The Uber - Didi Chuxing Merger with Brad Stone, author of The Upstarts & The Everything Store

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Uber Exits China

overview

Brad Stone, Senior Executive Editor of Global Technology at Bloomberg and author of The Upstarts and The Everything Store, joins Ben & David to dive deep into the Uber-Didi saga, a wild story with far-reaching implications that still aren't fully appreciated by most of the Western tech community. Brad has been the foremost US chronicler of Didi through his reporting at Bloomberg and work on The Upstarts, and shares fascinating insights about its founder & CEO Cheng Wei, how the tech landscape is evolving in China, and lessons & themes that other technology communities around the world can learn from their rapid rise.‍

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Topics Covered

The global surge in 2012 of entrepreneurs starting ridesharing companies, nowhere moreso than China
Didi CEO Cheng Wei and investor Wang Gang's backgrounds at Alibaba, first entrepreneurial effort in Momo, and Momo's pivot to Didi Dache
The culling of the ridesharing herd in China down to Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache through brutal competition and involvement of the "big three" Chinese internet companies
Rise of the Chinese messaging apps and associated mobile payments, and their impact on ridesharing
The 2015 merger between Didi and Kuaidi, brokered in part by Russian VC Yuri Milner
Uber's decision to enter the Chinese market, and early success with investment and support from Baidu
The first meeting between Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Cheng Wei in 2015—which does not go well
Subsequent "scorched earth" competition between Didi and Uber throughout 2015-16
Negotiating an armistice: Uber's agreement to sell its Chinese operations to Didi in late 2016
End of the war, or just the beginning? January 2017: Didi invests $100M in Brazilian Uber competitor 99
Sustainable growth, and building moats versus scorching earth

Carve Outs

Ben: Taming the Mammoth on Wait But Why
David: Conversations with Tyler Podcast by Tyler Cowen, co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog
Brad: Yuval Noah Harari (author of Sapiens)'s new book

corrections

Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.