How Uber ensured global dominance

A step-by-step guide with former Uber launcher Loic Amado

The Uber expansion playbook has become famous for fueling one of the most effective international expansion campaigns ever done by a technology startup. 

The decision to go international early and build the machine that would blitz scale the company to all corners of the world proved to be the most important strategic decision made by the founder Travis Kalanick. 

Expanding pure software companies is one thing but expanding a company such as Uber that combines the physical world of drivers and riders with the digital world is exponentially more challenging. 

Austin Geidt led the international expansion at Uber. She was employee number 4 and joined as an intern

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Building Ubers International Launch Team

Travis knew that in order to win the ridesharing category globally they needed to get to all corners of the world faster than the competitors. Following the launch of Paris in 2012 as Ubers fifth city, and first international city, Austin Geidt was asked to put together a SWAT team of launchers that could be dropped into a city and launch it in a matter of weeks.

At the end of 2014 the team were launching a new city each day and passed the 500 city milestone in a matter of years. Each time they would iterate on the playbook on how to best launch a new city.

I sat down with Loic Amado who was responsible for launching Uber in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Together we dissected the Uber Launcher role and the famous Uber Launch Playbook that enabled global domination.

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Tell us a bit about how you came to join Uber?

I first heard about Uber when they launched in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. I remember trying it and thinking it was like magic - push a button, get a ride. I worked at a Digital Agency in Malaysia and tried to land them as customers and agreed to meet with Alan Jiang - the launcher for Uber in South East Asia. 

Alan described how they treated each city like a startup but with the financial backing of a US company. I pretty quickly knew this was a one in a generation opportunity and I was prepared to give it my everything to join. I still remember telling my friends that I needed the job at all costs. 

They needed a bunch of people to help out in EMEA and I was referred by Alan. Given that I spoke 4 European languages I would be able to launch multiple markets for them. 10 interview rounds later I received a call from Patrick Studener asking if I could start in 4 days - they needed someone to launch Frankfurt. And the rest is history as they say.

Loic with a rickshaw driver in Pakistan, Lahore

What was it like being a launcher?

I have to admit that it was pretty daunting. I was 25 and at the time there was not a lot of training. You got thrown into the deep-end from the get go. It was up to you to make it happen. You had to enter into a city you have never been in before and launch the service. - you just had to be able to adapt and make it happen - fast. 

It was an intense experience and attracted intense people that didn't mind working 24/7. You lived out of a suitcase and would travel from hotel to hotel. I loved the lifestyle but it was also draining. We would travel more than 300 days a year. 

I ended up launching the following new markets for Uber across EMEA: Germany, Greece, Croatia, Egypt, Pakistan, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Loic leading a partnership for Uber in Tanzania

There are a few experiences that stand out for me. I remember there was a lot of debate as to whether or not we should launch Lahore in Pakistan. I was very bullish on the city and the county as a whole but our leadership team initially wasn't sure it was the best idea. Landing in Pakistan to launch the service ended up being one of the wildest and most fulfilling experiences. Trying to navigate  launching different cities across EMEA, all with different dynamics and cultures was quite the challenge, but we made it work.

Athens in Greece was probably the most intense experience I had as a launcher. It had a very strong taxi association that were not big fans of Uber. Shortly after I arrived there was a headline which said that the taxi president would destroy the cars if he saw they were using Uber. They would constantly try to track us down during the launch period which made it an intense experience. 

Greece taxi drivers protesting

A lot has been written about the Uber Launch Playbook - can you tell more about it?

The Uber Launch Playbook was a living document that had been created in the early days and continuously iterated upon. After each city launch the team would update the playbook to ensure the next launch went even better. At the time I got my hands on it, it contained 100’s of tasks and timelines for a successful launch.

The playbook was created using Basecamp and then Asana and was split into several sections. While the launch was fundamentally similar across cities each market had nuances you had to account for. As an example then some developing countries did not have a high credit card penetration and we therefore needed to find cash solutions. And in many markets motorcycles, scooter and rickshaws were the preferred way of transportation so we quickly added those lower cost products. 

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Take us through the 12 steps you would go through before launching a city?

Step 1: Vet the market

The first step before entering a market would be to decide if it was even worthwhile. This would come down to market size, legal considerations and existing taxi operators.

One of the ways we got signals on market size and demand was through rider signups. Riders could sign up to receive an update when we would launch in their city. We therefore had pegged up demand which gave us a good idea of what cities we should be focusing on launching. 

Step 2: Greenlight trip

Before deciding on launching any city we would visit the city in-person to verify that the initial selection was still viable. If we saw no legal or competitive blockers we would report back that the city was good to launch.

Step 3: Determine Pricing

Pricing was a key step in all of our launches as it was part of our competitive advantage. We had to make sure we were significantly cheaper than the existing competitors. The boost in demand due to lower prices increased trips per hour and would therefore make it worthwhile for drivers as their earnings would be greater than before Uber. We would create the initial suggestion on pricing for the city and send it back to HQ to verify. 

Step 4: Develop a Business case

Finally we would send back a business case for the city, including the pricing and get the final approval to launch the city. Once this was approved by HQ we were good to go and would start to focus on the operational considerations.

Step 5: Onboard drivers

Building out the supply base was the most important task for launching any city. The strategies here would vary city by city but would often be very manual initially and we would onboard drivers one by one. We would try to go to the locations and host events where drivers might be and also use joining and referral rewards. 

If we were able to get to 20 - 30 drivers for launch we would be good for launch but the magic number was 50. Early on when our brand was not well known it was hard to get drivers to join but later on this became easier as more and more had heard about us.

Step 6: Get riders

As mentioned then we would have riders that had signed up on our website to be notified when we launched in their city. This was always a good foundation to build upon. We also focused a lot on partnerships and events early on. We would find influential people in the city and use them to create awareness. 

