It’s a brand new day for Uber, the transportation startup that has been caught up in a whirlwind of drama ranging from sexual harassment and culture issues to an absence of C-level leaders to a lawsuit with Waymo.
At an all-hands meeting today, Uber employees met their new leader: Dara Khosrowshahi, the former CEO of Expedia, who discussed a number of things, including how Uber should go public within the next 18 to 36 months, according to The Information’s Amir Efrati, and how he has the support of former CEO Travis Kalanick.
Khosrowshahi’s official first day is Tuesday, Sept. 5, but he still gave employees a taste of what to expect. For starters, his plan is to “pay the bills,” focus on the core businesses and “take big shots” in building for the future, Khosrowshahi said via some tweets from Uber’s communications team this morning.
He also talked about the importance of culture, and how people feel about their team determines how happy they are. He went on to say that it’s in Uber’s interest to attract and retain some of the best talent that’s out there. Khosrowshahi later mentioned that culture needs to be written from the bottom up, rather than pushed down from the top. In a throwback to Uber’s shaky past, Khosrowshahi spoke about change.
“This company has to change,” he said. “What got us is here is not what’s going to get us to the next level.”
PREACH!
Other than the softer words Uber’s communications team shared via Twitter, Khosrowshahi reportedly also spoke about being a fighter and how he won’t “bullshit” anyone.
From @Uber meeting: @dkhos "I will not bullshit you" & "I am a fighter. I'm all in. I will fight with every bone in my body"
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) August 30, 2017
Khosrowshahi also said he needs to bring on a chairperson to partner up with him at the Board level. He also needs to bring on a COO and a CFO. Other than that, the meeting seemed to be pretty chill.
There were also, obvi, some selfies that went down.
A special selfie at the end of a very special all hands introducing @dkhos to @Uber employees around the world. He starts on Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/vAPwqUbwu1
— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) August 30, 2017
welcome @dkhos, we're thrilled to have you here! #UberSelfie pic.twitter.com/ziaAxufvew
— =ryan graves= (@ryangraves) August 30, 2017
Uber officially announced Khosrowshahi’s hiring last night, followed shortly after Khosrowshahi himself said he planned to take the job, but was just ironing out some details with his contract.
All eyes will be on Khosrowshahi as he takes over the reigns at Uber, a startup that’s worth about $70 billion. If he can cut back on some of Uber’s losses and help the company regain some of its market share on Lyft, Khosrowshahi will be in a good place.
Update 8/31: After TechCrunch published this, Uber posted some additional highlights from the meeting on its blog. You can check that out here.
#mynewbadge. I checked it and it works! Does @karaswisher have one of these? pic.twitter.com/SfXDjWeJYP
— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) August 30, 2017
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