Super Pumped (2022) s01e03 Episode Script
War
Previously, on
"Super Pumped"
He's just gonna see
a guy in his lame jeans
and these fucking shoes.
Yeah, he'll see
you're a dung-colored man.
Your ideas will matter.
Not your clothes.
- He'll see that.
- Grow or die.
- Full access card?
- You come and go
at Uber cab as you please.
- One of us?
- Full access.
Nice.
Boom! You just got
grey-balled, motherfucker!
Is this illegal?
VCs have a purpose other
than just writing a check.
I have a purpose.
Advising, vision shaping.
Really? You're not owed
anything except a return,
which I will give you.
I'm the one who put you in here,
I'm the one
who can take you out, too.
I say we keep
Bill close for now.
But you keep
doing what you're doing.
We're killing it.
- TK, this is
- Gabi Holzwarth.
- What did you say to her?
- I told her she needed to meet
the next Jeff Bezos.
Hi, what made you choose Lyft
instead of Uber?
It's so much cheaper,
and the drivers
are super friendly.
We make more money.
And we get tips.
These motherfuckers.
They're stealing all my shit!
Oh, we're going to fucking war.
SUPERPUMPED THE BATTLE FOR UBER
Season 01 Episode 03.
Episode Title: "War"
Aired on: March 13, 2022.
We had 93% of the market
on lock.
We invented this shit.
But now, look at heaven.
Look at what it's telling us.
Our first-mover advantage
is dimming.
And what's taking it?
Lyft.
John fucking Zimmer?
This guy's been drafting on our
speed the whole Tour de France.
He's always been behind us,
and now he's gonna pretend
like he's winning?
I'm the one in the yellow
fucking jersey.
We need to just knock
these assholes off the road.
Are the drivers
the assholes or?
Lyft, fucker. Lyft.
I am being cucked now.
What are we doing about it?
Well, the drivers
like the optionality.
We can't stop
our guys from double-apping
and driving for both.
We should just buy Lyft.
Absorb them.
We don't have
the war chest for that.
- Okay, let's get it.
- Look, who cares
about John Zimmer's
little rideshare company?
You've got a powerful brand.
Build it.
Keep your focus on that.
Stop obsessing over Lyft.
You know, Bill,
I get your point.
But we are in the war room
right now.
And it seems none
of you guys want to go to war,
but that's what this is.
And you don't get it done
with milk and cookies.
You're quoting
Bobby Knight at me?
- Nice.
- Look, you are so fucking good,
but this isn't zero-sum
like a basketball game is.
That's exactly what it is.
Uber right now
is like Google was
at the dawn of search.
One entrant in a crowded pool.
What did Google do?
They flattened
their competitors,
and now they're fucking Google.
Google did it by being better,
not by being Al Capone.
"Don't be evil" ring a bell?
Yeah. Tell that to AltaVista.
It's funny you say Capone,
though.
I remember my parents
never wanted to get us cable
because they thought
we were just, like,
watching MTV all day
or something.
But then eventually they caved
when I was, like, seven.
And the first weekend we had it,
my dad found The Untouchables,
because he thought it was like
history or something.
Because, you know, it is.
Okay, right, so my
My dad and Cory and me
were sitting there
watching this, like,
history lesson.
I'd have started you
on The Dirty Dozen,
like my dad did me, but sure.
Okay, but De Niro as Capone.
That banquet scene with the bat.
Capone was just like, walking
talking, and then bam!
Fucking brains that guy.
That shit changed me.
I felt like my skull
that just got hit with a bat.
I couldn't sleep for, like,
a week.
I felt horrible for the guy.
I mean,
he just gets brained at dinner.
But I saw the point.
He had it coming.
Uh, I don't know if he did.
That's not important.
The point is, that shit worked.
You crack a guy's cranium open
between the soup
and the fish dish?
You know, you make
an example of somebody,
people start to fall in line.
That is what needs
to happen here.
Just to clarify,
you want to beat the drivers
into submission?
I want to win.
And disloyalty,
however it shows its face,
that needs to be punished.
Well, we're not the Mob, though.
Okay, but if you don't want to
own this whole fucking business,
like it's prohibition and we're
the only ones making gin,
then why are we here?
You threatened them
with a baseball bat?
No, not them exactly.
It was a meta
What I'm saying is,
sometimes fear works.
Not that it I don't know.
I don't know what I'm saying.
You make me nervous.
No, I don't,
but it's a good line.
Every once in a while.
So tell me about the violin.
I guess I didn't know
that I really wanted
to play at first.
It felt like homework.
And eventually,
it became my best friend.
Plus, playing, you burn almost
200 calories an hour.
Is that right?
What else do I need
to know about you?
Maybe that I'm surprised
that we're here together.
When we met,
we spoke so briefly.
I didn't know what you thought.
I was surprised
when you came and found me
playing at the farmer's market.
No, you weren't.
But it's a good line.
- Every once in a while.
- Uh-huh.
Here you are.
Thank you.
So, what do you play
to burn off the best meal
in the Bay Area?
"Sibelius," probably.
The concerto in D minor
if we're having dessert.
Okay, hold on,
I need the full download
on everything
I need to listen to
so I can know how great you are.
Thank God for Ek.
Ek?
Yeah. Ek is a founder, like me.
I actually tried to crack
this space with the company,
but Ek did it.
It's Spotify.
See, look, you just, uh,
put in everything there
that I need to listen to.
I can tell you're thinking hard.
It's important.
What are you doing?
I'm just putting in a code
to give you free Uber.
I prefer Lyft.
Careful.
Come on in.
Sorry, I've, uh,
sort of been in work mode.
I've seen worse.
I call this place my Jam Pad.
I think I'll kiss you anyway.
Portrait of a man at war.
Yeah, that's great. Nice.
Well, I'm not at war.
I'm sitting in
a booth somewhere
telling you about this guy
who is, in fact,
very much at fucking war.
Are we doing it?
We're doing it.
They say good wars,
winnable ones,
are fought on a single front.
But what if you have to win
on all the fucking fronts?
New plan. We're gonna step up
the information technology
on our drivers.
You mean surveillance.
We don't have to use words
like that.
- Hello.
- Hey, there.
So, uh, you like driving?
It's a good way to meet people.
Yeah, I bet.
And, uh, San Francisco,
you probably get
a lot of crazies, huh?
You think we can modify
having to figure out
who the double-appers are?
Snoop around
in our drivers' phones,
see if they ever used
the Lyft app.
Might be doable.
Might cross the line.
Might be a good time to consider
the business you've chosen.
And what if it's not
a finite war,
but a forever war?
Well, then you do
what you have to,
and anyone calls you out
on the morality,
that motherfucker
is either a child, an enemy,
or a fucking traitor.
So I see you have both logos
and both apps.
But you're not more
of a Lyft guy, are you?
Just asking, because I happen
to know that Uber
has some very special incentives
coming online right now.
Okay, okay, hold on.
- Halas.
- You quit?
I quit Lyft.
The bonuses Uber is offering,
you have no idea.
We are thrilled to have you
exclusive to Uber.
- Twenty dollars a mile?
- Yeah.
And the price for the rider
stays the same.
We just appreciate your loyalty.
And, uh, tell all your friends,
okay?
So they are
just giving away money?
No, no, no, habiti.
They're giving away money to us.
It's very different.
Fucking work-life balance.
If I hear those
three words again
- What's up?
- We can find them now,
the double-appers.
Pretty soon, anyway.
We won't have to go one by one
from the field.
We can do it all from here.
And they'll never know
we're scanning their phones?
Hold on, well,
if we can get in their phones,
we can turn on the mics
and the cameras.
We can find out
who's taking Lyft?
Can.
Not sure I'd want
to see what happens
in the back of those cars.
- She's the prettier one.
- Yeah, I know.
Look, I can't help it.
You are insecure
about this shit.
What am I supposed to say?
No, you look like shit
in that bikini?
Oh, it's all right.
It's all right.
Sometimes I wish you were dead.
Great. Fucking wonder
You know what?
Sometimes,
I wish I was dead too.
Dude!
Whoa, shake that thing now.
- Shake that thing.
- Baby, shake that thing now.
Shake that thing
Baby, shake that thing
Austin sent out street teams to
request and cancel Lyft rides,
which peels off
some of the drivers.
Now, this is the same idea,
just less analog.
Let's go. By the way,
did she move to the regulators?
Yep.
So now you got your espionage
with a solid helping
of clandestine attacks.
And then, of course,
you've got your frontal attack.
- Miss Geidt.
- My team took 20 Lyft rides
over the past 24 hours,
which means we got in the back
of Class C licensed vehicles,
driven by regular
old civilians for Lyft.
