Kalanick: Uber ran internal program 'shoplifting' to recruit Lyft drivers
Travis Kalanick · Building a Company in Stealth | Travis Kalanick with a16z · Jul 22, 2026 · at 19:21
Travis Kalanick, former Uber CEO, details internal competitive tactics used against rival ride-sharing service Lyft during Uber's expansion.
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“We had this thing where we would, against Lyft, we would we would recruit the drivers on Lyft to bring them over to Uber, so that it was hard for Lyft to build supply. And we would aggressively do it, and we had a program for it internally, which we called shoplifting.”
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