Travis Kalanick Is Back | Building the Future of Industrial AI
7/22/20261 hr 32 min
Travis Kalanick, Ben Horowitz, and Erik Torenberg reunite to reflect on Uber's early days, the investment that almost happened, and why Kalanick believes the next great technology opportunity lies beyond software.
They discuss the lessons of building Uber, the value of founder-led companies, and why Kalanick spent nearly eight years quietly building Atoms before stepping back into the spotlight.
The conversation explores industrial AI, robotics, autonomy, mining, food production, and Kalanick's vision for digitizing the physical world, where software, manufacturing, real estate, and transportation come together to transform entire industries.
Resources:
Follow Travis Kalanick on X: https://x.com/travisk
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsErik Torenberg· Host0:00
We know what Uber's two thousand and seventeen was like.
Ben Horowitz· Guest0:03
Travis Kalanick has stepped down from his role as chief executive.
Erik Torenberg· Host0:07
That wouldn't have gone that way if Ben or Mark was on the board. You're in this hell, you're dealing with the lawsuits. Are you worried about the, uh, lawsuit? And you say, "Hey, let's build again." It's not as much about where you start, it's about why you start.
Travis Kalanick· Guest0:22
He's one of the very rare guys who made as much money as he did and wanted to keep fighting.
Erik Torenberg· Host0:28
Also remember, I did it stealth.
Travis Kalanick· Guest0:30
I know some of the techniques they used, very aggressive, but that name, [chuckles] you can't use that name.
Erik Torenberg· Host0:35
And I remember David Drummond from Google was on our board, and he's like, "You know, Travis, that's not a thing, dude."
Travis Kalanick· Guest0:42
[laughs] "You've gotta change it."
Erik Torenberg· Host0:44
[laughs] The meaningful thing about Adam's food is can you make the preparation and delivery of a quality meal so efficient that it approaches the cost of going to the grocery store? If it does, you do to the kitchen what Uber did to the car.
Travis Kalanick· Guest0:59
A lot of us had that idea. To build a company, a great company, it's always a great entrepreneur.
Erik Torenberg· Host1:05
Today, I'm joined by Travis Kalanick and Ben Horowitz for a conversation years in the making. We look back at the investment that almost happened, the lessons Travis took from building Uber, and why he believes the next great technology revolution won't be in software, but in the physical world. We discuss the origins of Adam's, why Travis spent years building in stealth, the rise of industrial AI, robotics,