Travis Kalanick’s messy breakup from Uber seven years ago would understandably still be a sore spot seven years later, but the former CEO said he’s moved on.
Uber had faced a series of scandals that year, from sexual harassment and discrimination allegations — which led to multiple investigations into the company’s culture — to a $2.6 billion lawsuit from Waymo, Google’s self-driving car company spin-off.
The stream of crises caused tensions to rise between Kalanick and Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark Capital, Uber’s then-largest venture capital investor.
Reflecting on the series of events, Kalanick told the podcast hosts that undergoing what he called a “political oppo campaign” by an investor for six months is “going to wear you down.”
Gurley, who began backing Uber in 2011, had become increasingly concerned along with his Benchmark partners and limited liability partners with the company’s mounting controversies.
With his firm’s reputation taking hits from Uber’s bad press, Gurley decided to …