Why The Rest Of The World Is So Scared Of Uber And Netflix

Perhaps the best way to value a company is by how many enemies it makes.

By that measure, Uber and Netflix are quickly entering uncharted territory: each is now contending with a global alliance banding together to to take it down. It’s the new way of business in this era of truly worldwide technology competition, and if $62 billion-valued Uber and $45 billion-valued Netflix are the 800-lb. gorillas in their respective rooms, there are a bunch of smaller monkeys trying to fight back.

Take Uber. The ride-hailing behemoth is posting massive revenue gains year over year and has amassed an $8 billion war chest of funding to compete all around the world. Uber is vastly outpacing its homegrown rival Lyft, and many of its foreign opponents–and investors have been happy to subsidize it losing money in the promise of growth. That has forced the smaller ride-share startups to partner with their international brothers-in-arms: Lyft with China’s Didi Kuaidi, India’s Ola, and Singapore’s GrabTaxi.

In December, the four companies announced a technology partnership that will link their respective apps. The combined alliance counts about $6 billion in funding–making it a worthy rival to Uber, even if none of the individual members can compete head to head on their own. (Read more about the anti-Uber alliance here.)

Netflix is getting similar treatment because the streaming giant is also rapidly expanding to international markets. Earlier this month, Netflix launched in more than 130 new markets (including Russia and India) at once. On Tuesday, the company released better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, with worldwide subscribers hitting nearly 75 million by the end of 2015.

Netflix’s success helps it devote more resources than its competitors. In 2016, it expects to spend more than $6 billion on video programming, about $1 billion in marketing, and more than $800 million in technology and development. Netflix, like Uber, has become the largest player in its nascent space, and it’s using that pole position to build on its lead. FX Network boss John Landgraf complained to The New York Times that it lost out to “shock-and-awe levels of money and commitment” by Netflix in bidding for “Master of None” and “The Crown.” He compared the competition to baseball: