Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi calls India a ‘must-win’ market
The Uber chief also underscored the importance of India in the company’s long-term growth and electrification agenda.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has delivered a blunt piece of advice to young entrepreneurs eyeing the mobility sector: avoid trying to replicate Uber.
“First, don’t try to build another Uber, we’ll kick your ass. Build something we can buy later,” he said during an appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF.
Khosrowshahi cautioned founders against chasing vast markets from the outset, arguing that most of the large opportunities were already occupied. “You’re way overthinking TAMs (total addressable markets). The big TAMs are taken. Go after the small TAMs where you can create a network effect without enormous investments,” he advised.
Instead of prioritising scale at the very beginning, he urged start-ups to concentrate on product-market fit. “Don’t build for scale on day one, build for fit. If you get that right, the scale will come,” Khosrowshahi said.
The Uber chief also underscored the importance of India in the company’s long-term growth and electrification agenda. Describing the country as Uber’s third-largest market, he revealed that the platform now works with more than 1.4 million drivers across autos, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers. “The growth there is spectacular… India is an absolute must-win for Uber, not just tomorrow, but 10 years from now,” he said.
On competition, Khosrowshahi acknowledged that Uber’s biggest challenger in India is no longer Ola but Rapido. He said that Rapido built a really simple subscription model. "Once you pay, the driver’s pay is higher than with commission models. That was a smart way to break in," he observed.
Uber has since adjusted its own two- and three-wheeler offerings to align with a similar model. However, Khosrowshahi questioned Rapido’s ability to sustain itself financially. “The real test of the business isn’t how fast you can grow if you’re spending. It’s how fast you can grow while profitable. And I think Rapido is a long way away from that,” he added.