Well, unless you were
forced by gunpoint, I don't
Just wondering when you're gonna
start enforcing the law.
We are monitoring the situation
very closely.
Yeah, I can tell.
The thing is, we care too much
about passenger safety
to let Betty the soccer mom
turn her Prius into a cab
to pay for her Vicodin habit,
but you've got us
considering it.
Well, I will certainly alert
the soccer moms ASAP.
Though I have a feeling
the drivers aren't
the middle-aged,
drug-addled dilettantes
you're conjuring,
but more the working poor
who are busting their heinies
hustling to fill in the blanks
so that maybe they can get
a decent meal for their kids.
Not so much to buy
a few more Norcos.
This goes one of two ways.
You start enforcing the laws
on Lyft,
or we have justification
to break those same laws.
And once we start,
we won't stop like Lestat
after a taste of blood,
or teenage boys with YouPorn.
Do me a favor.
Wait five minutes before
you call Zimmer to tell him.
So now they know
you're after them,
and that you have
your forces mobilizing.
Wars are expensive,
and this one's no different.
These driver incentives
are getting very pricey.
- You're still with me on this?
- In theory, absolutely.
It'd be damn nice
to take out Lyft.
But in practice,
we may be financing something
that only ends
in a bloody stalemate.
We think it's time for a raise
round to fill the coffers.
- A road show.
- Oh, no, no.
I need to be at the conn,
not out begging for capital
- we don't actively need.
- Show him the list.
We raise enough money
to actually beat Lyft
instead of pissing away money
pissing them off.
Kleiner, Excel,
TPG and Greylock.
This is a little anemic,
don't you think?
No.
That is spinach
and prime USDA beef right there.
$350 million on the table
if you close all those.
What about Google Ventures?
Well, they haven't raised
their hand yet.
Well, make them
raise their hand.
That's your special talent
right? You're Bill Gurley.
Truth is, I don't want them to.
Not at the moment yet.
I do.
David Drummond and Google
Ventures rolls in?
Come on, we're minted. That
sends a message to the valley.
The whole business world.
That we're special.
That we're not Lyft.
Here's how Google rolls.
They're going to insist
on being your lead investor
on the first round.
They'll limit their spend
to $100 million tops.
That's all they'll shoot
their first hand.
Stops everyone else
from going beyond that.
They will bigfoot you,
they will lowball you,
and you'll be screwed.
You ever been to a rodeo?
Went to a pie-eating contest
once.
I got messy and sick, but I won.
Yeah, well, at a rodeo,
all the young riders,
they always want to climb
onto the rankest bull
to, you know, prove themselves,
but it's best to get yourself
seasoned first,
because bull's always
gonna be there.
But you ride too soon,
you might not be.
And if I finish the ride
and I win the big shiny
belt buckle,
then I'm a legend, right?
So I'm not seeing the downside.
Word gets around
that they turned you down.
It will snuff a lot
of possibilities, Travis.
TPG, others on that list.
It starts a trend.
And word always gets around.
Pretty good list, TK.
And you know we'll kill it.
All right, fine. Road show.
Let's book it.
All right then.
Open it.
What is this?
Oh, shit.
What what made you do this?
You said that
you're doing a road show,
so you got to look, you know
Yeah.
So I'm not a dun-colored mare?
It's, uh, Salinger.
Oh, I didn't like
Catcher in the Rye.
It was overrated to me,
so I skipped the others.
Worth it?
Uh, yeah.
I mean, I guess.
But thank you so much
for the shoes.
It's so sweet of you.
You're welcome.
Hey.
Hey. You okay?
Yeah, you know,
you left these Polaroids
from the Tahoe trip?
Yeah. You can keep them
if you want.
Okay, well
also, they're here
if you want them.
It's a pretty awesome trip.
You called to talk
about traveling?
We're doing a road show.
Or I said I would do it,
but I think I could
probably walk it back.
Why would you?
Zimmer's gonna find out
about it,
and he'll know I need money
to beat him.
It just feels weak.
You don't like asking for money,
because it makes you feel needy.
And you don't want to need
anything from anybody.
But tell yourself this.
Soon enough, you'll never have
to ask for anything ever again.
And you know when that is.
After this round,
this meeting, this money close.
Yeah, I can't wait for that.
This is your ticket.
And it's not a scratch-off.
You already have the magic
numbers in your head.
You know what to fill out.
But you need to get
the guy to hand it to you.
Yeah, exactly.
See? As usual.
Exactly.
How are you?
New place okay?
Yeah, it's great.
Uh, would have loved
something a little bigger.
Wow, subtle.
What?
I don't know, you're telling me
to convince people
to put money into Uber,
but then you want me
to take money out of Uber
and sell some of my shares
so I can pay you.
Don't. Fucking don't.
I'm just saying look, you
You told me to stay here.
You said you wanted
to find a new spot.
- You said you would buy me out.
- I will.
Okay, so stop accusing me
of being some kind of Valkyrie.
I should go.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
You're gonna leave it like that?
Do you want
to consider for a second
you just got into my head
right now?
You're like Lancaster Dodd
from the fucking Master.
Travis, you're no Freddie Quell.
You can handle this
without making yourself
a torpedo juice cocktail.
- Okay, fine.
- Hey
you're going to be great
at this.
I promise.
You can do this.
Thank you.
Here you go, guys.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Here.
Kalanick, right?
Emil Michael.
And you guys are?
InfoVis.
Never heard of it.
B2B.
Crowd analytics.
Hasn't been a great run for us.
That's really surprising given
the confidence you're emanating.
You probably walk in,
and they hand you a check.
Usually.
You didn't do your homework,
Travis.
- All I do is homework. Come on.
- Regulators, taxicab commissions
are gonna do all they can
to shut you down.
There's not gonna be a problem.
You know I'm a survivor.
At Swoosh you almost
did not survive, man.
- That was ahead of its time.
- I looked at your projections.
You have to spend at least five
times more marketing
just to have anybody
know who you are.
I'm gonna raise all that.
That's gonna be fun.
Yeah, you know how much
fucking money
you're going to have to raise?
You know my rule.
We went through this in
Red Swoosh over and over again.
I am not going to invest in a
company where you have to raise
hundreds of millions of dollars
to do tens of millions
of dollars in revenues.
Bro, we are going to be making
billions of dollars.
This idea is much bigger
than Red Swoosh.
- You know that.
- Billions in revenues, maybe.
But you're going to have
to spend billions of dollars
to get there,
and I'll get diluted to nothing.
I don't what's the point
of making an investment
in a company where I put in
a lot of money,
and I end up with zip?
If you pass on this right now,
I'm never coming back to you.
Guess what, Travis. I just did.
Hello, InfoVis.
We are ready to go.
Please follow me.
I told you we came too early.
Yeah, I don't want to rush
and get sweaty.
Some of these places
got leather seats,
and the leather and the sweat
not a fun combo.
Oh, shit! Sorry.
Travis?
- Zimmer.
- Yeah.
Uh, I know.
But we loved
your campaign that much.
Figure we can't ignore
we're in a dogfight,
might as well lean in.
And the VCs
seem to get it so far.
Yeah, my, uh
My shirt's our closer.
Though I guess technically,
it's your shirt.
So thank you.
Hey, good luck in there.
He's taller than I thought.
I just need to get in your Wi-Fi
and I'll be set.
Travis, Emil, the team and I
are excited you came in.
Yeah, no, I don't think so.
You guys just had
a company in here
I don't even want to be
in the same room with.
I mean, I get it, right?
Companies have to donate
to Republicans and to Democrats
so you're greased in
with whoever wins, but you
you're VCs.
You're supposed to believe in
the company you put money into,
not just protect yourself
in the possibility
you made the wrong call.
So your pitch is we go with you
or Lyft, but not both?
I'm gonna make it easy for you.
We're done here.
Thanks for the water.
Cancel the meetings.
- Which?
- All of them.
That's fucking genius.
That's fucking insane.
You canceled the road show?
- You don't want to do the raise?
- No, no, no. We're doing it.
Bill, look, it's like,
you ever been to a club?
You know, the velvet rope that
makes everyone want to get in?
So I am a club called Unicorn,
and if investors want in,
they got to get in line.
Maybe that stunt
that you pulled
at the VC firm works.
Maybe they want in so bad
they make an offer.
They block out Lyft.
Even so, we still have
to raise the rest.
We're gonna raise the rest,
dude.
We're just gonna do it here.
We're flipping the paradigm.
It's not a road show.
Home show. Home show!
Home show! Come on!
Right?
You're with the insurgents now.
This shouldn't be
fucking with your head.
No, I'm just trying
to figure out
how it is that starving
your own company
is insurgency
and not just a temper tantrum.
- Worked for Gandhi.
- Yeah, well,
when Gandhi made that choice,
he was the one
doing the starving.
Not his investors.
I've tried every fucking thing.
I can't get this class C
bullshit shut down.
Yeah, and Zimmer knows it,
and he's using it.
Every meeting now
someone's asking me,
what does Uber have to do
to get bigger?
Do you have an answer?
It occurs to me
I think we got polite.
We're just using registered
livery drivers, why?
Because it's a fucking rule?
I mean while Lyft
is undercutting us
like they're Costco of livery.
We're disruptors.
We can't be afraid
to disrupt even ourselves.
We open up the business.
Let in civilians,
anybody with a driver's license
can come join the team.
We will crush Lyft
at their own game.
Luxury in an app.
That was the vision always.
And it's a great vision.
Uber is a black car company.
No one wants to ride around
in someone's used Camry.
Are you so sure about that?
This is the last time
this ever happens.
Police walked in
For Jimmy Jazz
I said "He ain't here
But he sure went by".
Oh, you're looking for.
Jimmy Jazz.
Yeah, they said.
Satta Massagana
For Jimmy Dread.
Cut off his ears
And chop off his head.
Police come look for.
Jimmy Jazz.
Jazz, Jazz, Jazz.
So go look.
Wow! Thanks so much, guys.
Have a fantastic night.
Chatty fella.
That's the Lyft UX in action.
You know, you sit up front,
you make a friend.
Yeah, I'm not that lonely yet.
I'm not saying
that it couldn't happen,
but there's nothing cool
about that experience.
Maybe that's not the point.
Are we selling cool,
or selling transportation?
We're selling cool transpo.
Elegant. James fucking Bond.
That's the brand.
Always has been.
TK, it's your call.
I mean, it's your call.
Both.
You go into a department store,
they have that shitty jewelry
on the counter, right?
But the good stuff
is in the glass boxes.
- Two levels of service.
- Exactly, all right.
So you want luxury, you want
cool, you can pay for cool.
But we slide another option
into the app.
Charge 35% less
and call it UberX,
so it still feels cool.
It's always X with you.
Yeah, the X is for "extra sexy."
You would laugh at that.
Dude, you brought me in to grind
on these kinds of calls.
Yeah. That's true.
But I'm still gonna
give you my opinion,
and I expect you
to take it seriously.
And then I'll ride with you
on it.
No matter what you decide.
It's your company, man.
For Garrett?
You know,
I'm hearing Google Ventures
is in the mix this round.
That's weird.
I can't control the rumor mill,
Bill, can I?
That's me.
Once we added the UberX
functionality, boom,
that is driver supply,
that is rider demand.
What part of
"do not disturb" do?
David motherfucking Drummond.
In theory, a top Google lawyer.
In practice, Larry and Sergey's
business brain.
Head of their investment arm,
Google Ventures.
Loved and feared in every
boardroom in Silicon Valley.
A real OG.
And a BFD.
And the one-man TK
set this entire trap for.
Hi. Travis Kalanick.
No shit. I'm in your office.
Sit down.
I don't imagine
you made the drive
all the way from Mountain View
to hear me talk,
so why don't you start?
I'm wondering
who you think you are
telling everyone in my valley
we're in your round.
Aren't you?
Because again,
long drive, David.
Or is it Mr. Drummond?
I'm more of a TK to my friends,
Travis to my enemies,
and a fucking lottery ticket to
anybody who knows what's what.
Breakfast, Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.,
Charlie's Café on the campus.
This is a home show,
not a road show.
You know what?
I can make an exception.
That's cool.
But
I want Larry Page there.
That's a tough get.
I'll see what I can do.
Um, hi.
David fucking Drummond
came into the office today,
and we are going
to the Googleplex on Tuesday.
And Larry Page
is gonna be there!
I feel fucking amazing!
I can see that.
You are my good-luck charm.
Okay. Well, I like that.
Is he coming?
Larry Page, Travis Kalanick,
and Emil Michael.
It's so great to meet you, man.
So, look, I'll admit
when I started Uber,
it was just a way
for me and my buddies
to get around San Francisco
in limos like ballers.
You know, we didn't have
a grand plan.
For a minute.
But then I was forced
to learn to improvise
once it turned out
everybody wanted in.
Has that ever happened to you?
You know, you have an idea
and then it spins
into something else?
Maybe not.
Maybe you just see it all
in front of you
perfectly mapped out,
exactly the way
it'll come to pass.
I don't know, me? I have to stay
open to opportunity
and nimble enough to change,
because here's the thing:
We are not a limo company.
We're a technology company.
But if I had known that
at the start,
I might have never started.
You know, my mom, she says,
"Look before you leap."
But I'm always like, how am I
going to get a good enough view
and decide what's next
if I'm not already up
in the air, you know?
Because I took the leap, right?
Like you guys with Google Maps,
that is a leap.
But you're up in the air,
and you can look, and boom.
Autonomous vehicles, right?
Yeah, you know,
self-driving cars
are very much front of mind.
Still early stages, but
Yeah.
Ooh, you make me live.
Whatever this world
Can give to me.
It's you.
You're all I see.
Ooh, you make me live now
Honey.
Ooh, you make me live.
Oh, you're the best friend.
That I ever had
I've been with you
Such a long time
Look, it'd be easy
for Google Ventures
to just plug some money
into Uber
and walk away and siphon off
some of our success.
But I don't think
that's what you want to do.
I think you want us
to grow together, right?
Like, imagine we could
share data
from all the millions of trips
that Uber runs every day.
Plug that into Google Maps
or anything else
that we want to team up on.
Flying cars.
The numbers.
You aware?
Flying cars?
Move 14% of vehicles currently
on the road to air lanes,
traffic congestion
goes down 82%.
Wow.
That
Your idea?
Uber?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it was.
My partner, Garrett,
he ideated the concept,
but I refined it
and really built it.
Interesting.
How does route planning work?
That's not easy.
That's is that OSRM,
or are you using our APIs?
It's open-source.
Open-source what?
OpenStreetMap, I'm pretty sure.
It's it's really advanced.
We have the best guys on it.
If you say so.
You don't actually write code,
do you, Tyler?
Travis.
Kalanick.
Okay.
Good.
Yeah, we should, you know
You know
Let's do this.
If we come on,
I'll get a board seat.
- An observer's seat.
- A voting seat.
That's a deal-breaker.
The only way I'm giving up
a voting seat is if there's
a spend commensurate
- with the people at this table.
- It's my table.
If Uber weren't the hottest
entrant in transportation space,
I wouldn't be sitting here,
and neither would you.
Look
Amazon is a warehouse company.
We are the everything company.
You revolutionize
transportation,
you revolutionize
urban development,
real estate, the energy sector,
food and hospitality,
trading and shipping.
I mean, this is a lot more
than just how people shop.
This is how they live,
and it's all frictionless,
because that's who we are.
Our brand changes the world,
just like your does.
You got an ask?
Quarter-bil.
The most Google's ever invested
is a hundred million.
I'm willing to talk something
in that ballpark
Talk about
a quarter-billion dollars.
That's the ask.
- Can you believe that?
- That was fucking insane.
Dude, the vibe between
me and Larry was tight.
I'm calling Bill.
Hmm? No, no, no.
Don't don't do that.
Okay, maybe I don't?
I'm running this play without
protection in the pocket.
Fuck.
You went in there
without even telling Bill
and without telling me what
the actual ask was gonna be?
Are you actually in the pocket?
I'm fine.
He's gonna find out.
He's not my dad.
And if we nail a quarter-bil,
then he can apologize.
If we don't, then he can gloat.
You don't actually
have the Google cash.
We might never have it.
You might have completely
blown it with that ask.
I cannot believe
you're not with me on this one.
Dude, the money is coming in
one way or another.
Look at our growth rate.
- Look at our burn rate.
- That's true.
- The incentives are killing us.
- But that's why we buy Lyft,
so we can stop paying these
fucking incentives to the
drivers, because where else
are they gonna go?
Maybe we should
run this by Bill
No, we're not. Don't say "Bill."
We're not running by anything.
No run-bys.
We endgame Lyft, okay?
We get the Google money,
and we end them.
That's it.
Unless you want them nipping
at our heels forever.
Should I have called?
Give me the room.
I love saying that.
David Drummond called.
Called you?
I'm the guy they call.
That's how this works.
When you fuck up, they call me.
When you try to go deep
with Larry Page, they call me.
When you land over
a quarter of a billion dollars
of Google's money, they call me.
Fuck you.
No, thanks. I'm good.
My founder just raised
some serious cash.
- You feeling it?
- Holy shit!
Yes. Holy shit.
I know how to win now.
I know how.
I already set up
the dinner with Zimmer.
Now you can do it.
Okay, then.
We're gonna go in there,
we're gonna scoop up Lyft.
Zimmer is gonna
He's gonna act weird at first.
He's bleeding.
His board's after him.
He knows he's dying,
and he doesn't want to die.
So you're gonna let him know
that you're not going to go to
the press and call him a loser.
And you're gonna treat
his employees with respect
and a seat on the board.
- Okay, I can do that.
- Oh, I know you can,
because a guy marries a woman
with kids,
he has to prove he's not gonna
fuck up her life or theirs.
You get it?
I got it.
Did you say
over a quarter-billion?
Two-fifty-seven.
I guess it's okay if they
bigfoot us now, right, Bill?
It's very fucking okay.
They bought the right.
The legend's always been
the restaurants in Little India
all share the same kitchen.
So you walk down Sixth Street
in New York City,
and every storefront
has a different name.
They have a different collection
of Christmas lights
and different aging menus
taped to the windows,
but it's all a mirage.
You mean like an actual mirage,
or people just can't believe
that all these different
Indian restaurants
share the same kitchen?
Never did find out.
The vindaloo,
it doesn't taste the same
at all those places.
I just I call bullshit.
Yeah, me too. Probably, right?
But maybe
that's the magic of it.
Create the sense of choice
that the customer is engaging
in a decision.
But actually all the money's
flowing back to the same place.
And in this case, that'd be us.
Something like that.
We think you retaining 17%
of the company is a fair deal.
We wanted 25.
We know, Kate.
I can sit with 17.
Board seat as discussed.
Lyft retains its app and staff,
and we can discuss
lightening our C-suite.
We have a few top performers
we'd like to protect.
Eight percent.
You know what I wanted to say?
Here's my final offer: nothing.
Like the Lake Tahoe scene.
I just didn't want you guys
to think I was screwing around.
- Travis.
- So you're serious?
I mean, I also sprung
for the Sam Wo's.
You know, Travis,
sometimes when you put your dick
out on a table,
it doesn't necessarily mean
you have a big one.
It might just mean
you exposed yourself.
You have no fucking idea
how many people assume
that everything
I've accomplished
is somehow to compensate
for everything I'm not.
But you have to know
the whole worth of your company
is predicated on my success.
You're a tapeworm.
I'm the host. You need me.
What, to be on that wall?
I need you on that wall?
You need me to survive.
I understand you feel that way.
This isn't about feelings, man.
This is about facts.
You're shedding six and a half
percent a day
of potential revenue
to us post-UberX.
We're gonna roll out
dynamic pricing.
That number's going to double.
You're going to lose all your
drivers.
More than that, you're going to
lose your customers.
Because they like
your little interface.
But you know
what they like more?
A car that shows up fast,
and you won't be able
to provide it.
He's not putting it
very diplomatically.
His terms are not the ones
I recommended.
But it is true.
Something funny?
You could have walked
out of here tonight
owning the entire
rideshare space.
Like Coke and Pepsi got hitched.
But you're not smart enough.
No, no, that's not it.
You're not sophisticated enough.
You're not cultured enough.
Fuck, you're not human enough.
Sure, you have some savvy.
And, yes, you are good
with numbers.
But you're too much
of a goddamn predatory animal
to take a sure thing
when it comes to you.
I don't know why.
I I don't actually care.
Here's what's gonna happen.
I'm not ever leaving
the rideshare space.
Not now.
I mean, I was ready
to pull back.
But after this, uh-uh.
I will grow, and I will suck
the ever-loving fucking life
out of your company.
And I will outlast you.
And when I do,
when I go public first,
I just want you to remember,
you brought this shit-ton
of bricks down on your own head.
Bill, thanks much.
Well, that was fucking
ridiculous.
I had to take a walk.
I'm sorry you wasted
your evening.
It's fine.
I know it's not.
What are you doing, Bill?
Riding shotgun
with a guy like that?
I saw your face. You had no idea
he was gonna self-immolate
in there tonight.
I'm sorry we couldn't
throw you a lifeline,
but his point's not wrong.
Probably all healthier
if we compete.
Sure.
You got to defend your founder.
Gurley stands behind his man.
But every time
Travis gets a win
you're making him believe
the world owes him that win.
First loss he has,
he's gonna think he's drowning,
and he's gonna stand on
your shoulders to save himself.
He'll push you right under.
John.
Let me know if I can help you
this funding round.
Just, uh, make some quiet calls.
I used to consider you
one of the good ones.
Now I see you've turned
into a jackal like all the rest.
I don't want you
anywhere near my company.
"Google Ventures
is the largest investor,
"with $257.79 million in.
"This round values Uber at
around $3.4 billion pre-money,
$3.76 billion post-money."
This is absolutely
fucking great.
Well, I'm happy to be here.
You going down
to say hello to David?
Yeah, I'm walking now.
Uh, hey, listen,
I was just curious.
When was it that, uh, you guys
decided to tank the Lyft deal
and try to kill them
instead of buying them?
There wasn't a specific
internal discussion.
Well, I mean, did you, uh?
Did you lose my phone number
for a while,
or you forget how to dial?
We had a relationship
when you put me in, for sure.
And we still have one now.
It's different, though.
It has to be.
Now, I know that.
You know that.
Why don't we just enjoy
his success, Bill?
It's all to our benefit.
Alright, take care of your mom.
What time is your flight?
Tomorrow morning at 8:00.
You finally left Rex alone
to shoot around out there, huh?
I was just trying to impart
something about the game
to our guy
before I leave tomorrow.
Not just about the game.
I tell you what,
I hope he listens to his coaches
better than he does to me,
because he tunes me out
like an old radio dial.
Because you play D1,
which he has to ignore,
or it'll be too hard
to keep going.
You always say a good coach
finds a way to cut through.
Either gets loud or quiet,
or finds an angle
until he's heard.
I'm kind of sucking
at that lately.
Say the rest.
The thing you don't want to.
Uber scored huge
in this last round.
Massive.
And you're mad? Why?
Sounds like you did good.
Because his wins are his,
and his losses, his sins,
are all of ours.
And he won't listen.
Ah, you know,
I can't protect him.
I
I stood up for him.
A smart guy,
a guy I greatly respect.
He looked me right in the eye,
right in the soul,
and he told me
exactly what he saw.
There's nothing.
Well, if Travis won't let you
protect him,
then that's on him, not you.
Or is this about the money?
No.
A little.
A lot.
At the end of this run,
it's the one that
It's the one that pays
for all the others.
It's the one that makes it
so we nev
Ever have to think
about money again.
Oh, I don't think
about it much now.
And I rarely heard you talk
about it until this
This idea of changing
the family tree seemed possible.
Meaning I'm fine
just the way we are.
But what if you got the money
out of your head
and made the right decision?
For the guy? For the team?
For everyone
who deals with them?
Because if you don't,
I don't want to see you
carrying that around.
Hey, Bill, they should have
water out there for us.
But you want
anything else to drink?
- You want a soda or something?
- Water sounds just fine.
- Thanks, Mike.
- How about any, uh,
specific questions
you want me to ask you?
I think whatever you throw out
at me will be fine, yeah.
TK, Gurley's panel's up.
Oh, yeah.
Think I mentioned the raise.
All right, it's about that time.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
- All right, let's do it.
You know, uh,
come to think of it, uh, Mike
yeah, there is.
Bill, I got one
last question for you.
Do you think we're in
a tech bubble?
I think that we're in
a risk bubble.
Uh, especially with these, uh
these so-called unicorns.
Except for your one
true unicorn, right, Bill?
We've flushed an excessive
amount of money onto them,
and they, uh
Well, a lot of them,
including some favorites of mine
are, uh, acting, uh
irrationally.
Warren Buffett has a
Has a great saying.
"Be fearful
when others are greedy,
and be greedy
when others are fearful."
I'm not here to accuse anyone
of being greedy.
But there is nowhere near
enough fear
in Silicon Valley right now.
And I think you will see
some dead unicorns this year.
There you have it,
ladies and gentlemen.
Bill Gurley.
What the fuck was that?
"Dead unicorns." What, is he
sending a coded fucking message?
Okay, we just raised
a crazy successful round.
We basically destroyed
our nearest rival,
and that's his fucking response?
I guess it was.
All right, he wants to play
with fucking baseball bats.
Let's play with bats.
Penny, I need a sit-down
with Bill Gurley
as soon as he is fucking back.
