Uber

Years ago, just after Uber was founded, I found myself in my very first Uber ride on the way to a conference I was running in Philadelphia.

There was already a lot of backlash from taxi companies and car services when I asked my driver what he thought about all the controversy.

He told me, “Instead of being mad at us, they should be mad that their product isn’t as good as ours.”

This is, of course, an oversimplification. It’s hard to blame people for being angry or territorial when their livelihoods are being threatened. And I do feel for taxi drivers, coal miners, travel agents, cashiers, and anyone for whom the landscape is changing radically or already has.

But his words did remind me that whenever you try to do something new, something risky, something huge, there will be people who stand beside you and who support you. There will also be others who’d rather shout down your ideas as you trying something new might make them feel insecure and inadequate.

We turned the corner onto Market Street a moment later, a few blocks from the venue, when I saw something I’d never seen before. Hundreds and hundreds of yellow taxis were stopped in the street.

In a massive, coordinated protest, these taxi drivers were refusing to move until the city decided that they and not Uber would be the ride of choice for all Philadelphians.

Of course, that didn’t happen. Within a few hours, they’d all dispersed and the rest is history.

Remember this story the next time someone is telling you not to try something. Maybe, just maybe, that’s about them and has nothing to do with you. And maybe, that’s all the motivation you need to push forward.