What’s it like to be the first employment lawyer at one of the most legally complex startups in tech history?
In this episode, I sit down with Abby Horrigan, who joined Uber in its wild early days to navigate gig worker classification, mounting lawsuits, and a company moving faster than the law itself. She’s now Deputy General Counsel at DoorDash — so there’s no better expert on the legality behind the sharing economy and startups in general.
We talk about:
🚗 The truth behind driver classification and outdated labor laws
🔥 What it was really like working with Travis
📜 How to be a legal enabler, not a blocker, in a startup
💼 Lessons from Uber, Yahoo, and now DoorDash
🧠 Why confidence, timing, and trust matter more than perfection
Abby shares unfiltered stories from the trenches—chicken in the dishwasher, dogs pooping in conference rooms, and why emotional trauma can bond a team.
Whether you’re a founder, operator, or lawyer thinking about going in-house, this one is packed with insight, laughter, and some hard-earned wisdom.
🎧 Subscribe for more interviews with early employees from iconic companies:
https://earlypod.com
#Uber #DoorDash #GigEconomy #Startups #EmploymentLaw #TheEarlyPodcast #earlypod
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🎙️ ABOUT THE SHOW:
The Early Podcast is where host Max Crowley, Uber’s #25 employee, sits down with the earliest builders behind today’s most iconic companies. No fluff, just the raw stories of what it’s like in the trenches when your startup could still fail tomorrow.
✅ Subscribe for more untold startup stories every week
✅ Like, comment & share if you know someone interested!
✅ Listen on Spotify, Apple, or anywhere you get your podcasts
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Let’s go. 💥
🎧 Listen to the full episode:
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🔹 Apple Podcasts: https://earlypod.com/apple
🚀 New episodes drop every Tuesday. Let’s build this together.
👉 Like, subscribe, and drop a comment — I want to hear from you!!
📩 Thoughts or guest ideas? Email me: max@earlypod.com
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