#4 - Arrested On The Job – Early Uber Employee Sam Gellman | The Early Podcast

Missed a Huge Opportunity? Here’s How to Bounce Back.

Imagine turning down a role as one of Facebook’s first employees... Sam Gellman did. He knew it was a mistake the moment he made it. But instead of letting that define him, he went on to help launch Uber across the world—building cities from scratch, battling regulators, and even getting arrested for doing his job.

🚀 From Almost Facebook to Uber Expansion

Sam shares:

🔹 The accidental moment that landed him at Goldman Sachs

🔹 Turning down Facebook—and how he recovered

🔹 The real Uber playbook for launching cities with just 10 cars

🔹 What happened when Uber and Didi burned billions in China to win

🔹 How he ended up arrested in Hong Kong over Uber’s expansion

🔹 Travis Kalanick’s leadership—the execution, vision, and relentlessness that built Uber

💡 Key Takeaways:

✅ Bet on yourself, not companies—corporate loyalty won’t pay off

✅ Great startups run on leaderboard culture—data-driven, competitive, relentless

✅ Founders matter—Travis Kalanick’s leadership was Uber’s X-factor

🎧 Listen to the full episode here:

🔹 Spotify: https://shorturl.at/e6FUf

🔹 Apple Podcasts: https://shorturl.at/Crg2V

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