And get me building security.
Shit.
"Super Pumped"
He's just gonna see
a guy in his lame jeans
and these fucking shoes.
Yeah, he'll see
you're a dung-colored man.
Your ideas will matter.
Not your clothes.
- He'll see that.
- Grow or die.
- Full access card?
- You come and go
at Uber cab as you please.
- One of us?
- Full access.
Nice.
Boom! You just got
grey-balled, motherfucker!
Is this illegal?
VCs have a purpose other
than just writing a check.
I have a purpose.
Advising, vision shaping.
Really? You're not owed
anything except a return,
which I will give you.
I'm the one who put you in here,
I'm the one
who can take you out, too.
I say we keep
Bill close for now.
But you keep
doing what you're doing.
We're killing it.
- TK, this is
- Gabi Holzwarth.
- What did you say to her?
- I told her she needed to meet
the next Jeff Bezos.
Hi, what made you choose Lyft
instead of Uber?
It's so much cheaper,
and the drivers
are super friendly.
We make more money.
And we get tips.
These motherfuckers.
They're stealing all my shit!
Oh, we're going to fucking war.
SUPERPUMPED THE BATTLE FOR UBER
Season 01 Episode 03.
Episode Title: "War"
Aired on: March 13, 2022.
We had 93% of the market
on lock.
We invented this shit.
But now, look at heaven.
Look at what it's telling us.
Our first-mover advantage
is dimming.
And what's taking it?
Lyft.
John fucking Zimmer?
This guy's been drafting on our
speed the whole Tour de France.
He's always been behind us,
and now he's gonna pretend
like he's winning?
I'm the one in the yellow
fucking jersey.
We need to just knock
these assholes off the road.
Are the drivers
the assholes or?
Lyft, fucker. Lyft.
I am being cucked now.
What are we doing about it?
Well, the drivers
like the optionality.
We can't stop
our guys from double-apping
and driving for both.
We should just buy Lyft.
Absorb them.
We don't have
the war chest for that.
- Okay, let's get it.
- Look, who cares
about John Zimmer's
little rideshare company?
You've got a powerful brand.
Build it.
Keep your focus on that.
Stop obsessing over Lyft.
You know, Bill,
I get your point.
But we are in the war room
right now.
And it seems none
of you guys want to go to war,
but that's what this is.
And you don't get it done
with milk and cookies.
You're quoting
Bobby Knight at me?
- Nice.
- Look, you are so fucking good,
but this isn't zero-sum
like a basketball game is.
That's exactly what it is.
Uber right now
is like Google was
at the dawn of search.
One entrant in a crowded pool.
What did Google do?
They flattened
their competitors,
and now they're fucking Google.
Google did it by being better,
not by being Al Capone.
"Don't be evil" ring a bell?
Yeah. Tell that to AltaVista.
It's funny you say Capone,
though.
I remember my parents
never wanted to get us cable
because they thought
we were just, like,
watching MTV all day
or something.
But then eventually they caved
when I was, like, seven.
And the first weekend we had it,
my dad found The Untouchables,
because he thought it was like
history or something.
Because, you know, it is.
Okay, right, so my
My dad and Cory and me
were sitting there
watching this, like,
history lesson.
I'd have started you
on The Dirty Dozen,
like my dad did me, but sure.
Okay, but De Niro as Capone.
That banquet scene with the bat.
Capone was just like, walking
talking, and then bam!
Fucking brains that guy.
That shit changed me.
I felt like my skull
that just got hit with a bat.
I couldn't sleep for, like,
a week.
I felt horrible for the guy.
I mean,
he just gets brained at dinner.
But I saw the point.
He had it coming.
Uh, I don't know if he did.
That's not important.
The point is, that shit worked.
You crack a guy's cranium open
between the soup
and the fish dish?
You know, you make
an example of somebody,
people start to fall in line.
That is what needs
to happen here.
Just to clarify,
you want to beat the drivers
into submission?
I want to win.
And disloyalty,
however it shows its face,
that needs to be punished.
Well, we're not the Mob, though.
Okay, but if you don't want to
own this whole fucking business,
like it's prohibition and we're
the only ones making gin,
then why are we here?
You threatened them
with a baseball bat?
No, not them exactly.
It was a meta
What I'm saying is,
sometimes fear works.
Not that it I don't know.
I don't know what I'm saying.
You make me nervous.
No, I don't,
but it's a good line.
Every once in a while.
So tell me about the violin.
I guess I didn't know
that I really wanted
to play at first.
It felt like homework.
And eventually,
it became my best friend.
Plus, playing, you burn almost
200 calories an hour.
Is that right?
What else do I need
to know about you?
Maybe that I'm surprised
that we're here together.
When we met,
we spoke so briefly.
I didn't know what you thought.
I was surprised
when you came and found me
playing at the farmer's market.
No, you weren't.
But it's a good line.
- Every once in a while.
- Uh-huh.
Here you are.
Thank you.
So, what do you play
to burn off the best meal
in the Bay Area?
"Sibelius," probably.
The concerto in D minor
if we're having dessert.
Okay, hold on,
I need the full download
on everything
I need to listen to
so I can know how great you are.
Thank God for Ek.
Ek?
Yeah. Ek is a founder, like me.
I actually tried to crack
this space with the company,
but Ek did it.
It's Spotify.
See, look, you just, uh,
put in everything there
that I need to listen to.
I can tell you're thinking hard.
It's important.
What are you doing?
I'm just putting in a code
to give you free Uber.
I prefer Lyft.
Careful.
Come on in.
Sorry, I've, uh,
sort of been in work mode.
I've seen worse.
I call this place my Jam Pad.
I think I'll kiss you anyway.
Portrait of a man at war.
Yeah, that's great. Nice.
Well, I'm not at war.
I'm sitting in
a booth somewhere
telling you about this guy
who is, in fact,
very much at fucking war.
Are we doing it?
We're doing it.
They say good wars,
winnable ones,
are fought on a single front.
But what if you have to win
on all the fucking fronts?
New plan. We're gonna step up
the information technology
on our drivers.
You mean surveillance.
We don't have to use words
like that.
- Hello.
- Hey, there.
So, uh, you like driving?
It's a good way to meet people.
Yeah, I bet.
And, uh, San Francisco,
you probably get
a lot of crazies, huh?
You think we can modify
having to figure out
who the double-appers are?
Snoop around
in our drivers' phones,
see if they ever used
the Lyft app.
Might be doable.
Might cross the line.
Might be a good time to consider
the business you've chosen.
And what if it's not
a finite war,
but a forever war?
Well, then you do
what you have to,
and anyone calls you out
on the morality,
that motherfucker
is either a child, an enemy,
or a fucking traitor.
So I see you have both logos
and both apps.
But you're not more
of a Lyft guy, are you?
Just asking, because I happen
to know that Uber
has some very special incentives
coming online right now.
Okay, okay, hold on.
- Halas.
- You quit?
I quit Lyft.
The bonuses Uber is offering,
you have no idea.
We are thrilled to have you
exclusive to Uber.
- Twenty dollars a mile?
- Yeah.
And the price for the rider
stays the same.
We just appreciate your loyalty.
And, uh, tell all your friends,
okay?
So they are
just giving away money?
No, no, no, habiti.
They're giving away money to us.
It's very different.
Fucking work-life balance.
If I hear those
three words again
- What's up?
- We can find them now,
the double-appers.
Pretty soon, anyway.
We won't have to go one by one
from the field.
We can do it all from here.
And they'll never know
we're scanning their phones?
Hold on, well,
if we can get in their phones,
we can turn on the mics
and the cameras.
We can find out
who's taking Lyft?
Can.
Not sure I'd want
to see what happens
in the back of those cars.
- She's the prettier one.
- Yeah, I know.
Look, I can't help it.
You are insecure
about this shit.
What am I supposed to say?
No, you look like shit
in that bikini?
Oh, it's all right.
It's all right.
Sometimes I wish you were dead.
Great. Fucking wonder
You know what?
Sometimes,
I wish I was dead too.
Dude!
Whoa, shake that thing now.
- Shake that thing.
- Baby, shake that thing now.
Shake that thing
Baby, shake that thing
Austin sent out street teams to
request and cancel Lyft rides,
which peels off
some of the drivers.
Now, this is the same idea,
just less analog.
Let's go. By the way,
did she move to the regulators?
Yep.
So now you got your espionage
with a solid helping
of clandestine attacks.
And then, of course,
you've got your frontal attack.
- Miss Geidt.
- My team took 20 Lyft rides
over the past 24 hours,
which means we got in the back
of Class C licensed vehicles,
driven by regular
old civilians for Lyft.
