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Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

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Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#171

Post by zigzigzag »

kposehn wrote: post #122
oculusthrift wrote: post #5

I'm really confused on what to think about Uber. My personal thinking/logic is really bearish on them, similar to the post on the front page yesterday [1]. However, I keep seeing extremely smart/accomplished people joining it which makes me second guess my intuition. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437414

Uber team member here. I was skeptical for a very long time as well, but I've been won over. The challenges are fantastic, the work intense (yet I still have time for family) and I'm part of the best team I've ever been on. The last year or so has been the best of my professional life. I would highly recommend a closer look.

No offence, but saying it's a great place to work doesn't really address any of the concerns people have about Uber as a sustainable business.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#172

Post by hengheng »

employee8000 wrote: post #155
phamilton wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There seem to be two modes. First, it seems everyone hates it there and management is terrible and people get fired with no severance all the time. The other mode is aggressive recruiting. Here's an actual interaction I had: Me: I'm torn between doing something new and staying where I'm at. Random Uber employee: Hey, you should join Uber. Hit me up and I'll refer you. Me: I can assure you I'm not interested. Random U…

Uber employee here, and I can tell you that almost everyone I know loves working here. I apologize for the behavior of the random douchebag employee you encountered, I would hope most of us wouldn't act like that.

So you would be happy to refer GP? :-P

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#173

Post by snarf »

r_sreeram wrote: post #3

Amit joining Uber after a year's break coincides with the common "1 year no-solicitation" clause in employment contracts. I wonder if we are about to see some top people in Google get poached. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I was really curious about the timing as well with the year off. It appears from the comments below that at least one other engineering VP from Google (Kevin Thompson) has recently joined Uber but without taking a year off. So is the 1-year no solicitation clause that you mention only common for the senior-most employees like SVP and above?

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#174

Post by mrmrcoleman »

tomcorrigan wrote: post #162
grandalf wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most people don't want 'on demand' employment, they want stability. Why can't they have both? Broadly speaking, the forces of supply and demand are quite stable. Right now it's difficult to find jobs for 10 hours per week or 80 hours per week, if you happen to want one. While I appreciate the historic role of unions, labor laws are unfortunately the reason that Uber has not made drivers W2 employees. It's sad that…

That ignores common sense. If Uber is more profitable by circumventing W2 regulations it will do so. There is no morality in capitalism, only worship of the bottom line. Businesses don't care about "reasonable" regulations, they care about profit. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. A corporation is not a person, it can't be expected to think like one. Instead people must elect representatives that impos…

+1

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#176

Post by schnable »

qq66 wrote: post #157
alpb wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how come Lyft can do these things and Uber can't. This is from 2 years ago: https://thehub.lyft.com/blog/2015/01/14/partners-ehealth-top... Every Uber driver I talk to in Seattle say that Lyft is way better in terms of pay/perks but they can't get enough rides because Uber simply has a larger user base.

Lyft is more expensive, which explains its better pay and its smaller ridership. I don't think this is sustainable because of what you've observed, which is that the smaller ridership pushes drivers away from the platform, making Lyft less appealing to even the people willing to pay (longer wait times, smaller chance of getting a carpool, etc).

I think it depends on the market. Lyft here (Philadelphia) is the same price as Uber just about, and they both run promotions all the time. Car availability is the same in my experience and most drivers seem to do both. Drivers seem to indicate that they get better subsidies to drive from Lyft.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#177

Post by schnable »

nihonde wrote: post #164
cryptozeus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have same feeling, one my friend worked at a flywheel (uber but with taxi cabs)...he said that uber dominates this industry. They have figured out the biggest obstacle which is government regulations. This is the big challenge for any startup trying to copy uber.

But if Uber eliminates that obstacle, won't all of their competitors benefit from the lower barriers to entry? Does Uber simply ease the cost of switching--both for drivers and riders?

Yeah. I haven't seen Uber or Lyft do a whole lot to encourage customer loyalty either, I guess because prices are already so subsidized. Uber had actively pushed my away, though, by requiring location services on even when not using the app.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#178

Post by epynonymous »

sAbakumoff wrote: post #124

Btw - What are the responsibilities of SVP of engineering?

senior vice president usually is a people management type person, in charge of people, processes, and product (3 p's as they say in management lingo), in other words, hire and retain the best people, introduce proper workflows to make things more efficient, and make sure they're generating kick ass products on time, with high quality.

this is often times can be confused with a cto's role, but i believe a cto's role is more independent, has less organizational obligations, in other words, manages much less people, at least at large companies. a cto's main role is to work more with customers, partners, evangelize products, and think about the longer term vision of the technology, this could be internal technology, like datacenters, to things like the next 5 year's software products.

at small companies, i think you'll find cto's also doing the job of a svp along with marketing, sales, support, etc.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#179

Post by amelius »

kposehn wrote: post #122
oculusthrift wrote: post #5

I'm really confused on what to think about Uber. My personal thinking/logic is really bearish on them, similar to the post on the front page yesterday [1]. However, I keep seeing extremely smart/accomplished people joining it which makes me second guess my intuition. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437414

Uber team member here. I was skeptical for a very long time as well, but I've been won over. The challenges are fantastic, the work intense (yet I still have time for family) and I'm part of the best team I've ever been on. The last year or so has been the best of my professional life. I would highly recommend a closer look.

Could you please comment on how you think the business model of Uber could sustain growth, even though transportation is essentially a commodity service?

Lots of people here seem confused by this question, so it would be nice to hear an explanation from somebody inside.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#180

Post by nihonde »

schnable wrote: post #177
nihonde wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if Uber eliminates that obstacle, won't all of their competitors benefit from the lower barriers to entry? Does Uber simply ease the cost of switching--both for drivers and riders?

Yeah. I haven't seen Uber or Lyft do a whole lot to encourage customer loyalty either, I guess because prices are already so subsidized. Uber had actively pushed my away, though, by requiring location services on even when not using the app.

Uber business sales channel offers very little value add, and charges for it. They don't get it yet, and that may be a fundamental mistake. It makes me think they're not as smart as everyone wants them to be.
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