Why would I never want to compete with Travis Kalanik?

The blogs are now a lot of discussions on the topic of companies Uber and Google . We would like to share a look from the other side . We offer you a translation of the article by Chris Sacca, a former top manager of Google, a Twitter investor and a venture capitalist.

Why would I never want to compete with Travis Kalanik?
(Disclaimer: I am a Uber shareholder)
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Over the past couple of days, rumors have been persistently discussed in the press that Google is launching a mobile service competitor to call Uber taxi. Honestly, as one of the former Google executives, I have a great deal of respect for this company and I consider Larry Page an absolute genius. Working with him is a privilege. However, when I posted this tweet about Larry and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, a deeper explanation was needed.



Let me tell you a little story that shows why trying to beat this man is just a waste of time.

A few years ago, when Uber was nothing more than an application used by a group of our friends, Travis came to my cabin in the mountains for the weekend. One fine morning, before the snowshoe walk, my father decided to call Travis for a friendly match in Wii Tennis. Dad - quite a gambling guy, he participated in real tournaments when I was little. He had a Wii Tennis at home, and he considered himself an expert on virtual games. He thought that this would be a great excuse to lightly pin up good-natured Travis.

When the match began, my father stood confidently in a sporting posture. Perhaps he even a little sweat. Travis barely moved his hand, twisting his wrist. Despite the fact that his father did not give up and carefully watched the game, Travis won every round.

Then Travis, drawing like a royal bride, announced that he was playing with the wrong hand and quickly switched. Yohouu! In the next twenty minutes, Dad did not earn any points. He was broken to pieces. Travis still woke up.

Travis could say that my father looked depressed. I mean, he would have successfully coped with the filing of any other player. A faint smile slid across Travis's face, and he gave his father a hand, as if comforting him.

“I must confess to you, Mr. Sakka,” said Travis, “I had to play virtual tennis before.” He went to the game page achievements. “In reality,” he continued, “I occupy second place in the world table.”

I have known Travis since I worked for Speedera, his main rival Red Swoosh. I knew that he was just a terrific strategist and gifted seller. His fame ran ahead of him. I also watched year after year how meticulous, ingenious and resourceful he can be in building his own business . Mutual admiration made us friends.

What was happening now reminded me of how tireless and stubborn Travis could be when he decides to achieve his intended goal . If he decided that he wants to explore a new area, in a few days he will become a real expert. If he decided to settle in a new city, he would spend there 24 hours a day, hanging out with the locals. If he decided to become the best virtual tennis player in the world, even if he is busy at this moment, creating one of the fastest growing companies in history and giving advice to others at the same time, it will take him only a couple of weeks to achieve the goal.

He is not sleeping. He does not lose focus. He sometimes even forgets that he is hungry. He tries again and again, inspiring others with his passion until the very end of the game. So, if Travis decided that he wanted to make a cleaner, safer and simpler taxi service than he currently has, he would do the job. If he set his sights on reforming the corrupt, penetrating everywhere and against the consumers of the regulatory system, you will see that it will soon collapse, dragging along those who have brought it to life with their dishonest bargains. If he wants to kill the racism that keeps people of different skin colors from accessing a taxi, he will achieve the desired. If he decided to remove drunk drivers from the streets, you will see how the death rate is drastically reduced where his business works. If Travis decided to create a company whose main mission is to make shipments as ordinary and affordable as the water in the faucet, he will definitely fulfill the plan.

My father, playing tennis with him, learned something. I also remind myself of this from time to time. Want to compete with Kalanik? Well, well, good luck!

PS You can read about the difficulties that may arise when working in companies such as Google in the article “ Why did Dima Koroly leave Microsoft, Facebook and Google before joining a startup ? Recommended!

Translated by Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult