E1: Emil Michael on Uber: #DeleteUber, China, and Apple

Emil Michael was the Chief Business Officer at Uber during their meteoric and incomparable growth from 2013 to 2017, as well as CEO Travis Kalanick’s right hand. Few leaders in tech have accomplished so much in terms of raw users and revenue growth. Few leaders in tech have also personally experienced so much turmoil. Host Jesse Genet and Co-host Erik Torenberg talk to Emil about the #DeleteUber campaign, Uber’s unsuccessful bids to acquire Lyft, doing business in China, and more from inside Uber.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Introducing Emil Michael, CBO of Uber from 2013-2017.

(02:27) Setting the scene for #DeleteUber crisis

(11:05) Lyft

(11:32) The Trump White House invitation

(13:02) Sponsor: Pesto.Tech

(13:42) Internal dynamics at Uber

(20:35) China

(30:17) Unsuccessful deals

(34:03) Tim Cook and Apple

(38:42) Hiring lessons

(41:39) Most misunderstood notion about Uber

(45:44) SWAT team episode

(47:30) Emil’s advice for overcoming a crisis

TWITTER:

@jessegenet (Jesse)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@emilmichael (Emil)

@InTheArena_pod * DM us if you have suggestions for who we should interview on In The Arena

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