&gt; The difference between Uber and Zenefits&#x2F;Theranos is that cities have limited resources and angry citizens can convince them to back down (and if you lose, hey, just ignore that city and try somewhere else), whereas state and Federal agencies can nuke you at any time and don&#x27;t really have to worry about the vox populi.<p>Aren&#x27;t a substantial share of Uber&#x27;s legal issues state-level employer vs. contractor issues (which also potentially have federal counterparts)? So I&#x27;m not sure they are a good example of a company restricting its testing of legal boundaries to the municipal level.<p>I think the difference between potential (and likely) costs and consequences is far more complicated that simply the level of government involved.