Finally, in 2005, Kalanick caught a break. Kalanick got into a flame war on a message board with Marc Cuban, the celebrity billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Kalanick evangelized peer-to-peer tech, while Cuban thought Kalanick was dead wrong. Though Cuban didn’t like the tech, he did like Kalanick’s hustle, the tenacity he saw in Kalanick during the pitch. Cuban sent Kalanick a private message, offering him money to invest $1.8 million in the company. That was a crucial lifeline which eventually led to more contracts with important partners. Another investment from August
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