The Start:

Uber, a ride-sharing app, was founded in 2009 by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick.

The idea came to Camp after he struggled to find a cab on a snowy night in Paris, envisioning a service that could connect riders with available drivers seamlessly through a mobile app, thereby transforming urban transportation.

The problem:

The founders targeted a core problem in urban transportation: the inefficiency, unreliability, and high costs associated with traditional taxi services.

They saw a need for a more reliable, affordable, and convenient way for people to get around cities, aiming to leverage technology to improve the overall ride-hailing experience for both passengers and drivers.

Getting their first customers:

The founder launched a street team that camped outside crowded events like south by south west, crowded train stations at peak hours, local tech events.

The street team gave out free rides to everyone (then they moved to discounted rides). They also invited journalists to test the service and spread the word through social media.

The company started with black cars driven by professional drivers.

That way, they could ensure that customers would have a great experience virtually every time they used the service—and they could then rely on customers to spread the news of that experience by word of mouth.

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