#15 - Making Lemonade Out of Thin Air - Early Uber INDIA Employee Akshay BD | The Early Podcast

What do you do when you're handed a $0 marketing budget… and you're launching a credit-card-based app in a country where only 2% of people have credit cards?Oh — and no one trusts your company?If you're Akshay BD, you figure it out.Follow Akshay on X: https://x.com/akshaybdThis week, I’m joined by Akshay — one of Uber India’s earliest employees — who shares the chaos of launching Uber in a cash-based, low-tech, regulation-light market. A country that couldn’t be further from the original Uber model.From handing out iPhones to suspicious drivers… to fending off police raids, political bans, and near deportations — this is a masterclass in scrappy execution under pressure.We talk about recruiting the “unhireables,” building policy from scratch, and what it was really like working alongside Travis Kalanick during Uber’s most explosive years.One of the funniest, sharpest, and most insightful convos we’ve had yet. Let’s go!!🎯 Topics Covered:00:00 – The wild way Uber hired in new cities02:00 – Growing up in Bangalore, debating on Orkut04:00 – Standup comedy to Uber India08:30 – Launching Uber in a market with 2% credit cards11:00 – Convincing drivers Uber wasn’t a scam14:00 – Making $0 marketing feel like magic19:00 – The 2014 assault incident and national crisis24:00 – Becoming “interim head of public policy” overnight28:00 – Travis gets detained at the airport before meeting India’s Prime Minister33:00 – Teaching startup culture at scale41:00 – Why Uber taught you to make lemonade out of thin air44:00 – Post-Uber lessons, crypto, and what’s next--🎧 Listen to the full episode:🔹 Spotify: https://earlypod.com/spotify🔹 Apple Podcasts: https://earlypod.com/apple🚀 New episodes drop every Tuesday. Let’s build this together.👉 Like, subscribe, and drop a comment — I want to hear from you!!📩 Thoughts or guest ideas? Email me: [email protected]📱 Follow for daily updates:• 🐦 X (Twitter): https://earlypod.com/x• ✨ TikTok: https://www.earlypod/tt• 📸 Instagram: https://www.earlypod/ig• 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.earlypod/li• 📩 Newsletter: https://earlypod.com/subscribe