Management, money and movement were apparently the three big keywords that could label Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s talk at the Code Conference 2014 in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
on Wednesday.
Various reports say Kalanick gave away at the conference what people have been waiting to be told.
First, that Uber is hiring public relations experts or campaign managers who can throw mud pies at the current taxi industry, which Kalanick describes as dark, dangerous and evil.
Re/code, an independent media outfit in charge of the Code Conference, reported that Uber needs someone who has a strong background in running political campaigns or has run cities.
“We’re in a political campaign, and the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi,” Kalanick says, adding that Taxi is a character "so woven into the political machinery and fabric that a lot of people owe him favors.”
He also identifies that the candidate must be the world’s best campaign manager around.
Second, Uber is indeed raising money to a rumored huge valuation of $17 billion. The company has competitors that have much money to spend such as Lyft, according to Kalanick.
“If they have the same amount of funding we spend faster, so you have to make sure you have a cash advantage,” he explains.
Kalanick claims Uber has trips that are 10 times more and booking basis that is 20 times bigger than its competitors in the industry.
Further research discloses some of the investors interested in Uber, such as Technology Crossover Venture, a private equity firm, and BlackRock, a mutual fund firm.
Asked if Uber has plans of selling to Google, said to be among its bigest investors, or would the former buy other companies instead, Kalanick replies by saying it’s like asking a man who is happily married who his next wife will be. Neither does he know if they are also going to adopt children — or companies he means — in the future.
Third, Uber is dumping human drivers for self-driving cars soon. Kalanic admits that this is just how the future or the world will go. He also manages to say that Uber is expensive not because of the car but because of the other dude, yes the driver, in the car.
“When there’s no dude in the car, the cost of taking the vehicle somewhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. And then car ownership goes away,” he elaborates.
Regardless of the bleak future for drivers and possibly bright one for self-driving cars, an Uber spokeswoman says to LA Times that the company continues to support all its drivers since the concept is still several decades away.
“Right now we’re focused on delivering as much value to riders and drivers as possible,” says Lane Kasselman.
Google and Uber may have future together, however. A source of TechCrunch claims both will be working together for Google’s pilot program for self-driving cars, not in the very near future though. The source also says it makes sense why the two companies are in close contact recently. Recall that Google invested $258 million at Uber last summer, and recently, Google brings the ability to call an Uber taxi from Google Maps application.
