President Uber talks about how the company has achieved success in the global market

Today, Uber is a leader in the transportation market, but this has not always been the case. Initially, it was a fairly modest startup in San Francisco, which was destined to grow and conquer other cities.

The company expanded methodically, which helped it occupy different cities in various countries around the world. As a company, Uber is an interesting merger of the technology business and the “physical business” (which is the service of moving people to different places). And so Emil Michael, senior vice president of Uber’s business division, believes partnership is essential to building a business.

Below you will read a short story by Uber President Emil Michael about how the company grew from an outsider to a market leader, how Uber captured the United States and other markets such as China, and how successful partnerships and well-thought-out deals helped him in this. Michael also talked about how Uber entered the Chinese market and how Uberpool’s service for driving a car together is one of the ways to deal with traffic in growing cities.

From an outsider to a market leader

Motley startups do not have the whole complex structure that large companies have. Michael and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said that building and growing a large company is like building a civilization. The communities of people who use Uber have a direct impact on the community itself within the company. It is important that Uber benefits communities that use its services by providing low-cost trips to passengers who cannot afford the more expensive service, or serving areas that require additional transport. Therefore, Michael believes that Uber is becoming one of the factors affecting the structure of the society of cities and countries, and in this regard, the service has a moral responsibility.

Uberpool and urban development

The Uberpool service, working by analogy with the BlaBlaCar project, which is actively developing on the domestic market, is contributing to traffic offloading, while reducing the need for a more developed urban transport network. For example, in cities such as San Francisco, where no one plans to build a metro and buses are packed, service can be one of the solutions to infrastructure problems.

Finding a product that meets market expectations

Nowadays, people need the ability to move freely, so Uber was relevant in every city where the service appeared. Michael says: “If you have a simple product that works, people from all over the world will want to use it. And when you understand this, then, damn it, my growth is limited only by one factor - the speed with which I can launch the product and integrate it into a particular society or city. ” Based on how Uber works in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Nigeria and Tokyo, Michael is confident of the enormous potential of service in the global market.

How to make a good deal

The importance of the partnership depends on what kind of business you are doing. Uber is equally an IT company and a company that provides a completely “tangible” service, since machines are tangible objects that pick people up and transport them to their destinations. Michael said that during his work in the company, deals were made with large fleets of cars, car manufacturers, lenders and fuel suppliers: “If you are Facebook or Google, then you develop your product and rely less on partnerships, and you can also grow by increasing your server space. " President Uber is confident that building strong relationships is important even for an IT business: “Once you need partners to grow your business, develop new markets,

Uber Development Plan

The service provided its services exclusively in the territory of San Francisco during the year until it entered the new market, which was New York. Only nine months later, Uber continued its development in new markets. Thus, an action plan was created that was designed to help in hiring new employees and planning the next implementation of the service in new markets. After the service began to operate in ten cities in the United States, Uber began operating in one city on each continent to explore the local market and see if this business will take root there.

If we talk about business development in China, then, according to Michael in the Middle Kingdom, it is very important to have local people in your company - those who can interact with government and understand all the subtleties of a business culture. Uber's partner in the Chinese market is Baidu, one of three large Internet companies (overtaken by Tencent and Alibaba).

About the Author : Mood Rowghani is a partner in venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, his main area of ​​interest is investing in digital projects related to firms, mainly working with Internet companies with high growth and solid scaling.