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Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

nytimes.com

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Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#51
post #31

Would Marissa Mayer be a good fit for Uber CEO? Given that she just resigned from Yahoo, one would think the board would at least consider her. Unless they're going to choose the next CEO from within the company.

Good chance of it being Arianna Huffington.

Do people believe that this PC circus can actually make a long term business profit?

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#52
post #12

Hope everyone's paying attention to the identity of these investors behind this horrid behavior. Travis is not without his flaws but he created an awful lot of value for them. They pressure him into taking a sabbatical, then two days in they pull this cowardly act of firing him remotely. Not only was it a cowardly act, but it was the wrong thing to do for the business. It will lead to an epic destruction of value. Wo…

It isn't a bad business move. Removing Kalanick allows them to start fixing their brand. He sounds like a bad manager anyway.

But who cares about that? He created and maintained a culture that systematically abused people and covered it up.

Fuck the investor value. People were harmed. This was the only ethical move they could make regarding Kalanick.

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#53
post #2

This proves that speaking out makes a difference. Edit: HN discussion of Susan J. Fowler's original blog post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13682022

It clearly makes a difference as to who is CEO -- on several occasions a succession of bad news stories has effectively removed a tech CEO (Mozilla, GitHub, Uber, ...) Questions I'd be interested in your thoughts on: - does it actually change corporate behaviour? - is it a good thing that press (which it seems is sometimes influenceable) can effectively hire and fire by continued pressure? (And please note that's not…

> does it actually change corporate behaviour?

That remains to be seen, obviously. But a constant in the reports about Uber was that unscrupulous behaviour (e.g. obtaining the medical records of a rape victim) was enabled by the CEO. One might presume that a change in leadership will mean better behaviour. It will also probably mean that Uber can start hiring for all the C-level positions that are currently vacant, bringing in fresh blood and a different way of doing things.

> is it a good thing that press can effectively hire and fire by continued pressure

That is an argument that is as old as the oldest printed pamphlet. I'm not going to argue it here, but I'm glad that the press reported on wrongdoing by high-ups at Uber, and I'm glad that users and investors responded to that information.

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#55
post #11

Wow, makes me want to skim over the original Susan Fowler thread to see if anyone predicted this happening [0]. Her allegations of course weren't the only problem Uber faced but it sure seemed to cause other previously overlooked issues and complaints to gain real resonance. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13682022

I called for it in the Susan Fowler thread:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13747414#13749264

I do wish it hadn't happened, though, I would have preferred if the company could have healed with him still managing to stay in control.

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please investigate, not necessarily believe. Innocent til proven guilty still has some place in this world.. That being said, kudos to anyone courageous enough to speak the truth even at the risk of vilification.

Believe. Do not take action against individuals without investigation, but at organization levels, take measures as though the complaints are true.

> Believe

That's sounds like giving accusers too much power, especially if it leads to firing. It's not as if people don't lie.

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please investigate, not necessarily believe. Innocent til proven guilty still has some place in this world.. That being said, kudos to anyone courageous enough to speak the truth even at the risk of vilification.

Believe. Do not take action against individuals without investigation, but at organization levels, take measures as though the complaints are true.

I think more appropriate would be to limit the scope of belief to the complainant. Treat them as a person; acknowledge they have experienced something traumatic.

Do not believe every word anyone says as the absolute truth of an event. Evidence, corroboration, attempts to be objective -- these are all the rights of the accused.

Believe the complainant but do not assume they are correct. Our memories are the movies based on real events.

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#59
post #12

Hope everyone's paying attention to the identity of these investors behind this horrid behavior. Travis is not without his flaws but he created an awful lot of value for them. They pressure him into taking a sabbatical, then two days in they pull this cowardly act of firing him remotely. Not only was it a cowardly act, but it was the wrong thing to do for the business. It will lead to an epic destruction of value. Wo…

>Hope everyone's paying attention to the identity of these investors Exactly. I would be wary of these specific folks. I bet you they would do the same to any founder in a heartbeat.

Any founder? Or just founders who drag their company's name and culture into a swamp of immoral behavior?

Re: Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.

#60
post #5

If Uber ends up going down in flames, unable to recover from the scandals and lawsuits, and Lyft prevails, it will be the most incredible change of fate in the business world this century or perhaps longer. The future of automobiles and transportation is still being swirled about, and it feels like Uber's downfall has blown the game WIDE open, ready for anyone (maybe Uber, maybe Lyft, maybe Tesla, Google, Apple, an a…

Lyft? That is just another corporate-controlled centralized system. I'd much prefer something along the lines of http://libretaxi.org/
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