The book presents the history of Uber since its founding by Garrett Camp as UberCab in 2009. Travis Kalanick, who would later run the company and become its largest shareholder before being removed as CEO, was originally brought in as an advisor with its first employee Ryan Graves as its CEO. The book explains how Kalanick came to replace Graves, who stayed on with the company, and gained control over the startup. According to the book, Kalanick was bitter about how venture capitalists had treated his first startup, Scour, and he vowed not to be replaced by them again. The book details the "work hard, play hard" culture at Uber, citing a party where employees celebrated the first billion dollars in revenues in Las Vegas. It also examines the many scandals experienced by the company, including allegations of sexual harassment documented by Susan Fowler, attempts to keep regulators from hiring Uber drivers to avoid fines, and the mishandling of personal information, including in the case of a rape victim in India. It also looks at the ways that, despite these incidents, the company was considered a unicorn by venture capitalists. Isaac writes that for a time, Uber was one of the highest valued private companies in Silicon Valley. The book ends with the company entering the market at below its valuation target.[3]
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