The History of Uber – Uber’s Timeline | Uber Newsroom It all started with a simple idea—tap a button, get a ride.
A decision effectively banned Uber in the capital after determining that it's "not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator license." Experiencing the common urban woe of not getting a cab in a storm, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp soon brainstormed an idea for a new company called UberCab.The name Uber is derived from the German word meaning "above all the rest," a bedrock principle Kalanick and Camp wanted for their fledgling company.With UberCab, the origin of the connectivity portion of the company-client dynamic was introduced - all a rider had to do was open their mobile phone, tap a button, and find an affordable ride in minutes.Within months, Uber dropped the "Cab" portion of its company name, opting to stick with Uber and Uber alone - the company's founders reasoned that Uber really wasn't a taxicab company in the traditional sense, so there was no reason to attach the term "cab" to its name.The company began hiring right away, with one noteworthy story about how Uber found its eventual chief executive officer.
Here is how the interaction took place on Twitter, which not only shows the power of social media to connect business partners, it also shows the reliance millennial business owners and prospective employees had in using mobile technologies to break the ice and get down to business.Kalanick - "Looking 4 entrepreneurial product mgr/biz-dev killer 4 a location based service.. pre-launch, BIG equity, big peeps involved-ANY TIPS?? The drivers sought full employment, and the better wages and benefits that go with being full-time employees.The company and its drivers settled out of court, and today Uber drivers are still deemed contractors in most U.S. states, although the company has taken steps to boost pay and perks on the job.In 2014, Uber ran into more trouble when then-CEO Kalanick drew scrutiny after calling his own company "Boober" in a GQ magazine interview, in discussing the ride-sharing company's popularity with female consumers.
Here's a timeline of many, many upheavals that led the $69-billion startup to this crisis point.The incident raises serious questions about how and when ride-hailing companies like Uber can be held liable for damages. But what is clear is that this person will have a lot to correct. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business, science to design.