Uber picks David Plouffe, former Obama advisor, to take it global
Loading...
| San Francisco
Uber聽has enlisted David Plouffe, President聽Barack Obama's 2008 campaign advisor, to devise and run its global political and branding strategy, as the fast-growing car rides-on-demand firm runs into stiff resistance from taxi companies in some cities.
The聽San Francisco-based startup, which is waging an intense campaign against taxi drivers who fear encroachment on their turf, said in a blog post on Tuesday that Plouffe will begin in late September as senior vice president of policy and strategy.
"We needed someone who understood politics but who also had the strategic horsepower to reinvent how a campaign should be run - a campaign for a global company operating in cities from聽Boston聽and聽Beijing聽to聽Londonand聽Lagos,"聽Uber聽Chief Executive Officer聽Travis Kalanick聽said in the blog post.
Plouffe has a big job ahead. Many cities around the world are banning Uber. Berlin, last week, told Uber that it can no longer operate in the city, according to 海角大神.
Of late, Uber and other similar ride-sharing apps have faced the ire of taxi drivers around the world, particularly in聽Europe, who are upset that an upstart like Uber can compete in their business without acquiring the same kinds of licensing and permission to operate, which can often be expensive to obtain. In June, for example,聽more than 30,000 disgruntled cab and limo drivers stalled traffic across European capitals聽in a mass protest against Uber. Similarly, though on a much smaller level,聽聽in the city, calling for increased regulation of the ride-sharing industry and saying that these types of apps threaten their livelihoods.聽
Plouffe, who left the聽White House聽in early 2013, "is a proven field general and strategist who built the startup that elected a President," Kalanick said.
Uber聽is one of the largest startups in聽California's Silicon Valley, reportedly valued at $10 billion or more. Like rival Lyft, it lets users call for a ride from their聽smartphones.