Thread by @Adam_Ha_Yes

Your Mom gave you one rule... don't get in a strangers car.

But you did, and now Uber is a $95B business.

If you gave them $5k after seeing this original pitch deck, you would now be worth $24m+👇

1/ Question the status quo

Before Uber, no one questioned taking a cab.

It's just what you did.

Standing on the side of the road with your arm out was normal.

Now it seems a bit... silly?

Find industries where we're still standing on the side of the road.

2/ New tech enables old ideas

Uber wasn't the first ride-sharing app.

The others were too early.

If there wasn't a rise in smart phones and location based services, then Uber wouldn't be possible.

Find opportunities where there's emerging adoption (like VR)

3/ Grow with your market

Uber believed they were just a luxury experience.

Yes, their early adopters were, but they tried to keep that luxury experience feel for everyday people.

The entire luxury market for transport was $4.2B... Uber did $11.14B last year alone.

4/ Paint the future

First, they got 10X their best-case scenario.

Their 'realistic case' would still be a good business.

And their worst case scenario sounds like, "Hey investors, if we fail... we'll at least still drive you around."

I have nothing to say about this screen except look at those phones.

5/ Become a verb

Because they created the market, they became the verb.

"We can just Uber..."

Like "Google it" or "Let's Zoom."

6/ You can raise sooner than you think

proof of value > proof of growth

I've never seen URL purchased as a progress metric but I love it.

7/ Highlight secondary benefits

For Airbnb the secondary benefit in their pitch was community.

For Uber, it was helping the environment.

I mean I would write a check too, who doesn't want to help the environment?

You don't have to hail a cab for more startup rides like this, you just gotta follow @Adam_Ha_Yes

Thanks for reading!

RTs are greatly appreciated 🙏

The 7 Lessons from Uber's pitch deck:

#1 Question the status quo
#2 New tech enables old ideas
#3 Grow with your market
#4 Paint the future
#5 Become a verb
#6 You can raise sooner than you think
#7 Highlight secondary benefits