Who is Travis Kalanick?

Travis Kalanick is an American businessman who co-founded the rideshare company Uber with Garrett Camp in 2008. Kalanick served as CEO of the company between 2010 and 2017. Travis Kalanick is now CEO of CloudKitchens.

Scour

After dropping out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Kalanick was part of a team that founded the multimedia search engine Scour and associated P2P file transfer service Scour Exchange. 

Scour was one of the first platforms to enable users to share music and movies online.

Inevitably, however, it was sued for copyright infringement to the tune of $250 billion and forced to declare bankruptcy in 2000.

Red Swoosh

Kalanick founded another P2P fire-sharing company called Red Swoosh in 2001 which he dubbed his “revenge business” after the Scour lawsuit.

In essence, media companies would pay Red Swoosh to create legitimate music and video files for their customers with a particular focus on making large file transfers more efficient.

Since the dot-com bubble had just burst, Kalanick experienced cash flow problems early on and many employees were essentially working for free. The future of the company was uncertain until Mark Cuban invested $1.8 million in 2005.

Red Swoosh was then able to hire programmers and secured some high-profile corporate clients.

Kalanick later sold the company to Akamai Technologies in 2007 for around $18.7 million in stock.

Investment in start-ups

Kalanick then made several small investments in tech start-ups such as Expensify, Crowdflower, Formspring, and Livefyre. 

He touted himself as the “fixer” of start-up problems and started to hold sessions in his apartment where young tech entrepreneurs could discuss ideas.

Some of the first such entrepreneurs were Gary Vaynerchuk and Aaron Levie, the co-founder of enterprise cloud company Box.

Uber

From a company that offered just three vehicles for hire, Kalanick was instrumental in expanding operations into 66 countries and more than 360 cities in around three years.

Under his leadership, the company successfully pivoted from premium black cars and limousines to more affordable vehicles like the Toyota Prius.

Over time, Kalanick’s aggressive and combative attitude toward key stakeholders started to impact his reputation.

After Uber’s board recommended that he resign, Kalanick stepped down and severed his last tie with the company in December 2019.

10100

Kalanick announced in early 2018 that he would be launching a venture fund known as 10100 – pronounced ‘ten-one-hundred’.

The fund prefers to invest in Chinese and Indian eCommerce, real estate, and emerging tech companies. 

Two notable investments include:

• $150 million in City Storage Systems (CSS), a firm that focuses on the redevelopment of distressed real estate, and
• $300 million in British start-up FoodStars, which Kalanick took a controlling interest in via ghost-kitchen management company and CSS subsidiary CloudKitchens. 

Kalanick currently serves as the CEO of City Storage Systems.

Key takeaways:

• Travis Kalanick is an American businessman who co-founded the rideshare company Uber with Garrett Camp in 2008. Kalanick served as CEO of Uber between 2010 and 2017.
• Kalanick was part of a team that founded the multimedia search engine Scour and associated P2P file transfer service Scour Exchange. The company was made bankrupt by a copyright lawsuit in 2000, so Kalanick started a similar platform called Red Swoosh with a different business model.
• After selling Red Swoosh, Kalanick co-founded Uber and was instrumental in its early growth. But he was ultimately ousted for his adversarial approach in 2019 and moved back into the venture capital and start-up industries.

Key Highlights

• Background and Entrepreneurship:
  • Travis Kalanick is an American businessman who co-founded Uber, a rideshare company, along with Garrett Camp in 2008.
  • He served as the CEO of Uber from 2010 to 2017.
• Early Ventures:
  • Prior to Uber, Kalanick was part of a team that founded the multimedia search engine Scour and its P2P file transfer service Scour Exchange.
  • Scour was one of the pioneers in online music and movie sharing but faced copyright infringement lawsuits and eventually declared bankruptcy in 2000.
• Red Swoosh:
  • Kalanick founded Red Swoosh in 2001, another P2P file-sharing company, which focused on efficient large file transfers for media companies.
  • The company faced challenges due to the dot-com bubble burst but secured investment from Mark Cuban, leading to growth and later being acquired by Akamai Technologies.
• Investments and Start-up Support:
  • Kalanick made investments in various tech start-ups and positioned himself as a “fixer” for start-up issues.
  • He hosted sessions in his apartment for young tech entrepreneurs to discuss ideas and problems.
• Uber’s Growth and Challenges:
  • Under Kalanick’s leadership, Uber expanded rapidly from a small operation to operating in multiple countries and cities, offering affordable ride options like the Toyota Prius.
  • However, his aggressive approach and controversies with stakeholders impacted his reputation.
• Departure from Uber:
  • After facing pressure from Uber’s board, Kalanick resigned as CEO and cut ties with the company in December 2019.
• Venture Fund 10100:
  • In 2018, Kalanick launched a venture fund named 10100, which focuses on investments in Chinese and Indian eCommerce, real estate, and emerging tech companies.
• City Storage Systems (CSS) and CloudKitchens:
  • Kalanick invested in City Storage Systems (CSS), which focuses on distressed real estate redevelopment.
  • He also invested in British start-up FoodStars and took a controlling interest through CloudKitchens, a ghost-kitchen management company.
• Current Role:
  • Kalanick currently serves as the CEO of City Storage Systems.

Read Next: Uber Business Model, CloudKitchens Business Model.