“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” is a gripping and thought-provoking series that provides an in-depth look at the rise and fall of Uber, one of the most successful and controversial companies of our time. The series, which is based on the book of the same name by Mike Isaac, explores the history of Uber, from its founding in 2009 to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick in 2017.
The Showtime series consists of seven episodes, each lasting 50 min – 1h 6 min, and is available on Paramount+. The series is expertly crafted and features insights into the many key players in the Uber saga, including former CEO Travis Kalanick, former board member Arianna Huffington, as well as many other employees and investors such as the legendary Bill Gurley. The stories told are candid and provide a rare view into the internal workings of Uber, as well as the personal and professional relationships that were formed and broken during the company’s meteoric rise.
One of the strengths of the series is its ability to capture the excitement and chaos of the early days of Uber, as well as the culture of innovation and disruption that fueled the company’s growth. The series does not shy away from the controversies that dogged Uber throughout its history, including allegations of sexism, harassment, and a toxic work culture.
The rise of Uber was a classic tale of disruption, as the startup company challenged and ultimately overthrew the established players in the taxi industry. Uber’s aggressive tactics in fighting regulators and its competitors were a reflection of the company’s culture, which prioritized growth and expansion over all else. Despite its many controversies, Uber’s success was undeniable, and it has forever changed the way we think about transportation and the sharing economy.
Episodes
This section contains spoilers. Skip it at your own discretion.
- Episode 1: In 2009 Garrett Camp was frustrated with taxi services in San Francisco, and thought hiring drivers with upscale black car services was inconvenient and expensive. He developed the concept of a smartphone app that could hail luxury vehicles directly from the user’s smartphone. He discussed the concept with Travis Kalanick, who agreed to act as a “mega advisor” to the company, originally called UberCab. As neither Camp nor Kalanick wanted to run the company directly, Ryan Graves was brought on as CEO at launch. Graves held the position for ten months before being removed in favor of Kalanick. Camp and Graves each signed over a large portion of their shares to Kalanick when he took the CEO position, giving him a significant degree of control over the company.
In February 2011, Kalanick met with Bill Gurley, an investor from the venture capital firm Benchmark, and secured an $11 million investment for 20% of Uber (then valued at $50 million) for its Series A round of funding. - Episode 2: The Bureau of Transportation at Portland (PBOT ) begins with a blitzkrieg on Uber drivers who are issued tickets for various counts of violation. Gurley feels apprehension on the functioning of the company and Uber’s battle against the authority. Uber engineers develop a new technology to help circumvent their legal problems called “Greyball“. It saves Kalanick as it allows Uber to trace the identity of the PBOT officials, thereby ensuring the Uber cabs never arrive, even after being booked. Kalanick basically authorize the use of industrial espionage tactics against competitors and regulators, including the Greyball blacklisting program, and encourage the development and use of rider-surveillance programs.
The Uber team works towards succeeding in New York. After conquering New York, Kalanick throws a party for the staff in Las Vegas which reveals the hedonistic and hooligan side of his employees. When Kalanick delivers his speech from the stage to his employees at Las Vegas party, it comes off as preachy and completely plays to the gallery. When watching it, one is left thinking that every start-up founder does the same and leaves you with bitter taste in your mouth.
We also see another facet of Kalanick when he falls in love with a violin and eventually dumps his wife in an unceremonious manner. - Episode 3: Gurley sends a reluctant Kalanick and Emil Michael on a roadshow to raise money, but Kalanick turns the tour on its head and make potential investors come to them instead. In their Series B round in late 2011, they raise an additional $32 million. Kalanick’s experiences with investors at Scour and Red Swoosh had made him wary of investors who might interfere with his control of Uber, thus he ensured that the terms for these and future investments strongly favored himself and Uber. He strictly limited the amount of financial information investors could access, and the shares for new investors had a tenth of the voting power of the shares held by Kalanick, Camp, and Graves.
Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, gains momentum, leading Kalanick to wage war and will not back down. Kalanick also makes a point of undermining potential investments into competitor Lyft, poaching them for Uber instead.
After seeking out, courting and playing all sorts of tactics, in 2013, Kalanick obtains a $250 million investment from Google Ventures, at a valuation of $3.5 billion. - Episode 4: The boardroom becomes a battle zone. The Uber team attends one of the biggest events in Silicon Valley to interact with tech legends. Kalanick gains an ally in Ariana Huffington. He is ecstatic, but an announcement from Google with regards to self-driving cars derails his plans. Austin, one of the early team members and arguably the best person to take on new cities, deals with a male co-worker’s inappropriate sexual approach.
- Episode 5: Kalanick starts courting Anthony Levandowski with the aim of pulling away from Google’s autonomous vehicle program (Waymo), and work for Uber instead.
Uber deliberately and recklessly violates of Apple’s privacy policies, leading Apple to threaten to pull Uber from the App Store. As a result, Kalanick finds himself on trial at Apple HQ talking with Apple CEO Tim Cook and head of the App Store Eddy Cue, fighting for Uber’s very existence. Huffington and Gurley disagree on how to best steer Kalanick in the right direction.
