81–90 of 164 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's a really powerful quote from John Sculley. /s/John Sculley/Steve Jobs/
I'm sorry that you have had to use Hipchat so much that you know this and use it outside of it. A human can truly get used to anything.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He created a service that reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3, enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs, provided a valuable service to millions of customers, and accelerated the shift to self driving cars. That deserves serious credit.
Bullshit. He made taxi services cheaper by pumping VC money into the market, with no obvious long-term strategy for profitability.
Whether their calculations will pan out is another story. Whether such tactics should be allowed - yet another.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kalanick is less CEO and more like a comic book caricature of one before they fall into pure evil. The fact that the board stood by him as long as they did is just mind bending.
He created a service that reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3, enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs, provided a valuable service to millions of customers, and accelerated the shift to self driving cars. That deserves serious credit.
- reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3
Not going to argue with that one, it is good.
- enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs
I used to work in direct sales, aka multi level marketing. They too called the people there "entrepreneurs". Those very people your describing as "entrepreneurs" have been suing Uber for missing money. When confronted by one of these drivers about money Kalanick embarrassed himself. It is a gig, barely a job and not "entrepreneurial"
- provided a valuable service to millions of customers
So do tobacco companies, but we wouldn't qualify that as something good. Doing buisness and having customers requires that you do this.
- Accelerated the shift to self driving cars. That deserves serious credit.
Newco/waymo lawsuit? Is that what your suggesting? The only one who is getting close to this in a meaning way is tesla. They are the only ones with the data and the drive to do it.
Lets talk about other things uber has done
- sexual harassment issues (theres a lot here unpack it at your leisure)
- India rape case and the file floating around corporate offices
- Its creepy data surveillance programs
- Its programs to avoid law and code enforcement (greyball)
- Its program to track lyft drivers (hell) also totally counter to the "entrepreneurs" idea of them
- Its continued flouting of regulation and the law (just file the paperwork like everyone else)
These are the less than stellar things that uber has done to burn through investors money in an attempt to secure their market share. Was it needed? I don't know? Does it paint a pretty grim picture that Uber is a company that is willing to do anything to get ahead? It sure looks like it. Kalanick is the ONE constant in all of this, for him to be unaware of all or most of this would make him derelict in his duties as CEO, for him to be aware of all of it doesn't make him look like a good human being.
The icing on the cake is the lactation room incident (see: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/08/uber-ceo-does-a-riff-o... ). At this point we go from sketchy possible evil CEO to something that looks like it is right out of HBO's Silicon Valley, only in the show the scene would end with him throwing out a woman who was using the room for its intended purpose to put a fine point on its insanity.
Kalanick might have done a lot of good, on a lot of fronts, he also might have been aware of all of the above and either done nothing or actually encouraged it. Uber might succeed, but at this point it is living under a microscope and the odds are that it will be one of the biggest private implosions in the valleys history.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He created a service that reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3, enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs, provided a valuable service to millions of customers, and accelerated the shift to self driving cars. That deserves serious credit.
> enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs Oh, please. Some argue that those drivers are employees, some argue that they are contractors providing a low-level service, but calling them "entrepreneurs" really is a bit of a stretch.
Except McDonalds can't make you pay for your own fry station. Or lease it from McDonalds at high rates:
For examples, Experian estimates the average weekly payment for a new car
lease is $96, while a 2013 vehicle through Xchange costs $130 a week.
[...]
After reviewing the terms of one lease, experts estimate that a driver would
pay $25,210 plus $5,000 for the residual value for a 2015 Honda Civic, far
more than the Kelley Blue Book fair purchase prive of $18,142.
In retrospect, it is interesting to see that a reflective blog post from an engineer ended up in the casualties of CEO, most of the senior leadership and a few board members. Maybe the cracks were already there but nevertheless it has been surreal seeing this unfold in the space of 5 months. It is almost like watching the butterfly effect in action.
"How did you go bankrupt?"
"Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly."
Without diminishing the impact of Susan Fowler's blog post, Uber has already been "going bankrupt" slowly for years before this point.
I has been surreal watching this unfold, but I'd hesitate to compare it to the butterfly effect - unless we're talking about many, many butterflies over a long period of time ;)
I do hope that these events have inspired companies to pay more attention to their workplace and culture - festering problems like these are easy to ignore, but reveal their consequences suddenly and severely.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any way to know how much he's taken off the table? The way Uber is going, I'd be shocked if he's worth billions in 5 years.
Uber isn't built on a tower of fraud like Theranos, it's a behemoth that changed how transportation works. Travis is going to be a billionaire many times over when the stock is liquid.
He did not change how transportation works. He got where he is through a combination of luck, good timing, and criminality masked as 'disruption'.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He created a service that reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3, enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs, provided a valuable service to millions of customers, and accelerated the shift to self driving cars. That deserves serious credit.
Lets take this point by point: - reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3 Not going to argue with that one, it is good. - enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs I used to work in direct sales, aka multi level marketing. They too called the people there "entrepreneurs". Those very people your describing as "entrepreneurs" have been suing Uber for missing money. When confronted by one of these drivers about mone…
Is it purely a price sensitivity thing? Is it a simplicity/convenience thing? Is it just because summoning an Uber became hip among a certain demographic whereas taxis weren't? It would be useful data because there are possibly useful public policy responses that could address why people drive drunk in some cases.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-drivi...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs Oh, please. Some argue that those drivers are employees, some argue that they are contractors providing a low-level service, but calling them "entrepreneurs" really is a bit of a stretch.
Uber drivers are entrepreneurs like the fry-station cook at mcdonalds is a small business owner. Except McDonalds can't make you pay for your own fry station. Or lease it from McDonalds at high rates: For examples, Experian estimates the average weekly payment for a new car lease is $96, while a 2013 vehicle through Xchange costs $130 a week. [...] After reviewing the terms of one lease, experts estimate that a drive…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bullshit. He made taxi services cheaper by pumping VC money into the market, with no obvious long-term strategy for profitability.
FWIW, I heard they convinced investors that economy of scales will make their pricing profitable in the future. At least that's what somebody said in this other Uber thread here. Whether their calculations will pan out is another story. Whether such tactics should be allowed - yet another.
The Uber model is anti-econonmy-of-scale. It is a non scalable human wave approach.