[Travis] So you want to work for Uber.
I have one question for you.
Are you an asshole?
[chuckles]
Sorry, one sec. You got a thing?
Quentin has a thing, yeah. Addresses the safety issue.
Fuck that. We don't have time for safety bullshit.
We got taxi commissions across the land
trying to chip our beef.
We got journalists trying to infiltrate our shit.
-We got-- -We got passenger safety issues
-that we need to address-- -Graves, here,
is what my mom would call a piece of work.
This guy answered a tweet that I sent on a whim
looking for a killer.
I made him CEO... for about three minutes,
until I realized this was a real company.
Then I took the job.
And now he does this and that, some important things.
Apparently he's our new safety czar.
Safety? Dude, you know how many rides we're doing every day.
It's over a million.
No matter how we vet these fucking drivers,
there's gonna be a guy who had a bad morning,
he got horny, he forgot to jerk off,
he makes a pass at a passenger.
Suddenly that's my fault?
The press makes it out like getting in one of our cars
is like walking through Times Square
at 2:00 in the morning in 1976.
There's more important shit than safety--
TK, you're gonna love my nuts.
It solves the public perception problem
and adds to the bottom line.
It's a Safe Rides Fee, TK.
We drop those words in the app, add a dollar to every ride.
[Quentin] We can make a--
like a driver training video or something,
and the rest of it...
Wow.
I do love your nuts.
[Travis] Let me English this shit up for those of you too
trusting of a smiling face to get the actual fucking drift.
That Safe Rides Fee provides one thing and one thing only,
and it ain't a safe motherfucking ride.
It's your money in their goddamn bank account.
Just because they hide it in the fine print of an app
don't mean it ain't a scam.
That is some Michael fucking Eisner shit.
Matt, what do you think?
It seems maybe misleading. Is that okay?
"Is that okay?" Yeah, dude, it's fucking brilliant.
Do you know the name Michael Eisner?
It's the guy that ran Disney.
When he first started, parking at the theme parks was free.
His first year on the job,
he starts charging $1 per car to park,
goes up and up and up from there.
People freak the fuck out.
They're, like, kicking and screaming
and "This is un-American," but what did they do?
They kept parking at fucking Disneyland
because they want to see Goofy.
I mean, they need to see Goofy. It's for their kids, right?
We are Goofy, and Minnie and fucking Mickey Mouse
all rolled up into one.
Once we get them in our car,
we can charge whatever we want to the next time.
You have the green light on the Safe Rides Fee.
Dude, that is hundreds of millions of dollars,
those three words together.
Nice work.
You didn't answer my question from before.
Are you an asshole?
I just-- I know that look on your face.
You're like, "I think I know what I want to say,
but I'm not sure if I should say it."
I recognize that look. You know why?
Because before all of this,
it was on my face too.
What do you think? Gray or...
Gray?
They called it charcoal when I bought it.
-Looks gray to me. -Okay.
I really don't think you can go wrong within the three shades
of the color palette you're debating.
How is it?
-Mm-mm. -[laughs] What?
So, what do you know?
-About Bill Gurley? -Mm-hmm.
Well, Benchmark is one of the top venture capital firms
in the whole valley.
If they invest in us, we are minted.
If they pass, then we stink like roadkill.
And Bill Gurley is the shot caller.
Shot caller.
He's actually literally a baller.
Literally a baller.
-Played in college. -You gonna talk sports with him?
I think he'd be more into his Valley highlight reel.
Don't you think?
-Uh, eBay? -Yeah, exactly.
They put in six and a half million.
Oof. What's it worth now? Four?
Five billion.
Yeah, if Benchmark comes in on UberCab,
-we are-- -Minted. You said.
-Yeah, yeah. -You get upped.
-They open the books. -Made.
This has got to work.
I don't know, though.
He's just gonna see a guy in his lame jeans
and these fucking shoes.
I don't know what these shoes are.
Nah, he'll see you're a dun-colored mare.
-What? -From Raise High the Roof Beam?
Salinger. Don't worry, you'll read it later.
What it means is your ideas will matter.
Not your clothes. He'll see that.
What are you doing tonight?
Reading up on this new cancer drug
before I get ready to take it public.
I'm just gonna throw this guy so much attitude,
he won't even pay attention to the clothes.
Don't be the Winston Wolf cool version of Travis.
Be open.
Show him that you're vulnerable,
and need his money and his protection.
-This could be the one, Bill. -Could be.
