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Super Pumped : The Battle for Uber (9780393652253)

Page 42

by Isaac, Mike


  Holiday Inn, 265, 266

  Hollywood, 9, 24

  Holt, Rachel, 237, 309, 331

  Holzwarth, Gabi, 179–80, 193, 194, 230, 249–53

  “the Homeshow,” 95

  Hornsey, Liane, 226, 256

  Hourdajian, Nairi, 126–28, 130–131

  Houston, Texas, 66

  Huffington, Arianna, 127, 238, 256, 287, 289, 301–5, 307, 325

  continued support for Kalanick, 270–74

  joins board of directors, 226–30

  joins Kalanick after his mother’s death, 264–65

  release of Holder Report and, 276–80

  Huffington, Michael, 228–29

  Huffington Post, 229

  Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, 65, 70

  Hyderabad, India, 149

  Ibiza, Spain, 193

  ICE, 206

  Illinois, 113

  IMEI, 154–55, 157

  Immelt, Jeff, 313–14, 319, 320–22, 323, 324

  InAuth, Inc., 155, 156–57

  India, 148–50, 166–67, 187, 203, 257, 259

  rape scandal in, 166, 261, 262, 285, 337

  taxis and, 148–49

  Indonesia, 259–60

  The Information, 253

  Instacart, 9

  Instagram, 9, 74, 96–97, 200, 235

  Intel, 35, 193n

  InterActiveCorp, 307, 320, 333

  Internet Explorer, 69

  iOS software, 154–55, 157, 159, 162

  iPhone, 36–39, 44, 58, 59, 154–55, 157, 160, 163, 176, 218

  iPod, 35

  Iran, 320

  iRide, 113

  Isaac, Mike, 127n, 241, 279–80, 280n, 295, 296, 305–6, 339–40

  iTunes, 35, 37

  Ive, Jonathan, 38

  Jacobin, 205, 207

  the JamPad, 47–48, 49

  Janklow, Mort, 230

  Jay-Z, 7–8, 54, 194

  Jeopardy!, 275n

  JFK airport, Muslim ban protests and, 206–8

  Jobs, Steve, 9, 35, 36–38, 39, 41, 54, 96, 154, 162

  Johnson Space Center, 66

  Jones, Jeff, 189–91, 192, 235–39, 247–49, 254

  J. P. Morgan, 33, 132

  Jupiter Research, 28

  Kagle, Bob, 311–12

  Kalanick, Bonnie, 16–19, 22, 230, 263–64, 266, 273, 299

  Kalanick, Cory, 17, 264

  Kalanick, Donald, 16–19, 22, 230, 263–64, 266

  Kalanick, Travis, xi–xv, xvii–xx, 3, 9, 45, 64, 119–31, 132–39, 140–52, 245, 273–74

  after showdown, 307–10

  agrees to appear on stage as Khosrowshahi is introduced, 328–29

  announces UberX, 87

  anti-fraud initiative and, 153

  apology memo to employees, 240

  Apple and, 157–58, 159–64, 165

  avoids corporate bureaucracy, 124–25

  Kalanick, Travis (continued)

