The history of how Uber went from the most feared startup in the world to its massive IPO

Ten years ago, a company called UberCab made a splash in San Francisco by letting you hail a car with your smartphone. Since then, the company — now known just as Uber — has spread like wildfire across the globe.

But the road hasn't been easy.

While its valuation continued to climb over the years, Uber has also fought rivals and regulators as it has transformed from a black-car service into a sprawling empire going after the markets for both food delivery and self-driving cars. It has confronted threats from the taxi industry, endured backlash from its drivers and users both, and weathered internal strife and scandal, including the ouster of controversial former CEO Travis Kalanick.

Now, in the wake of Uber's IPO, we take a look at how we got here.

This is an update to a story originally published in 2016.