The book begins with the description of Travis Kalanick and a recollection of main events from his life, crucial for the story, and his rising to become the most proficient CEO of Uber. Growing up in a middle class American family, Kalanick had all the right opportunities to grow up to become the entrepreneur he is known to the world. His mother worked as a newspaper salesperson, who taught him about eagerness and stubbornness, and a strict veteran father who taught him discipline led to Travis’s extraordinary results at school which further led him to go to computer science and economy college.
Kalanick always had a sense for business, from a very young age showing an impressive talent in making money. In the nineties, the beginning of the internet rage, he became more and more interested in pursuing a career there. With his college colleagues, he developed a very successful online content sharing company. But, the company was doomed from the beginning, and the final involvement of venture capitalists led to its complete downfall and left Kalanick with a permanent distaste for the VC’s.
Before getting swooped in by Camp and Uber, Kalanick had another failed company called the Red Swoosh. But this one left him with a comfortable amount of money to start a business as a startup advisor for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
Garret Camp, a young rich man in San Francisco, finds himself in quite an uncomfortable situation one night. He is unable to find a taxi to get him home after a night out. It is on this faithful night that the idea of Uber is born. In Camp’s mind it was supposed to be a comfortable and easy experience, available with a few taps on the mobile phone, and meant for rich and busy young people like himself. He decides to pitch this idea to Kalanick, who is wary at first, but finally gives in, and by the year 2015 the company becomes a global force with relentless growth. It was called the unicorn of new companies, and every wealthy and eager “bro” wanted a piece of it.
Kalanick, the main face of the company, with his extensive experience and knowledge and inspired by Bezos, creates an atmosphere of “super pumpedness” within the company. Super pumped means doing whatever it takes, without rest, to advance the company’s progress. It eventually backfired and created a toxic cycle of burnout, corruption and a breeding ground for those with higher position within the company to take advantage of those with lower positions as well as justification of vile misdemeanor.
It all culminated in public scandals and by 2019 which led to Kalanick’s eventual resignation and a comfortable amount of riches after the sale of his shares. The new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, did his best to repair the mess created within the company by compensating those who were hurt by its toxic system. As it hit the market, the value of Uber started slowly and steadily to fall, but the new chief executive remained eager and hopeful for it to rise again.