Leaves a lot of room for the other side of that wager, Bill.
Is that where you land, Fenton?
Just a little less bullish than he is.
We're talking about committing millions of dollars
and our reputational capital on this guy.
To his product. And it is a great product.
[Fenton] Yep, UberCab is solid.
Tech could really be something.
And we like this space.
But why not Cabulous or Taxi Magic?
How do we know this Kalanick guy is the chosen one?
So we got point. What's counterpoint?
He's the counterpoint. I made the original point.
Look, Bill, something is going to pop in the space.
-This guy's reputation-- -You know how it goes with me.
Travis and I start completing each other's sentences, well...
Look, a unicorn will take flight in this sector.
Someone will make a hundred-X return on their investment.
But is this Travis guy the kind of person who can ride one?
I'll just be like one of those sheriffs in the Westerns.
Stand back six paces and stare him right in the eyes.
And shoot him?
You know, at Benchmark Capital, we don't shoot founders.
We leave that to Sequoia.
Here he is.
Mr. Gurley.
Just Bill.
Everybody's got the numbers on the company,
so I'm not gonna grill you on that.
[chuckles] All that studying for nothing.
But I do want to understand how it is that you see yourself
growing into the role of CEO.
Not every founder can.
First day out of high school,
LeBron James had a meeting at Reebok.
He took the bus there. It's all he could afford.
And he was sitting at the longest
conference table in the world with the CEO.
And they're talking, and LeBron notices,
oh, the CEO's starting to write something.
And then the CEO gets up
and he walks the length of this whole table,
and he drops a check in front of him for $10 million.
Now, it's only the two of them in there,
and, uh, LeBron's only 18.
And the way he tells it, he almost took the check, right?
He almost started crying.
It was everything he ever worked for in his life
just suddenly made manifest in front of him.
But he didn't.
He stood up and he walked out.
Strong move.
Yeah, the man understood his value, right?
And eventually, he signed for much more
with the place he wanted to be: Nike.
But first, he had to ride the bus a few more times
to get to the Bentleys and the PJs.
But you're not walking out.
No.
Because you're not just some VC.
You're Nike.
And I know it.
You know, maybe we don't sell each other tonight.
Just...
We just talk a bit.
If I were selling you, you'd have your wallet out.
[laughs]
No, I'm-- I'm--
I'm here in the spirit of connection.
And in that spirit, I'll tell you,
I believe I have underachieved in my potential as a leader.
But if I had a mentor, like you...
there is no limit to where this thing could go.
How do you think your drivers would describe
their relationship with the company?
There we've done it right. Our drivers--
-Are your army. -That's what I was gonna say.
Our army. And I believe an army with a full belly--
Is an army that can win. Yes.
Yes, sir, and that part,
it's not just self-serving either.
It's a big part of the whole motivation for me.
I really believe this service can be a true value,
can be so good for so many people,
so many groups of people.
Ever since the very beginning,
from the first time I had the idea.
Well, from...
um, from when Garrett Camp and I had the idea.
I bet.
We were in Paris
at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
And I remember it just came to me in a burst.
I saw a way to upend the wage slavery
of the taxi business.
You know, to democratize the entire industry
for the good of those hardworking drivers
as well as for the passengers.
I saw it all from above.
A new form of transportation, yes,
but also a way for people to make it on their own terms.
You know, a mom who can just work
while her kids are at school,
or a dad who can turn off the app
when it's time for family dinner.
So, yeah, that's the basic idea.
It's people driving people. A car always within minutes.
A private chauffeur, but only when you need it.
So the cost is minimal.
A real disruptor for the taxi space.
I just need an operations type to run it,
and there's no one better than you.
[laughs]
Yeah, you might-- you might have something.
A lot of work to make that real, though.
A lot of work.
And Garrett contributed a lot too, absolutely.
Well, it's good of you to make sure
that he shares in the credit.
Of course, yeah. No, you got to.
Right?
But at that point, it was just a matter
of getting the angel investors onboard and, you know,
when they saw how sticky this product is--
What do you say we get into the real questions?
Sure.
Are you willing to work with the outside money?
Listen to wise counsel?
I will always listen, and I'll take good ideas.
But I will never take orders.
I can't.
Good.
I don't give orders.
[chuckles] Good.
What else do you need to know?
How sticky is it?
Really.
If someone rides twice, we have them for life.
That's some evening.
I might've had a one-few too many.
I think I might leave my car here tonight.
Hey, taxi!
You know, I have a solution for this particular problem.
