Thank You for the ride of a lifetime

I joined Uber in August 2016 as a Marketing Coordinator, right after Uber sold its operations in China to Didi. As someone who’d just graduated and was hungry to work in the budding internet economy — the prospect of playing a part in the battle between Ola and Uber in India seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the outset.

That — coupled with the fact that I’d re-gain access to my then referral-induced fraud-banned Uber rider account was exciting enough for me to dive right in.

I am glad Uber?bet on me and got me on board, and I can’t do justice in words trying to express how grateful I am for the privilege of working here for the last five years.

This team and place have been home for most of my professional life — I often say that I did a lot of growing up as a professional here at Uber, and I am glad I consciously went down this road and over an MBA.

As I sat down to write this note— I felt waves of thoughts cross my mind, and after some stillness, a few things became clear on what I want to remember from my time here.

We make a real difference to people’s lives:

In March 2018, on my ride back to Lucknow from Kanpur, my driver-partner for the ride, Ravi Kumar, laid down his dream in front of me. He was to save up fifteen thousand rupees every month for the next 2 to 3 years — a process that began several months ago and put down money for a house for his mother, wife, and 2 years old girl. Because of Uber, he built confidence in his dream of owning his own home and shaping a better future for his family. He also had this quirky wish of flying for the first time and specifically on Jet Airways, as from his many trips to/from the airport, he’d identified that the stewardesses with that Airline were the prettiest :)

Behind every trip and $ of Gross Bookings, which form a bulk of our discussions — are people getting to work for an important presentation, a first date, a pitch meeting, a homeward-bound graduate. Some have managed to send their kids to better schools, now don’t worry about their next meal, are saving up to put down money for a house. We help enable each of those experiences in people’s lives. I am guilty of forgetting this many times while deciding what problems to solve or designing processes and solutions as the lure of $$ impact inevitably takes over discussions. A friendly reminder as many of my close friends and teammates continue to build Uber.

We have bent the arc of history towards progress:

A week ago, while trying to wrap my head around friends’ complaints about our dwindling reliability in cities and where we have fallen short in solving for the driver, a contrasting thought hit me quite vividly. Uber has made asset utilization much more efficient, and that is an innovation that no one can take from us, ever.

Yes, there are still problems to fix that you’d think we should have solved by now. But — if you zoom out of the micro, you’ll realize we have solved a massive problem by allowing people to efficiently book a car available around them at any given point in time. One car earlier did far fewer than the 10+ trips it completes today while helping its owner earn more money.. This has changed many aspects of our lives, and we’ll look back many years from now at what was before and after Uber, like a discernible moment in time.

Few innovations have improved the world of atoms in the last few decades, so what Uber has achieved is incredible! I look forward to the mission of ‘Go anywhere, Get anything’ play out ubiquitously.

We are owners with a winning mindset:

If there were a universe in which Uber stepped back every time we faced challenges trying to enter a new city or our operations halted because a small faction did not want us there, then count me out.

The morning after launching in Agra — won’t lie, went there for the photo only :)

We were a smaller yet stronger force pushing back, owning problems, and winning so that millions more get to experience the Uber magic and thousands more earn a better living.

A collective belief in a cause bigger than any one of us and wanting to win as a team is an incredible feeling to be a part of. Anyone who’s played a team sport knows this and now imagine feeling that at work every day.

I think we have experienced its importance and the risks associated with it quite meaningfully. I maintain that it’s a mindset that’s needed when you’re driving a meaningful change, and I can’t ever forget the feeling of having been a part of it.

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I have?many people to thank?and hopefully continue to thank as I will undoubtedly work with many of the Uber folks again in the time to come.

That I got to spend this much time working with people so talented and optimistic so early on in my career is a blessing I hope you have shared and will continue to share.

I’ll now spend my workdays building immersive shopping experiences for millions of Indians on Flipkart and spend my weekends going deeper into the different elements of the metaverse. More on that to follow.