  billionaire lifestyle and, 192–93, 192n

  black ops and, 258

  at board meeting to choose Kalanick’s replacement, 321–25

  Bonderman and, 278

  buys house in San Francisco, 31–32

  as CEO of UberCab, 57–58, 60–63

  champion’s mindset and, 81–91

  charm offensive by, 119–31, 150

  company-wide retreats and, 3–4, 7–8

  compares building a startup to parenting a child, 74

  competitiveness of, 87–89, 119–20, 122, 133–34, 150

  confronted by Cohler and Fenton, 297–301, 302–3

  control over investors, 286–88

  defanging of, 311

  #deleteUber campaign and, 210–11

  distrust of investors, 97

  diversity study and, 226n

  driver video and, 237–39, 254, 308–9, 309n

  empire building and, 140–52

  employees and, 83–84, 194–95, 237–40, 247–48, 265–66, 308–11

  fights for control during “Grand Bargain,” 326–27

  finally severed from leadership of Uber, 326

  fortieth birthday bash, 196

  founder’s challenge and, 53–54

  Fowler post and, 223–26

  as “funding shepherd,” 45–47, 50

  fundraising and, 90–91, 92–101

  Google and, 176–85

  Google Ventures and, 98–101, 105–7

  Graves and, 54–56

  growth as mantra of, 111–18

  Gurley and, 122–26, 282, 289–91, 292–93

  hacker-like mentality of, 4

  Holzwarth and, 179–80, 193, 230, 249–53

  HR and, 216–17

  Huffington and, 227–31

  hunting for investors in Uber’s Series A, 78–79

  image problem of, 235–40

  investors’ plan to force out, 289–91, 292–306

  the JamPad, 47–48, 49, 57

  leadership of, 81–91

  “leave of absence” and, 274–75, 281, 283–84, 292–93, 292n, 299

  Lyft and, 86–87, 186–89, 211, 257–58

  meeting at Waverly Inn, 126–28

  meets Levandowski, 183

  Michael and, 93–99, 122, 126

  in Pape’ete, French Polynesia, 307–8

  persecution complex of, 150

  plays hardball with city legislators, 116–18

  power as chief executive, 97–98

  presentation at Axis Theater, 10–15

  the press and, 237–40, 239n, 248–49, 254–55, 256, 261–62, 289, 295, 300, 304–7, 339–40. See also specific publications

  Red Swoosh and, 28–31, 33, 74, 81, 106, 192n

  reputation of, 119–21, 208, 221, 223–24, 235–40, 254, 256, 263, 285

  resignation of, 304–5

  Scour.net and, 21–25, 26, 28, 81, 106, 189, 192, 286

  search for replacement for, 311–16, 319–25

  self-driving cars and, 176–85

  showmanship of, 90, 95–96

  South Korea incident and, 194, 250–51, 256, 262

  starting over, 337–41

  statement upon resignation, 305

  sued by Benchmark, 315–16, 323, 325, 326

  Swooshing blog, 46

  syndicate’s letter to, 297–99

  taxis and, 112–14, 140–41

  testifies in Waymo V. Uber, 338–41

  tries to rally shareholders, 301–2

  Trump’s business advisory council and, 203, 204, 210–12, 221, 224, 254

  Trump’s election and, 201–3

  on Uber’s board, 79–80

  at UCLA, 20–22

  vision for Uber, 85

  voting power of, 287

  writes letter of apology to his employees, 265–66

  Zimride and, 85–86

  Kalanick, Travis Cordell, making of a founder, 16–25

  Kamel, Fawzi, 237, 240, 308–10, 309n

  Kapor, Mitch, 284–85

  Keitel, Harvey, 45

  Kerry, John, 229

  Khomeini, Ayatollah, 320

  Khosrowshahi, Dara, 319–29, 331–34

  Kim, Young Mi, 311n

  King, Gayle, 194

  Klein, Freada Kapor, 284–85

  Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, 35, 38, 39, 40, 98, 184, 201

