If you’re looking for the best collection of Travis Kalanick quotes then look no further.
Travis Kalanick is an American entrepreneur best known for being the co-founder of Scour, Red Swoosh and most recently Uber, where he also served as the CEO until 2017.
Co-founding his first business, Scour at the age of 18, Kalanick is one of the successful college dropouts that went on to ultimately become a billionaire and impact our world with Uber, the world’s largest taxi firm that owns no cars.
Travis Kalanick has an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion as of 2020 and if you’re an entrepreneur or running a startup he has a lot of wise words for success.
Below you’ll find the best collection of Travis Kalanick quotes to give you an insight into his mindset and what made him so successful.
Travis Kalanick Quotes For Startups & Entrepreneurs
1. “Fear is the disease. Hustle is the antidote. Whatever it is that you’re afraid of, go after it.” – Travis Kalanick
2. “As an entrepreneur, I try to push the limits. Pedal to the metal.” – Travis Kalanick
3. “We have this culture valued at Uber, which we call the champions’ mind-set. And champions’ mind-set isn’t always about winning. It’s about putting everything you have on the field, every ounce of passion and energy you have. And if you get knocked down, overcoming adversity.” – Travis Kalanick
4. “You can bend reality, but you cannot break it.” – Travis Kalanick
5. “If you get stuck too much with the way you want the world to be, you will find that the world passes you by.” – Travis Kalanick
6. “Grit your teeth and claw your way to success. There’s just no easy way to do it.” – Travis Kalanick
7. “You won’t be a good entrepreneur if you are satisfied after solving one problem. There are always bigger challenges.” – Travis Kalanick
8. “Based on my experience, I would say that rather than taking lessons in how to become an entrepreneur, you should jump into the pool and start swimming.” – Travis Kalanick
9. “At Uber, we say, ‘Always be hustling.’ Even if you are an introvert and you haven’t got hustle in you, you better get a co-founder who does. And if you haven’t got enough hustle to find a co-founder who’s got hustle, it’s going to be tough. You’ve got to have a little hustle in you.” – Travis Kalanick
10. “The one who follows the crowd, never gets ahead of the crowd.” – Travis Kalanick (This is one of my favorite Travis Kalanick quotes. What’s yours?)
11. “There is a core independence and dignity you get when you control your own time.” – Travis Kalanick
12. “You have to be willing to stand up for what you believe in, and the rule of law is one of those things.” – Travis Kalanick
13. “If you are focused on profits right out of the gate, you’re gonna have the smallest profitable business that has ever been seen.” – Travis Kalanick
14. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does pay for therapy.” – Travis Kalanick
15. “At the end of the day you still have to make something people want. You have find a way to produce it. You have to find a way to distribute it.” – Travis Kalanick
16. “Being Uber means being efficient.” – Travis Kalanick
17. “Stand by your principles and be comfortable with confrontation. So few people are, so when the people with the red tape come, it becomes a negotiation.” – Travis Kalanick
18. “Ultimately, progress and innovation win.” – Travis Kalanick
19. “Competition is good.” – Travis Kalanick
20. “I got really good at negotiating from a place of weakness.” – Travis Kalanick
21. “What I like to say when you get into something that feels like a bubble or, at least, feels irrational is that you still want to build a company that has a strong discipline, business-building culture.” – Travis Kalanick
22. “I don’t believe that you can make decisions on anything without having all of the details.” – Travis Kalanick
23. “The world isn’t always great.” – Travis Kalanick
24. “If you’re operating from strong principles, you can compromise when the person on the other side is operating from principles you respect.” – Travis Kalanick
25. “I wake up in the morning with a list of problems, and I go solve them.” – Travis Kalanick
26. “In my first start-up, I didn’t get any salary for four years, so I had to move back with my parents.” – Travis Kalanick
27. “If somebody can offer value at a cheaper price, they should. But that also means Uber should, too.” – Travis Kalanick
28. “Competition is fun.” – Travis Kalanick
29. “The way I try to simplify my job is that I have two lists – I have a list of all the crazy, interesting problems that I get to solve every day or that need to be solved, and I have a crazy list of things I’d like to invent. And I kind of just prioritize them and work my way down, and try to simplify what I do when managing a big company.” – Travis Kalanick
30. “Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps.” – Travis Kalanick
31. “Imagine if you put many, many years of your life into something and were passionate about it, and you spent every waking moment putting love into it and trying to make it better, and people didn’t understand that. You’d want them to.” – Travis Kalanick
32. “I’m an engineer by trade, and what engineers do is they go and build, and they don’t think a lot about storytelling.” – Travis Kalanick
33. “I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do.” – Travis Kalanick
34. “When you are talking about, ‘I will lose my sanity for real,’ that’s when it’s time to move on.” – Travis Kalanick
35. “We always find a way to learn and to get better.” – Travis Kalanick
36. “Best way to create a connection with customers is to learn to hustle and tell a good story.” – Travis Kalanick
37. The ones who chart their own territories have the chance to do something disruptive.” – Travis Kalanick
38. “Go against the grain, be resilient, even if everyone thinks you are crazy.” – Travis Kalanick
39. “It’s not just about building for your city or country but, now is the time when innovation is going global.” – Travis Kalanick
40. “It’s a lie to yourself and everyone around you. … If you feel like you need to fake it, then you should check yourself.” – Travis Kalanick
41. “Whatever you do, you have to enjoy the ride.” – Travis Kalanick
42. “You should go for funding as late as you possibly can.” – Travis Kalanick
43. “Go as long as you can scrapping, get your technology and your traction as far as you can and you will guarantee yourself the best fundraising process.” – Travis Kalanick
44. “If your doing some good stuff eventually those VC’s (Venture Capitalists) will start reaching out to you.” – Travis Kalanick
45. “Funding doesn’t solve all problems, If you haven’t found product market fit.” – Travis Kalanick
46. “Sales solve all problems. Hustle solves all problems.” – Travis Kalanick
47. “If you go at it alone it will be incredibly lonely. So you’ve got to be up for that, especially in the hard times.” – Travis Kalanick
48. “If you’re not tough enough, you don’t get gritty, you don’t hold onto your position; there are enough forces out there that will take you out. So the guy that are left as CEOs are the guys that should be CEOs.” – Travis Kalanick
49. “I did a company called Red Swoosh which was four to five years too early to market. The first four years I didn’t pay myself, that mean living with my mom. That meant not getting any girls, that’s for sure. That meant a lot of hard times. That meant hearing a hundred no’s a day, every day for four years straight.” – Travis Kalanick
50. “You shouldn’t pretend nor shy away from the fact that you may have to fight for what is right because the world so often does not want progress.” – Travis Kalanick
51. “Know what’s right, fight for it, don’t be a jerk.” – Travis Kalanick
52. “If it means progress it’s the right thing to fight for.” – Travis Kalanick
53. “If I try to solve everything for all people all at once, I’m going to fail at everything. But if I solve something and I do it well then I discover a little bit bigger area, then a little bit bigger area, then a little bit bigger area, then a little bit bigger area then the whole place. Then I’ve done one thing focused and solved a real problem that inspires.” – Travis Kalanick
54. “Every problem has a solution, you just have to be creative enough to find it.” – Travis Kalanick
55. “Ultimately, all rules have to bend towards people and progress.” – Travis Kalanick
Did you like these inspirational quotes?
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