How To Understand Our Times: The Inside Scoop on the Battle for Uber

How To Academy presents...

The rise and fall of Uber and its founder Travis Kalanick is a story of ambition, deception, obscene wealth and appalling behaviour in the heart of Silicon Valley.

New York Times technology correspondent Mike Isaac didn’t just report on the story of Uber – he was part of it, becoming embroiled in the downfall of its maverick founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick.

Based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees, along with previously unpublished documents, Mike joins the How To Academy to give us the insiders scoop on the tech story of the decade.

How did blistering technological and financial innovation culminate in one of the most catastrophic years in corporate history? What does the disaster at Uber say about Silicon Valley – and what lessons can be learned for aspiring tech entrepreneurs, regulators, and concerned citizens?

From Beyonce to Arianna Huffington, the Google founders to Bill “Chicken Little” Gurley, the 6’9” Venture Capitalist behind some of the biggest deals in the history of the Valley, the cast of this extraordinary saga is a Who’s Who of Tech and popular culture. With ‘new revelations that will shock and outrage you’ (John Carreyrou, Bad Blood) and reflections on the consequences of the story for the tech industry as a whole, this is an essential talk for anyone concerned by the ever increasing power of the titans of Silicon Valley.

“How to Understand Our Times” is a live event series collaboration between The New York Times and How To Academy, bringing together New York Times journalists and leading figures in diverse fields to examine pressing issues in a changing world.

As part of our collaboration with The New York Times, take advantage of a special digital subscription offer. With investigative reporting and analysis from experts in the field, The Times uncovers the stories that impact the world.

Mike Isaac is a technology reporter at The New York Times whose Uber coverage won the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business reporting. He runs the weekly technology newsletter Bits with Farhad Manjoo and appears often on MSNBC.