All Segments
Building a Company in Stealth | Travis Kalanick with a16z
12 segments available
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 Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.
Segments Timeline
Intro
"We know what Uber's 2017 was like. >> Travis Kanic has stepped down from his role as chief executive. >> That wouldn't have gone that way if Ben or Mark was on the board. You're in this hell. You're d..."
The Deal That Got Away: Uber's Series B in 2011
">> Travis, this is the I'm back podcast. This is the return of the kingd episode. Um, >> return of the mech. That's >> I'm all about we can return. I don't know what the right thing is, but we got to ..."
Why Uber's 2017 Wouldn't Have Happened with Ben or Marc on the Board
">> Well, what I would say is there's one middle piece to this. >> Sure. which is those who are obviously in the tech industry, like we know what Uber's 2017 was like. >> Uh that wouldn't have gone tha..."
When the Pirate Becomes the Navy
"I I continue to stand by every decision I made at Uber. Uh but you know there are a lot of times where you could just make the argument I just got way too close to the line and then yeah I could show ..."
The Fall from Uber & Finding CloudKitchens
">> So, what happened was it's super interesting. Um, so I had a buddy who started a thing right near the end of my Uber tenure. Um, and it was called Cloud Kitchens. And what happened was is he he's a..."
8 Years in Stealth: Building Without the New York Times
"thousands of employees in over 8ear period and you're in stealth. >> Yeah, dude. >> Yeah. That's just super hard mode. >> Yeah. And the thing is is like look coming out of 17 things were it was 150 ar..."
Digitizing the Physical World
"even bigger vision for for this company emerges to to digitize the physical world. We're we're category creating the you're creating a new category the term industrial AI. >> Yeah. >> Talk about when ..."
Bringing It All Together: Atoms Vision
">> So let's fast forward to how the the bigger vision for atoms comes together in terms of the >> Yeah. combination of the companies. >> I keep stopping you. I know. Yeah. >> Um and then I also want t..."
Great Companies Are Always About a Great Entrepreneur
">> Yeah. Yeah. It's very complicated alignment. Um but you know it it's a kind of an interesting point because it's very obvious to you know when we talked about it here the way it should work and I a..."
Creating Problems vs Solving Them
">> Letting the imagination flourish is a beautiful thing. >> Yeah. Understanding what the core core principles are. >> Yeah. >> And applying them. So with that said, paint us more paint us a picture a..."
The Second Industrial Revolution & Resistance to Change
"AI. >> Yeah. So, look, I I did a a vision letter when we launched Adams that outlined sort of vision for like physical AI, where we sit in it. um and even went into like what a physical AI stack is an..."
Building the Team
">> Yeah. Otherwise we'd be Europe. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So, we were talking offline you were saying when you started Uber um you you know worked with people who would choose to work with you. Now you'..."