What Uber’s Start Up Story Is – How Garrett Camp And Travis Kalanick Started The Company


There are only a few companies that can blow you away and make you wonder how owning a business can be so cool and awesome. Among such amazing companies include Apple, Tesla, Facebook, and Uber. Fortunately, Uber is becoming more and more fascinating and mind-blowing by the day! It’s not only a private chauffeur company but also a logistics company. Its amazing stunts with flower delivery, ice cream delivery, and helicopters on demand are nothing but a pure example of how you can achieve whatever you aim for provided you have the right application for it.

The Start-Up Story of Uber – This Is How Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick Started The Company

Uber Logo

Uber Logo



Uber’s startup story takes us back to 2008 when two of its co-founders were attending the LeWeb conference in Paris, France. Not aware that someday they’ll be heading one of the most successful startups ever witnessed, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick started complaining about the endless number of crappy stuff we have to deal with in life, including finding a cab especially when we have heavy luggage and no taxi to come to our aid. It seemed like Paris’ finest restaurants or The Eiffel Tower wasn’t enough to distract these two geniuses from thinking about a brilliant idea. They started brainstorming, thinking about how to solve this global problem of finding a cab at the right place and time. They sought out a fast and mobile solution, with Jay Leno’s garage being used at the initial spot to pick the rides.

Garrett took the lead and started playing around with several ideas, including prototyping several solutions as well as engineering a mobile app for iPhone to help those looking for a cab to get around easily. After a short while, Travis joined him and together they worked on what later became Uber. By January 2010, Uber was already rolling black cars in New York City as a way of testing their services. With only a few cars and fewer people being aware of Uber’s startup at the time, the business became an instant hit. It didn’t take long before San Francisco and other major cities joined in, and the rest, as we all know, is history.
Today Uber is among the leading transportation service providers globally. However, it started out with a Series A funding worth $11.5 million and went on to snatch an additional $32 million in the second round of funding. As if it couldn’t get any better for them, Uber landed a mega $1.2 billion in its final round of funding. The company is currently valued at $17 billion and stands tall among the few lifetime success stories we’ve come around.

 

Uber in action

Uber in action

Uber’s culture of business is what makes them the ultimate startup. It has a culture that reflects what Generation Y stands for. We all want to be doing amazing things while coming across as chic, cool and innovative. For instance, take a look at Uber’s services and you will notice German monsters such as the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8. Most of us love affluence, and although we all can’t be millionaires, if we’re given a rare choice to enjoy a piece of the cake then I bet no one will say NO. Why not feel like a royal and roll out in a Mercedes S class even if it’s going to be just once? We all have a life full of disappointments. A life where people are complaining about their governments, and relationships and are unhappy with their jobs. Amidst all these, Uber shines as one of the rare beacons of light that make our days a little brighter.

The most amazing thing about tech-based startups is that they allow us to do things faster, better and cheaper, leaving lots of old “givens” outdated. Although Taxi unions in France and the UK have been striking against Uber, claiming that the company’s usage of a geolocalisation-based app to request a ride and calculate fares poses an unfair advantage, these businesses will either adapt or die, because that has been the law of nature for centuries now.

Late last year Uber started to shake things up in the UAE when it gave millions of people something to look forward to. As a way of winning the hearts and minds of the wealthy young and old generations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Uber started giving away a day of free rides with UberX or one full week of free Uber rides. Surprisingly, Uber didn’t spend money on paid advertisement, but rather capitalized on word of mouth whereby happy customers went around telling their friends and family about how amazing the ride was.
Many believe that Uber is the next $100 Billion business. This isn’t a far-fetched assumption if the current statistics are to be considered. Uber will soon be delivering your pizza, valentine roses, and even your ice cream on demand provided you have their app on your smartphone.

Uber Today

Uber has revolutionized the transportation industry in recent years with its easy-to-use technology that makes hailing a ride an effortless experience. Uber is an American-based ridesharing company founded in 2009 and has grown to become one of the biggest names in transportation. It uses a mobile app to connect riders to drivers, and it’s currently one of the most popular alternatives to traditional taxi cabs.

Uber provides an efficient and convenient way for users to get from one place to another – users simply open the Uber app, and enter their pickup and dropoff locations before requesting a ride. They are then connected with a nearby driver who takes them where they need. One of Uber’s most popular features is its cashless payment system, allowing riders to pay for their ride through their bank or credit card without having to worry about carrying any cash.

Uber also offers services like Uber Pool which allows multiple ridesharers going in the same direction split their fare, increasing affordability and reducing traffic congestion by eliminating cars on the road. The company also has partnerships with companies like AT&T, Spotify, and Yelp which allow you to access deals while you’re in an Uber car.

Uber truly has revolutionized how people get around on a daily basis – providing an affordable and safe alternative form of transportation that is available on demand across cities all over the world. It’s become one of the most used transportation options for both everyday commuters and those looking for a convenient way to get from one place to another.

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