Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

by Mike Isaac

“Look, we are running out of money,” Kalanick told Ovitz. “It’s clear you aren’t funding this, and we need to go find money.” If Ovitz wasn’t going to give them funding soon, Kalanick needed to raise money somewhere else. Three days later, Ovitz sued Scour for breaking the no-shop clause. Kalanick was livid. One of his investors—someone who was supposed to have his back and support the company—was suing his own founders for breach of contract. “We’ve got this really litigious hardcore dude out of LA suing us,” Kalanick later told other entrepreneurs. “Do you think anyone else is going to give us money? No.” Ovitz’s tactics worked. To keep Scour from going under, the team agreed to Ovitz’s onerous terms; the VC managed to acquire more than half the company for $4 million, wresting control of Scour away from its founders. But the episode—and the lesson in how to negotiate with venture capitalists—would stick with Travis for years to come.