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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.

#361

Post by danpalmer »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #161
flyosity wrote: 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…

If Uber dies and Lyft becomes the new market leader, who is the new underdog?

Gett, Hailo, maybe Didi if/when they expand out of China.

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

#362

Post by matt4077 »

hkmurakami wrote: post #99
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…

For an embattled company like this in a fiercely competitive industry, you need committed leadership and not a rotating cast of hired guns looking to make a quick buck. Kalanick has serious issues but he's demonstrated unquestionably forceful (and polarizing) leadership that mere "managers" will never be able to replace. I've been bullish on Uber despite all their mistakes and internal issues because at the end of th…

Please don't further this narrative that sexually harassing women and his general brohaviour are good for business.

They are not. There are ways in which being an asshole ay be good for founders (cf Steve Jobs). Kalanick is just an asshole, and even take-no-prisoner ask-forgiveness-later businesses run much better with a bit of attention to human decency.

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

#363

Post by awwwwsmwry »

kevinburke wrote: post #3

According to the article 5 different VC firms representing 40% of the voting shares asked him to resign today. Kalanick still controls the majority of voting shares and a board seat. Most of Kalanick's trouble started with Susan Fowler speaking out. Please believe women when they report harassment in the workplace. Many of their reports may not be as clear cut as Mrs. Fowler's.

Women should stay at home and raise kids... you don't really need women in the economy or politics, nor do they need it to be happy.

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

#364

Post by elmar »

jsemrau wrote: post #253
Animats wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber bought market share by subsidizing rides. That can't go on forever. Or much longer, without more capital. They're already borrowing heavily, having run out of equity sources. The business model hype is supposed to be that they push taxis out of business, then raise rates. Or self-driving cars will somehow save them. Both are unlikely. [1] http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/growth-vs-profits...

That is exactly my point for a while now [1]. The investors could have easily picked on taxi company handed them several billions, but they chose Uber. Mainly because of the hype created by the senior leadership team. They seem to have overplayed there hand. [1] https://medium.com/@thisTenqyuLife/nobody-will-talk-about-ub...

"Uber is an example of what happens when central banks attempt to ‘stimulate’ the economy through misguided central planning. By forcing down market prices and essentially moving spending from the future into the present, they’re hoping to stimulate investment in general. But what they forget (or more likely, choose to ignore) is that these ‘investments’ are likely just bad investments."

Such a great quote

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

#365

Post by danpalmer »

adamnemecek wrote: post #357
naskwo wrote: post #352

A few weeks ago, I posted on HN about my experience in Hamburg (no Uber in Germany. The local taxi authority has its own app which works equally well, if not better). Last weekend, I was in Budapest. There is no Uber in Hungary (anymore), but the main taxi company (Fötaxi) has its own app which works brilliantly. I honestly see no "moat" around Uber in markets where (large) taxi dispatchers have the insight to build…

Ubers other differentiator is the fact that I can go to just about any city in the world and use it. I guess I could research and install fotaxi but as a 21th century consumer, I'm extremely lazy.

I don't think it comes down to just being lazy. Regardless of whether you've had good or bad experiences with Uber, you've had experiences, may have chatted to their support team, etc, and you know what to expect from the service and the company. The local alternative might be better, but it's an unknown.

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

#366

Post by namdnay »

fragmede wrote: post #298
OriginalPenguin wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they can cut their burn rate. But if they cut it too much, they'll stop growing. The problem is they need to sustain their 70 billion dollar valuation for investors to be happy. To be worth 70 billion they have to be either: Growing at a very fast rate (which requires a very large burn rate to sustain) Or be generating billions in profit each year. Even with a cut burn rate, they aren't going to be generating bi…

Keep in mind that if their leaked financials are to be believed, they made $6.5 billion in net revenue for 2016. Unfortunately total costs exceed revenue, so they are far from profitable, but that's not exactly chump change.

What are they counting in net revenue? As they bill themselves as a brokerage service (to avoid those pesky employment laws...), I would imagine they only count their commission in net revenue? 6.5 billion is pretty impressive then!

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

#367

Post by idle_processor »

naskwo wrote: post #352

A few weeks ago, I posted on HN about my experience in Hamburg (no Uber in Germany. The local taxi authority has its own app which works equally well, if not better). Last weekend, I was in Budapest. There is no Uber in Hungary (anymore), but the main taxi company (Fötaxi) has its own app which works brilliantly. I honestly see no "moat" around Uber in markets where (large) taxi dispatchers have the insight to build…

> Uber's only differentiator in well-organised urban markets is its app.

Lower cost is also a factor, relative to local taxis.

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

#368

Post by jamesfe »

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…

I may be simplistic or naïve, but if your business isn't profitable, that's what kills it. Travis or no Travis, it doesn't seem like Uber has found a way to cut a profit yet and at some point, profit becomes a requirement.

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

#369

Post by matt4077 »

sgift wrote: post #231
kevinburke wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Innocent until proven guilty is a great standard for criminal trials but probably not for the workplace, where people who report harassment are usually taking an incredible career risk by doing so.

I've never understood this position. We take a risk too by following innocent until proven guilty in criminal trials, but hundreds of years of the opposite (e.g. "A witch!" -> kill the 'offender', "A child molester!" -> kill the 'offender') have shown us that the risks of a fair trial are better than the risks of ruining peoples life over accusations. Why should this be any different in the work place?

a. Because a false positive may result in moving someone to a different division, not burning them at the stake.

b. Because the costs of a false negative is forcing someone to continue working for/with someone they clearly feel uncomfortable around.

(compare to crimes, where it's much easier to protect the victim even without any sanctions against the accused)

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

#370

Post by codecamper »

Fej wrote: post #147
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…

I hear all this doom & gloom, but could Uber not just... raise prices? Sure, they would lose a lot of customers, but they would stay alive. How could Uber, barring wholly incompetent leadership, completely implode?

Why not just... fire overpaid SF engineers?
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