The short version
In the Financial Times (January 8, 2020), Richard Waters quoted Ryan Vet, "an author and expert on the gig economy," on Uber's decision to rewrite its California driver terms under AB5. Ryan said Uber was "feeling the pressure" and called California "the incubator state for new laws in new spaces, like the gig economy." He was right: California's compromise, with drivers kept as contractors but guaranteed a pay floor, became the model for Massachusetts and Minnesota in 2024.
Ryan Vet · Article in Financial Times
AB5 took effect on January 1, 2020. A week later, Uber emailed its California drivers: they could now see a ride's destination before accepting it, fixed fares for riders were being replaced with a price range, and Uber would take a flat 25% service fee on most rides. The Financial Times' Richard Waters reported it as Uber loosening its rules to escape the law, after months of insisting the law didn't apply to it.
The FT went to Ryan Vet, whom it introduced as "an author and expert on the gig economy." Two months earlier he had published *Cracking the Millennial Code*, and he was running Boon, a marketplace for licensed professionals. He made two points: Uber's reversal was a sign of pressure, and California was a preview for everyone else.
Ryan's Big Takeaways
- 01
The reversal was the tell.
Uber had argued that because its core business was software, not rides, its drivers fell outside AB5. Changing its driver terms to look more like a marketplace for independent contractors conceded that the law could reach it. "They're definitely taking a different stance, realising AB5 is going to affect them," Ryan told the FT. "They're feeling the pressure." The FT reported that Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who wrote AB5, made a similar point on Twitter.
- 02
California goes first. Everyone else follows.
The FT noted that California was being watched as a model for other states' gig-worker laws. "California seems to be the incubator state for new laws in new spaces, like the gig economy," Ryan said. That held. After California voters passed Proposition 22 in 2020, keeping drivers as contractors while guaranteeing them a pay floor and benefits, the same formula spread. In 2024 Massachusetts settled with Uber and Lyft on a $32.50 hourly minimum with drivers still classified as contractors, and Minnesota passed a statewide minimum-pay law for rideshare drivers.
- 03
The 2019 version of the gig economy was already ending.
This article is also evidence for Ryan's broader 2019 call that AB5 would end the gig economy "as we know it today." Within a week of the law taking effect, the largest company in the category had changed how its drivers accepted rides, how riders were charged, and how it took its cut. The companies survived. The model they started with did not.
The Velocity Gap →
Standout Quotes
They're definitely taking a different stance, realising AB5 is going to affect them.
They're feeling the pressure.
California seems to be the incubator state for new laws in new spaces, like the gig economy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ryan Vet tell the Financial Times about Uber and AB5?
In January 2020, Ryan Vet told the Financial Times that Uber was "definitely taking a different stance, realising AB5 is going to affect them," and that "they're feeling the pressure." He also said "California seems to be the incubator state for new laws in new spaces, like the gig economy."
How did the Financial Times identify Ryan Vet?
The Financial Times described Ryan Vet as "an author and expert on the gig economy." At the time he had recently published Cracking the Millennial Code, later a USA TODAY bestseller, and was running Boon, a marketplace for licensed professionals.
Was Ryan Vet right that California would be the incubator state for gig economy laws?
Yes. California's Proposition 22 compromise, which kept app-based drivers as independent contractors but guaranteed a pay floor and benefits, became the model other states followed. In 2024 Massachusetts reached a settlement with Uber and Lyft setting a $32.50 hourly minimum while drivers stayed contractors, and Minnesota enacted a statewide minimum-pay law for rideshare drivers.
Frameworks & Ideas Referenced
- The Velocity Gap implied : A technology business model changing faster than the law written to govern it, and the law forcing it to change again.
Books, People & Sources Mentioned
- Massachusetts Uber and Lyft settlement (2024) : Contractors with a $32.50 hourly floor.
- Minnesota rideshare minimum-pay law (2024) : A statewide pay floor after Uber and Lyft threatened to leave Minneapolis.
- Cracking the Millennial Code : Published November 2019, two months before this article. About the book →
Keep Exploring
- What I called on the gig economy in 2019, and what happened Explore →
- Appearance USA TODAY: what AB5 would cost consumers USA TODAY quoted Ryan Vet, then founder of the gig staffing marketplace Boon, on the night California's Senate passed AB5. He called it good for workers, warned it would "implode the gig economy as we know it today," and argued consumers were the side nobody was counting. Explore →
- Appearance The Epoch Times: AB5 and trucking The Epoch Times quoted Ryan Vet in November 2019 on AB5's spread beyond Uber and Lyft. He called the law "whack-a-mole," said it was disrupting trucking, "an industry that didn't need disruption," and named the flexibility drivers would lose as employees. Explore →
- speaking Futurist keynotes Explore →
Ryan writes one free essay a week. It's called Collide.
How generations are reshaping work and home. Practical, research-backed, and delivered weekly. Read it at RyanVet.com/collide.