Now, these things rebooted everything, right?
And...
What, you just...?
Yeah, like magic.
[Driver] Travis?
Very nice.
You moved to the city after Scour?
Yeah. That was my-- my first startup.
Peer-to-peer media file sharing.
That didn't turn out?
No, it didn't.
Because of Mike Ovitz.
You shopped the fucking deal.
In the world I come from, that name made titans weak.
Now, Silicon Valley gets to deal with him.
You refused to close terms for months.
You said you were gonna invest, but the money never came.
We were bleeding out, so eventually,
I had to go looking for other sources of funding,
and then you fucking sued?
That's what you do when you're getting screwed.
You're getting screwed?
You sued your own company so it would take your money,
but it's money you didn't want to give.
A child can never understand the motives of a man.
Just as the samurai can never question his lord.
You know to this day, in Japan,
if a salaryman screws up at work, he says,
"I offer to cut my belly open."
They own their mistakes.
They don't blame their betters.
I am not, and I will never be, a salaryman.
That's true.
Salarymen at least, uh, have a steady income.
Yeah, they also live by a code which you do not.
I mean, you leaked the story, and now no one will touch us.
You drove a fucking stake through the heart of this--
That's right.
And it'll just go on and on, boyo,
until you have no choice but to sell it for parts.
Nobody shops a deal on Mike Ovitz.
And when you look back on it all,
you'll only have yourself to blame.
[exhales]
You're just gonna let the car go?
How are you gonna get home? You're not sleeping here are ya'?
[laughs] No, I'll just get another one.
It's easy.
Boss doesn't pay? How does that work for morale?
I'm paid in full. It's a frictionless experience for every passenger.
Credit card's on file. You just get out of the car, get on with your life.
It should feel like it's free. It's just easy.
Tip?
No, our rev share is so good, our drivers don't need tips.
Hell.
Bill, I just want to tell you
I am not going to lose my company
from the inside ever again.
You can rest easy, because at Benchmark--
Yeah. You don't fire founders.
There we go finishing each other's sentences.
So are we doing this?
You need my money, right?
I don't need shit.
I'm gonna take this thing the whole way with or without you.
Well then, you do it without me.
You don't need to do that.
I see you.
I get there's no company without you.
So about my money?
I would like it, yes.
Yeah, one last question.
Threshold.
This whole private cab thing...
in the long run...
it's gonna be declared legal?
Bet your ass.
All right, that wasn't the last question.
This is:
The W always has cabs waiting outside.
You paid them not to be around, didn't you?
What the hell do you think?
[chuckles]
But you, you weren't really as drunk as you let on, were you?
-What the hell do you think? -[laughs]
I think...
you're my new VC.
That's what I think too.
[Travis] Guys, big news.
Bill Gurley and Benchmark is an investor.
Okay.
Well, that sounds-- that's good, right?
-Dad, like I just got signed by the Dodgers. -Hey, hey!
Don't touch me, I'm too hot. You're gonna burn yourself. Like that!
-[laughs] -Okay, mister.
How about a hug hello before you start braying?
He's excited.
You used to get that way when you closed a huge sale.
That's why you were such a killer.
Well, I just want him to know that he does not have to have
good news to come and visit.
We're happy to see you anytime.
And we miss you.
Okay.
But, Trav, you are a killer.
-Just like your mama. -[all laugh]
This is--no, it's really big. It's a big deal.
Yeah, the press is gonna have to write something nice about you
for a change.
Uh-huh. Yeah, maybe not yet, but they will.
[Donald] Sounds good, though.
So how much of a piece does this guy get?
His company gets a chunk, but the valuation goes up.
And I'm still the majority owner, Dad.
How's Angie? How come she's not here?
Well, she, um...
-Hey. -What's up, big bro?
[Travis] How you doing, Cory?
Heard the next Zuckerberg was in town,
-so I figured I'd come say hi. -You say that with a tone of
sarcasm, but I bet Randi Zuckerberg didn't.
That's why she got that big chunk of preferred
in the friends and family round.
My piece is locked.
Is it? Are you sure?
-Trav! -What? Me? Him?
The fuck did I do?
Fine, I'll be your doting sister.
I'll knit you a hoodie, so you look just like him.
Why don't we just let it die, okay?
Sure thing, Zuck.
[Donald] All right, enough.
You know, your brother just cut a big deal
to bankroll his company.
-What, the cab thing? -It's a capital investment.
It's not a bankroll. There's a difference.
