on the popular site. Do these "upstarts" represent a cultural upheaval and a new way of doing business?

This forum features ideastream® Morning Edition host  Amy Eddings in conversation with  Brad Stone, Senior Executive Editor for Technology at Bloomberg News, and author of  The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and Killer Companies are Changing the World, on how a new generation of entrepreneurs is sparking controversy by revolutionizing certain industries.

Jean-Marie Papoi is a digital producer for the arts & culture team at Ideastream Public Media.