Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#61

Post by CPLX » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:38 AM UTC

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #32

Good for him. This is probably an unpopular opinion here, but I feel bad for this guy. Could have built a really great empire, and he probably would have if it was ten years ago. But things are changing so fast nowadays and the masses have a lot of power (maybe too much than they deserve) and Uber unfortunately was at the wrong place at the wrong time. When I talk to real people in the real world (not Twitter trolls…

Did Uber change the world or did ubiquitous smartphones with GPS capability change the world?

While it seems obvious that Uber may have hastened the process is it really arguable that people would still be using their phone to call taxi dispatchers in 2018?

Seems to me he capably profited from a trend. Which is great. But did it unethically. Which is, obviously, not ethical. It's not clear the world really needs more ethically compromised multinational companies.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#62

Post by bhldr » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:39 AM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #52

forgotpw2018 wrote: post #42

Seems like a good time to dump this =). I think I know the kind of world Travis comes from. He was in a fraternity, and he treated it like a business like I did. When he owned a real business he applied those lessons far too liberally. Fraternities are ruthlessly competitive, going as far as planting fake pledges and building internal dossiers on all the other frats on campus. Very valuable was your loyal man with a…

As someone who knows nothing about fraternities: what on earth are they competing over? Are they competing over who throws the best parties?

Meatheads will compete over anything

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#63

Post by ikeboy » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:39 AM UTC

forgotpw2018 wrote: post #42

Seems like a good time to dump this =). I think I know the kind of world Travis comes from. He was in a fraternity, and he treated it like a business like I did. When he owned a real business he applied those lessons far too liberally. Fraternities are ruthlessly competitive, going as far as planting fake pledges and building internal dossiers on all the other frats on campus. Very valuable was your loyal man with a…

For someone who was forced out of the company he founded and then sued by his VCs, maybe he didn't watch his back enough.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#64

Post by JohnJamesRambo » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:40 AM UTC

forgotpw2018 wrote: post #42

Seems like a good time to dump this =). I think I know the kind of world Travis comes from. He was in a fraternity, and he treated it like a business like I did. When he owned a real business he applied those lessons far too liberally. Fraternities are ruthlessly competitive, going as far as planting fake pledges and building internal dossiers on all the other frats on campus. Very valuable was your loyal man with a…

Did you ever consider what a tremendous waste of time this competition with other frats was? Trying to determine how many people were at their parties? Are we supposed to take this seriously?

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#65

Post by discoursism » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:41 AM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #52

forgotpw2018 wrote: post #42

Seems like a good time to dump this =). I think I know the kind of world Travis comes from. He was in a fraternity, and he treated it like a business like I did. When he owned a real business he applied those lessons far too liberally. Fraternities are ruthlessly competitive, going as far as planting fake pledges and building internal dossiers on all the other frats on campus. Very valuable was your loyal man with a…

As someone who knows nothing about fraternities: what on earth are they competing over? Are they competing over who throws the best parties?

They compete over things that seem absolutely critical in your early twenties, somewhat impressive in your late twenties, and foolish at best by your mid thirties.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#66

Post by mrschwabe » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:42 AM UTC

Travis is to Uber as Ross Ulbricht is to Silk Road (but for transportation).

Both made a practical business innovation but crossed a sensitive line and so they were attacked/penalized for it.

But the cat is already out of the bag; the idea and technology to fulfill their goals cannot be stopped.

In that sense, attacking an individual innovator is futile; at best it's a short term setback for the market they are trying to serve.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#67

Post by Ppw24 » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:43 AM UTC

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #51

ejstronge wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps the 'real people in the real world' would be offended and stop using Uber if they knew of Kalanick and his team's doings, not the least of which has been the intimidation and attempt to discredit a rape victim. EDIT: I appear to be mis-remembering Uber's actions - they did not initially share their denial of the victim's experiences with her, per the accounts I've found. In this setting, 'intimidation' may be…

This keeps coming up. Uber did not intimidate the rape victim.

We know they obtained her medical records in an attempt to discredit her, and Travis knew.

https://www.recode.net/2017/6/7/15754316/uber-executive-indi...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/07/uber-exec...

That alone should disqualify Kalanick from serving as CEO. Instead of firing the executive who took the records immediately, he gave his implicit approval by considering the records.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#68

Post by esturk » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:44 AM UTC

outside1234 wrote: post #5

Smart dude - bailing the sinking ship

You know the saying "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Well it can just as well apply here. He could just be at full tilt.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#69

Post by jachee » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:45 AM UTC

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #33

adjkant wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Far too early to say "correct". Starting a company that burns cash faster than anyone and cashing out is not at the same level of Steve Jobs.

Do you know why Steve Jobs was kicked out of Apple?

It wasn't allegations of sexual harassment and/or legally-questionable business practices.

Re: Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick Said to Plan Sale of 29% of Stake

#70

Post by adjkant » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 3:45 AM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #63

forgotpw2018 wrote: post #42

Seems like a good time to dump this =). I think I know the kind of world Travis comes from. He was in a fraternity, and he treated it like a business like I did. When he owned a real business he applied those lessons far too liberally. Fraternities are ruthlessly competitive, going as far as planting fake pledges and building internal dossiers on all the other frats on campus. Very valuable was your loyal man with a…

For someone who was forced out of the company he founded and then sued by his VCs, maybe he didn't watch his back enough .

He was forced out for doing a bad job, not because of a power struggle simply for power. If I'm a cashier at my grocer and pay every customer a dollar too much in change, I'm going to be fired no matter how much I "watch my back". The only difference is the employee doing a bad job was the CEO, so other measures were needed to fire him.