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Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

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21–30 of 241 posts

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#21
> He is leaving after apparently deciding the current controversies are too much to handle.

Not exactly leadership material.

Edit: Apparently an unpopular opinion. Do those here think otherwise given he joined the company less than a year ago (and is thus not part of the original culture), but instead could try to repair the damage done by the uber-bro culture instead of looking for an easier paycheck?

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#22

Umm the CEO and co-founder needs to step down! But alas with Travis Kala!ick none of the rightfully terrible things happening is his fault rather he's firing his staff to make it seem like he's trying to improve. Lame!

Your tone reminds me of @realDonaldTrump. Not good or bad..

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#23

I really hope that Uber serves as a warning to companies who think they can ignore customer complaints. I've never dealt with such an opaque company in my entire life, in terms of getting any actual human support whatsoever regarding anything.

> I really hope that Uber serves as a warning to companies who think they can ignore customer complaints. I've never dealt with such an opaque company in my entire life, in terms of getting any actual human support whatsoever regarding anything.

I've had positive experiences interacting with Uber support. The few times I've contacted them via the app to report an issue with a ride I've gotten a response relatively quickly and I think every single time ended up with them crediting me back either the full value of the ride or at least a token amount. As a customer, I think Uber's been awesome.

But that's not what any of the recent talk about Uber is about. The issues are about being there as an employee, the culture they promote, and the values they espouse.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#25

While this is big for the company, I am curious what it means for recruitment of future executives at the company. My understanding is at this level it's about personal connections and grooming an image. With that in mind, does it become harder to attract great executives on a go-forward basis for Uber?

> With that in mind, does it become harder to attract great executives

A good analogy would be attracting candidates for coaching positions in sports.

If you're a team in a bad situation, you'll have to settle for candidates that don't have the experience usually required for the position, or people who've done it before who haven't had huge success.

Also most great execs are already in a great position - why would they step into a bad situation unless you gave them a higher title or more power?

Basically you get either a placeholder or an unknown quantity. The unknown quantity is just that. They might be awesome (everybody has to have had a first head coaching job) or completely overwhelmed.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#26

I really hope that Uber serves as a warning to companies who think they can ignore customer complaints. I've never dealt with such an opaque company in my entire life, in terms of getting any actual human support whatsoever regarding anything.

What kind of issues have you had? Every time I emailed ubers customer support after an unsatisfactory or badly charged trip, I had the trip fully refunded, and the customer contact was pleasant and understanding.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#27
post #12

The "echo chamber" works both ways. When there is excitement and buzz, it drives startups to success like no where else. Apparently it works in reverse too and people love to see the big kid on the block take hits.

Kalanick forgot that proverb we're taught as kids: "Be nice to the people you pass on the way up, because you'll be seeing them again on the way back down."

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#28
I wonder if it's a good idea to apply to Uber. With all the controversy, you could argue for a pretty good salary bump or signing bonus to compensate.

Though, if executives are quitting after 6 months even before their stock vests, maybe it's more than just the outrage machine news clamoring for clicks and views.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#29
post #8

Uber doesn't have a prayer of rehabilitation until Kalanick himself goes. The rot goes straight up to him. Jeff Jones was a much more recent acquisition who came from staid corporate America (Target) -- I don't think he was the problem.

I agree. There's enough social awareness that people don't want to support a company run by jerks like Travis Kalanick. In an era with socially conscious consumers, integrity of leadership matters.

It is easy enough to switch to Lyft (I live in major metropolitan area) without any inconvenience. And the Lyft driver's I've talked with about all the controversy say they make more $$$ and are happier driving for Lyft.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#30

I wonder if it's a good idea to apply to Uber. With all the controversy, you could argue for a pretty good salary bump or signing bonus to compensate. Though, if executives are quitting after 6 months even before their stock vests, maybe it's more than just the outrage machine news clamoring for clicks and views.

There's lots of other companies out there that are paying good salaries that don't have these problems. It doesn't make sense to me to seek out a ship that's taking on water to sign up for. I know some Uber employees and none of them are happy with the situation.
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