Savvy start-ups like Uber have learned that when regulations threaten to overturn a business, you take to social media.
Next City
chronicles Uber's battle with the D.C. city council.
When the council floated an amendment that would have required sedans (including Uber) to charge higher rates than cabs, Uber sent out a newsletter to its D.C. customers that generated 50,000 emails to the city council and more than 100 million impressions on social media.
"For a day or two, a tweaking of longstanding taxicab regulations became one of the most talked-about topics in the nation’s capital." And that's pretty crazy, when you think about it.
Says Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, to Next City:
"None of us knew about that in the world that existed five or 10 years ago," he said, "but it affects us. It affects city life." Now, "somebody like us can connect our customers to those regulators through things like Twitter and Facebook and etcetera. There’s just a huge, massive increase in accountability."
Read more
here.