Why Uber’s version of reality is so far from the rest of the world

Travis Kalanick believes that great entrepreneurs all share one common trait: an ability to spot the difference between perception and reality. Kalanick, the CEO of ridesharing giant Uber, said people perceived that the taxi industry was the only way to quickly get a ride. He saw it differently. 

“That distance between perception and reality is the innovator’s playground,” he said to an audience of some 700 entrepreneurs at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University on Thursday. “You have to get used to people telling you are crazy and things are not possible or not right and you have to stick to your guns.”

Despite Uber skyrocketing to a $68 billion valuation, Kalanick continues to wage his own war between perception and reality everyday. One of the most vilified startups in the country, if not the world, Uber faces negative press daily critiquing how they pay their drivers, where they get their billion in funding and everything in between. Just yesterday, Buzzfeed used leaked financials to report that Uber drivers in major U.S. markets earn less than $13.25 an hour, a far cry from the $100,000 a year the company once claimed the average driver makes.

While Kalanick did not address the Buzzfeed article directly on stage, his comments on perception versus reality shed some light on how he views the issue. In his mind, the Uber model of work is not only crucial for the survival of our economy, but it’s also the future of the American dream -- the rest of the world just can’t see this reality yet.

In an interview with Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, Kalanick spoke at length about the flexibility that driving for Uber allows his mostly part time workforce around the globe. Long are the days in which you have to clock into work at nine and out again at five, he said, giving workers the freedom to set their own hours and take control over how much income they make. The CEO went on to allude that Uber is practically recession proof. When layoffs happen in certain cities or factories shut down, Kalanick says people out of work can then turn to Uber for employment. That’s why despite ample negative press, Kalanick and other Uber officials continue to maintain that what they are building is a net gain for any economy they launch in.

Kalanick extended the perception versus reality metaphor to Uber’s current battle against legislation that would require drivers in certain states to be subjected to background checks or fingerprinting. Uber is lobbying against the law, which some interpret as the company’s disregard for rider safety. Yet Kalanick told Jarrett that he is merely trying to ensure that all people can find decent employment. Pointing to the problems in our criminal justice system and the difficulties arrested, but innocent, people have finding work, Kalanick said Uber is fighting the fingerprint laws so that “unjust incumbents” don’t derail this effort.  

“When you are an entrepreneur disrupting an industry, you are going to get lots of headlines,” he said. “But you have to have very strong principles for when you change and how you change and when you step back and don’t do something.”

Before leaving the stage, Kalanick looked out into the crowd to share a message specifically with the entrepreneurs in the audience from around the globe: “Being an entrepreneur is never easy. The minute that it becomes easy, that means it is about to get really hard,” he said, no doubt speaking about his current experience. And as he left the stage amid roaring applause from a room crowded with (much smaller) founders, I was left with one question. Does the world need to catch up to Kalanick’s reality or is it the other way around? I’ll let you be the judge.