One could argue that this is one of the reasons they become a billion dollar company: They disregarded laws and norms and just did whatever, getting away with it because of a tech halo.
If the company had started with a conservative legal foundation, it would have been one of dozens of small taxi hailing apps. They said to hell with it and a lot of people got rich.
It isn't terribly surprising that traditional corporate norms weren't strictly followed in their operations or behaviors. This is true whether we believe their actions were ultimately for the public good or to bring regulations forward.
I think this is rewriting history just a bit.
My recollection is that, when Uber first entered the marketplace in various locations, it was largely a gray area as to whether their business was legal.
Since then regulations have changed, been clarified, or been litigated in courts to clarify their legal meaning... and Uber then proceeded to ignore those laws and do whatever the hell they wanted to.
But my view is that that culture, of simply ignoring laws it saw as inconvenient, came a bit later, after they started to become successful and viewed themselves as essentially above the law.
https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/uber-airbnb-jail-time/
Uber was an illegal taxi service in every jurisdiction they entered that I am aware of. This wasn't really gray. It was remarkable the restraint jurisdictions showed, I suspect because there was a sense that if they clamped down they didn't "get it".
I'm questioning whether they launched knowing full well they were shirking the law, or if they launched, realized they were in legal trouble, and then proceeded to not give a sh*t. :)
I agree. Disregarding laws, norms and regulations is what gave them the advantage against competition and allowed them to become big fast.