Driving change: Travis Kalanick, the force behind Uber
SAN FRANCISCO: Uber’s rise to the top of the ride- sharing industry is due in large part to its hard- charging founder and chief executive, Travis Kalanick.
But while Kalanick has steered Uber to a valuation in the tens of billions of dollars with operations worldwide, he and the company have been bruised by this aggressiveness, prompting a search for a steadier hand at the wheel.
After a series of missteps and embarrassments for Uber and Kalanick, the San Francisco startup has acknowledged it is searching for a number-two executive to handle some of the day-to-day management tasks.
Kalanick, 40, is known for taking a hard line in battles with regulators and taxi operators in markets opposing the entry of a new kind of competitor.
But he has been humbled by the events of the past month, which included the release of a dash- cam video showing him berating and cursing at one of Uber’s drivers.
“To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement,” Kalanick said in a memo to employees after the incident.
The video, he said, was “a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.”
Uber has also been rocked by disclosures about a culture of sexism and its covert use of law enforcement- evading software.
Kalanick also made a hasty exit from a business advisory panel for President Donald Trump after a consumer boycott campaign fueled by concerns that he was aiding a leader with divergent values.
But Kalanick has long been known as someone who drives close to the edge.
The California native dropped out of the University of California-Los Angeles ( UCLA) to start a file-sharing service called Scour, which pre- dated the popular service Napster but ran into similar legal challenges.
Scour faced lawsuits from major music and film industry groups claiming US$ 250 billion in damages, and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2000.
After that failure, he launched another file-sharing service called Red Swoosh.
Despite legal issues, Kalanick ended his tenure at Red Swoosh a millionaire when the company was bought in 2007 by Akamai Technologies.
Kalanick frequently recounts his story for the idea of Uber - saying he and co-founder Garrett Camp were unable to find a taxi during a 2008 visit to Paris, and dreamed up the idea of pushing a button on a smartphone to summon a ride, and called it UberCab. — AFP