In 2017, when Dara Khosrowshahi left Expedia to become the CEO of Uber, the ride-sharing company had been run as a scorched-earth feral growth machine for years. His predecessor, Travis Kalanick, had built an enormous, enthusiastic user base by subsidizing rides with a vast reservoir of VC funding. Under Kalanick, Uber skirted regulations, shrugged off safety issues, and presided over a workplace rife with sexual harassment. After he got pushed out, it fell to Khosrowshahi to fix things—and find out once and for all whether Uber could turn a profit. His grand plan was Uber-as-a-platform, one app that provides all kinds of rides and food delivery services. The versatility is paying off. During the pandemic, the rise of Uber Eats helped compensate for empty seats in Uber vehicles. The company is inching toward profitability. Gone are the ride subsidies. It's a put-up-or-shut-up move that may flop when customers balk at high prices. Editor at large Steven Levy recently sat down with Khosrowshahi to discuss the past, present, and future of Uber. The CEO admits that the company still has a lot to prove to become a sustainable business. But, he says, Uber is on track this year to (finally) make a profit. For Khosrowshahi, though, that's just the start: "Once we get profitable, I'm going to come up with some other reason why we suck. Because that gets the team psyched up." After all, nothing succeeds like suckcess. —Jon J. Eilenberg | Articles Editor |
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