Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

1. DRDavid Rosenthal0:01

   So, uh, I came up here, we scheduled this time to record. What are, what are we talking about today?

2. BGBen Gilbert0:06

   [exhales] I mean, we haven't talked about Uber in a while.

3. DRDavid Rosenthal0:09

   Hmm, that's right. A lot has happened since we did the IPO episode.

4. BGBen Gilbert0:14

   It's been, what, four years? That is crazy. All right. Yeah, let's do it. I ordered some food. I hope that's okay if, uh-

5. DRDavid Rosenthal0:22

   Oh, yeah, yeah.

6. BGBen Gilbert0:23

   Um, maybe we can eat [knocking] while we, uh, while we... [door opens] Oh, dear. Hey, did someone order Uber Eats? Oh, yeah, that's me. All right, cool. Um, got some wine in here. Oh, great. That's perfect. So can I join you guys?

7. DRDavid Rosenthal0:39

   Sure.

8. BGBen Gilbert0:39

   Actually, yeah, that'd be great.

9. DRDavid Rosenthal0:41

   Yeah.

10. BGBen Gilbert0:41

    Come on in.

11. DRDavid Rosenthal0:41

    Come on in.

12. SPSpeaker0:42

    Who got the truth? [singing] Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Who got the truth now? Hmm. Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Sit me down, say it straight, another story on the way. Who got the truth?

13. BGBen Gilbert0:59

    Welcome to this episode of Acquired, the podcast about great technology companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert.

14. DRDavid Rosenthal1:07

    I'm David Rosenthal.

15. BGBen Gilbert1:08

    And we are your hosts. Today's episode is an interview with Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, where he joins us from the Acquired home studio in Seattle. And it's been a while since we checked in on Uber. They've gone through quite the transformation since our 2019 episode on IPO day. In the past 12 months, they've done over $30 billion in revenue, up from just $10 billion two years ago.

16. DRDavid Rosenthal1:32

    And that's not GMV, that's revenue.

17. BGBen Gilbert1:34

    That is revenue. And they have two businesses, as many of you know, that complement each other nicely in Eats and Mobility, and they've divested anything hardware, international, or that's too far in the future or speculative. They're even doing something we couldn't imagine at IPO time, which is profitability. Now, it's very modest at this point, but we wouldn't have dreamed Uber could even get to break even back when they burned... David, what was it? $3 billion the year before the IPO.

18. DRDavid Rosenthal2:02

    Yeah, I think it was the most capital burned before an IPO by any company in history up to that point.

19. BGBen Gilbert2:09

    Well, today's discussion, of course, is partly about Uber, as we're alluding to here. But as David and I evolve the interview format, we're putting more of a focus on Dara as a person and sharing some of his craziest stories from throughout his whole career. So this is a candid conversation that dives into moments like buying Expedia right when 9/11 happened, how he first met Barry Diller at Allen & Company, and what the financial mechanics are actually like of replacing Uber's entire shareholder base, or close to it anyway, almost in its entirety, since joining the company.

20. DRDavid Rosenthal2:42

    Yeah, not to mention the Uber CEO recruitment process, which I don't think Dara's talked about anywhere else before.

21. BGBen Gilbert2:47

    No, I don't think so either. Well, if you are not already in the Slack, you totally should join. So many smart folks commenting on episodes and bringing new information after we record that we didn't find in the research, because many of you work in the fields that we're actually covering on episodes. So you can join at acquired.fm/slack. Listen to our other episodes on our second show, ACQ2, like a great episode we just did with Jake saper from Emergence on AI moats in B2B SaaS. And without further ado, this show is not investment advice. David and I may have investments in the companies we discuss, and this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Onto our conversation with Dara. [glass clinking] Cheers. Dara.

22. DKDara Khosrowshahi3:32

    Cheers.

23. BGBen Gilbert3:33

    Welcome to Acquired.

24. DKDara Khosrowshahi3:34

    Thank you very much. Happy to be here.

25. BGBen Gilbert3:36

    Appreciate you, uh, swinging by the home studio on your way home from Expedia board meeting. Is that right?

26. DKDara Khosrowshahi3:42

    Yes.

27. BGBen Gilbert3:43

    How'd that go?

28. DKDara Khosrowshahi3:45

    Uh, I can't tell you.

29. BGBen Gilbert3:45

    Yeah, that's, uh, [laughing] that's the right answer. [laughing]

30. DKDara Khosrowshahi3:47

    But it was a good board meeting.

Episode duration: 1:37:40