We hired brand ambassadors to promote the brand and give out promos. They would know the city and the hot spots better than we did. Our most successful promo was “Give-get” where a rider could invite another rider.

Step 7: Announce launch day

We would communicate a launch day both internally and externally which we would work towards. This was great at driving urgency and forcing us to move fast. We just had to make it happen on the specific date.

Step 8: Configure product

The product was configured by our product and engineering team out of San Francisco. Before any launch we needed the product team in the US to set it up for the launch city. This included the right product name, currency , language and other local adaptations. This was very manual early on but became a lot more simple and easy as we matured as a company.

Step 9: Launch

The launch day itself was a big event for us. This would be the day we would publicly roll out the service and allow riders to request a ride. 

We would always have a “rider 0 event” where the first rider in a city would be a local celebrity and officially the first person to order an uber in the city. This would give the launch publicity and create awareness.

Step 10: Aggressively focus on building supply

Following launch - it was all about building supply and streamlining onboarding. In the case of Uber, demand was often not an issue . The product had an insane product market fit. The core tasks would be to build up supply and set up the operational processes to do this at scale in the city.

Step 11: Hire local operations and marketing

The initial team in most cities would consists of a GM, Marketing Manager (demand) and an Operations Manager (supply).  As soon as the GM was hired we would look to exit the city and let them run it and hire the next people. 

Step 12: Update playbook

We would take the core learnings from the launch and update the playbook. Then we would move to the next city and do it all over again. 

How did you grow the driver base? 

Early on our driver growth was built in a very manual way. We would convince them to join 1 by 1. We would try to find locations where groups of them would be gathered and then get them to join. We knew we had to get 20 - 30 drivers before a city launch to have sufficient supply to make the experience good for riders.

To convince drivers to join we had to make it risk free and provide a monetary incentive. We would use hourly earning guarantees, sign-up rewards as well as referral rewards to incentivize drivers to refer other drivers. We were very data driven around our incentives and referrals. Our product and marketing teams spent a lot of time testing out what amounts and incentive structures worked best. Everything was run through our app which made it a very seamless experience and allowed us to track everything.

We would also do a launch party where we would get a lot of drivers to join and have them invite their friends. In general events were a big part of our strategy. We were truly driver obsessed and often had a very close relationship to them in the cities we would launch.

And the demand side?

We had maybe the strongest word-of-mouth effect of any startup ever. Our product was just so much better than any experience out there and once a rider had tried it once they would keep on riding - more and more over time. Early on the growth was primarily driven by promotions. We would run campaigns such as Give-get and provide free rides for 2 days etc. Everyone thought we were crazy burning all that money but we knew the data and that it was worthwhile.

The rider 0 event was a big one. We would find a celebrity to be the first rider and promote that person. Ideally someone who was modern, culturally relevant and up and coming. We would share that on social media, create a blog from it and get some press around it.

The demand for Uber was exponential and had negative churn

How would you describe the perfect launcher?

Foundationally they needed to be a really strong operator and executor. You had to be comfortable making decisions fast with limited data. We all had a mindset that we could overcome any challenge and would just keep going even if we met obstacles which we constantly did. I also think a good portion of optimism and seeing opportunities is crucial as a launcher. A lot of this mentality came from Austin Geidt and Ryan Graves (COO). 

A group photo from the EMEA launch team

In some ways you had to marry yourself to the job. It had to be your number one priority. Otherwise it would be too intense for you. A lot of the launchers would come from other startups, consulting or investment banking. It was important for Travis (our Founder an CEO) that launchers were analytical and hands on at the same time. They had to understand all parts of the business and their numbers.

Most important learnings from your time at Uber?

Being comfortable with taking risks: Accepting the reality that you can't get an answer on everything. You just have to try it out and adjust. I think a lot of people stay in analysis/paralysis for way too long. It's a lot better to take the leap quickly and then see what you need to adjust as you go along.

Who was the most impressive person you worked with at Uber and why?

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty (SVP Delivery) was amazing. He had a balance of being a great empathetic leader but also being super analytical. He knew everything about the business and you couldn't bullshit him. He also built great teams and hired amazing people. Finally he had this ability to make the right moves at the right time internally. He went into the delivery side of the business just before it really took off. 

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty (SVP delivery at Uber today)

How do you think about Risk today?

I think everything is about the ability to execute. Being able to move fast is a super power. One thing that I have taken with me from my time at Uber is to embrace uncertainty and fear. I'm very optimistic about anything that I do - I believe that it will be a success and I trust my ability to execute. That is what it comes down to. I believe I can take on any industry and make it work. You just need to work hard and have patience.

This is the same mentality me and my wife Valery have applied when launching our Safari Camp Emboo River in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. We had no hospitality experience but we saw an opportunity in the market to create the first net zero safari camp in Africa. It has not been easy but with optimism, hard work and hustle I think you can do anything.

Pool spot at Emboo Safari Camp in the Maasai Mara (Kenya)

Tell us about Emboo and what is next for you?

We have sustainability as a foundation in everything that we do. We have both gone fully plant based and want to work on things that can improve our planet. We have learned so much from building Emboo in a sustainable way and we think a lot of people in the hospitality and foods industry could learn from what we are doing. Potentially transforming other camps to become net zero. Helping with Electric vehicles and sustainable ways of transportation. 

Emboo Safari Camp was the 1st safari camp to launch Electric Vehicles

In general time is limited so I'm getting increasingly picky on what projects I want to work on and with whom. Given my background at Uber and having started a safari camp in Kenya without any prior experience I thrive well in uncertainty so we are not afraid of getting into uncharted territory.