Do not wait for your investors to tell you everything: Uber founder to entrepreneurs

“Entrepreneurship is like playing a game of chess,” said Travis Kalanick, Founder of taxi hailing app Uber, while giving out a few tips students and entrepreneurs at a jam packed hall in IIT Bombay.

Kalanick in a fireside chat with serial entrepreneur and investor Ronnie Screwvala, said that only the entrepreneur knows how to play the game and that they should not worry or wait for the investors to guide them on what to do.

“Do not wait for your investors to tell you everything about entrepreneurship...You (founders) know your moves well...they have no idea as how you are playing the game. Just be a good listener to them (investors)...,” he said while addressing a 1,800-odd audience at the country's premier technology institute.

Another advice that left the audience in splits was not to reply to the investors mail when the going is tough. “ Sit on the mail for a few days till the investors forgets about the question,” said the 39-year-old CEO, who failed and almost got sued for his first venture.

“Put everything that you have on the field, every ounce of energy, every ounce of passion that you have. And if you put everything in and keep getting back up, it's very hard to fail,” he said citing an example that at a point when he was bankrupt he had to move in with his girlfriend and he had not told her about it.

Kalanick could be the pioneer in solving the problem of taxi-hailing across the world, but he chose to take a BEST bus in Mumbai.

Replying to a question on Uber's expansion in the Indian market and its strategy to tackle competition, he said that the company is ready to double its investment if market gives 5 times the returns.

He also said that the Indian market was growing fast and that Uber’s marketshare has increased from 4 per cent in January last to 40 per cent. In 5 major cities, the market share was over 50 per cent.

However, he also added that he cannot talk about how the market will shape up in the next 5 years.

In 2015, Uber had announced that it will invest $1 billion in India to improve operations, expand into newer cities and develop new products. It is also setting up a huge development centre in Hyderabad.

On the growing competition, Kalanick, who has founded three companies including Uber, said, “I sleep two hours less because of competition and I want that two hours back. When you do amazing things, there will be a few companies doing the same thing. It is good for the market.”

On the Chinese market, Kalanick said: “No Internet (foreign) companies have succeeded in China ...but we want to be that one company who can crack that market and make it happen.” Uber has tied up with Baidu in China.

He signed off by giving a shout out to all the IITians, who wanted to drop out from college, by giving his email ID and asked them to write to him in case they needed a job. “Am also the chief recruitment officer at Uber,” Kalanick, a drop out from UCLA, said.