THE PARAGON

Chapter 5: HELL'S BELLS

Uber had become unstoppable.

The company was expanding across continents. Investors were massively pouring in. Every city Uber chose to enter became another battlefield, with the competitors scrambling to keep up. But somewhere along the way, something was dragging the conquest.

The man who had built Uber through obsession, aggression and refusal to lose, was beginning to discover that the very qualities that made him untouchable were now turning into his greatest liabilities.

The empire was growing. Unfortunately, the gruesomeness in him was growing too.

Kalanick's notoriety had been off the charts for recklessness, arrogance and his undermining nature. The reputation that took almost a decade to build was deteriorating rapidly. His ruthless attitude towards employees, customers, competitors and even the drivers was no longer admirable, as he had outgrown to be a feared boss, rather than being admired.

Bill Gurley, one of his earliest and strongest supporters during the struggle days of Uber, was frustrated by his reckless corporate spending and his tendency to override senior executives, including the company's chief financial and legal advisors, to make abhorrent decisions.

The traces of warning signs were everywhere. Yet, Travis wasn't bothered at all!

The relentless pressure inside Uber was escalating. Employees were expected to work extra shifts round the clock, sacrificing sleep, personal time and sometimes, even their moral boundaries. Conference calls bumped into the calendars almost every hour of the office, especially at night hours, and heck, it was harder than ever to survive as an employee in the company.

And the extra compensation assurance? That was way out of the league. Yet, those who sacrificed their everything just for the company, were the best ones in the eyes of Travis, but just for an ephemeral celebration. Travis had almost a negligible admiration for their hard-fought efforts, as the work culture in the company had fallen to an unimaginable measure.

Teams fought against one another. Executives lingered for power. The company's prestige was getting darker than ever. Travis's decision to advance the company was swiftly upheld, but in the wrong direction. In fact, the internal turmoil spread so fast that no one was capable of stopping the outrage.

Uber was now facing major allegations of industrial espionage tactics against competitors and regulators, which Travis had authorized. Another grave blunder that pulled the company into a controversy was Greyball program, a blacklisting tool that could identify and restrict access to the Uber service for certain individuals who attempted to investigate the company, or enforce regulations against it. At the same time, Uber was accused of developing and using systems designed to identify Lyft drivers who were driving Uber too.

The company that was once built on trust and convenience, had now developed into a surveillant, operating like a secret spy. However, Travis was not shaken a bit. Determined to maintain absolute control over the company's board of directors, he once told Tim Cook of Apple, that he intentionally structured and handpicked the board members so that he could "do what he wanted!"

Travis had no filters. Neither did he care about his employee's concerns, nor did he sympathize with public sentiments, or whatsoever.

One time, during an interview, he abruptly joked that the company should be called "Boob-er", because of the attention he was getting from women, only to get heavily criticized for his toxic masculine statement later on.

"t**s on Travis" was a fairly popular phrase at Uber, as the company executives were reported to make strip club visits to corporate accounts, jokingly referring to them as "t**s on Travis."

Travis was a work-hard, party-harder guy. Often surrounded by controversy for his dreadful acts, Travis, along with a few senior executives, were once denounced by a female Uber employee, where she reported s****l misconduct in a karaoke bar that featured escorts during their visit to Seoul in 2014.

This incident raised grave concerns about the integrity of senior leadership in Uber, and whether the company was willing to hold the architects of the scandal accountable.

By late 2016, Uber's internal research revealed something ironic.

Customers loved the ride-sharing service, although they had a prejudice against the man behind the service. Despite becoming a transportation giant, Uber had failed to comply with the demand made by Uber drivers: the ability to receive tips through the app.

But Travis resisted. He argued that tipping would interfere with Uber's "frictionless" payment experience. Compared to Lyft, one of the competitors of Uber that granted in-app tipping, Uber looked much colder and ruthless in driver's perspectives.

Things took off, as he openly negotiated to appoint three board members at his discretion in 2016. The message was clear by now. Travis was the sole decision maker at Uber. The press labeled Uber as "Bro Culture"; a forceful and abrasive environment surrounded by toxic masculinity, bullying, harassment and misogyny. While every transportation victory belonged to Uber, every controversy targeted Travis, acclaiming him as a controversial figure.

Then, the dam finally broke in 2017.

A former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, published a devastating article highlighting her tenure at the company, where she accused Uber's work culture as highly discriminative and abusive. Cases of s****l harassment and misogyny were the top concerns in her report. The story outspread rapidly, forcing the company to confront allegations that had long been whispered behind closed doors, before the unprecedented event broke out.

While the whole world was watching, Travis responded by launching an investigation led by Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran from Covington & Burling. To his amusement, the investigation turned out to be a major setback for Uber, as more than 20 employees were fired immediately for workplace misconduct. Another twist and turn, the Holder report recommended changes, including HR restructuring, enhancing accountability, and reducing some of Travis's responsibilities too.

That same month, a newly hired SVP of engineering named Amit Singhal, resigned after reports claimed that he failed to disclose s****l harassment allegations during his tenure at Google. The scandals were piling up, one after the other. Then came another disturbing buzz.

In 2014, an Uber passenger was r***d by her driver in Delhi, following brutal assaults and death threats. Though the driver was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, reports revealed that Eric Alexander, Uber's Business Head for the Asia-Pacific region at that time, had obtained the victim's confidential medical records. Her private medical information had become a part of internal discussion, with speculation that the r**e might have been a part of a conspiracy involving Uber's Indian rival, Ola.

The news escalated in no time. Denying his involvement, Travis ordered a separate investigation regarding the mishandling of medical files, and how they had been obtained.

Alexander was fired immediately. Nevertheless, the damage was done. Uber was drowning in controversies, s****l harassment claims, abusive misconduct, discrimination, and what not.

Travis was slowly realizing that his demeanor was grappling him with darkness.

But Travis was Travis. No one could make him surrender against his willingness. Still defiant, he kept on fighting the down storms that did their best to take him down. Nevertheless, he was not to be shaken from the higher ground.

To his bad luck, he fell into another controversy shortly after. This time it was critical.

A driver named Fawzi Kamel, who had been driving Uber Black for more than 6 years, made a recording on his dashcam inside the vehicle, as he found out that the CEO of Uber had coincidentally booked his vehicle for a ride.

"I lost $97,000 because of you. I am bankrupt because of you!"

Travis was speechless. The words of derision hung in the air. Little did he know; the conversation was about to get heated. With a mild temperament, he pushed back and debated with the driver. But this time, it was not as easy as he thought.

The driver kept on accusing Travis of his financial destruction, and how his volatile decisions on illicitly modifying the economics of Uber, and on top of that, how the lower fares had ruptured the entire ride-sharing service. The driver's aggression was natural. As a working-class hero, he took out every grudge on Travis, before Travis revealed his true nature.

Bullshitting the driver's claims, Travis bombed a harsh statement into his face.

"Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own s**t!"

The driver shook. Ending the 6-minute-long exchange, Travis conferred a sly "Good Luck!", before slamming the door to exit.

Over the night, the video became an internet sensation. Travis was now hated in every street, every city, and every corner. Before he could even comprehend, the damage was so fatal that he had to publicly apologize to the people. However paramount he felt he was, the severe backlash from the public proved that they were the real Kings of the streets.

"I am a terrible person. To say that I am ashamed, is an extreme understatement. I must fundamentally change as a leader, and grow up."



The problem wasn't Uber. It was the malicious culture prevailing inside the company. And that culture, hailed Travis as the ultimate leader.