Uber's Founder Says Most Venture Capitalists Aren't Worth the Money
Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber, recently said on David Senra's podcast that only about 1% of venture capitalists genuinely help the companies they invest in. He said about 10% at least do no harm. The episode aired the weekend before August 19, 2026 TechCrunch.
Venture capitalists, or VCs, are investors who give money to young companies in exchange for a share of ownership. Kalanick said his negative experience with investors spans his whole career, not just one bad incident. That matters because his most public conflict with an investor is well known: he was forced out of Uber in 2017 after a fight with Benchmark, a venture capital firm, and its partner Bill Gurley. On the podcast, Kalanick went further, telling founders not to take money from Benchmark at all TechCrunch.
The criticism does not apply to every investor. Kalanick's robotics company, Atoms, raised $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, a major Silicon Valley investment firm. Ben Horowitz, one of the firm's founders, joined Atoms' board TechCrunch. PitchBook, a data service, places the round at $1.75 billion, slightly above the $1.7 billion figure cited elsewhere LA Business Journal. Kalanick announced the Atoms name in March of this year LA Business Journal.
Kalanick does not tell founders to avoid venture money entirely. Instead, he advises them to get multiple VC firms competing to invest, which gives the founder more power to negotiate better terms. He also tells founders not to see themselves as victims and to reflect on their own role when investor relationships go bad TechCrunch.
In my view, what makes these comments interesting is the timing. Kalanick is building Atoms with one of the largest private funding rounds on record, and the firm leading it is taking a board seat. The 1% and 10% figures, whether exaggerated or based on real experience, sound different coming from someone who just secured $1.7 billion from a top-tier firm.
The practical takeaway is more layered than the headline number. Kalanick is not arguing against taking venture capital. He is arguing for being selective, building leverage, and knowing yourself in the process. His warning about Benchmark is personal, tied to a specific history. But his broader advice to make investors compete and own your side of the relationship is a tough negotiating stance that anyone who has watched startup deals up close would recognize.
The VC community's response, if any, will likely focus on whether the 1% figure is fair or overly simple. But Kalanick's audience for this podcast is founders, not investors, and the message is tailored to them: take the money, but on your terms, from people you choose, with a clear understanding of who is actually adding value beyond writing a check.
