Back

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸’𝘀 𝗨𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘀: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲—𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗. A simple idea is born: Tap a button. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. That idea? 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫. The man behind it? 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤. At first, Uber is just a fancy black car service for the rich. But Kalanick sees something bigger: 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. What happens next? 𝐀 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬-𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱: 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗶𝘀 He doesn’t ask for permission. He doesn’t wait for approval. • 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫? He launches anyway. • 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭? He fights them in court. • 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩? He outspends and crushes them. By 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓, 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—in 60+ countries, worth $𝟓𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. Investors love the rapid growth. But inside Uber? 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲-𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟳: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸 The same 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 that built Uber 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞. Employees speak out about harassment. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. Uber gets banned in major cities. 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. They want a new leader. Then, the final blow: A 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 of Kalanick yelling at an Uber driver. The public 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦. The board 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵: 𝗨𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗜𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗: Uber goes public at $𝟖𝟐 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧, but Kalanick is no longer in charge. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧. 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. Kalanick didn’t just 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐔𝐛𝐞𝐫 —he 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬. But his 𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 made him 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝟯 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸’𝘀 𝗨𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘀 1. 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬—𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭. – Uber wouldn’t exist if Kalanick played it safe. 2. 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. – A toxic workplace can destroy even the biggest companies. 3. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. – If you become a problem, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭. Most founders 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞. I hope you've found this helpful. Follow Vishu Bheda for more such amazing business stories!