MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Platform Scaling, Fast and Slow

Shortly after its 2009 founding in San Francisco, Uber executed a simple strategy that rapidly led to its expansion on a global scale. To achieve network effects by connecting as many drivers and passengers as quickly as possible, the company prioritized launches in new cities. It hired core teams of general managers, operations managers, and community managers in multiple cities at once. In each city, these teams attracted drivers by offering existing black-car services an app — and sometimes a free smartphone — to monetize their idle time. To attract riders, the teams offered subsidized fares to attendees of large conferences and other high-profile events, signing them up and then gaining thousands more riders through word of mouth.

About the Author

Max Büge is a visiting scholar at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

Pinar Ozcan (@profpinar) is a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Saïd Business School.

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