Well, unless you were
forced by gunpoint, I don't
Just wondering when you're gonna
start enforcing the law.
We are monitoring the situation
very closely.
Yeah, I can tell.
The thing is, we care too much
about passenger safety
to let Betty the soccer mom
turn her Prius into a cab
to pay for her Vicodin habit,
but you've got us
considering it.
Well, I will certainly alert
the soccer moms ASAP.
Though I have a feeling
the drivers aren't
the middle-aged,
drug-addled dilettantes
you're conjuring,
but more the working poor
who are busting their heinies
hustling to fill in the blanks
so that maybe they can get
a decent meal for their kids.
Not so much to buy
a few more Norcos.
This goes one of two ways.
You start enforcing the laws
on Lyft,
or we have justification
to break those same laws.
And once we start,
we won't stop like Lestat
after a taste of blood,
or teenage boys with YouPorn.
Do me a favor.
Wait five minutes before
you call Zimmer to tell him.
So now they know
you're after them,
and that you have
your forces mobilizing.
Wars are expensive,
and this one's no different.
These driver incentives
are getting very pricey.
- You're still with me on this?
- In theory, absolutely.
It'd be damn nice
to take out Lyft.
But in practice,
we may be financing something
that only ends
in a bloody stalemate.
We think it's time for a raise
round to fill the coffers.
- A road show.
- Oh, no, no.
I need to be at the conn,
not out begging for capital
- we don't actively need.
- Show him the list.
We raise enough money
to actually beat Lyft
instead of pissing away money
pissing them off.
Kleiner, Excel,
TPG and Greylock.
This is a little anemic,
don't you think?
No.
That is spinach
and prime USDA beef right there.
$350 million on the table
if you close all those.
What about Google Ventures?
Well, they haven't raised
their hand yet.
Well, make them
raise their hand.
That's your special talent
right? You're Bill Gurley.
Truth is, I don't want them to.
Not at the moment yet.
I do.
David Drummond and Google
Ventures rolls in?
Come on, we're minted. That
sends a message to the valley.
The whole business world.
That we're special.
That we're not Lyft.
Here's how Google rolls.
They're going to insist
on being your lead investor
on the first round.
They'll limit their spend
to $100 million tops.
That's all they'll shoot
their first hand.
Stops everyone else
from going beyond that.
They will bigfoot you,
they will lowball you,
and you'll be screwed.
You ever been to a rodeo?
Went to a pie-eating contest
once.
I got messy and sick, but I won.
Yeah, well, at a rodeo,
all the young riders,
they always want to climb
onto the rankest bull
to, you know, prove themselves,
but it's best to get yourself
seasoned first,
because bull's always
gonna be there.
But you ride too soon,
you might not be.
And if I finish the ride
and I win the big shiny
belt buckle,
then I'm a legend, right?
So I'm not seeing the downside.
Word gets around
that they turned you down.
It will snuff a lot
of possibilities, Travis.
TPG, others on that list.
It starts a trend.
And word always gets around.
Pretty good list, TK.
And you know we'll kill it.
All right, fine. Road show.
Let's book it.
All right then.
Open it.
What is this?
Oh, shit.
What what made you do this?
You said that
you're doing a road show,
so you got to look, you know
Yeah.
So I'm not a dun-colored mare?
It's, uh, Salinger.
Oh, I didn't like
Catcher in the Rye.
It was overrated to me,
so I skipped the others.
Worth it?
Uh, yeah.
I mean, I guess.
But thank you so much
for the shoes.
It's so sweet of you.
You're welcome.
Hey.
Hey. You okay?
Yeah, you know,
you left these Polaroids
from the Tahoe trip?
Yeah. You can keep them
if you want.
Okay, well
also, they're here
if you want them.
It's a pretty awesome trip.
You called to talk
about traveling?
We're doing a road show.
Or I said I would do it,
but I think I could
probably walk it back.
Why would you?
Zimmer's gonna find out
about it,
and he'll know I need money
to beat him.
It just feels weak.
You don't like asking for money,
because it makes you feel needy.
And you don't want to need
anything from anybody.
But tell yourself this.
Soon enough, you'll never have
to ask for anything ever again.
And you know when that is.
After this round,
this meeting, this money close.
Yeah, I can't wait for that.
This is your ticket.
And it's not a scratch-off.
You already have the magic
numbers in your head.
You know what to fill out.
But you need to get
the guy to hand it to you.
Yeah, exactly.
See? As usual.
Exactly.
How are you?
New place okay?
Yeah, it's great.
Uh, would have loved
something a little bigger.
Wow, subtle.
What?
I don't know, you're telling me
to convince people
to put money into Uber,
but then you want me
to take money out of Uber
and sell some of my shares
so I can pay you.
Don't. Fucking don't.
I'm just saying look, you
You told me to stay here.
You said you wanted
to find a new spot.
- You said you would buy me out.
- I will.
Okay, so stop accusing me
of being some kind of Valkyrie.
I should go.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
You're gonna leave it like that?
Do you want
to consider for a second
you just got into my head
right now?
You're like Lancaster Dodd
from the fucking Master.
Travis, you're no Freddie Quell.
You can handle this
without making yourself
a torpedo juice cocktail.
- Okay, fine.
- Hey
you're going to be great
at this.
I promise.
You can do this.
Thank you.
Here you go, guys.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Here.
Kalanick, right?
Emil Michael.
And you guys are?
InfoVis.
Never heard of it.
B2B.
Crowd analytics.
Hasn't been a great run for us.
That's really surprising given
the confidence you're emanating.
You probably walk in,
and they hand you a check.
Usually.
You didn't do your homework,
Travis.
- All I do is homework. Come on.
- Regulators, taxicab commissions
are gonna do all they can
to shut you down.
There's not gonna be a problem.
You know I'm a survivor.
At Swoosh you almost
did not survive, man.
- That was ahead of its time.
- I looked at your projections.
You have to spend at least five
times more marketing
just to have anybody
know who you are.
I'm gonna raise all that.
That's gonna be fun.
Yeah, you know how much
fucking money
you're going to have to raise?
You know my rule.
We went through this in
Red Swoosh over and over again.
I am not going to invest in a
company where you have to raise
hundreds of millions of dollars
to do tens of millions
of dollars in revenues.
Bro, we are going to be making
billions of dollars.
This idea is much bigger
than Red Swoosh.
- You know that.
- Billions in revenues, maybe.
But you're going to have
to spend billions of dollars
to get there,
and I'll get diluted to nothing.
I don't what's the point
of making an investment
in a company where I put in
a lot of money,
and I end up with zip?
If you pass on this right now,
I'm never coming back to you.
Guess what, Travis. I just did.
Hello, InfoVis.
We are ready to go.
Please follow me.
I told you we came too early.
Yeah, I don't want to rush
and get sweaty.
Some of these places
got leather seats,
and the leather and the sweat
not a fun combo.
Oh, shit! Sorry.
Travis?
- Zimmer.
- Yeah.
Uh, I know.
But we loved
your campaign that much.
Figure we can't ignore
we're in a dogfight,
might as well lean in.
And the VCs
seem to get it so far.
Yeah, my, uh
My shirt's our closer.
Though I guess technically,
it's your shirt.
So thank you.
Hey, good luck in there.
He's taller than I thought.
I just need to get in your Wi-Fi
and I'll be set.
Travis, Emil, the team and I
are excited you came in.
Yeah, no, I don't think so.
You guys just had
a company in here
I don't even want to be
in the same room with.
I mean, I get it, right?
Companies have to donate
to Republicans and to Democrats
so you're greased in
with whoever wins, but you
you're VCs.
You're supposed to believe in
the company you put money into,
not just protect yourself
in the possibility
you made the wrong call.
So your pitch is we go with you
or Lyft, but not both?
I'm gonna make it easy for you.
We're done here.
Thanks for the water.
Cancel the meetings.
- Which?
- All of them.
That's fucking genius.
That's fucking insane.
You canceled the road show?
- You don't want to do the raise?
- No, no, no. We're doing it.
Bill, look, it's like,
you ever been to a club?
You know, the velvet rope that
makes everyone want to get in?
So I am a club called Unicorn,
and if investors want in,
they got to get in line.
Maybe that stunt
that you pulled
at the VC firm works.
Maybe they want in so bad
they make an offer.
They block out Lyft.
Even so, we still have
to raise the rest.
We're gonna raise the rest,
dude.
We're just gonna do it here.
We're flipping the paradigm.
It's not a road show.
Home show. Home show!
Home show! Come on!
Right?
You're with the insurgents now.
This shouldn't be
fucking with your head.
