Looking back at 3 amazing years at Uber
A week ago I finished my journey at Uber as the General Manager of Baltics. As I reflect back on more than 3 years I feel the sense of accomplishment, humility and gratitude. Three years is a lifetime in a company that is on a path as quick as Uber has been. A lot of great colleagues have come and left. Together with my kick-ass team we didn’t just bring ridesharing to Estonia and Lithuania but we managed to work across the aisles with policymakers, regulators, competitors and media to explain the benefits of sharing economy and together build a strong foundation for it to prosper. I am especially proud that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania proved once again that they are nimble, open minded and inclusive of technology. All of them adopted modern regulation to give the concept of ridesharing a regulatory framework. This has started a momentum in Europe with Finland, Croatia and Portugal among countries following the lead. I would like to hope that this has also inspired other sharing economy entrepreneurs
Back in the day Uber was famous for being hyper local in all the countries we launched at. Now we have learned to leverage the strength of a global company as we should however the excitement and hustle of the early days was intoxicating. I feel humbled to have worked with amazing people who put in more than anyone thought possible. But most of all I am humbled by the reception we received from the thousands of people who decided to try out this crazy idea of converting your free time and resource for extra income as partner-drivers and way more people who gave a chance to weave the Uber app into the fabric of their everyday lives as riders. Together we proved that it is possible to take city transportation to a new level of reliability, comfort, safety and affordability. And even more crucially to bring us closer. The sharing economy aspect inspired people to talk. While it is certainly fine not to talk during the ride then most people did. Especially in the beginning when everything was exciting it was the norm to talk to the driver and vice a versa. This app didn’t just make it possible to connect resources and get people around the city but it broke down barriers. It isn’t common to talk to strangers in Estonia. I would like to hope that Uber made people more willing to talk to and care about one another
Above all I am grateful for the opportunity. I have a tendency to forget the negative and remember the good. Definitely getting to where Uber and ridesharing are an integral part of the society wasn’t always as inevitable as it might seem in retrospect. It is all about the journey not the end goal and the journey has allowed me to learn and level up. None of it would have been possible without our partners ranging from local startups like Pipedrive, Transferwise, Shipitwise etc. to global brands, from artists to festivals like TMW and even animal shelters in Estonia and Lithuania. As well as some of the most innovative and competent people that work at agencies and regulators in these countries. And of course the team. Allan, Polina, Peep, Mai, Merili, Maksim, Edgars, Vytautas C, Jurate, Justas, Ieva, Olga, Brigita, Vytautas V, Ionut, Dominic, Daniel, Outi, Aggy, Mikaela, Pim, Pierre, Ant, Jo, Niek, Alexei, Simon, Kacper, Matt, Ludo, Ash — it was amazing to work with you!
Uber continues to do great and its future is bright. Despite all the success most of the work is still ahead. Ridesharing as well as public transportation, bikes, etc. make up a minority of the overall mix. Transportation has to become more sustainable
I will be cheering for Uber to take us there!
My next challenge? Building the infrastructure of trust with Veriff