-Congrats, Trav. Sounds good. -Thank you.
You know, Cory's kicking butt too.
Cory, show him the thing.
-Uh, no, it's silly. -Oh, come on.
-All right. -What's that, a body cam?
Yeah, the squad got them from the company,
and we mounted them to our helmets last shift.
Look, look at that.
Oh, the poor little thing looks dead.
[Donald] No, look, it's coming around.
[mewls]
A real American hero, huh?
Yeah, how cool that both of my boys are kicking ass.
Yeah. You show that clip to the ladies, watch out.
Oh, what would you know about that, Donald?
-I used to. -[all chuckle]
All right.
Breakfast is ready.
Oh, Cory, do me a favor.
Give me a copy of that clip. I'd love to show it at work.
Yeah, you should send it to me too.
I'm gonna show it to people and be like,
"I know that guy."
That's what a supportive brother does.
Good, you can get in on the friends and family sloppy joes
-down the station. -Sweet.
[Bonnie] Cory, Trav,
we have one family breakfast
every three months at this point.
Could we maybe chill on the cage match?
["Even Flow" by Pearl Jam playing]
[indistinct chattering]
We have hardly seen you lately.
Where is my son hiding you?
-We've been busy. -[Donald] You work too hard.
That's the problem with you Silicon Valley types.
[all laugh]
Are you sure that you're taking care of you
and not just him?
You know, he can be pretty consuming.
Yes, I know. I'm okay. Really.
-You sure? -Mm-hmm.
[Travis] Welcome to the Rider Appreciation Party.
I am legit super pumped to be here tonight
and to be part of this company.
[applause and cheers]
You know, I wish--
I would be so happy
if I could just make all of your lives frictionless.
Right? Can you imagine, like, if you wanted a raise,
and you didn't even have to say anything to your boss,
you just look at him and boom, there it was.
-You know what I mean? -[all laugh]
Or like if you wanted a date, just swipe right
and there's the other party in your room, down for whatever.
[chuckles] Right?
-[all chatter] -Now, unfortunately,
I cannot control all of these experiences, or not yet.
But what I can control is the experience
of getting from one end of town to the other end of town
with no hassle on either end.
You're in, you're out.
You don't have to touch your cash or your wallet
or your credit card or the driver.
So drink up,
because DUIs are a thing of the past!
[cheering and applauding]
Great time, you guys!
Hey, thanks.
-That was so good. -Oh, thank you.
Where's Cory?
He, uh...
Wow! Okay. I'm-- I'm gonna get some air.
-You want me to--? -No. No, it's all right.
If you wanted Cory here,
you could have invited him directly.
I invited all you guys.
Don't make everything a test.
It shouldn't fucking have to be.
[sighs]
You're doing it all wrong, son.
You don't recognize me?
My name's on some correspondences
that will put you out of business.
Oh. You're Pearson?
The transportation guy for the city.
Pearson. Randall Pearson, that's right.
And I'm telling you, you're fucking up.
[laughs] You know,
I've heard that so much in my life.
I should get it tattooed on my ass and take a picture,
make it my profile photo.
But you know what I'm gonna do instead?
I'm gonna keep building my company,
and then you can get an ass tattoo that says
"Travis Kalanick is a better man than me."
No tattoos for me, thanks.
'Cause I have some personal pride.
-Do you? Working where you work? -Listen, Travis,
let's try and act sane for maybe five minutes
like a couple of goddamn grownups?
I represent some very powerful individuals
in the taxi and livery business.
People who don't take too kindly
to their drivers being stolen.
Even less so when it's their customers.
You know, as the head of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency,
your mandate is to represent the public,
not powerful individuals.
Yeah, well, the public interest is served by having available
and inexpensive taxicabs readily av--
Uh-huh.
Look, Travis,
this can go so hard for you.
Buried in fines, lawsuits, jail.
Or you can win huge with me.
Give them your tech.
Put it in their cars, in their fucking taxis.
Join forces.
They'll make it real sweet for you.
You'll end up controlling so many medallions.
They'll be jingling in your pockets like loose change.
I think this must have been what it was like
when Homo sapiens were running around together
with Neanderthals.
You're asking me to trade my fire for your fucking club.
No, thanks.
You're making a big mistake.
I'll put that on my other ass cheek.
[bell clangs]
Yeah, no, I get it. No the thing is,
When I say I get it, that means I get it.
Okay.
This is the kid you're interviewing for the job.
Great. Pull up a chair.