When Kalanick and Michael attends a dinner with people from the press, Michael gets rather drunk, tells too many details and slander to BuzzFeed reporter Ben Smith, who reports it, resulting in another PR headache for Uber. - Episode 6: A full-fledged investigation of Uber is initiated by some of the Uber board members, and the head of the investigation goes deep and thorough at work. Another employee meets a journalist to inform her about “Greyball”. Kalanick is now surrounded by problems such as the release of the video by the Uber driver, Google’s lawsuit against Anthony Levandowski, and his decision to join President Donald Trump’s economic council are met with protests.
When a taxi strike hits New York, an executive decision to stop surge pricing completely backfires and larger undercurrents involve racial elements. Gurley and Huffington have an intense phone conversation, in a split window format, with their actual feelings toward each other displayed in the form of subtitles, while they are having a diplomatic conversation. Michael gets fired as COO by the Uber board members. The two key events that led to his fall included the press event and an escort karaoke bar excursion in Seoul, South Korea. - Episode 7: Gurley and Kalanick go head-on in a last-ditch battle to save the ride-sharing app. The Greyball incident finally leaks to the media. Gurley along with other Uber investors come up with a plan to save the company that relates to Kalanick stepping down voluntarily from the position of CEO. This actually turns ugly as Kalanick, at the first offer, completely shrugs off the proposal. However, when he sees sand shifting beneath his feet, tries to cajole other investors to side with him during the voting process.
Before the ultimatum is served to Kalanick, he is still hopeful about saving his position at the company and thus goes on a hunt for a “loyal CFO”.
Key Characters
The series features a wide range of characters who played important roles in the history of Uber. Here is a brief summary of some of them:
- Travis Kalanick: Co-founded Uber in 2009 and served as CEO until 2017, when he resigned amid a series of scandals and controversies. During his time at the helm of Uber, Kalanick was known for his controversial and aggressive leadership style, and often abrasive personality, as well as his unapologetic pursuit of growth, which often put him at odds with regulators, competitors, and even his own employees.
- Ryan Graves: The first employee of Uber, who played an important role in the company’s early growth and later served as CEO for a brief period from 2010 to 2011. He later served as Uber’s SVP of global operations until 2017.
- Arianna Huffington: A Greek-American journalist and author who is best known as the co-founder of the Huffington Post, a popular news and opinion website. She served as a close friend and coach to Travis for several years, and joined Uber’s board of directors in 2016, but resigned a year later amid controversy surrounding the company’s culture and management practices.
- Susan Fowler: A software engineer and author who gained widespread attention in 2017 when she wrote a blog post detailing her experiences of toxic culture, sexism, harassment, and retaliation while working at Uber. Fowler’s post helped spark a wider conversation about the treatment of women in the tech industry and led to significant changes at Uber and other companies.
- Bill Gurley: A legendary venture capitalist whose career spans four decades. He is partner at the VC firm Benchmark, which was one of Uber’s earliest investors. Gurley played an important role in shaping Uber’s growth strategy and was a vocal advocate for the company’s aggressive expansion plans, which ultimately helped it become one of the most valuable startups in history.
Key Lessons
“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” offers several valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. Here are a few key takeaways:
- Culture matters
The series highlights the importance of creating a positive and inclusive culture within a company. Uber’s early success was fueled in part by its “hustle” culture, which emphasized aggressive growth and a willingness to break rules. However, this culture also contributed to a toxic and sexist work environment that ultimately harmed the company. Aspiring entrepreneurs should prioritize building a culture that values collaboration, diversity, transparency, and accountability from day one. - Leadership is key
The series demonstrates how the actions of a company’s leaders can have a profound impact on its success or failure. Travis Kalanick’s leadership style played a major role in shaping Uber’s culture and strategy, but his controversial decisions and behavior ultimately led to his downfall. Aspiring entrepreneurs should focus on developing strong leadership skills, exert confidence while also being willing to admit mistakes, and surround themselves with a team of trusted advisors and mentors. - Innovation can disrupt industries
Uber’s success is a prime example of how innovation can disrupt established industries and create new markets. The series explores how Uber’s early adoption of technology, data analytics, and mobile platforms allowed it to disrupt the traditional taxi industry and create a new model for transportation. Aspiring entrepreneurs should look for opportunities to innovate and disrupt existing industries, while also being mindful of the potential social and ethical implications of their actions. - Be prepared for setbacks and challenges
The series also highlights the many setbacks and challenges that Uber faced on its path to success, including regulatory hurdles, lawsuits, and public relations crises. Aspiring entrepreneurs should be prepared for these types of challenges, develop resilience and have a plan in place for how to respond to them, and if a plan does not exist be agile and nimble enough to quickly make one. This may include building strong relationships with stakeholders, investing in risk management strategies, and being transparent and honest with customers and employees.
Ultimately, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Über” is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the potential pitfalls of the Silicon Valley startup culture. It is a must-watch for anyone interested in the tech industry, entrepreneurship or the future of business.
Watch the trailer for the series below
If you liked the series “The Playlist: the Story of Spotify” on Netflix, you will mostly likely enjoy this one as well.
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