How Uber Backers Orchestrated Kalanick’s Ouster as CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: How Uber Backers Orchestrated Kalanick’s Ouster as CEO

#161

Post by danieltillett » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 1:31 AM UTC

dsacco wrote: post #132

danieltillett wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are never in control of your company unless you don’t have employees.

Yeah, but at what point does the bar for control become meaningless? It's not really productive to raise it to the point that every company ostensibly has no one in control because they have obligations to other parties. It is productive to discuss how founders like Zuckerberg and Kalanick retained majority voting rights, because that's meaningful even if you use a pithy definition of control that makes it virtually…

I haven’t defined away the controversy, just taken a step back and tried to look at the issue more globally.

My company over the years has transitioned from no employees, to employees, to no employees again, and back to employees. The only time I have been in control (despite having 100% ownership) is when I have had no employees.

When you are thinking about starting a business the decision to employ or not is even bigger than deciding to take in investors.

Re: How Uber Backers Orchestrated Kalanick’s Ouster as CEO

#162

Post by bostik » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 5:50 AM UTC

burkaman wrote: post #160

bostik wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm taking the cynical view. > intentionally sabotaging competitors? This only underscores that Uber is a fairly large company. The only difference with every other large company is that not only did Uber get caught, they also sported a festering PR problem which worked as an amplifier.

I think that's irrelevant to the point being made. If every large company has a pattern of harmful behavior comparable to Uber's, then every large company has a toxic culture. Or if you prefer, every large company is a product of and contributor to a larger toxic culture. I agree that unusually bad PR has amplified the consequences, but again that's irrelevant to examining the culture of the company.

Ha, I didn't think it could be read that way.

What I tried to point out is that actively sabotaging competitors has nothing to do with company culture, toxic or not. It's simply an aspect of a company being reasonably large (iow. they have resources to effectively use underhanded tactics).

I have no doubt that Uber's culture is toxic. (And I do admit to some glee observing them get raked over coals.) But engaging in sabotage is, for me, a null signal in that regard. The capacity for that is simply a result of being large enough.

Re: How Uber Backers Orchestrated Kalanick’s Ouster as CEO

#163

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 9:09 PM UTC

kyokpae wrote: post #91

vm wrote: post #70

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.

> reduced drunk driving rates by 1/3 Hardly true: http://fortune.com/2016/07/28/uber-drunk-driving-study/ > enabled nearly 200K drivers to become entrepreneurs Going self-employed doesn't make you an entrepreneur. > provided a valuable service to millions of customers Looks like true: http://fortune.com/2016/10/20/uber-app-riders/ > accelerated the shift to self driving car Not true. Uber's entered the game very late…

[deleted]

Re: How Uber Backers Orchestrated Kalanick’s Ouster as CEO

#164

Post by anotheryou » Tue, Jun 27, 2017, 9:38 AM UTC

rubidium wrote: post #102

pelario wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the downvotes?

The fry cook is not the franchise owner. The Uber driver is not an entrepreneur.

Sorry, I need to highjack a comment of yours for a PM (once you replied to this, I might delete the off-topic text):

You gave me carreer advice ("Companies (generally) don't hire "generalists". They hire people to solve their particular problems. You need to show why you're the right person to solve company X's problems.") and I want to thank you for that!

I had a job interview and the interviewer was really happy for me to identify a certain UX problem. The interview went well and they let me do a concept for the solution of the problem. I got the job! (not yet on paper, but hopefully soon) I will be a Product Manager with some Product Ownership and with a decent salary (I think a bit over the budget they planned initially).

Thanks again!