Zeid Hreish

In 2015, ten of our first Uber drivers in Saudi were raided and stopped for illegal pickups. Regulators weren’t on our side, and we were fighting perception, policy, and an uncertain market. At that point, Uber was still trailing behind the competition in market share.

Most teams would have taken a step back.

Instead, we committed to a big bold bet: “We’re going to get 100,000 Saudis on this platform.”

It sounded crazy in 2015. The odds weren’t in our favor. But we knew one thing: if we could prove Uber’s value, the rules would follow.

The Hustle: Automation, Supply Growth, and Market Domination

We started small. Manual onboarding, hotel training sessions, stacks of paperwork. But we quickly realized that scaling supply needed automation. We streamlined onboarding, allowing drivers to sign up and start earning faster.

At the same time, we focused on supply growth levers to lock in long-term market share:

🚗 Optimized Pricing & Partner Economics – We tested true earnings-per-hour models, reducing Uber ride pricing on rider to maximize driver earnings while minimizing churn.

🇸🇦 Saudization – We secured a dominant Saudi driver base, locking in incentives that protected their earnings. We struck fleet financing and vehicle deals to ensure long-term growth.

⚡ SLOG (Steal-Lock-Grow) – Winning drivers from competitors was just the first step. We built loyalty programs that made Uber the platform of choice.

🤝 Driver Empathy & Cost Reductions – We enhanced driver Momentum programs, securing exclusive discounts on oil changes, maintenance, and key cost-saving initiatives.

✔️ Quality & Consistency – As supply grew, so did the need for higher standards. We partnered with third-party vehicle audit and training centers to ensure top-tier service.

The regulatory battles weren’t won by fighting, they were won by proving impact. Instead of pushing for permission, we demonstrated Uber was creating tens of thousands of new jobs for Saudis.

As trust grew, so did our market share. We went from 40% to 60%, turning Uber from a challenger to the dominant force in ride-hailing.

Then came the moment of validation, the day we hit 100,000 Saudi drivers on the platform. But we didn’t stop there. We doubled it. 250,000 drivers. The Saudi government publicly recognized the milestone, celebrating it as an achievement that transformed economic opportunities for drivers in the region.

That moment wasn’t just about scale, it was about proving that we belonged.

The Lesson?

If you want to win a market, align with what truly matters; people, policymakers, and economic value.

If you want to change regulations, prove you belong.

If you want to set records, set a goal that sounds impossible and then double it.

What’s a time you bet big on a market and won?

P.S. – Travis Kalanick’s trip to Saudi wasn’t just a visit; it was a game-changer. It strengthened relationships with key stakeholders, reinforced Uber’s commitment to the market, and helped secure a $3.5 billion investment; one of the largest in Uber’s history. It proved that aligning with economic priorities wins markets, not just access.

It’s been almost seven years, and I still get asked this. 

Maybe because everything after Uber worked out so well.

It’s a great question the kind that makes you pause, take a breath, and really think. Because leaving at your peak isn’t the obvious move.

Uber was a rocket ship. I was one of the first in MENA, launching city after city, moving millions of people, and onboarding hundreds of thousands of drivers. It was fast, chaotic, and relentless. Everything was on fire, all the time.

There was a point where I could land in a city, turn on Uber, and within hours, I’d be in a car with a driver who had no idea I worked at Uber, telling me how I should use Uber more. That’s when I knew we had won.

Most people left after a year or two — I stayed for nearly five years (basically an eternity in Uber time). I saw the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

So why leave?

Because after five years of hypergrowth, I had seen every kind of problem, solved them at scale, and built something massive. I had pressed every button. It was time to press reset and build again.

Sometimes the best decision you can make is to press reset.

Uber was one of the best experiences of my life. But growth isn’t about holding on to the past — it’s about building what’s next. And that’s exactly what I did.

Starting is exciting. Scaling is brutal.

Everyone idolizes the zero-to-one journey—the founders, the first hires, the garage-to-Unicorn story. But what about the companies that go from one to 100? What about the ones that have to scale across regions, cultures, and entirely different regulatory landscapes?

I learned this firsthand at Uber.

When Uber expanded into new markets, it wasn’t just about adding more users or hiring more people—it was about rebuilding from scratch every single time. What worked in one city didn’t always work in another. The growth playbook from San Francisco? Useless in Dubai or Riyadh. The drivers, the riders, the government policies—every market was a different puzzle.

The Hard Realities of Scaling

Playbooks Don’t Travel Well
Companies love to document processes and best practices—what works, what doesn’t, what to replicate. But when you’re scaling globally, a single playbook can’t be copy-pasted from one market to another.

• In San Francisco, Uber was a disruptor breaking into a tech-savvy, innovation-driven city.

• In Dubai, limousine has to be 30% more expensive than taxi and regulators were a critical piece of the puzzle.

• In Saudi Arabia, cultural norms dictated entirely different onboarding strategies for Saudi drivers.

What worked in one place was irrelevant, sometimes even harmful, in another. Every new market meant starting over—adapting everything from pricing models to marketing, driver acquisition strategies to customer expectations.

Early Hires Must Evolve—or Step Aside
When companies start, they hire generalists—people who can wear multiple hats, solve problems creatively, and figure things out on the fly. But scaling demands execution-driven specialists.

• The people who built the first version of the product may not be the best ones to optimize it at scale.

• Early managers who thrived in chaos sometimes struggled when systems needed to be structured.

• Those who resisted change slowed the company down.

At Uber, those who didn’t evolve with the company’s needs were outpaced by those who could. It wasn’t personal—it was the brutal reality of hypergrowth.

Processes Either Accelerate Growth or Kill It
At a certain stage, startups realize they need processes. But there’s a fine line between process and bureaucracy.

• Too few processes? Teams waste time reinventing the wheel.

• Too many? They become roadblocks instead of enablers.

Uber had to master the art of fast, adaptable processes. The best ones weren’t rigid—they evolved as fast as the company did. Whether it was city launches, compliance approvals, or customer support escalations, speed mattered.

The #1 Reason Startups Fail: They Can’t Scale

Most startups don’t fail because they can’t start. They fail because they can’t scale.

Scaling isn’t just about growing—it’s about constantly rebuilding at a larger and larger scale. It’s about moving from the chaotic, do-it-all stage to a structured, efficient, high-performance machine—without losing agility in the process.

At Uber, we moved fast. Really fast. We broke things, fixed them, and adapted—because in hypergrowth, adaptation isn’t an option. It’s survival.

The difference between breakout success and a slow death? Speed of adaptation.

Comment below with the toughest scaling challenge you’ve faced—I'll share my thoughts on how to tackle it!

#ScalingStartups #ExecutionMatters #GlobalExpansion 🚀

Big shifts don’t happen by chasing approval. If you're waiting for applause, you're already too late.

The best ideas—the ones that change industries, rewrite rules, and define new categories—are misunderstood, dismissed, or even mocked at first. The people who truly shape the future aren’t optimizing for short-term validation; they’re making asymmetric bets that seem obvious only in hindsight.

By the time the world catches on, the real work is already done. The market rewards those who execute, not those who seek permission.

Don’t work for recognition—you’ll never get it when it matters. Work for impact.

What’s a bet you’re making today that no one sees yet?

#Execution #FirstMover #Innovation #AI #Leadership #LongTermThinking