Uber's CEO Compares An IPO To High School Prom

Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber Technologies, is asked quite often when the company will file for an initial public offering. According to Bloomberg, he now has a go-to metaphor to explain that it likely will happen — just not as soon as many hope.

According to Bloomberg, Kalanick said at a Wall Street Journal conference last year that Uber is a company still in "junior high," but they are being told that they have to go to prom. The executive said at the time that before going off to prom the company needs to start high school.

Uber has now graduated to high school and is one step closer to that formal affair.

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Kalanick used the same analogy during an interview at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit on Wednesday. He was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that the startup is now an "early high schooler" or in the ninth grade.

Kalanick continues to dodge questions when pressed for a specific timeline. The pressure could be on for the company considering Snap Inc. (formally known as Snapchat) is eyeing a $25 billion IPO as soon as March of next year.

Kalanick also talked about Uber's self-driving car program which he argues has transformed Uber into more of a "robotics company." He also suggested that a fully autonomous car is still years — if not decades — away, and it isn't clear when self-driving cars will be safer than human drivers.

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