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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.

#131

Post by ebola1717 »

wbillingsley wrote: post #29
muglug wrote: 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…

> - is it a good thing that press (which it seems is sometimes influenceable) can effectively hire and fire by continued pressure?

If it holds people in power accountable for their actions, then yes, it's a good thing. I agree using the press may be a double edged sword, but if businesses and governments fail to keep their executives and personnel from harassing their employees, then what other recourse is there?

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

#132

Post by querulous »

20years wrote: post #125
Animats wrote: post #41

This may kill Uber. Kalanick is a jerk, but he created that insane valuation. Uber has less than a year of runway left at their current burn rate. Unless they can find a bigger sucker than the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia,[1] they're going broke in 2018. (That "undisclosed amount" in 2017 isn't a significant investment on Uber's scale.) IPO? No way. They'd have to publish audited numbers. What's leaked out i…

Does anyone think that Amazon could be eying Uber but waiting for them to lose value? Seems like it would be a natural fit for their delivery network especially considering their recent purchase of Whole Foods.

unless uber's logistics is better than amazon's (spoiler: they're not) uber is only valuable as a brand to amazon. brand probably doesn't move the needle for delivering groceries

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

#133

Post by OriginalPenguin »

Pandabob wrote: post #19

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.

Why would you think Marissa would be a good fit?

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

#134

Post by nodesocket »

20years wrote: post #125
Animats wrote: post #41

This may kill Uber. Kalanick is a jerk, but he created that insane valuation. Uber has less than a year of runway left at their current burn rate. Unless they can find a bigger sucker than the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia,[1] they're going broke in 2018. (That "undisclosed amount" in 2017 isn't a significant investment on Uber's scale.) IPO? No way. They'd have to publish audited numbers. What's leaked out i…

Does anyone think that Amazon could be eying Uber but waiting for them to lose value? Seems like it would be a natural fit for their delivery network especially considering their recent purchase of Whole Foods.

I'd prefer Apple to buy Uber as a $AAPL shareholder... Nevermind this is all nonsense.

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

#135

Post by PhasmaFelis »

logicallee wrote: post #113
Animats wrote: post #41

This may kill Uber. Kalanick is a jerk, but he created that insane valuation. Uber has less than a year of runway left at their current burn rate. Unless they can find a bigger sucker than the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia,[1] they're going broke in 2018. (That "undisclosed amount" in 2017 isn't a significant investment on Uber's scale.) IPO? No way. They'd have to publish audited numbers. What's leaked out i…

can't they just cut their burn rate? I mean it's not like they own a fleet of cars they need to make car payments on and fill with gas to keep operating.... in theory there's no minimum spend to keep operating, is there? if (hypotehtically) they cut spend to approx. nil, and 95% of their drivers left, then 5% of their drivers would remain and they would be profitable... where does the "killing" of Uber occur? Yahoo f…

> and 95% of their drivers left, then 5% of their drivers would remain and they would be profitable... where does the "killing" of Uber occur?

People will stop using Uber if the wait times get really long, which they will if most of the drivers leave.

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

#136

Post by slice_of_life »

smt88 wrote: post #59
slice_of_life wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

Most founders. I don't think it had come to that yet. The good he has done immensely outweighs any wrongdoings. There was a degree of penance on his part and it should count for something.

Travis has had to make a lot of hard decisions to get Uber where it is. These decisions have at times cost him goodwill of the public but I think they are (were) worth it for the long term.

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

#137

Post by [deleted] »

kevinburke wrote: post #93
camelite wrote: post #83

Should we believe men too when they're victimised by women, or is this a one way deal? What if it's a man and a woman accusing each other, or two men or two women. What if the dude is a historically oppressed minority?

Most people that report harassment are taking a big career risk (and if they go public like Mrs. Fowler did, inviting abuse from Internet mobs) by doing so, so yes, I'm going to default to believing people that report harassment unless I can find credible evidence it didn't happen.

[deleted]

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

#138

Post by anothercomment »

santoshalper wrote: post #94
anothercomment wrote: post #67

Did he sexual harass anybody, or what is the point of his resignation? Another case of scapegoating?

The buck stops with the CEO, and it's clear that in the very least, he condoned the asshole culture.

Is it? Were steps not taken to remove the harassers, once the incidents came to light? How can the CEO watch over every social interaction?

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

#139

Post by rokhayakebe »

smt88 wrote: post #85
Animats wrote: post #41

This may kill Uber. Kalanick is a jerk, but he created that insane valuation. Uber has less than a year of runway left at their current burn rate. Unless they can find a bigger sucker than the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia,[1] they're going broke in 2018. (That "undisclosed amount" in 2017 isn't a significant investment on Uber's scale.) IPO? No way. They'd have to publish audited numbers. What's leaked out i…

So Travis created an insane valuation but the business isn't viable? That sounds like bad management to me. They may do much better without him.

Keep in mind a company can be said to be valued at 100B today and 100M tomorrow yet everyone involved can still turn a profit.

What matter are: Cash In Bank, Cash Coming In, Burn Rate.

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

#140

Post by azernik »

Animats wrote: post #41

This may kill Uber. Kalanick is a jerk, but he created that insane valuation. Uber has less than a year of runway left at their current burn rate. Unless they can find a bigger sucker than the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia,[1] they're going broke in 2018. (That "undisclosed amount" in 2017 isn't a significant investment on Uber's scale.) IPO? No way. They'd have to publish audited numbers. What's leaked out i…

Alternate take (not originally mine): the bad state of Uber's financials is the cause of Kalanick's ousting. If the company had a longer runway, or wasn't facing the prospect of a down-round, he could have gotten away with anything.
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