Here is my question for you.
Are you an asshole?
Sorry.
-Are you the CEO? -I am.
This is an order to cease and desist
all taxi and livery operations.
-You arresting me? -Not at this time, sir.
But if you continue in violation of city ordinance,
we'll be back.
This is bad, TK.
-This is a cease-- -We're not ceasing.
-[Graves] And desist-- -We're not desisting either.
-[Graves] It threatens up to-- -Yeah, I see.
There's penalties.
Up to $5,000 per instance of UberCabs operation.
"Instance" meaning each ride.
Ninety days in jail per day
the company remains in operation past the order.
That's me in jail?
Yeah, that's you in jail, man.
Anything you could sign so it's you instead of me?
Jesus, no.
I-- I mean, I can-- No--
I'm fucking kidding, Gil. Don't worry about it.
But I am more Emerson than Thoreau.
I do not want to go to jail.
Hey, everybody!
You heard about this already?
I want you to know this...
truncheon of the crooked establishment, this object of fear,
I want you to know this is not our death warrant.
This is our goddamn birth certificate, okay?
This means we are alive in this world,
and we are growing the fuck up.
It's a sign of validation.
And it's a sign that we are scaring
the taxi and livery industry,
and the transportation agency,
and the status quo shitless.
This is validation...
of our standing as...
disruptors.
[cheering and applause]
[shouting]
Austin, how's it going with our future drivers?
You're getting them?
Got a bunch.
Did you settle with the city?
Oh, no, no, we're not settling with the city.
We are taking this city!
-[all cheer] -Are you sure, TK?
You know what they say about fighting city hall.
See, this is the thing about changing the world.
The world never wants to change.
It's gonna dig in its heels and tell you no
and try to crush you.
Fortunately for us, we are in the world-changing business.
At least I am. I was built for this!
They want to fight? Oh, I love to fight.
You want to know who wins fights?
Whoever wants it more.
And who do you think wants this more?
Them?
Or me?
[cheering and applauding]
Let's fucking go!
Come on!
Let's fucking go!
Penny, get me a meeting with the mayor
and order more iPhones.
We need to ratchet up enlisting more drivers.
Made me wise
[inaudible]
But I'm not About to give thanks
Or apologize
Shape up, boys.
I need five minutes. Nah, fuck that.
You need the five minutes that I'm about to give you.
[man] What is this, huh?
We don't have time.
Of course you don't have time...
because you're indentured servants...
if you're human at all.
Because really, you're more like hamsters on a wheel.
Who are you calling a rodent?
[Austin] No, no, no.
You're making yourselves rodents.
Look, you got to run, run, run all day long
just to make enough fares to cover your nut
during your shift,
with pissed-off customers
because the commission hiked the fares,
or to pay off the loans on your medallions,
or the consortiums that own the medallions
on the hacks that you drive.
Or to make enough from the limo company
so that your piece is enough
so you can afford some food pellets and wood shavings
for your cages at the end of the week.
Tell me I'm wrong.
So, yeah, you can.
You know, hustle out there and get at it.
Or you could stay here for five minutes
and hear about being your own boss,
and driving with a company
that's gonna change your fucking lives.
I could use a change.
Enmity gauged
United by fear
Time to endure
What I could not forgive
[Penny] We're making progress.
I didn't say you were wrong.
Just what you're saying is irrelevant.
Here.
Mayor?
Nothing yet.
Try again.
We don't have to tell you just how much in contributions
our clients have made.
No, you don't.
[woman] Then you tell us something,
like what you're gonna do,
because right now, this goddamn company
is stealing drivers from legitimate taxi and livery.
It's chipping away at a legacy business.
There are two jobs you want in this city:
the mayor's and mine.
I'm like Robert Moses in The Old Man in Chinatown.
You really think I'm gonna let some tech weasel
grab my dick like a baton,
twirl it around in Golden Gate Park?
[woman] What's your next step then?
What are you going to do? Question mark.
What I'm gonna do is drop a thermonuclear device
right on top of their heads.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has those?
Close enough.
Right now, I expect a duck-and-cover drill
taking place over there at UberCab,
right before the mushroom cloud turns them all into dust.
Tough to have a car service without any fucking drivers.
All right, what?
What's the emergency?
It's the fucking drivers.
They're defecting.
That's what the incentives are for.
-Pay them more. -Gil said we can't.
And without those incentives, they're leaving in droves.
-They're going back to taxis. -That's Randall fucking Pearson.
He's making his last stand.
