Uber cofounder and former CEO Travis Kalanick, who recently pulled his robotics startup Atoms out of stealth mode, told the TBPN podcast that SoftBankâs âMasa moneyâ (referring to Masayoshi Son) in the 2010s was a problem because it came too easily.
âThere was a problem with getting Masa money. Because it was easy money. And it was too loose,â he said. âAnd people would get loose with the culture of the investor that they were getting the money from. So, if somebody got Masa money, Iâd be like, âDude, you got to grind. It was maybe a little too easy.ââ
Speaking on the March 12 episode, where he unveiled Atoms, Kalanick said that easy fundraising signals weakness to him. Founders should not celebrate investments they received after just âthrowing a deck to the guyâ, but push âall the way until it hurts,â he said.
Kalanick, who raised billions for Uber himself amid SoftBankâs aggressive 2017 investment spree, contrasted this with his own stealth approach at Atoms (formerly CloudKitchens), where internal drive replaced public hype. âYouâre not caring what others think. You get internally fulfilled with building,â he said.
Kalanick acknowledged capital as âa competitive advantage or a strategic weaponâ but warned that if a strategic raise feels easy, âyou messed up. You could have been way better and gone way further. More competitive advantage, more differentiation.â
Also Read: Of rides & rivals: Travis Kalanick on Uberâs capital strategy, competition with Lyft
New venture
Atoms, a rebranded version of his ghost kitchen operator CloudKitchens, has raised nearly $400 million. The new company houses some new business verticals, too, including robotics and automation ventures.
Kalanick started CloudKitchens in 2017, after leaving Uber. It was initially known as City Storage Systems, a food delivery infrastructure business. Atoms has now absorbed CloudKitchens.
After the public intensity of Uber, facing âa hundred headlines every dayâ and shaping decisions around media reaction, Kalanick said he chose to go quiet. âWeâve been quiet for eight years with thousands of employees who couldnât even list us on LinkedIn,â Kalanick said.
AI fundraising
The remarks come amid large rounds being raised by AI startups, especially in Silicon Valley. Claude maker Anthropic raised $30 billion at a nearly $380 billion valuation. Sam Altman's OpenAI, which counts SoftBank as one of its backers, is in talks to raise about $100 billion. ElevenLabs recently raised $500 million, while Luma AI raised $900 million.
âThere was a problem with getting Masa money. Because it was easy money. And it was too loose,â he said. âAnd people would get loose with the culture of the investor that they were getting the money from. So, if somebody got Masa money, Iâd be like, âDude, you got to grind. It was maybe a little too easy.ââ
Speaking on the March 12 episode, where he unveiled Atoms, Kalanick said that easy fundraising signals weakness to him. Founders should not celebrate investments they received after just âthrowing a deck to the guyâ, but push âall the way until it hurts,â he said.
Kalanick, who raised billions for Uber himself amid SoftBankâs aggressive 2017 investment spree, contrasted this with his own stealth approach at Atoms (formerly CloudKitchens), where internal drive replaced public hype. âYouâre not caring what others think. You get internally fulfilled with building,â he said.
Kalanick acknowledged capital as âa competitive advantage or a strategic weaponâ but warned that if a strategic raise feels easy, âyou messed up. You could have been way better and gone way further. More competitive advantage, more differentiation.â
Also Read: Of rides & rivals: Travis Kalanick on Uberâs capital strategy, competition with Lyft
New venture
Atoms, a rebranded version of his ghost kitchen operator CloudKitchens, has raised nearly $400 million. The new company houses some new business verticals, too, including robotics and automation ventures.
Kalanick started CloudKitchens in 2017, after leaving Uber. It was initially known as City Storage Systems, a food delivery infrastructure business. Atoms has now absorbed CloudKitchens.
After the public intensity of Uber, facing âa hundred headlines every dayâ and shaping decisions around media reaction, Kalanick said he chose to go quiet. âWeâve been quiet for eight years with thousands of employees who couldnât even list us on LinkedIn,â Kalanick said.
AI fundraising
The remarks come amid large rounds being raised by AI startups, especially in Silicon Valley. Claude maker Anthropic raised $30 billion at a nearly $380 billion valuation. Sam Altman's OpenAI, which counts SoftBank as one of its backers, is in talks to raise about $100 billion. ElevenLabs recently raised $500 million, while Luma AI raised $900 million.
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