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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.

#461

Post by naskwo »

idle_processor wrote: post #367
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.

Lower cost, at least in Hungary, was artificial, as Uber was able to undercut local fares given its capital.

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

#462

Post by naskwo »

hueving wrote: post #430
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…

Paying the driver directly still sucks. In the US you constantly deal with the "I don't take cards" bullshit and lack of simple feedback for when they take you on a scenic tour. I would be fine with taxis if I didn't have to interact with the driver at all when it came to payment and could provide feedback right in the app.

In Germany and Budapest, and certainly Sweden, drivers are required by their dispatchers to accept credit cards. "Cash only" drivers will be a thing of the past soon. Look at what happened with the London black cabs: they all accept credit cards these days.

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

#463

Post by blfr »

sverhagen wrote: post #114
slice_of_life wrote: post #38

Pushing a founder out is often a bad idea. This might very well be the beginning of Uber's demise. This won't be good for the company. All CEOs make mistakes even great ones like Gates with antitrust or Zuck calling users dumb-fucks. They weren't kicked out, they instead were allowed to come into their own. There's a distinct fire that a founder has for the company they founded. You can't hire that. Without this fire…

I pretty much can't stumble upon an article about Uber that's not about controversy. I know that kind of news sells better. But in my perception now Uber had the pendulum swung far off center. I've been shocked by their (reported) ethics, to the point of not purchasing their services. I know that consequence is not taken by a majority of people, but I do sense a more than average disgust for Uber's ethics. If you'd a…

Didn't Marissa Mayer recently resign from her job, and be available?

Even if you want to see Uber dead, there are more humanitarian ways.

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

#464

Post by rdl »

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…

Especially interesting is that Uber may already have been essentially doomed, and now it is will be very easy to make the case what killed Uber was "do the right thing" forced-resignation of the founder by 5 of his investors. That seems like lose/lose for them.

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

#465

Post by cgeier »

Somewhat off-topic:

Why is something like Uber called ride-sharing to begin with? I'm not sharing my ride with anyone that coincidentally wants to travel (more or less) the same route as me. I pay somebody to drive their car first to me, and then some other place.

This is called a taxi or cab [1], there Uber is a taxi company.

At least in Germany, there used to be actual ride-sharing systems, of which the best one used to be mitfahrzentrale.de, where people would advertise what route they were planing to drive (and when) and other people could "book" a seat on that route. I don't know if some others still exist, I haven't used them in years.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab

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

#466

Post by tyingq »

balladeer wrote: post #433

Let's assume Uber dies. One bad outcome from this could be that Lyft gets a monopoly. I hope that doesn't happen. Also, it will be awesome if instead of another Uber created there will be an open pool of ridess/seats available and people can use the platform of their choice. A la airline ticket booking model (of course the exact same approach will/may not work) or the bus ticket booking approach. Also, airline indust…

Didi, I assume, would fill some of that vacuum.

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

#467

Post by ProblemFactory »

auggierose wrote: post #414
bunkat wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber doesn't make enough from fares to be profitable, they use investors' money to heavily subsidize them. Once the investor money runs out, Uber won't be able to pay drivers unless they jack up prices considerably. Once they are no longer price competitive, customers will move to other services. Turns out the car service business isn't very sticky at all (even the drivers work for multiple companies...). Drivers sta…

Come on, self driving cars was never a solution for Uber in the medium term. Cabs are in the midst of normal traffic, not even highway or anything. No way this will work good enough within the next 15 years

"Uber is a play on self-driving cars" is a misleading but often repeated story.

When Uber started and raised its first investment rounds, self-driving cars were too far away to be part of a business plan. I doubt the latest investors take that view either - spending billions per year until self-driving cars happen is a way too expensive way to build up a fickle user base who will switch the moment a competitor offers 10% lower rates.

And when self-driving cars do arrive, there is no reason to believe that Uber will have exclusive access to them. Google and other software companies will be licensing the technology to anyone who pays for it, car manufacturers will be selling cars to anyone who pays for it.

It may kill taxi driver as a career, but there is no defensible advantage to Uber compared to Lyft, Hailo, Taxify, and so on.

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

#468

Post by muninn_ »

rsp1984 wrote: post #453
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…

This may kill Uber. Highly unlikely. Why? Investors who stomach multi-billion dollar annual losses will probably just shrug off the recent bit of trouble. If the choice is to either write off $15 billion or to give another couple to help the company go through a rough patch (what a buying opportunity!) I think I know what investors are going to do. Kalanick's head has now rolled (not that it really hurts him much per…

Also known as the Gambler's Fallacy.

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

#469

Post by johnbellone »

hueving wrote: post #430
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…

Paying the driver directly still sucks. In the US you constantly deal with the "I don't take cards" bullshit and lack of simple feedback for when they take you on a scenic tour. I would be fine with taxis if I didn't have to interact with the driver at all when it came to payment and could provide feedback right in the app.

"I don't take cards" or "It's broken" results in me walking out of the cab. Irregardless of if it's the beginning or end of the trip. All but one time did they change their tune.

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

#470

Post by tronje »

cgeier wrote: post #465

Somewhat off-topic: Why is something like Uber called ride-sharing to begin with? I'm not sharing my ride with anyone that coincidentally wants to travel (more or less) the same route as me. I pay somebody to drive their car first to me, and then some other place. This is called a taxi or cab [1], there Uber is a taxi company. At least in Germany, there used to be actual ride-sharing systems, of which the best one us…

Further off-topic, for anyone curious:

There are a number of ride-sharing services, the self-proclaimed biggest being blablacar.de, previously known as mitfahrgelegenheiten.de, I believe.

We also have a multitude of car-sharing services, where if you subscribe, you can look for a free car parked somewhere, and then drive it wherever you want within a certain area. Examples are car2go, DriveNow, and I believe Starcar and other rental-car companies also have services like that.

Uber actually had to pull out of several german cities because of taxi-related regulations. Taxi-drivers in those cities need to obtain a license, which drivers for Uber obviously don't do. So (some german) institutions also view Uber as a taxi company.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9648676/uber-germany-ham...

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