Gil, why are you cutting off the incentives?
Because we don't have the money to pay them.
And without drivers, we'll never have any fucking money.
-Right? -[Garrett] He can't, TK.
We don't have it. Our burn rate is bleeding the company dry.
[Graves] Maybe it's time we make a deal with Pearson.
Maybe we do just license our tech, combine our forces--
Wait, wait. That's giving up. Are you fucking insane?
No, that's not insane. That's reality.
Because we're down to smoke and mirrors and promises.
I don't know how we're gonna keep the lights on next month...
Okay.
...unless we make some kind of a deal
-with the taxi commissi-- -Okay, okay.
Okay.
All right.
We are not that kind of company
that just bends over to the status quo.
We fuck the status quo, right?
Now, I'm hearing a lot about what surrender looks like.
Looks like me on my knees with Pearson pissing in my mouth.
We're not doing that.
Tell me what victory looks like.
Well, I guess we can't, or we wouldn't be sitting here.
[clears throat]
All right, we're gonna take money
from other departments.
We have.
Stop paying the vendors just for a minute.
Gurley.
Go to him, ask him for another check,
just to ride us out through this fight
with San Francisco Transport.
That's the one thing I can't do.
We'd look like fucking idiots.
Or I would.
Like we're failing.
Because we are.
So that's it?
That's all you got for me?
Buy a Powerball ticket. I...
This company, my life,
is on the line here right now,
and you motherfuckers...
Yeah, and all of you too!
You just leave everything to me, right?
You just come to work,
and you lounge around with your thumbs up your ass.
You don't do anything.
You don't fucking bleed for it.
You're not-- you're not super pumped.
[sighs]
[fire truck horn blares distantly]
[siren wailing]
[phone rings]
Hi, Travis.
Hey, Mom.
What's going on?
I was just thinking about Cory.
How do you sleep at night, him doing what he does?
Well, once you have kids,
you don't really sleep a full night again.
You'll see that one day.
Seriously, though.
Seriously.
This is not about Cory, huh?
[exhales]
[chuckles] Yeah, I know, uh...
I, um...
I yelled.
Aw.
At Angie?
No.
Everybody.
Travis, you can't do that.
-Aw. -Yeah, I know.
I don't-- I don't know what the fuck's wrong with me.
I don't know why I keep doing that.
It's just like why can't they just watch what I do
and do what I say and--
and believe what I know,
and why can't they just fucking trust me?
[sighs]
What did you yell about?
We're up against it.
I thought the company was doing great.
It is, kind of,
but there's this thing called burn rate,
and, um...
Yeah.
[sighs]
I need more money.
Like, now.
Can you go to a bank?
No. Not for this much, no.
What about your investor, Gurley?
You have not asked him?
[scoffs]
No. No, I can't go to him.
If I went to him right now,
he would just think I was a fuckup.
He'd see these numbers...
and he'd just shut me down
and probably sell me off for parts.
[sighs]
Okay, your brother is great at the thing he does.
It's a straightforward thing.
Hard to do, easy to measure. Your thing isn't.
But you're also great at it.
You brought this Bill Gurley in,
you built a company that he liked.
So now, you got to do what Cory does with his guys.
You got to treat him like you're all on the same team.
You know, tell him what's going on and what you need.
What if he says no?
Sometimes, to get what you want, you got to give what you want.
You're wondering why they don't trust you.
Well, believe me,
they're wondering the same thing about you.
Why should Bill Gurley trust you if you don't trust him?
[car horn honking distantly]
The burn rate.
I'm, uh, hesitant to talk about it.
I can see that.
[sighs] Also, I wanted to come here
and have a conversation face-to-face about it.
Um, the money we are spending--
spent, we spent it, I did.
Is to get the riders in the car--
All startups that are expanding go through serious burn.
[chuckles]
What are we dealing with here?
I'm reluctant to say the numbers.
Um, here...
Well, Jesus.
I can see why you would think that's unsustainable.
Is that what you think?
I think that top sheet's about as ugly as a horned toad's ass.
That sounds ugly.
You ever seen a horned toad's ass?
Can you picture Joakim Noah's jumper?
[scoffs]
Fugly. Yeah.
This is like that.
You're wondering whether this is the moment
I shoot you or sell your company for parts?
Yeah, just hearing you say those words--
You know, if I don't give you this funding,
the people you work with, they're gonna start
updating their résumés and they are gonna light out.
Hell, even if I do, they probably already started.
