Uber's valuation jumped $15 billion in a single week, according to one billionaire hedge fund manager

@startup__academy

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Uber

Why it worked

The video leverages nostalgia and a sense of disbelief about how valuations have changed, using relatable anecdotes about past financial benchmarks to engage viewers. The contrasting perspectives of the speakers and the humorous comparison to past struggles add to its shareability.

Summary

The video discusses the historical valuation of Uber, contrasting past perceptions of large sums of money with current valuations. It highlights how Uber's valuation of $14-$17 billion was considered groundbreaking at the time, and contrasts this with current valuations of companies like Anthropic at $965 billion.

Structure

1Recalling Uber's past valuation
2Discussing the perception of $15 billion as a large sum
3Recounting the $14 billion valuation and the criticism received
4Comparing it to current valuations and the concept of 'groundbreaking'
5Describing the auction process for valuation
6Reflecting on how valuations have changed over time

Product placement

Uber is mentioned as the subject of discussion regarding its valuation history.

Original caption

Travis Kalanick: "Guys, remember when $15 billion used to be a whole lot of money? How weird is... What's going on?" Gavin Baker: "When I was at Fidelity, my colleagues and I, we got pilloried. I think we priced Uber at $14 billion, and we got pilloried in the press for not knowing what we were doing... That was groundbreaking for a private company back then." Kalanick: "It was $17 billion, but no one's counting." Jcal: "Thank you for your service." – Travis Kalanick, Gavin Baker, and Jason on The All In Pod

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On-screen text

Uber's valuation jumped $15 billion in a single week, according to one billionaire hedge fund manager GUYS REMEMBER- REMEMBER WHEN $15 BILLION USED TO BE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY? Travis Kalanick Uber Founder $3.6B Net Worth YEAH WHAT'S GOING ON? Gavin Baker Andreides Management, $7 Billion AUM - HOW WEIRD IS THIS - BY THE WAY, TRAVIS CRAZY CAN WE JUST REMINISCE MAN? WHEN I WAS AT FIDELITY MY COLLEAGUES AND I WE GOT PILLORIED I THINK WE PRICED UBER AT $14 BILLION AND WE GOT PILLORIED FOR NOT KNOWING WHAT WE WERE DOING AND IT WAS SEEN AS YOU KNOW LIKE 6 MONTHS LATER I THINK YOU GUYS DID LIKE $42 BILLION OR SOMETHING? BUT IT'S LIKE YEAH $14 BILLION THAT WAS GROUNDBREAKING FOR PRIVATE COMPANY BACK THEN IT WAS $17 BILLION BUT YOU KNOW NO ONE IS COUNTING YEAH, $17B NO I WANTED $14 BILLION AND WE HAVE LIKE A BIG NEGOTIATION AND WE RAN AN AUCTION NO WE JUST RAN AN AUCTION YEAH YOU WANTED $20 BILLION AND MAYBE WE LANDED AT $17 BILLION WHAT WE DID WAS, EVERY WAS EVERY PERSON WHO HAD TO FILL OUT A SHEET OF HOW MUCH MONEY THEY PUT IT AT $10B, $11 BILLION, $13 BILLION, ALL THE WAY UP TO $20 BILLION AND THEN WE JUST DID THE DUTCH AUCTION "WE WANT TO CLEAR" "ONE AND A HALF BILL" WE JUST DID THE AUCTION AND CLEARED IT WENT BACK TO PEOPLE AND SAID "GOING TO GET IT" "YOU HAVE ANOTHER SHOT" THEY UPDATE THEIR EXCEL SHEET AND IT JUST MOVES THE NUMBER UP A LITTLE BIT AND THEN YOU CLOSE IT DOWN IT STARTED- THAT ROUND STARTED IT I THINK IT WAS $9 BILLION OR $10 BILLION AND ENDED UP AT $17 BILLION Jason Calacanis Early Investor in Uber THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE IT USED TO BE THAT THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY AND THAT WAS UNHEARD OF AT THE TIME. AND THAT WAS- IT WAS 10 YEARS AGO WHEN WE USED TO WALK TO SCHOOL UPHILL BOTH WAYS. WE USED TO HAVE TO YEAH WE USED TO EAT POTATOES WITH NO BUTTER JUST HOT POTATOES SOMETIME YOU WERE LUCKY THAT THEY WERE COOKED SOMETIMES THEY WERE RAW

Transcript

Guys, remember when $15 billion used to be a whole lot of money? How weird is this? By the way, Travis, crazy. Can we just reminisce, man? When I was at Fidelity, my colleagues and I, we got pilloried. I think we priced Uber at $14 billion, and we got pilloried in the press for not knowing what we were doing, and it was seen as, you know, like six months later, I think you guys did like $42 billion or something? But it's like, yeah, $14 billion. That was groundbreaking for a private company back then. It was $17 billion, but you know, no one is counting. Yeah, $17 billion, no. I wanted $14 billion. And we have like a big negotiation. And we ran an auction. No, we just ran an auction. Yeah. You wanted $20 billion, and maybe we landed at $17 billion. What we did was, every was every person who had to fill out a sheet of how much money they put it at $10 billion, $11 billion, $12, $13 billion, all the way up to $20 billion. And then we just did the Dutch auction. We want to clear one and a half bill. We just did the auction and cleared it. Went back to people and said, "You're not going to get it." "You have another shot." They update their Excel sheet and it just moves the number up a little bit. And then you close it down. It started. That round started it. I think it was $9 billion or $10 billion and ended up at $17 billion. Thank you for your service. It used to be that that was a lot of money, and that was unheard of at the time. It was 10 years ago when we used to walk to school uphill both ways. Yeah, we used to eat potatoes with no butter, just hot potatoes. Sometimes you were lucky that they were cooked. Sometimes they were raw.