No, I'm just trying
to figure out
how it is that starving
your own company
is insurgency
and not just a temper tantrum.
- Worked for Gandhi.
- Yeah, well,
when Gandhi made that choice,
he was the one
doing the starving.
Not his investors.
I've tried every fucking thing.
I can't get this class C
bullshit shut down.
Yeah, and Zimmer knows it,
and he's using it.
Every meeting now
someone's asking me,
what does Uber have to do
to get bigger?
Do you have an answer?
It occurs to me
I think we got polite.
We're just using registered
livery drivers, why?
Because it's a fucking rule?
I mean while Lyft
is undercutting us
like they're Costco of livery.
We're disruptors.
We can't be afraid
to disrupt even ourselves.
We open up the business.
Let in civilians,
anybody with a driver's license
can come join the team.
We will crush Lyft
at their own game.
Luxury in an app.
That was the vision always.
And it's a great vision.
Uber is a black car company.
No one wants to ride around
in someone's used Camry.
Are you so sure about that?
This is the last time
this ever happens.
Police walked in
For Jimmy Jazz
I said "He ain't here
But he sure went by".
Oh, you're looking for.
Jimmy Jazz.
Yeah, they said.
Satta Massagana
For Jimmy Dread.
Cut off his ears
And chop off his head.
Police come look for.
Jimmy Jazz.
Jazz, Jazz, Jazz.
So go look.
Wow! Thanks so much, guys.
Have a fantastic night.
Chatty fella.
That's the Lyft UX in action.
You know, you sit up front,
you make a friend.
Yeah, I'm not that lonely yet.
I'm not saying
that it couldn't happen,
but there's nothing cool
about that experience.
Maybe that's not the point.
Are we selling cool,
or selling transportation?
We're selling cool transpo.
Elegant. James fucking Bond.
That's the brand.
Always has been.
TK, it's your call.
I mean, it's your call.
Both.
You go into a department store,
they have that shitty jewelry
on the counter, right?
But the good stuff
is in the glass boxes.
- Two levels of service.
- Exactly, all right.
So you want luxury, you want
cool, you can pay for cool.
But we slide another option
into the app.
Charge 35% less
and call it UberX,
so it still feels cool.
It's always X with you.
Yeah, the X is for "extra sexy."
You would laugh at that.
Dude, you brought me in to grind
on these kinds of calls.
Yeah. That's true.
But I'm still gonna
give you my opinion,
and I expect you
to take it seriously.
And then I'll ride with you
on it.
No matter what you decide.
It's your company, man.
For Garrett?
You know,
I'm hearing Google Ventures
is in the mix this round.
That's weird.
I can't control the rumor mill,
Bill, can I?
That's me.
Once we added the UberX
functionality, boom,
that is driver supply,
that is rider demand.
What part of
"do not disturb" do?
David motherfucking Drummond.
In theory, a top Google lawyer.
In practice, Larry and Sergey's
business brain.
Head of their investment arm,
Google Ventures.
Loved and feared in every
boardroom in Silicon Valley.
A real OG.
And a BFD.
And the one-man TK
set this entire trap for.
Hi. Travis Kalanick.
No shit. I'm in your office.
Sit down.
I don't imagine
you made the drive
all the way from Mountain View
to hear me talk,
so why don't you start?
I'm wondering
who you think you are
telling everyone in my valley
we're in your round.
Aren't you?
Because again,
long drive, David.
Or is it Mr. Drummond?
I'm more of a TK to my friends,
Travis to my enemies,
and a fucking lottery ticket to
anybody who knows what's what.
Breakfast, Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.,
Charlie's Café on the campus.
This is a home show,
not a road show.
You know what?
I can make an exception.
That's cool.
But
I want Larry Page there.
That's a tough get.
I'll see what I can do.
Um, hi.
David fucking Drummond
came into the office today,
and we are going
to the Googleplex on Tuesday.
And Larry Page
is gonna be there!
I feel fucking amazing!
I can see that.
You are my good-luck charm.
Okay. Well, I like that.
Is he coming?
Larry Page, Travis Kalanick,
and Emil Michael.
It's so great to meet you, man.
So, look, I'll admit
when I started Uber,
it was just a way
for me and my buddies
to get around San Francisco
in limos like ballers.
You know, we didn't have
a grand plan.
For a minute.
But then I was forced
to learn to improvise
once it turned out
everybody wanted in.
Has that ever happened to you?
You know, you have an idea
and then it spins
into something else?
Maybe not.
Maybe you just see it all
in front of you
perfectly mapped out,
exactly the way
it'll come to pass.
I don't know, me? I have to stay
open to opportunity
and nimble enough to change,
because here's the thing:
We are not a limo company.
We're a technology company.
But if I had known that
at the start,
I might have never started.
You know, my mom, she says,
"Look before you leap."
But I'm always like, how am I
going to get a good enough view
and decide what's next
if I'm not already up
in the air, you know?
Because I took the leap, right?
Like you guys with Google Maps,
that is a leap.
But you're up in the air,
and you can look, and boom.
Autonomous vehicles, right?
Yeah, you know,
self-driving cars
are very much front of mind.
Still early stages, but
Yeah.
Ooh, you make me live.
Whatever this world
Can give to me.
It's you.
You're all I see.
Ooh, you make me live now
Honey.
Ooh, you make me live.
Oh, you're the best friend.
That I ever had
I've been with you
Such a long time
Look, it'd be easy
for Google Ventures
to just plug some money
into Uber
and walk away and siphon off
some of our success.
But I don't think
that's what you want to do.
I think you want us
to grow together, right?
Like, imagine we could
share data
from all the millions of trips
that Uber runs every day.
Plug that into Google Maps
or anything else
that we want to team up on.
Flying cars.
The numbers.
You aware?
Flying cars?
Move 14% of vehicles currently
on the road to air lanes,
traffic congestion
goes down 82%.
Wow.
That
Your idea?
Uber?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it was.
My partner, Garrett,
he ideated the concept,
but I refined it
and really built it.
Interesting.
How does route planning work?
That's not easy.
That's is that OSRM,
or are you using our APIs?
It's open-source.
Open-source what?
OpenStreetMap, I'm pretty sure.
It's it's really advanced.
We have the best guys on it.
If you say so.
You don't actually write code,
do you, Tyler?
Travis.
Kalanick.
Okay.
Good.
Yeah, we should, you know
You know
Let's do this.
If we come on,
I'll get a board seat.
- An observer's seat.
- A voting seat.
That's a deal-breaker.
The only way I'm giving up
a voting seat is if there's
a spend commensurate
- with the people at this table.
- It's my table.
If Uber weren't the hottest
entrant in transportation space,
I wouldn't be sitting here,
and neither would you.
Look
Amazon is a warehouse company.
We are the everything company.
You revolutionize
transportation,
you revolutionize
urban development,
real estate, the energy sector,
food and hospitality,
trading and shipping.
I mean, this is a lot more
than just how people shop.
This is how they live,
and it's all frictionless,
because that's who we are.
Our brand changes the world,
just like your does.
You got an ask?
Quarter-bil.
The most Google's ever invested
is a hundred million.
I'm willing to talk something
in that ballpark
Talk about
a quarter-billion dollars.
That's the ask.
- Can you believe that?
- That was fucking insane.
Dude, the vibe between
me and Larry was tight.
I'm calling Bill.
Hmm? No, no, no.
Don't don't do that.
Okay, maybe I don't?
I'm running this play without
protection in the pocket.
Fuck.
You went in there
without even telling Bill
and without telling me what
the actual ask was gonna be?
Are you actually in the pocket?
I'm fine.
He's gonna find out.
He's not my dad.
And if we nail a quarter-bil,
then he can apologize.
If we don't, then he can gloat.
You don't actually
have the Google cash.
We might never have it.
You might have completely
blown it with that ask.
I cannot believe
you're not with me on this one.
Dude, the money is coming in
one way or another.
Look at our growth rate.
- Look at our burn rate.
- That's true.
- The incentives are killing us.
- But that's why we buy Lyft,
so we can stop paying these
fucking incentives to the
drivers, because where else
are they gonna go?
Maybe we should
run this by Bill
No, we're not. Don't say "Bill."
We're not running by anything.
No run-bys.
We endgame Lyft, okay?
We get the Google money,
and we end them.
That's it.
Unless you want them nipping
at our heels forever.
Should I have called?
Give me the room.
I love saying that.
David Drummond called.
Called you?
I'm the guy they call.
That's how this works.
When you fuck up, they call me.
When you try to go deep
with Larry Page, they call me.
When you land over
a quarter of a billion dollars
of Google's money, they call me.
Fuck you.