So let me ask you, is that you?
Smart, talented guy.
Are you looking for a soft spot to land?
Me? No fucking way.
No, this is the hill I die on.
There is no other company startup or otherwise for me.
This is all I've got.
Good. What did I tell you from the beginning?
No way I sell it out.
-[laughs] -Is that because I'm a good guy?
No. I mean, I am a good guy.
-That's not the reason. -[laughs]
Does the heroin dealer giveaway the first taste of his product
out of the goodness of his heart for free?
No, he does not.
This is that.
We put as much money as we need to
into getting people into those cars,
and we got them.
We charge anything we want.
Cigarettes, the best business in the world
till people start getting sued
and having to pay for the settlements.
But what we're doing with UberCab
sure as hell isn't giving anyone cancer.
So you're gonna keep bankrolling us?
-You're gonna come in for more? -Grow or die.
Listen, it wasn't easy, you coming in here like this.
I get that.
And I appreciate it.
I respect that.
We're partners.
And you got your check.
Thank you.
I want you to have something.
A full access card.
You come and go at UberCab as you please.
You're one of us.
Travis.
This money...
it'll only go so far.
This is the last of it.
You hardly touched your bento box.
Yes, I'm sorry.
You usually crush the tempura, not even that.
[chuckles]
Just not hungry.
You sounded so excited earlier
after talking to Gurley.
Yeah, guess it wore off.
Reality set in.
Why don't you leave this here and come home?
-Get a few hours sleep-- -Nah, sorry.
I'm just gonna stay till I can think of a way to take the city.
This is our proof-of-concept moment.
You know, last go-round before we're out of dry powder,
and the mayor won't even talk to me.
Look, you know your history.
And you know people.
Reagan showing strength to Gorbachev in Geneva
by going without his coat in the freezing cold, right?
Gates promising he'd deliver the OS
before he even started it.
Hamilton agreeing to move the actual White House.
Power is fluid.
Use that.
Use all of it.
[sighs]
[elevator dings]
The riders.
They're not just what we need.
They are our power.
We enlist them against the politicians.
Get the mayor to talk to me?
No, he's gonna beg me to talk to him.
We need to let those fuckers in office know
that the voters are with us.
[Travis] What do you do when you get kicked in the balls
by a hobnailed boot?
Roll around and groan?
Well, the motherfuckers who run startups,
this motherfucker,
eats it with a smile and keeps on going.
I'm at peace, I'm the man
Buying stocks on the day Of the crash, yeah
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills I'll flatten them out, yeah
[woman] More petitions coming in.
Uh-huh
It's evolution, baby
There's no top.
We didn't have enough to fill the last boxes.
Yeah, but still, that's a lot of signatures.
Yeah, but a pyramid has to have a point.
Really, TK? Ringers?
-Yeah. -[Austin] What if they check?
Then we become baristas.
Well, shit, I already tried that.
Didn't really work out.
Point.
Okay.
You said it loud and clear with these petitions.
Now, say it even louder.
Let us ride!
[all, chanting] Let us ride! Let us ride!
Let us ride!
The mayor is willing to meet.
[Travis] Yes.
I'm going in!
[applauding and cheering]
Don't worry, I have prepped the mayor
as to exactly how we feel about your little enterprise.
But at the risk of having you
clutter up our offices any further,
I figured I'd say hello.
And a quick goodbye,
because as Mr. Pearson said--
Horseshit.
[chuckles]
There were piles of it all along the streets
of this fine city, from Lombard down to Lincoln Way.
Literally horseshit.
Until the horse and carriage got replaced by the streetcar.
You don't think those teamsters were bitching back then?
Because they were, but John Geary,
the first mayor of this town, he saw the future.
And he made it so.
Of course, the future doesn't last, right?
And pretty soon, Jitneys came into fashion,
which obliterated the cable car,
turned it into a tourist attraction.
But that's because the mayor then, James Rolph,
he saw that for a nickel,
you could take a Jitney anywhere you wanted to go in the city.
As long as you don't mind riding along with some other lugs
and stopping wherever they want to stop,
which is why the Jitney gave way to the buses and the BART,
and of course, taxicabs, right?
Blessed taxis, in which you can ride princely and alone
as long as the meter is running.
And as long as the medallion owner
and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
takes their bites.
So for a while times were fat, and everybody ate.
But just like all those other modes of transport,
eventually the dying day comes.
And that is where we are today with Mayor Ed Lee in charge,
and now it's his chance to glimpse the future,
usher it in,
because this is what we are offering.
