Sixteen years before Talmon Marco set out to destroy what Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick created, the two men briefly considered teaming up to face a common foe: Napster. Around 2000, each was helping start a file-sharing company— Marco’s was called iMesh and Kalanick’s was Scour.com —and both were losing ground in the race to upend the music industry. A merger was proposed. A meeting was arranged.
The deal never came together. Marco said he barely remembers the encounter. “It might have been in California, but I’m not sure,” he said recently. “It was a long time ago.” Kalanick also struggled to recall the details. The two men eventually connected on LinkedIn, but haven’t kept in touch. But Marco formed a pretty strong opinion about what Kalanick has been up to in the years since: “I do believe that, in its heart, Uber is truly evil,” he said.