The Accountant Turned Engineer - Episode 9 with Uber’s third employee

Big things start small. The Early Podcast. Stories and insights from early employees and innovators who’ve shaped the future.

For this episode, we’re going EARLY EARLY… Uber employee #3 with Ryan McKillen.

Episode 9 is live!!!

You’d never guess what Uber’s codebase looked like on day one. Let’s just say… you’d need a Spanish dictionary to understand it.

Ryan McKillen was employee #3 at Uber—and one of the first technical hires to help turn Travis Kalanick’s black car app into the global phenomenon it is today.

This episode drops you into the chaos, creativity, and intensity of Uber’s earliest days:
• Why the original codebase was entirely in Spanish
• What it took to rewrite Uber from scratch in just 4 weeks
• How they launched international markets faster than startups do today
• The reality of working directly with TK and living in the infamous “JamPad”
• Why proximity is power — and what it means to “get to the center of gravity”

Ryan’s story is pure early startup energy — hacking together real systems under pressure, going all-in on a wild vision, and learning fast as Uber scaled from SF to the world.

This one’s especially meaningful: it’s our first deep dive with a technical employee. And there’s so much wisdom for engineers, product folks, and early-stage operators here.

Where to Listen:
🎧 Listen on Spotify
🍎 Listen on Apple Podcasts
📩 Newsletter & More Content
🐦 Follow on X (Twitter)
📸 Follow on Instagram
💼 Connect on LinkedIn

New episodes (at least) every Tuesday, and I’d love your feedback on who we should interview next. Email me: max@earlypod.com

Let’s go!!!!! 🚀

#EarlyPodcast #Startups #Entrepreneurship #PodcastLaunch #FounderStories #EarlyPod