I recently reviewed John Carreyrou's Bad Blood, in which the founder and ex-CEO of Theranos was ousted as a compulsively lying sociopath. Theranos, a Silicon valley startup once worth billions, promptly collapsed as the public became aware of its true nature. Uber, the subject of Super Pumped, isn't as bad a company as Theranos, but it comes much closer than I anticipated.
Super Pumped and Bad Blood have, surprisingly, a lot in common. Both were written by prominent business journalists (from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal respectively) who uncovered scandals within the companies with the help of whistleblowers. Of the two, Carreyrou is perhaps the more successful exposé as his reporting directly led to the end of Theranos. Isaac's allegations against Uber are not as damning, but they touch on the same themes; venture capital's excesses, egotism, founder worship and the normalization of toxic working culture.
Uber is a staple of global business news, so I thought I knew what to expect. Super Pumped is the story of Uber and Travis Kalanick, its founder. Uber started out as a way for limousine drivers to earn extra income while waiting for scheduled gigs. High-flying "ballers" could hail a limousine with their smartphone at their convenience. Most of us know Uber as the low-cost taxi service, where anyone can be a driver, but that came only later. Ridesharing was pioneered by Uber's nemesis Lyft, but Uber quickly stole the concept and beat Lyft to the market. It was the first in a series of dirty moves that many people associate with the company.
Uber has been so controversial that Wikipedia helpfully provides readers with a 21 point list of criticisms against the company. Combine those with the immorality of its founders and management and it's hard to continue using the company's services. I remember using Uber for the first time and being amazed by both the app and the service. Catching a cab with an app was already enticing, but paying less for it than a standard taxi was the real hook. In hindsight, some of the warning signs were there from the beginning. Prices were low because venture capitalists picked up a significant portion of the tab. Since then, driver satisfaction has nosedived as Uber has reduced their fees.
Most surprisingly, despite being one of the fastest growing companies ever, Uber's management made a string of inexplicably bad business decisions. Kalanick saw himself as the first American that could crack the Chinese consumer market. China, however, already had its share of ridesharing apps that understood the market better than an arrogant American rival. Uber ended up burning billions of dollars in China, Russia and other markets it barely understood. Kalanick believed that Uber needed to be the first to enter a market to "win" it. But from the start it was obvious that ridesharing isn't a natural monopoly. Rivals like Bolt, Didi Chuxing and Lyft have shown that stamina matters more than blitz.
Super Pumped reads like a series of extended newspaper stories. It's standard practice and quite accessible, but it also guarantees that there is little to say beyond the crisp content. I barely got to the juicy details here, and I'm happy to recommend Super Pumped to others, perhaps just to spread the word on Uber. Bad Blood succeeded in taking down Theranos. Unfortunately, there has been no such luck with Super Pumped yet.