Work Harder AND Smarter: How Alyssa Pollack Helped Build Uber Eats From the Ground Up - Episode 8
Big things start small. The Early Podcast. Stories and insights from early employees and innovators who’ve shaped the future.
In 2012, Alyssa Pollack joined a little-known startup that was trying to reinvent transportation. That startup was Uber.
Episode 8 is live!!!
What followed was a wild ride through the chaos of hypergrowth — from onboarding drivers in Chicago parking lots to helping launch Uber Eats into a multi-billion dollar global business. But Alyssa’s story isn’t just about scale or ops. It’s about grit, resilience, and a mindset forged in fire.
Before she ever joined Uber, Alyssa had already faced something most people never do: stage 4 cancer as a teenager. Her mom told her:
“Today we cry. Tomorrow, we fight.”
That mantra carried her through every chapter of her career — from the 14-hour onboarding shifts to the long nights reprogramming driver phones at Chicago bars.
On Episode 8 of The Early Podcast, Alyssa joins host Max Crowley to talk about:
What it was really like in the early UberX days
Why the first version of Uber Eats flopped
How she helped drive the pivot to what Uber Eats is today
Lessons from scaling two-sided marketplaces
Why doing things that “don’t scale” actually works
And how she balances it all as the CEO of a new startup — and a mom of two
From Cancer Survivor to Startup CEO
Alyssa's journey didn’t stop at Uber. Today, she’s the CEO of Fellow, a peer-to-peer support platform for people going through some of life’s hardest moments — like a new diagnosis, a major life change, or grief.
Fellow’s mission is simple: connect people who’ve been through it with people who are going through it.
It’s a full-circle moment. From surviving cancer to helping build Uber Eats to now empowering others through shared lived experience, Alyssa is building again — this time with even deeper purpose.
Three Big Takeaways from the Episode
1. Product-market fit isn’t always obvious — and speed isn't always the answer.
The first version of Uber Eats (called Uber Fresh) was all about speed. One sandwich per day. 5-minute delivery. No choice. It didn’t work. People wanted selection. It took months to listen to customers and pivot.
2. The best startup teams blur the lines.
Early Uber didn’t care about job titles. You showed up, solved problems, and “adopted” whatever issue was in front of you. That sense of ownership — and cross-functional collaboration — built a culture that could move fast and break real ground.
3. Doing things that don’t scale is the point.
From manual background checks to group onboarding classes at night, Alyssa’s team did whatever it took. And those unscalable moments built the foundation of scalable systems later on.
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New episodes (at least) every Tuesday, and I’d love your feedback on who we should interview next. Email me: max@earlypod.com
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