The plan Gurley devised was simple. He would lead a syndicate of Uber’s largest shareholders—Benchmark, First Round, Lowercase, Menlo—all of whom collectively held a more than a quarter of Uber’s stock. They would approach Kalanick with a letter that put forward a simple request: Step down from your position as chief executive for the sake of the company. If Kalanick refused to do so, the group would go public. They would call up the New York Times, tell the reporter the entire plan, and their letter to Kalanick would land on the front page of the paper the next morning. That was strategic,
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