What do you do when everything you’ve built is taken from you as a child? Dara Khosrowshahi was 9 when his family fled Iran… Today, he’s the CEO of Uber. For those who don’t know him, Dara is one of the most influential tech leaders. He led Uber through one of the biggest cultural and financial turnarounds in Silicon Valley, transforming it from a company in crisis to one with stability and growth. I didn’t want to sit down with Dara to talk about quarterly earnings or strategy decks, but rather understand how someone rebuilds their life when their foundation gets ripped away. Dara brought me through how he reshaped Uber’s culture and why honesty became his greatest asset as a leader. One of the most practical takeaways was Dara’s “direct channels” framework - a system he uses to get unfiltered feedback from deep inside the company. He meets regularly with engineers and teams far removed from the boardroom, because they’re the ones who see what’s really happening. It’s how he avoids echo chambers and keeps his decisions rooted in reality, and it’s something any business owner can apply. I asked Dara: - How do you lead through crisis without losing trust? - What does radical honesty actually look like in a billion-dollar company? - How do you rebuild culture after public failure? - What does success mean when you’ve already lost everything once? - Why does Dara still feel like he has something to prove? At one point, Dara breaks down when speaking about his father - a man he spent his life trying to make proud, but never really got the chance to show. I’ve seen this pattern before. Men raised to hold everything in, only learning later how to open up. It’s a pressure so many leaders carry but never show. Even after researching Dara’s story for days, sitting across from him left me with more respect than I expected. He’s one of the few leaders I’ve met who’s been tested at every level, as an investor, a CFO, a CEO - and still leads with honesty at his core. Let me know your thoughts after watching this conversation. #podcast #money #business #entrepreneur #uber - @steven