Everything you need to know about The Fountainhead, a book that inspires Uber's billionaire CEO Travis Kalanick

So what's the book about, anyway?

Let's dig in...

Howard Roark, the protagonist, is a young architect. After several of his projects fall through, he eventually finds himself rising to power when he is on trial for exploding a building he designed but that was not constructed according to his plans. At his trial — where things aren't looking good for him — Roark gives a speech about needing to be true to oneself and the value of selfishness. He's found not guilty.

Disruptive innovation — especially in regard to companies like Uber and Airbnb that are literally transforming transportation and housing laws — moves quickly, and relies on a lack of governmental intervention and the power of the free market. These principles are particularly Randian.

Kalanick rose to power in the past two years, and, as we said about him in a 2013 profile: "He's a perpetual underdog who is finally able to flick off the world."

Uber often faces resistance from regulators in big cities, and the taxi companies who abide by those regulations. But Kalanick believes that these regulators are often corrupt and not acting in the actual best interests of society. As he told the Wall Street Journal, "But there's been so much corruption and so much cronyism in the taxi industry and so much regulatory capture that if you ask permission upfront for something that's already legal, you'll never get it."

At trial, Roark tells the jury that the fountainhead of civilization is made up of individual creators. At its core, "The Fountainhead" is a story about acting selfishly to break free from the group mentality of society. It's OK to be greedy, and it makes sense to be selfish and self-interested. If you win, you won because you deserved to.

In August, it was revealed that Uber had launched a driver recruitment program called Operation Slog to recruit competing companies' drivers. According to a report by The Verge, "brand ambassadors" for Uber frequently called Lyft drivers and then tried to recruit them during the rides. Uber has also famously launched an aggressive advertising campaign against Lyft.

Toohey, who is Roark's villain throughout the novel, prints newspapers that cater to sensationalism. In Randian philosophy, it's impossible to find intelligent and unbiased journalism so long as newspapers cater to the masses.

In November at a dinner for "influencers," an Uber executive named Emil Michael suggested the company could theoretically dig up personal information on reporters who are critical of the company. BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith reported on those comments.

BuzzFeed also reported that a New York City Uber executive had tracked one of BuzzFeed's tech reporters without her permission, a breach of Uber's privacy policy (the policy was later posted to Uber's website in light of these incidents). The executive in question, Josh Mohrer, was investigated for spying on the BuzzFeed reporter, and according to Uber has since been disciplined for his actions, but he has kept his job.

The book presents a somewhat mixed viewpoint on manual labor. Howard Roark works at construction sites, putting in his time in manual labor. But The Fountainhead admires manual labor only so far as it supports the individuals performing it. It does not admire the unions that represent a lot of laborers. Ayn Rand herself believed that the labor movement bred socialism, and viewed labor unions as a threat to society.

To compare this to Kalanick and his company, drivers are performing the company's "manual" labor. The company says that they can make a living driving for the company, but Uber treats them as contractors, not full-time employees with all the rights and benefits that employees have. Uber driver protest groups across the country went largely unanswered by the company when they went on strike.

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