After Scour, I started a company called Red Swoosh. The idea was

Hear, O seekers of fire and ambition, the fierce words of Travis Kalanick: “After Scour, I started a company called Red Swoosh. The idea was to take those litigants who sued us for a huge amount of money and turn them into customers with the same technology. I wanted to get them to pay me. It was a revenge business.” In this declaration burns the spirit of defiance, the will of a man who would not be broken by defeat. His words are not only the recollection of a venture, but a testament to the ancient truth that from the ashes of loss can rise a force even greater than before.

The tale begins with Scour, an early pioneer of file-sharing in the days when the internet was young and ungoverned. Its boldness drew the wrath of mighty corporations, who saw in it a threat to their empire. Suits were filed, punishments sought, and ruin seemed certain. Yet rather than wither, Kalanick transformed bitterness into resolve. Out of the sting of humiliation was born Red Swoosh, a company forged not to hide from the enemy but to face them with sharpened tools. He sought not only to survive, but to turn adversaries into patrons—to take their weapons of law and strike them back with the blade of technology.

In this we see the echo of Hannibal of Carthage, who, after his city was pressed by Rome, did not surrender but crossed the Alps with elephants, striking terror into the heart of his foes. His campaign was not mere defense—it was vengeance, crafted into strategy. So too Kalanick, turning defeat into fuel, sought to make those who once pursued him with lawsuits kneel before him as customers. It was, as he himself named it, a revenge business, born of the warrior’s instinct to transform injury into opportunity.

Yet there is wisdom beyond the fire of vengeance. For though revenge gives strength in the moment, it is not enough to sustain a vision forever. Hannibal’s victories burned bright but faded, while Rome endured. Likewise, Red Swoosh itself was but a step on the path toward greater conquests. What mattered was not revenge alone, but the relentless will to rise again, to turn obstacles into stepping-stones. The deeper lesson is this: defeat is not final for the one who dares to transform its pain into innovation.

The meaning of Kalanick’s words is thus twofold. On the surface, it is the tale of a man who, having been struck, struck back with cunning and pride. But beneath, it is a story of resilience, of refusing to let failure define the end of the journey. His creation of Red Swoosh reveals an eternal truth: that in the realm of invention and enterprise, today’s enemy may become tomorrow’s partner, if one dares to reframe the battle into business.

The lesson for us all is powerful. When you face rejection, loss, or even the blows of injustice, do not merely endure them in silence. Let them sharpen you. Let the pain be transformed into resolve, the defeat into strategy. But also temper the fire of vengeance with the wisdom of endurance, so that your energy may build lasting works, not just fleeting victories. To turn foes into allies, debt into opportunity, failure into growth—this is the mark of the resilient creator.

Practical steps are clear. When struck by failure, do not despair; instead, study its wound, and see what new door it opens. If rivals oppose you, ask: can their resistance be turned into partnership? If obstacles rise, ask: can this hardship be the forge that strengthens my skill? Let your energy be guided not by bitterness alone, but by vision that looks beyond the wound toward the triumph to come.

Therefore, O children of tomorrow, remember Kalanick’s words: “It was a revenge business.” Do not mistake them for pettiness—they are the cry of a man who turned loss into momentum, who would not be broken by the hands raised against him. Let this be your inheritance: when the world strikes you down, rise with greater strength. Let your technology, your craft, your will, become not only weapons of vengeance, but tools of transformation. For in this alchemy lies the true power of the human spirit: to turn defeat into destiny.