No, thanks. I'm good.
My founder just raised
some serious cash.
- You feeling it?
- Holy shit!
Yes. Holy shit.
I know how to win now.
I know how.
I already set up
the dinner with Zimmer.
Now you can do it.
Okay, then.
We're gonna go in there,
we're gonna scoop up Lyft.
Zimmer is gonna
He's gonna act weird at first.
He's bleeding.
His board's after him.
He knows he's dying,
and he doesn't want to die.
So you're gonna let him know
that you're not going to go to
the press and call him a loser.
And you're gonna treat
his employees with respect
and a seat on the board.
- Okay, I can do that.
- Oh, I know you can,
because a guy marries a woman
with kids,
he has to prove he's not gonna
fuck up her life or theirs.
You get it?
I got it.
Did you say
over a quarter-billion?
Two-fifty-seven.
I guess it's okay if they
bigfoot us now, right, Bill?
It's very fucking okay.
They bought the right.
The legend's always been
the restaurants in Little India
all share the same kitchen.
So you walk down Sixth Street
in New York City,
and every storefront
has a different name.
They have a different collection
of Christmas lights
and different aging menus
taped to the windows,
but it's all a mirage.
You mean like an actual mirage,
or people just can't believe
that all these different
Indian restaurants
share the same kitchen?
Never did find out.
The vindaloo,
it doesn't taste the same
at all those places.
I just I call bullshit.
Yeah, me too. Probably, right?
But maybe
that's the magic of it.
Create the sense of choice
that the customer is engaging
in a decision.
But actually all the money's
flowing back to the same place.
And in this case, that'd be us.
Something like that.
We think you retaining 17%
of the company is a fair deal.
We wanted 25.
We know, Kate.
I can sit with 17.
Board seat as discussed.
Lyft retains its app and staff,
and we can discuss
lightening our C-suite.
We have a few top performers
we'd like to protect.
Eight percent.
You know what I wanted to say?
Here's my final offer: nothing.
Like the Lake Tahoe scene.
I just didn't want you guys
to think I was screwing around.
- Travis.
- So you're serious?
I mean, I also sprung
for the Sam Wo's.
You know, Travis,
sometimes when you put your dick
out on a table,
it doesn't necessarily mean
you have a big one.
It might just mean
you exposed yourself.
You have no fucking idea
how many people assume
that everything
I've accomplished
is somehow to compensate
for everything I'm not.
But you have to know
the whole worth of your company
is predicated on my success.
You're a tapeworm.
I'm the host. You need me.
What, to be on that wall?
I need you on that wall?
You need me to survive.
I understand you feel that way.
This isn't about feelings, man.
This is about facts.
You're shedding six and a half
percent a day
of potential revenue
to us post-UberX.
We're gonna roll out
dynamic pricing.
That number's going to double.
You're going to lose all your
drivers.
More than that, you're going to
lose your customers.
Because they like
your little interface.
But you know
what they like more?
A car that shows up fast,
and you won't be able
to provide it.
He's not putting it
very diplomatically.
His terms are not the ones
I recommended.
But it is true.
Something funny?
You could have walked
out of here tonight
owning the entire
rideshare space.
Like Coke and Pepsi got hitched.
But you're not smart enough.
No, no, that's not it.
You're not sophisticated enough.
You're not cultured enough.
Fuck, you're not human enough.
Sure, you have some savvy.
And, yes, you are good
with numbers.
But you're too much
of a goddamn predatory animal
to take a sure thing
when it comes to you.
I don't know why.
I I don't actually care.
Here's what's gonna happen.
I'm not ever leaving
the rideshare space.
Not now.
I mean, I was ready
to pull back.
But after this, uh-uh.
I will grow, and I will suck
the ever-loving fucking life
out of your company.
And I will outlast you.
And when I do,
when I go public first,
I just want you to remember,
you brought this shit-ton
of bricks down on your own head.
Bill, thanks much.
Well, that was fucking
ridiculous.
I had to take a walk.
I'm sorry you wasted
your evening.
It's fine.
I know it's not.
What are you doing, Bill?
Riding shotgun
with a guy like that?
I saw your face. You had no idea
he was gonna self-immolate
in there tonight.
I'm sorry we couldn't
throw you a lifeline,
but his point's not wrong.
Probably all healthier
if we compete.
Sure.
You got to defend your founder.
Gurley stands behind his man.
But every time
Travis gets a win
you're making him believe
the world owes him that win.
First loss he has,
he's gonna think he's drowning,
and he's gonna stand on
your shoulders to save himself.
He'll push you right under.
John.
Let me know if I can help you
this funding round.
Just, uh, make some quiet calls.
I used to consider you
one of the good ones.
Now I see you've turned
into a jackal like all the rest.
I don't want you
anywhere near my company.
"Google Ventures
is the largest investor,
"with $257.79 million in.
"This round values Uber at
around $3.4 billion pre-money,
$3.76 billion post-money."
This is absolutely
fucking great.
Well, I'm happy to be here.
You going down
to say hello to David?
Yeah, I'm walking now.
Uh, hey, listen,
I was just curious.
When was it that, uh, you guys
decided to tank the Lyft deal
and try to kill them
instead of buying them?
There wasn't a specific
internal discussion.
Well, I mean, did you, uh?
Did you lose my phone number
for a while,
or you forget how to dial?
We had a relationship
when you put me in, for sure.
And we still have one now.
It's different, though.
It has to be.
Now, I know that.
You know that.
Why don't we just enjoy
his success, Bill?
It's all to our benefit.
Alright, take care of your mom.
What time is your flight?
Tomorrow morning at 8:00.
You finally left Rex alone
to shoot around out there, huh?
I was just trying to impart
something about the game
to our guy
before I leave tomorrow.
Not just about the game.
I tell you what,
I hope he listens to his coaches
better than he does to me,
because he tunes me out
like an old radio dial.
Because you play D1,
which he has to ignore,
or it'll be too hard
to keep going.
You always say a good coach
finds a way to cut through.
Either gets loud or quiet,
or finds an angle
until he's heard.
I'm kind of sucking
at that lately.
Say the rest.
The thing you don't want to.
Uber scored huge
in this last round.
Massive.
And you're mad? Why?
Sounds like you did good.
Because his wins are his,
and his losses, his sins,
are all of ours.
And he won't listen.
Ah, you know,
I can't protect him.
I
I stood up for him.
A smart guy,
a guy I greatly respect.
He looked me right in the eye,
right in the soul,
and he told me
exactly what he saw.
There's nothing.
Well, if Travis won't let you
protect him,
then that's on him, not you.
Or is this about the money?
No.
A little.
A lot.
At the end of this run,
it's the one that
It's the one that pays
for all the others.
It's the one that makes it
so we nev
Ever have to think
about money again.
Oh, I don't think
about it much now.
And I rarely heard you talk
about it until this
This idea of changing
the family tree seemed possible.
Meaning I'm fine
just the way we are.
But what if you got the money
out of your head
and made the right decision?
For the guy? For the team?
For everyone
who deals with them?
Because if you don't,
I don't want to see you
carrying that around.
Hey, Bill, they should have
water out there for us.
But you want
anything else to drink?
- You want a soda or something?
- Water sounds just fine.
- Thanks, Mike.
- How about any, uh,
specific questions
you want me to ask you?
I think whatever you throw out
at me will be fine, yeah.
TK, Gurley's panel's up.
Oh, yeah.
Think I mentioned the raise.
All right, it's about that time.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
- All right, let's do it.
You know, uh,
come to think of it, uh, Mike
yeah, there is.
Bill, I got one
last question for you.
Do you think we're in
a tech bubble?
I think that we're in
a risk bubble.
Uh, especially with these, uh
these so-called unicorns.
Except for your one
true unicorn, right, Bill?
We've flushed an excessive
amount of money onto them,
and they, uh
Well, a lot of them,
including some favorites of mine
are, uh, acting, uh
irrationally.
Warren Buffett has a
Has a great saying.
"Be fearful
when others are greedy,
and be greedy
when others are fearful."
I'm not here to accuse anyone
of being greedy.
But there is nowhere near
enough fear
in Silicon Valley right now.
And I think you will see
some dead unicorns this year.
There you have it,
ladies and gentlemen.
Bill Gurley.
What the fuck was that?
"Dead unicorns." What, is he
sending a coded fucking message?
Okay, we just raised
a crazy successful round.
We basically destroyed
our nearest rival,
and that's his fucking response?
I guess it was.
All right, he wants to play
with fucking baseball bats.
Let's play with bats.
Penny, I need a sit-down
with Bill Gurley
as soon as he is fucking back.
And get me building security.
Shit.