 "I lose sleep over competition, says Uber CEO")
Competition and the drive to serve customers better gives sleepless nights to Travis Kalanick, co-founder and chief of one of the world's most valuable startups, Uber.
The young billionaire is also impressed by the innovation and creativity coming from the Indian startup ecosystem.
“I lose sleep because of competition but that sleep I lose is similar to what the Honourable Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was talking about. That sleep I lose is about how to serve people and cities better. So I like that it is hard, I like the challenge and we feel pretty good about how we are doing so far," Kalanick told PTI on the sidelines of the 'Start Up India' event here.
India is one of the largest markets for Uber globally. Last year, the US-based firm had announced that it will invest $1 billion in the country to improve operations, expand into newer cities and develop new products.
It has also announced setting up of a facility in Hyderabad, its largest centre outside of the US with an investment of $50 million over the next few years.
However, its local competitor Ola too has announced huge investments to tap into the under-penetrated market.
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Interestingly, Ola has joined forces with global peers Didi, Lyft and GrabTaxi to jointly compete with Uber that has a presence across 67 countries.
Asked about the challenges in the Indian market, Kalanick said these were similar to those in other international cities.
“Challenges for Uber here in India are similar to the challenges in most other cities. You have rules that were adopted in another time and you know what, the old rules that exist today, way back they were new and controversial rules and then they became old," he said.
Kalanick added that these rules are replaced by newer rules that embrace progress, jobs, lowering congestion and reducing pollution.
"Of course, we are working and partnering with cities, states and central government generally to embrace the kind of progress that Uber represents," he said.
On startups in India, the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) drop-out said the country has a strong culture of innovation, creation and progress.
"Uber can be a part of that... Look, we were a small startup at some point in time. If we can help other startups in India, if we can be a part of the ecosystem here and help mentor them, that's part of giving back to the communities and that's what Uber stands for," he said.
He lauded the action plan announced by the government to promote startups in the country and said the move is "putting fuel on the fire".
"India is going to be a startup and innovation hub that's bigger and its going to get there faster because of the startup action plan that was presented," he added.
When asked about his advise to startups, Kalanick said one has to have a "champion's mindset".
"Put everything that you have on the field, every ounce of energy, every ounce of passion that you have. And when you get knocked down, because inevitably you will, get back up. And if you put everything in and keep getting back up, its very hard to fail," he added.