Travis Kalanick, Ben Horowitz, and Erik Torenberg reunite to reflect on Uber's early days, the investment that almost happened, and why Kalanick believes the next great technology opportunity lies beyond software.

They discuss the lessons of building Uber, the value of founder-led companies, and why Kalanick spent nearly eight years quietly building Atoms before stepping back into the spotlight.

The conversation explores industrial AI, robotics, autonomy, mining, food production, and Kalanick's vision for digitizing the physical world, where software, manufacturing, real estate, and transportation come together to transform entire industries.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:09 - The Deal That Got Away: Uber's Series B in 2011
13:22 - Why Uber's 2017 Wouldn't Have Happened with Ben or Marc on the Board
17:38 - When the Pirate Becomes the Navy
21:14 - The Fall from Uber & Finding CloudKitchens
32:00 - 8 Years in Stealth: Building Without the New York Times
34:47 - Digitizing the Physical World
39:47 - Bringing It All Together: Atoms Vision
49:13 - Great Companies Are Always About a Great Entrepreneur
01:04:57 - Creating Problems vs Solving Them
01:17:24 - The Second Industrial Revolution & Resistance to Change
01:28:07 - Building the Team

Resources:
Follow Travis Kalanick on X: https://x.com/travisk
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

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