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Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

nytimes.com

71–80 of 170 posts

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#71
post #12

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

You're assuming the current board didn't have this planned for a long time. Let them break the law to get things done, then clean house after the stage was properly set. I STILL think that people are downplaying the Otto thing way too much, especially on this site. It's easy to say that they're going to win in court... but this is GOOGLE - they're going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and likely a decade try…

[deleted]

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#72

that person has been elected president.

As to the parents points at hand - they got away with it. So, not "that person". All of them. Your cute political comment ignores ridiculouslness on your side. It's all the same trash. Either party. Don't be a homer.

cute comment edit aside, I'm not sure I follow the distinction you're trying to make.

edit: to be absolutely clear, i'm not saying that trump has committed _every_one_ of the _specific_ acts referenced by the parent. but he is the amalgamation of every terrible, wrong-headed political move a person can make, and he's president. my point was the initial analogy was bad, "picture a candidate who's done every bad thing a candidate can do; how do you think they'd be treated?". well, they'd quite possibly be elected president.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#73
post #23

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

A jerk is someone who borrows your car and doesn't pay for the dent he puts in the bumper. What happened at Uber was the creation of one of the most insanely hostile work environments in living memory, where flouting not just the law, but also basic standards of human decency, was not only accepted but encouraged at all levels of the company.

I think you have an overly optimistic view of what the deep end of hostile work environments looks like (not that Uber was not notably bad).

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#74

Finally! After years of assholes being assholes because it's not illegal to be assholes, now finally they are finding that there are repercussions. if you piss off everyone, then you better hope like hell that you don't fall and need someone's help. tldr: assholes.

[deleted]

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As to the parents points at hand - they got away with it. So, not "that person". All of them. Your cute political comment ignores ridiculouslness on your side. It's all the same trash. Either party. Don't be a homer.

cute comment edit aside, I'm not sure I follow the distinction you're trying to make. edit: to be absolutely clear, i'm not saying that trump has committed _every_one_ of the _specific_ acts referenced by the parent. but he is the amalgamation of every terrible, wrong-headed political move a person can make, and he's president. my point was the initial analogy was bad, "picture a candidate who's done every bad thing…

Yeah Trump didn't drive a women off a bridge and leave her dead like your previous leader Ted Kennedy.

I personally support third party but damn the left loves to ignore how dirtball their own party is. Add Mel Reynolds, Robert KKK Byrd and others to the mix and it's laughable the party is any more a champion for anything. I honestly don't understand how either side can wage an ethics war on the other.

Someone makes a point about how dirtball politicians are in general and then it turns into criticism about the current powers that be as if the opposition is angelic. They both suck. Why can't we agree on that?

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#76
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hostile work environments are not "just bring jerks", it is illegal.

I guess how you read my comment might depend on how sensitive you are to the criticisms. All I mean to say is that bad business gets economically punished. Internal culture is part of a business' reputation. I do not condone hostile work environments and neither do most people. This is why they are being punished. Uber must obey the law, they are not exempt from it. But economics has actually been more swift at enact…

There's lots of bad business in lots of industries that goes unpunished, especially if we only include punishment due to economic forces/social pressure. Want to take any bets on whether Kalanick (who holds a voting majority) would have been ousted if Uber was profitable and not depending on future funding rounds to merely survive?

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#77
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sexual harassment and retaliation against employees for reporting it is not "just being jerks". It is illegal.

Perhaps it should be actually illegal, like criminally punishible, but it is not. It is a tort, civil violation, etc...but nobody is going to jail.

Sigh. Arguing logic of proper behavior on these matters on HN always results in apologists making excuses as to how it should have been handled.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#78
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we actually give the finance industry a pass? The fact that "Wall st" is a pejorative these days is some indication that's not the case.

The fact that there are never any real consequences to Wall St actually tends to prove the opposite.

Wall St has deeply and thoroughly captured all of the regulatory agencies charged with overseeing it, as well as most of the powerful organs of government, and thus sits comfortably above the law.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cute comment edit aside, I'm not sure I follow the distinction you're trying to make. edit: to be absolutely clear, i'm not saying that trump has committed _every_one_ of the _specific_ acts referenced by the parent. but he is the amalgamation of every terrible, wrong-headed political move a person can make, and he's president. my point was the initial analogy was bad, "picture a candidate who's done every bad thing…

Yeah Trump didn't drive a women off a bridge and leave her dead like your previous leader Ted Kennedy. I personally support third party but damn the left loves to ignore how dirtball their own party is. Add Mel Reynolds, Robert KKK Byrd and others to the mix and it's laughable the party is any more a champion for anything. I honestly don't understand how either side can wage an ethics war on the other. Someone makes…

"your leader"? "your party"? "ethics war"?

you're making a lot of assumptions for a wed evening, no?

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#80

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

I bet Travis will ultimately be back. They are parking him for 1-2 years (and he's willing) because there is such a negative culture in the place it pervades everything.

Putting in some stability for a while makes sense, but a some point they will probably want to start running hard again.

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