Uber Blitzgaled to Become the Most Valuable Startup in the World

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In Silicon Valley, startups have had an affinity for pirates and it began like so many things in tech with Steve Jobs. Every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point and evolve into something more akin to a navy. Dara Kosorshahi has taken on the most extreme pirate-to-navy transition I've ever seen. He was primed from a young age to act like an admiral, not a brigand. If you succeed as a pirate, your stockpiles of treasure will grow but you can't protect and patrol that much territory with only a ragtag fleet of pirate ships.

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships — they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy — no less heroic, but more disciplined. Dara Khosrowshahi, as Uber CEO, took on the most extreme pirate-to-navy transition in startup history. Though Uber blitzscaled to become the most valuable startup in the world, it was also notorious for its toxic culture — and Dara turned the company around. His method? Truth-telling and doing the right thing

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