Live data from Hacker News

Uber CEO to take leave

bloomberg.com

151–160 of 198 posts

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is telling people not rape people and not have sex with your subordinates. It seems pretty reasonable to me. Maybe the wording could be better, but it isn't too scandalous.

But the point is that how you say things matters. In a more corporate environment there's rules about "relationships with colleagues". In Uber's case it's more like "don't have sex behind the bar (unless she says yes)". In a corporate environment there are no emails telling people not to throw a keg off a roof because it is already expected that you behave with a certain level of decorum. Travis sending an email word…

I think every good workplace tries really hard to discourage relationships between employees, even if they can't ban them outright (because people will be people).

The basic problem is that, you go to work to work. If you go to a bar or a club or a party or a bookstore and someone there is coming on too strong, you can leave. It's nicer if the club or host or bar or bookstore makes them leave, but whatever, there are other bars, better bookstores. If you're at your job and a customer or a fellow employee is coming on too strong, and your employer doesn't do anything about it, you have the choice of "dealing with it" or "not having a job".

And people need a job; they're there so they can pay for rent and food and (if they're lucky) change the world for the better. Even if you work at an online matchmaking company, you're going to work to find dates for customers, not for yourself. Any finer discussion of the appropriate way or time or number of times to ask your coworker in accounting out is completely missing the point: your coworker in accounting shouldn't have to put up with any number of advances, no matter how mild, when they only show up at work each day to do accounting.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#152
post #3

One of his parents died and the other was severely injured, no? Who wouldn't take leave under those circumstances?

While I sympathize with him for his loss, and think he deserves a leave, this critical part of the leave has nothing to do with bereavement:

> Upon Kalanick’s return, Uber will strip him of some duties and appoint an independent chair to limit his influence, according to an advance copy of a report prepared for the board.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#153

Culture comes from the top and Uber's is pretty rotten. I did an interview there this year and it was the most aggressive questioning I've ever had. Two of 5 interviewers were really in my face while architecting systems; it was bizarre and I almost walked out. Nothing compared to the 'cultural' interview where there gave me an example of them knowingly breaking the law because "they knew they were right" and then as…

This is so vague it almost sounds like trolling. What did they specifically ask in regards to breaking the law?

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#154
post #73
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TK has the unfortunate habit of leaving a trail of history of screwing his employees, and that shit stinks, and sticks. You either: Treat your employees well such that they will go to war for you because protecting your interests is as important as protecting themselves and their own interests. OR Be the unbendable, spotless and ruthlessly calculating leader raising a horde of mindless robots. You churn them out and…

Machiavelli outlined the choice in 'The Prince': To be loved to to be feared? Remember the the conclusion the Italian came to: Fear is more stable, become feared.

Yeah, I don't think The Prince was intended to be taken normatively.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#155
post #23
post #3

One of his parents died and the other was severely injured, no? Who wouldn't take leave under those circumstances?

Losing a parent is a shock, especially when it happens in an unexpected manner like this, but it's something everyone faces and most people don't take extended leaves from work as a result.

Having unexpectedly lost a parent myself, and worked with others who have been through similar circumstances, it is absolutely accepted and expected to take at least a week off, probably longer, if you work for a reasonable company with a reasonable manager. It's one of the most difficult things most people will experience in life. That amount of time is barely enough to get over the initial shock before you half heartedly return to work while beginning to deal with probate, attorneys, settling the estate, and trying to work through your emotions.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#156
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There was literally nothing wrong with the email There were at least two things wrong with the email, from my perspective as a guy who's been around plenty of benign bro culture. 1. Explicitly mentioning "sex" as opposed to "relationship" or "dating", and talking about it so casually, sets a very aggressive tone. 20-something guys with lots of hormones will definitely hear that tone and push hard for sex during the…

> ... mentioning "sex" as opposed to "relationship" or "dating" ... Sex is a natural human activity. People fuck all the time. People especially fuck at parties where there's alcohol involved. > ... even if you assume that the guys will be asking for consent ... Uh, what? The entire point was to ask for consent. I can't speak to your other hypothesizing about tone, or what 20-something guys might or might not do. > .…

That something can occur has only superficial relation to whether it ought to be to be discussed in a given setting.

Your comment reads as if you have little understanding of how women are treated in our culture.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#157
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not. That is very unprofessional. Saddens to hear that.

Perhaps they realized he was "trying to use them to counter offer another company".

So you think they magically determined he, not only didn't want to work there but that he wanted an offer to utilize as leverage elsewhere.

They couldn't develop a set driving car without stealing, I somehow doubt they figured out mind reading.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#158
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you? Microsoft Antitrust nightmare that probably set them back 5 years. Google for invading our privacy, they are still fighting big important battles in Europe. Facebook for similar privacy invasion, the whole beacon debacle. There are a lot of things that they probably did wrong, but not to the extend that the press is picturing it. Agreed 100% w/ dvt.

I could be missing some shady history, but off the top of my head how about Square? Edit: Dropbox, Craigslist, GitHub, PayPal, Instagram, Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter Anyone feel free to jump in if I'm ignoring any exploitation or shadiness. Bad examples: Spotify and Snapchat.

SpaceX and Tesla both have a long history of extremely shady labor practices.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#159
post #140

Law obviously isn't the same thing as morality. SS soldiers also didn't break any laws, while Oskar Schindler was a criminal by legal definition. You may see an attitude that doesn't bend over to all decrees from the government as "rotten," but the most interesting and intelligent people I've ever met wouldn't agree.

Are you seriously comparing the murder of millions of Jews to a multinational corporation ignoring taxi regulations?

Uber fanboys have lost their minds.

Re: Uber CEO to take leave

#160
post #156
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... mentioning "sex" as opposed to "relationship" or "dating" ... Sex is a natural human activity. People fuck all the time. People especially fuck at parties where there's alcohol involved. > ... even if you assume that the guys will be asking for consent ... Uh, what? The entire point was to ask for consent. I can't speak to your other hypothesizing about tone, or what 20-something guys might or might not do. > .…

That something can occur has only superficial relation to whether it ought to be to be discussed in a given setting. Your comment reads as if you have little understanding of how women are treated in our culture.

> That something can occur has only superficial relation to whether it ought to be to be discussed in a given setting.

Given the setting (an alcohol-filled after-work work party), I fundamentally disagree.

> Your comment reads as if you have little understanding of how women are treated in our culture.

My comment didn't mention women, men, or anything in between, because, hey, men sometimes have sex with men! You'll notice that Travis' email didn't mention women either.

Since I love channeling my inner Scalia, I'm just going to say that, in general, you're doing yourself a disservice by not being a textualist. With that said, I'm not going to be baited into defending a straw man, many years of philosophy trained me well :)

Post reply on HN