Replacing Travis Kalanick with Dara Khosrowshahi was a mistake for Uber
Scott Gorlick · Scott Gorlick: How Uber Acquired 1M Drivers & The Uber’s Expansion Playbook | E1196 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 30, 2024 · at 31:55
Scott Gorlick was employee #99 at Uber. He reflects on Travis Kalanick's departure and argues founder-led companies perform better long-term despite Dara Khosrowshahi's success.
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“I don't think so. I'm a big fan of founder led businesses, and I think Travis is an incredible founder who, you know, should have been given the opportunity to lead Uber into the next generation. It's really unfortunate how things happened and played out. And I think that, you know, well, Dara has done, Dara and the team have done a good job kind of building the business, and it's a hundred fifty billion dollar company today. I think that founder led businesses do better over the long term. And, you know, I'm really encouraged by what I've seen from Dara and the team, but I do think, you know, you lose some of that founder's edge without Travis and some of that magic. And I think the speed slows down.”
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