Francios Shephard (CEO, Starburst Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: Hello, I am Francios Shephard; the CEO of Starburst Aerospace Accelerator. We actively research and develop aerospace technology, backing startups working on projects in this area.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Hello, I am Melon Tusk, the CEO of Tesla. There are many businesses that I own, but Tesla is my favorite. Many people call me the vision behind Tesla. Though I don't fully agree with them.

Jarette, a lot of bad stuff in the news about your company. Your driver killed a young girl in San Fransisco, molested women in Delhi, raped another in Islamabad. How are you planning to deal with it?

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Well Melon, by getting better, giving the customers what they want, and much more, too. It is now time that our riders become 'flyers'.

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: Uber has disrupted the taxi industry. It has made it cheaper and easier - without owning a single vehicle themselves. Now is the time they take to the skies - quite literally.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: SpaceX is already trying to do it. Want to join us in space tourism, Jarette? But I'd request you to first get profitable. You've been just raising funds from VCs and burning it. You lose out on millions every quarter!

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Oh no, we have something more practical and earthly in mind. We just want people to be able to call airplanes just like they call in cars today - through their mobile phones. And as for the economics, we became the fastest startup to reach the $50 billion valuation mark.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: That's ambitious Jarette - something that I would do. Yes, digging tunnels in San Fransisco is not as good as flying over San Fransisco. A personal plane - why not?

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: Melon, the project is undoubtedly ambitious. People have been trying to make it a reality since more than 70 years. Ford 5i was the first attempt to give everyone their personal aircraft. A Model T for the skies. And since Uber is already in 350 cities across 65 countries, we'll be able to soon roll out the benefit to as many people as possible.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: No, Franc. This technology is something else altogether. In 2010, the succesful test of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) happened for the first time. And now, we have e-VTOLs which run on electricity.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: That is great. These engines won't have emissions and would be relatively cheap - both advantages over conventional helicopters. The Chinese-made Zhang 184 was one such aircraft, it flew in Dubai and is pretty good. It can carry 100kg and a small luggage as well.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Yes Melon, we don't want to miss out on it. Our white paper from Oct '16 details our plans to have flying taxis in air by 2020. With them, a 45-mile ride can be shortened from 2 hours to 15 minutes.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Wonderful, Jarette. We had similar plans for Tesla, too. But the market is price-sensitive. How expensive will your services be?

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Well, not expensive at all. Currently an UberX costs $111 for the 45 mile ride. VTOL shall start off with a pricing of $129, and with economies of scale, we shall be able to even get it down to $20 in the long term.

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: That's pretty cool, and cheap. In LA and Sydney, people spend so much time traveling to work - almost 7 working weeks in a year. Even in Mumbai, at least 3 hours a day are spent in travel.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: You're right, Franc. Saving time is good. But what shall people do with the time saved? Also, is the investment in aero technology cheaper than building roads to decongest?

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: Definaitely, there are many challenges. This must go just beyond a 'pleasant consumer experience.' We need to regulate air traffic control in urban areas, check for safety and efficiency of flying vehicles and get better batteries.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Half the battle is already won, thanks to you Melon.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: You're welcome. But you can also tell me as to how have I unknowingly helped your cause. Because I don't remember building models for flying cars at Tesla.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: Aah, the wave of awareness that Tesla created has increased acceptability of electric engines and propelled research in that direction. Great Britain has already announced that it shall ban non-electric cars by 2040.

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: Yes, and the advancement in battery technology are amazing. We are moving past Lithium-Ion batteries with new algorithms which help cool the engine, reducing power consumption.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Thanks, Jarette. If that happens, a battery can be charged (or refueled in this case) superfast - in less than 5 minutes perhaps. And not to say that the battery life shall be very long.

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: That's the future, Elon. We have test flights commencing in 2018. By 2020, Uber Elevate Network, as the forum is called, shall start services in Texas and Dubai.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: We shall start with the basics. A simple 2x2 meter vehicle which can hold 2-5 people and travel for 40-100 km.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Elon: That's absolutely brilliant. But at your Elevate Conference last year, there were many hardware guys. I know from experience that Uber won't do hardware by itself. So who have you partnered with?

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: There were many contenders - Airbus, even German companies are doing a lot. But we've gone ahead with Aurora, they're currently working with the US Department of Defense as well as NASA.

Francios Shephard (CEO, Starbust Venture) :
Venture Capitalist: All the very best Uber! I'm sure you shall have a lot to share through the press releases in the coming few years.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: And all good - I hope. Tesla faced backlash when one of our test pilots died. Be careful, Jarette. There are plenty of people who're calling your services a big scam. But we'll talk about that later.

Jarett Camp (Founder, Uber) :
Founder: With the community's support, we'll surely do well. Thank you, Melon. We also understand that the fourway alliance between our competitors Lyft, Grabtaxi, Ola and Didi Taxis across the world will put on a lot of pressure. But, we're prepared.