This is the future of passenger traveling
in a private vehicle for a fee
driven by a private citizen who earns that fee.
It is winners and commerce on both sides of the equation.
The question you have to ask yourself is:
Does Mayor Ed Lee wanna go down in the history books
as an innovator,
or does he want to let these beautiful streets
of San Francisco get flooded with horseshit one more time?
Because that is what the SFMTA
and the taxi lobbies are peddling.
Horseshit.
[elevator dings]
The city has been taken!
-[all applauding and cheering] -[laughs]
Great. That's great.
Full stop. But--
Okay, wait, you can't say "full stop" and then say "but."
That's...
But what about the fines?
No, dude, the mayor loves us now.
He's gonna push legislation our way, all right?
Future fines unlikely.
Great. So prior fines?
Pearson was there.
I think he thinks we still owe the money.
Oh. What'd he say?
"You still owe the fucking money."
Great.
I think this is gonna be a great thing for the both of you.
For everybody.
[beeps]
Full access? Nice.
That's the kind of relationship I build with all my founders.
If the door isn't open to me and vice versa,
something's wrong.
So, what does Travis think of this?
We'll find out when I tell him.
Look, if we do what you're saying,
-and we pay these fines-- -Yeah, and if we don't,
we're right back in those waters where we drown.
-Okay, well I'm not paying them. -Then they're gonna take
the fixtures off the ceiling to sell them.
We're in a vise.
Whoop. There it is.
Perfect.
Come on in.
Might as well do this
while we still have office furniture.
Sit down. Where did we leave off?
You asked me a question
that I didn't have a chance to answer.
Great. And what is the answer?
Hey, I understand congratulations are in order.
Bill. Yes, they are.
Good to see you.
Who's this?
This is the answer to your burn rate problem.
Meet Emil Michael, best dealmaker in the valley,
and your new raise wingman.
Now that you've, uh, taken over San Francisco,
it's time that we, uh, go to the outside investors,
tackle the other cities.
Grow or die, right?
Welcome aboard.
Bill, thank you so much.
Your support is--
it's just always so appreciated.
Anything I can do to help.
Take care.
I'll let you get to it.
What the fuck are you really doing here?
You a spy? You here to replace me?
Whoa, I'm...
I'm just here to help, like Bill said.
Yeah, I've heard that bullshit before.
It's not happening in my company.
I don't expect you to trust me.
I expect you to test me.
Give me that.
We have to respond to this bullshit by end of business,
or else this company that you're spying on right now
won't exist anymore.
What do you got? You're this big dealmaker.
You make us a deal,
get us out from under these fines,
settle us out, pennies on the dollar, what?
[scoffs]
The San Francisco MTA regulates taxicabs.
And so, yeah, UberCab is up to its ass in fines
and facing existential threat.
-[Travis] Gil? -[Gil] Yeah?
UberCab,
and all of its corresponding regulatory problems
and liabilities is hereby shut down,
inoperative and defunct.
Okay.
Why didn't I think of that?
A crucial question for another day, Gil.
So we're not a cab company anymore?
You never were.
So no cab regulators can reg us.
Sharp.
Ginsu sharp, yeah.
We are a ride-sharing service.
-[chuckles] -They're gonna say that's fraud.
-I mean, it might be fraud. -Why?
Because I'm not willing to recognize
that some taxi authority has jurisdiction over us?
Let them call it fraud and you know what?
To the end, Gil, re-paper us as a new entity
called Uber.
Uber... what?
[Garrett] Yeah.
Nothing. Just Uber.
When I came into this, I was ready to break shit,
because that is what revolution requires.
But you know what? I forgot that for a second.
But our new friend Emil here just reminded me.
-Go. -Okay.
[Quentin] I'm supposed to say yes, aren't I?
That I'm an asshole.
Well, I am.
I'm an asshole.
That's the right answer.
Because if you're not, you'll never make it at Uber.
We should hire this guy up.
Kelsey, can you bring him to Gil?
Make sure he signs an NDA.
Congratulations.
Go.
All right, bro, are you ready?
'Cause next, we're taking New York, and then Paris,
then Berlin, then Mumbai, and then Tokyo,
and then rest of the fucking world.
Then we take Berlin
I'm guided by a signal
In the heavens
I'm guided by This birthmark
On my skin
I'm guided by the beauty
Of our weapons
First we take Manhattan
Then we take Berlin
I'd really like to live Beside you, baby