The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World

by Brad Stone

In May, speaking at the Code Conference, Kalanick had even more trouble elevating his tone to a level befitting a high-profile CEO. I was in the audience that year when he attacked incumbent cab companies so forcefully that it made the taxi fleets look sympathetic. Uber, he said, was engaged in a political campaign where “the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi. Nobody likes him, he’s not a nice character, but he’s so woven into the political machinery and fabric that a lot of people owe him favors.” He went on to say Uber would have to “bring out the truth about how dark and dangerous and evil the taxi side is.” When asked about driverless cars, he said that he was excited for the technology because it could bring prices down, but he didn’t express concern about unemployment for drivers. “The reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re not just paying for the car, you’re paying for the other dude in the car,” Kalanick said. As for the tens of thousands of drivers who relied on his company to support their families, he shrugged. “This is the way of the world,” he said, “and the world isn’t always great. We all have to find ways to change.” Kalanick was being himself—blunt and unaware of, or perhaps indifferent to, how his comments might be perceived by Uber’s own key constituencies.