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Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

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Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#201

Post by gfosco »

tyingq wrote: post #105
loudin wrote: post #77

Serious question - why hasn't the Uber board replaced Kalanick yet? While it is indisputable he successfully brought Uber to where it is now, it doesn't seem like he has the good judgement to be leading Uber at this stage of the company's lifecycle. Wouldn't the best thing for the company at this point be a complete overhaul of leadership?

Would be fun for the remaining bro culture if the board ousted Kalanick and installed Marissa Mayer.

Yeah, she might be able to finish destroying Uber quicker than Travis.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#202

Post by jackgolding »

aphextron wrote: post #13

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.

Every complaint I've sent has been acted on, every refund I ask for I get. Uber Eats seems to have much worst customer service than Uber in Australia anyway.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#203

Post by djsumdog »

mylons wrote: post #167
chejazi wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference with those comparisons is that Uber is a massive startup, and startups have a high tendency to fail. Situations like Uber are the exact reason everyone was issuing warnings about "late stage private companies" last year. Uber might have lots cash on hand, but their unit economics makes them a ticking timebomb, meanwhile the constant PR is sending them into a huge tailspin. Zenefits seems to hav…

i think the self driving car stuff is existential for uber because the drivers cost them too much money. it's a race against their ability to raise capital.

and yet Google is saying some of that software was stolen and there was that other recent post that showed their cars still needed a pretty large amount of driver intervention .. so that's probably not working out for them at the moment either.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#204

Post by alasdair_ »

sebleon wrote: post #190
fredophile wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because when you have an unpopular leader making decisions that are unpopular with customers you lose those customers. I no longer use Uber and don't see myself using them again until he leaves. More recently I've been considering closing my Amex card now that they've partnered with Uber.

I'm curious about what fraction of the #deleteUber participants reinstall the app within a week... I'm guessing around 60%?

A surprisingly large number of seemingly-unconnected people I know have switched to Lyft. The switching itself isn't the issue, it's that these people come from several different social groups and they are all surprisingly vocal about switching.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#205

Post by alasdair_ »

tlogan wrote: post #168
kosei wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if this update came before the HN share, but this is a very explosive statement from Jones: “It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ride sharing business."

It is so strange that high level executive says something like this about the company he is leaving. Burning bridges like this? Could it be that he was part of the problem and attack is the best defense? Because I cannot find any other reason why somebody would do this. It is also strange to say that because he was no. 2 in the company and if you are no. 2 you should be able to fix things you do not like.

Burning bridges can be a boost to your reputation. Imagine the number 2 person at Enron left after six months at the job and made the same statement - they would have been hailed as a leader of excellent judgement and moral standing after the collapse.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#206

Post by kizza »

_kyran wrote: post #170
rickycook wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i wish that were true outside the US :( i really really want lyft here in AU so that i can ditch uber as it stands, the options are taxis and not getting private transport, which is the option i've taken when it's not too inconvenient

Aside from other taxi booking apps, has anyone other than uber entered or tried to enter the 'ride sharing' business in Australia?

GoCatch has moved into ride sharing now - they're relatively big in Sydney and the drivers get a bigger cut so I'm happy using them.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#207

Post by evgen »

jedberg wrote: post #181
dharmon wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an important difference: compensation. If a losing team wants a winning coach, they will either have to settle for someone inexperienced, or pay up to get someone experienced in turnaround situations. Same with companies, except with turnarounds the most substantial part of compensation is the company's stock. If the turnaround is successful, the executive will get wildly rich as the stock appreciates (and ri…

> but only to maintain the current imaginary valuation. Where's the upside? If you were offered the job of President of Uber, say at the same salary you make now, would you take it? I'm sure a lot of people would say yes. Success or fail, you would now have "President of a multi-billion dollar company" on your resume.

Imagine you are an energy company exec in November 2001 and someone offers you the job of replacing Jeff Skilling at Enron now that the financial problems have been exposed and it is starting to enter free-fall mode. Do you take the job so that you can have President of Enron on your CV?

The people who are qualified for the job or would be even considered in the first place are likely to be in one of two career trajectories at the moment: aiming upward to become the CEO of a major corporation or on a downward path and trying to maintain the power, respect, and lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. People in the former category would avoid Uber like the plague, so you are looking for someone in the latter group who is talented enough to catch a falling knife but somehow overlooked by companies making a similar search but not quite as desperate as Uber happens to be at the moment. Tough order to fill...

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#208

Post by blntechie »

yalogin wrote: post #159

If you are living in the Bay Area you would think Uber is a bad company. But I just met someone outside of the Bay and realized people love Uber. They have a lot of problems and a lot to do but they are still the market leader.

I live outside the US. I'm a vocal critique of Uber - the company but I love Uber - the service. Evaluating their competitors where I live, it's pretty obvious Uber is a much more seamless and better customer oriented taxi experience than anything else in the market.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#209

Post by evgen »

dominotw wrote: post #158
taude wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>There's enough social awareness that people don't want to support a company run by jerks like Travis Kalanick. I asked 7-8 of my non tech/internet obsessed friends what they thought of recent uber scandals and if they stopped using uber. I got blank stares. all of my techy friends know about uber news but not one has deleted uber. Very very few actually care about any of it, people have short memory and outrage fati…

And if you had asked your non-tech/internet obsessed friends what they thought of Uber a few years ago you would have gotten equally blank 'wtf is Uber?' stares. You may think that having the tech industry filled with antipathy towards Uber does not matter much, but those same techies are the ones who make decisions like 'what companies should we support via an API call in our app' or 'who should we partner with on our new service', and more importantly the 'whose recruiting offer should I consider' question. With Uber bleeding money from its unlicensed taxi business it needs to find any other opportunity it can, and having those doors just a little bit harder to open for the Uber bizdev & recruiting people will matter a lot more in the long-run than whether or not a non-techie decides to take an Uber home in middle America.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#210

Post by evgen »

Anderkent wrote: post #109
jcranmer wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're lying to a government agency, that's almost certainly breaking some law. I suspect that Illinois's §31-4 applies here (assuming this were in Illinois): (a) A person obstructs justice when, with intent to prevent the apprehension or obstruct the prosecution or defense of any person, he or she knowingly commits any of the following acts: (1) Destroys, alters, conceals or disguises physical evidence, plants fa…

They didn't lie in response to any official requests by the agency; they lied to incognito agents.

If they knew that these agents were investigating possible mis-behavior or law-breaking on the part of Uber then Uber (and the people who coded up this cute little internal service) are now involved in a conspiracy. The neat thing about conspiracy is that it is much easier to prove/convict than the actual criminal activity.
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