Gary Vee calls not investing in Uber’s angel round one of his “biggest mistakes”: “People value time above all else” – Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER)

Serial entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk (also known as Gary Vee) was one of the first investors in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Snap And VenmoVee was also one of the first investors in Abovebefore the company completed a highly anticipated IPO in May 2019.

What happened: Ridesharing companies Uber Technologies Incl. ABOVE is an industry leader that didn’t exist decades ago. The company’s IPO in May 2019 was one of the largest at the time.

Investors who bought Uber before the IPO could be in the black on their investment

Vee invested in the company early, but not as early as he would have liked.

“One of the biggest mistakes of my investing career was missing out on investing in Uber twice in the angel round,” Vee recently said on his Facebook account.

Vee recalled being in the “room where Uber was invented” but on two separate occasions refrained from investing early in the company.

The entrepreneur was friends with Uber co-founders Travis Kalanick And Garrett Camp and remembered being in a room with Camp after a speech at LeWeb.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if there was an app for your phone that allowed you to order a limo to pick you up right now,” Vee recalled Camp saying to some people in a backstage room.

Vee said his first thought was that this sounded like a rich people’s problem. Months later, Vee met Camp and learned that the concept had already been invented and was called Uber Cab.

Uber co-founders Camp and Kalanick hired a CEO and outsourced development of the company’s app while they worked on other projects.

“The main reason I didn’t invest is because it was a side project.”

Although Vee did not invest in the angel funding rounds, he later invested in Uber before the company went public.

“One reason I invested in the next round was because my brother AJ took the first Uber ride in New York City when the founder of Uber came and asked us to test it.”

It was at that moment that Vee realized the importance of Uber as a company.

“That was the moment when I realized: Uber doesn’t sell transportation, it sells time.”

Vee said Uber offers an app that works seamlessly and more smoothly than other transportation methods.

“The most important value that emerges in our society is time… people value time above all else.”

Also read: Speakers for VeeCon 2024 announced: X-CEO Linda Yaccarino, content creator Khaby Lame and Gary Vee are among the special guests of the festival that combines business, pop culture and Web3

Why it is important: Uber raised $8.1 billion in its 2019 IPO, pricing its stock at $45 per share.

Vee previously recalled that if he had invested his normal angel round check of $25,000 to $50,000 in Uber when he had the early chance, the investment would have been worth $500 million to $800 million at the time of the IPO.

Here’s a look at Uber stock performance since its IPO with a Benzinga Pro chart.

Although he missed out on Uber’s early fortune, Vee has several success stories with early investments and the companies he founded. Vee has also used the missed opportunity as a lesson.

“I regret not investing in the company, but I’m also glad the market hit me in the face,” Vee said, according to CNBC. “I deserve it — and I’m even more motivated now because of it. That’s why I’m taking every opportunity I get.”

Vee also said in 2016 that Uber was a company that should not have been created the way it was, but that it was an important lesson for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

“Everything from calculating tips to ordering on-demand cars is now possible at scale – at the touch of a button – and the market has embraced this notion. As these technological changes occur, too many companies fall by the wayside because they become too complacent with their current successes.”

Vee said at the time that he woke up every morning thinking about how he could ruin his business, focusing primarily on how other companies could ruin his finances.

“By thinking about what they could do, I can do it myself and innovate my business.”

Vee said the Uber co-founders had forced most taxis out of business and Airbnb Co-founder Brian Chesky And Joe Gebbia could compete with hotel chains like Hilton.

“They innovated where their traditional competitors failed. They were innovators who recognized the gap in the evolving Internet market.”

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Photo: Vaynor Media, public domain