At $41 billion, Uber has become more valuable more quickly than any other start-up we’ve seen in recent years — faster than Facebook FB 2.03% , Google GOOG 0.43% , Amazon.com AMZN 0.50% and Salesforce.com CRM 0.29% , according to our analysis of VC-backed start-ups founded since Uber was created in 2009. Earlier this month when the taxi service announced a round of financing that gave it a $41 billion valuation at 5.93 years old, Uber set itself apart. At the same stage, Facebook was valued at about $32 billion, while Google was just over $3 billion.微信应用服务公司Uber目前估值早已超过410亿美元。我们找到这家公司自2009年正式成立以来，是由风投反对的初创型企业中电子货币最慢的一家，多达了Facebook、谷歌（Google）、亚马逊（Amazon.com）和云计算服务供应商Salesforce.com。本月早些时候Uber宣告了新一轮融资消息，公司估值在正式成立5.93年后超过410亿美元，在市场中脱颖而出。在同一阶段，Facebook的估值大约为320亿美元，谷歌的估值则刚多达30亿美元。

Uber’s valuation does not guarantee it will be the next long-term superstar. But if the company can use its rapidly rising valuation to accelerate its expansion, it has a real shot at both beating its competitor, Lyft, and growing beyond personal transportation. Further, it can expand it’s services — potentially to delivery, logistics, other adjacent markets. To be sure, Uber is facing an ever increasing amount of challenges, from legal battles with local governments, to bad PR for the way it portrays women, all of which could hamper its growth and damage its brand. Additionally competitors like Lyft are nipping at its heals and more will surely come as the market for smart-phone powered point-to-point transportation expands. Despite these problems, Uber’s lead is so large and its value has grown so quickly, it would have to stumble badly to lose the battle for supremecy in this new space.但这样的估值并无法确保Uber沦为下一个长久的超级巨星。但如果该公司能将较慢上升的价值用作提升扩展速度，它就知道有可能打败竞争对手Lyft，并将业务伸延到个人交通领域之外。Uber可以更进一步将其范围不断扩大到租车、物流以及其他涉及市场。

当然，Uber面对的挑战也与日俱增，比如和地方政府的法律纠纷，再行比如因涉嫌不认同女性的差劲公关，所有这些都有可能对其发展和品牌产生有利影响。此外，Lyft等输掉正在奋起直追；而且，随着基于智能手机的点对点（P2P）交通服务市场之后不断扩大，终将经常出现更加多竞争者。

不过，虽然不存在这些问题，但在如此极大的领先优势和增长速度之下，除非Uber犯有大错误，才不会在这个新兴领域的王者争夺战中败给。This comes amid the development of two important trends. First, among all VC-backed technology start-ups created since 2009, the rate at which their values have risen is three times faster today compared to just a decade ago. This increase in “time to market cap”, the measures how quickly companies increase in value, has become a major advantage for modern startups as they are able to build massive financial war chests at speeds never seen before. With this latest financing Uber has become the time to market cap champ.预示Uber茁壮的有两大趋势。首先，就所有2009年以来正式成立并且取得风投反对的科技初创公司来说，其价值下降速度与10年前比起慢了三倍。作为取决于公司价值增长速度的指标，“市值构成速度（time to market cap）”的提高早已沦为现代初创企业的一项主要优势，因为它们可以用前所未有的速度筹措到巨额资金。

近期一轮融资过后，Uber早已在这场速度对决中沦为冠军。What’s more, it appears that new markets are being dominated by one company, especially in tech. Uber’s latest valuation is partly driven by how quickly the company is expanding abroad, but it also reflects demand for a growing global market for on-demand transportation, and Uber’s dominance in this category for years to come.其次，新兴的市场显然都由一家公司主导，特别是在科技领域。

Uber近期估值提高的部分动力来自该公司在海外的很快扩展，但这也反映了全球按须要交通服务市场的大大扩展和由此带给的市场需求，以及今后几年Uber在这个领域的统治者地位。We like to call Uber a “Category King” — companies that define, develop and dominate new markets. Airbnb is doing that in on-demand rentals. Salesforce.com did it in cloud-based CRM. Of the 80 or so $1 billion companies founded since 2000, half are Category Kings. They are more valuable than all the other companies in their categories combined. These firms routinely take more than 70% of the total available market cap of their market.我们偏向于把Uber称作“粗分类之王”，即那些定义了一个全新市场，并大力拓展，占有市场主导地位的公司。

Airbnb就在按须要租房领域扮演着这样的角色。在基于云技术的客户关系管理服务市场，Salesforce.com也是如此。2000年以来正式成立而且市值超过10亿美元的公司有80家左右，其中一半都是“粗分类之王”。它们的价值多达了本领域其他公司的价值之和，而且往往占有所在市场中所有公司总市值的70%以上。

Uber is clearly being valued as the king of a new category that stretches way beyond taxi rides. Investors see potential in on-demand delivery from Uber vehicles, for instance. Unless Uber screws up, its competitors, such as Lyft and Sidecar, will fade into the background. If Uber truly proves to be the Category King in a vastly expanding new category, it’s record valuation will seem rational.似乎，人们在评估Uber的价值时，指出其所统率的新领域将相比之下打破出租车服务。举例来说，投资者就看见了Uber车辆的按须要寄送的潜力。

除非Uber自毁前程，否则Lyft和Sidecar这样的竞争对手就不能生活在其阴影之中。如果Uber能证明自己在一个大范围扩展的新领域居住于王者之位，该公司创纪录的估值就应当归属于合理水平。Al Ramadan, Christopher Lochhead and Dave Peterson are co-founding partners at Play Bigger Advisors, a San Francisco-based firm that coaches technology executives to build market-leading companies. Neither the firm or its partners have investments in Uber, Lyft, Google, Amazon.com or Salesforce.com.本文作者艾尔o拉马丹、克里斯托弗o罗克海德和戴夫o彼得森是Play Bigger Advisors公司牵头创始人。

这家总部坐落于旧金山的咨询机构致力于指导科技公司高管如何打造出市场领先的公司。该公司和这三位合伙人皆并未向Uber、Lyft、亚马逊或Salesforce.com投资。

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