  Klout, 93, 94

  Knowles, Beyoncé, 7–8, 194

  Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, 211

  Kondaiah, M, 149

  Kopelman, Josh, 293

  Krafcik, John, 233

  Krane, David, 98–101, 99n, 105–6, 283

  Kuaidi Dache, 142
>
  Kygo, 7

  Lacy, Sarah, 119, 121, 128, 129–30, 150

  Lake, Katrina, 285, 335

  Larry King Live, 229

  Lasky, Mitch, 294

  Las Vegas, Nevada, 3, 4, 5–7, 8, 93, 113

  Leathern, Rob, 28

  Lehman Brothers, 132

  Le Méridien hotel, 236

  Levandowski, Anthony, 107–10, 180–85, 232–34, 233, 254–56, 260, 278, 333

  Lin, Alfred, 92n

  LinkedIn, 74, 77, 117

  Liu, Jean, 202, 258

  Livefyre, 46

  London, England, 84, 144

  Los Angeles, California, 16–25, 84, 128, 144

  Lowercase Capital, 288, 289, 293, 297–98

  Lucini, Benedetta, 113–14

  Lyft, 86n, 115, 132, 134, 137, 166, 177, 201, 211, 224, 248, 257–58

  Kalanick’s attitude toward, 86–89, 119–20

  Kalanick’s desire to merge with, 186–89

  MacDonald, Andrew, 309

  Maceo crime family, 66

  Macintosh, 35, 37

  Macromedia, 26

  Maher, Bill, 229

  Malaysia, 195

  Mao Zedong, 201

  Maris, Bill, 106

  Martello, Wan-Ling, 276–77, 287

  Match.com, 171–72

  McCarran International Airport, 5

  McCloskey, Melody, 49

  McCue, Mike, 92n

  McKinsey, 132

  Melbourne, Australia, 85

  Menlo Ventures, 192, 288, 289, 297–98, 301–2

  Merrill Lynch, 92, 332

  Messina, Chris, 223

  Metcalfe, Ben, 117

  #MeToo movement, 241–42

  Metropolitan Taxicab Commission, 117

  Mexico, 172–74

  Meza de la Cruz, Esteban, 173

  Miami, Florida, 120

  company-wide retreats in, 3, 4

  Michael, Emil, 92n, 122, 143, 156–58, 162, 202, 226–27, 260, 262, 331, 337

  celebrity recruitment and, 193–94, 227

  firing of, 272–73

  Michael, Emil (continued)

  gaffe at Waverly event, 127–29

  Google and, 105–6

  Gurley and, 125–26

  Holzwarth and, 249–53

  as Kalanick’s secret fundraising weapon, 92–99

  Lyft and, 186

  Michels, Oren, 193n

  Microsoft, 39, 69, 77, 115

  Milan, Italy, 85, 113–14

  Miller, Stephen, 207

  MIT, 153

  Modolo, Osvaldo Luis, Filho, 174

  Mohrer, Josh, 84, 117–18, 130, 133–34, 156, 269

  Morgan Stanley, 69

  Motion Picture Association of America, 24, 28, 29

  Mountain View, California, 105, 183

  Mueller, Robert S., 168

  Murdoch, Rupert, 295

  Musk, Elon, 42, 54, 199

  Napster, 21, 24

  Nasdaq, 76

  National Review, 229

  NBC, 131

  Nest, 98

  Netscape, 35, 69, 69n

  Nevada, 110, 113

  Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, 182

  New Delhi, India, 149–50, 150

  News Corp, 295

  New York, 113, 115

  New York, New York, 84, 113, 126–28, 130, 144–45

  popularity of Uber in, 83, 143

  success in, 147

  Uber offices in, 117–18, 134, 195

  New Yorker magazine, 229, 241

  New York magazine, 200

  New York Police Department (NYPD), 145

  New York Taxi Workers Alliance, 206, 208

  New York Times, xvii, xix, 24, 55, 131, 199, 202, 332n, 339–40. See also Isaac, Mike

