‘Embrace the chaos’: a history of Uber’s rapid expansion and fall from favour

theguardian.com:

As Uber expanded around the world at breakneck speed under the leadership of Travis Kalanick, an executive in its fledgling Indian business sent a message to colleagues that captured the company’s rogue spirit.

“Embrace the chaos. It means you’re doing something meaningful.”

It was August 2014. Uber had been operating in India for only a year and was already in 10 cities. But the rapid expansion and a cavalier attitude towards taxi laws had collided with opposition from competitors and regulators – each grappling with Uber’s insistence that it didn’t need to play by the same rules as the incumbent taxi industry.

To Uber, the fight was justified – righteous, even. Above all, it was necessary.

“We will likely have both local and national issues in almost every city in India for the rest of your tenure at Uber … so get used to this as the status quo,” continued the email from Uber’s top executive in India.

Four months later, an Uber driver was accused of raping a customer, leading to the service being temporarily banned in Delhi. He was later given a life sentence. In the days after the assault, the executive emailed staff saying the team was making changes to improve customer safety and checks on drivers, but was in good spirits: “We know that Uber is a force for good in India, and around the world. Of course, we have much to improve on.”

Nearly three years later, as Kalanick’s leadership unravelled, it was reported that while the company publicly promised to improve safety, another executive obtained the medical files of the rape survivor in a failed attempt to discredit her evidence. Uber fired the executive after journalists began asking questions about the incident.

Uber’s behaviour during its years of explosive growth