Uber CEO Travis Kalanick called a would-be exec every single day for two weeks to quiz him before giving him the job
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Travis Kalanick, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., gestures as he speaks during the Institute of Directors (IOD) annual convention at the Royal Albert Hall in London, U.K., on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.
Max Chafkin wrote the story after five months of reporting, spending tons of time with Kalanick and more than a dozen investors, coworkers, employees, and friends.
The story deals both with Uber as a growing entity as well as talking a bit more about Kalanick as the guy behind the $51 billion ride-hailing company.
It's filled with anecdotes that show how Kalanick operates as a businessman and as the CEO of Uber.
One such story shows Kalanick as a guy who loves debate.
Almost three years ago, Fast Company reports, Thuan Pham, a VP at VMware, was interviewing at Uber. Before he got hired, Travis Kalanick called him on the phone "every day for two weeks to quiz him on recruiting or how best to manage engineers." The two spent 30 hours talking during that time. "We'd just hammer each other," Pham told Fast Company. Now, Pham is Uber's CTO.
In addition, Kalanick encourages his employees to debate too. "What Travis infuses in the company is that the best ideas win," Pham told Fast Company. "You have to be willing to step on toes to make sure the idea is heard, and you're supposed to only be loyal to the idea, to the truth."
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