  on aggressive culture at Uber, 241

  on Greyball, 247

  infiltrates all-hands meeting, 279–80, 280n

  on Kalanick’s comments on India rape incident, 261

  ouster of Kalanick and, 289, 295, 300, 304–6, 307

  on self-driving software, 255

  Nopa, 78

  “North American Championship Series” (NACS), 138–39

  Northridge, California, 16–25

  Northrup Grumman, 332

  Norton, Edward, 128, 193

  Novick, Steve, xii, xiii, xvi

  Obama, Barack, xii, 35, 200, 224

  administration of, 93, 115

  Occupy Wall Street, 132

  Ola, 148–49, 187, 257, 261

  Omidyar, Pierre, 312

  OpenTable, 65

  Oregon, 113

  the Oregonian, 243

  Osborne, Ian, 127, 127–28

  O’Sullivan, Dan, 204–5, 206, 207–10

  Otto, 181–85, 233–35

  Ottomotto, 181

  Ovitz, Michael, 23–25, 26, 97, 189, 286

  Page, Larry, 9, 34, 54, 96, 121, 140, 158, 178, 202

  Google IPO and, 76–77

  Kalanick and, 100–101, 105–10

  Levandowski and, 180–82, 185, 232–35

  Waymo v. Uber and, 233–36, 255–56, 338–39

  Palms Hotel, 7, 93

  Palo Alto, California, 35, 36, 38, 40, 72,

  105

  Pape’ete, French Polynesia, 307–8

  Paris, France, 84

  Parker, Sean, 21, 121

  Partovi, Ali, 92n

  Partovi, Hadi, 92n

  Paul, Sunil, 85–86

  Paul, Weiss, 289, 294

  Paulson, Henry, 33

  PayPal, 170–71

  Pennsylvania, 113

  Perazzo, Steve, 338

  Pets.com, 26

  Pham, Thuan, 142–47, 153, 165, 201, 309

  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 83, 114, 244, 245–46, 247

  Philadelphia Parking Authority, 244, 245–46

  Pishevar, Shervin, 179, 192–93, 315–16, 337

  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 151, 184

  Pixar, 35

  Planet Hollywood, 10

  Plouffe, David, xii–xiii, xvi, 115, 225

  Poetzscher, Cam, 301

  Politico, 128

  Portland, Oregon, xi–xvii, xviii, 115, 243–44, 247

  Portland Bureau of Transportation, xi

  Posados, Miguel, 338

  “Preacher,” 336

  Priceline, 27

  Prodigy, 67

  “Project Chauffeur,” 180–81

  Pronto.ai, 333

  Puff Daddy, 89

  Pulp Fiction, 45

  Qualcomm, 317

  Quattrone, Frank, 67, 69–70

  Quentin, 153–54, 155, 156, 157, 161, 245, 246

  Quill, Mike, 204

  Quince, 328

  Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan, 234

  Rancho Palos Verdes, California, 176

  Rand, Ayn, 84, 120

  Recode, 248–49, 262

  Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 24, 26, 28, 29

  Reddit, 42, 200

  Red Swoosh, 28–30, 31, 33, 47, 74, 81, 106, 192n

  Richter, David, 301

  The Rideshare Guy, 248

  Rigetti, Chad, 215

  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 134, 174

  Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 292, 295, 296–300, 302, 304

  Robb, Walter, 292

  Romania, 170, 172

  Ron, Lior, 181–82, 234

  Rubenstein, Steven, 239n, 289, 289n, 295

  Rumayyan, Yasir al-, 270–71, 272

  Sacca, Chris, 57, 74, 78, 288, 293

  Sacks, David, 300

  Safe Rides Fee, 13
5–36

  Salesforce, 201

  San Bernardino, California, 162, 206

  Sandberg, Sheryl, 201, 239n

  Sanders, Jeff, 324

  San Francisco, California, xiii–xiv, 5–6, 27–28, 31–32, 40–41, 67, 85, 100, 107, 130, 160, 183. See also Silicon Valley

  as epicenter of venture deals, 75

  popularity of Uber in, 78, 83

  regulators in, 86–87

  ride-hailing companies based in, 78

  rollout of UberCab in, 59–60, 63

  success in, 147

  transportation in, 41, 44, 48–49, 59–60, 63, 108–9

  Uber offices in, xiii, xiv, xix, 83–84, 90, 95, 131, 144, 146, 149, 151–52, 159, 224, 244, 250

  US Attorney’s Office in, 255–56

  San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, 63

  San Mateo, California, 29

  Santa Monica, California, 151

  São Paolo, Brazil, 174, 195

  Sapient, 28

  Saudi Arabia, 187, 202, 258, 270–71, 287

  Saudi Public Investment Fund, 270, 317

  Schifter, Doug, 113

  Schildkrout, Aaron, 137–38, 237, 331

  Schiller, Phil, 161–62, 163

  Schmidt, Eric, 225

  Scour.net, 21–25, 28, 31, 81, 106, 189, 192, 286

  Seattle, 83, 84

  Seoul, South Korea, 250–51

  Sequoia Capital, 40, 79, 92n, 98

  Shah, Sagar, 117

  Sheen, Charlie, 120

  Shenzhen, China, 141

  Shore Club, 120

  Sidecar, 85, 86, 87

  Silicon Valley, xi, xviii–xix, 4–9, 22, 27, 29, 71, 132

  “asshole culture” in, 119

  China and, 140

  company-wide dinner service in, 112–14, 117

  customer privacy vs. data collection in, 188

  entrepreneurs in, 285–86

  female chief executives in, 285

  “founder” culture in, 74–77

  funding ecosystem in, 96

  growth as mantra of, 111

  IPOs in, 97

  security in, 171

  Singhal, Amit, 235–36, 254

  Slack, 241

  Slice Intelligence, 166

  SLS, 120

  Smith, Ben, 128–31

  Snap, 290

  Snapchat, 6, 9, 235

  Softbank, 316–18, 326–27, 335

  Son, Masayoshi (“Masa”), 316–18, 326

  South America, 259

  South by Southwest (SXSW), 78, 125–26

  Southeast Asia, 148, 150, 150n, 187, 194–95, 258, 260, 333

  South Korea, 194, 246, 250–51, 254, 256, 260, 262

  South of Market (SoMa), 26, 28

  Southwestern Bell, 92

  SpaceX, 199

  Spiegel, Evan, 9, 77, 140

  Sprint, 317

  Spruce, 78

  Stanford University, 289

  “Startup Mixology,” 46

  Startups.com, 27

 

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