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In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

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Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#151

Post by erdojo »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #121
erdojo wrote: post #31

I believe the driver was itching for a confrontation (he stopped Kalanick as he was getting out of the car to start the conversation). It was only after being berated for a minute or two and interrupted that Kalanick's composure started to crack. Before then, I don't think anything Kalanick could have said would have mollified this driver. He had an axe and he was going to grind it. Kalanick could have handled it bet…

Where else should he grind it? Kalanick is the CEO. He made a decision which affects this mans livelihood. Kalanick certainly gets paid enough to face up to people like this. And if he wants to stop facing up to it, maybe he can do something about their pay.

Right person, wrong time, wrong approach.

Kalanick was off the clock, clearly on his way home and in a social setting. The driver could have really capitalized on the moment. He could have opened a productive and respectful conversation by saying he was a very early driver and had some feedback - good and bad - asking to sit down at a more appropriate time. That had far more likelihood of achieving any progress.

But maybe he didn't want progress. Maybe he just wanted the satisfaction of venting to the CEO.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#152

Post by sjtgraham »

seertaak wrote: post #46

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the driver was exceedingly rude. He clearly took advantage of Kalanick being in the public eye, and thus a "target". Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, it should reduce any fair person's bayesian priors as to the credibility of the driver. I'm no fan of Kalanick, but I thought he comported himself reasonably, taking the time to…

I agree. I felt the article painted a far worse picture than the video justified. You have to love a camera, the only unimpeachable witness there is.

IMO the most incriminating thing in this video Travis did is that cornball shimmying in the back seat.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#153

Post by zazpowered »

moogly wrote: post #62

"You know what? You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame every single thing in their life on somebody else". Less than a minute after having blamed the lowering of prices on his competitor(s). That delicious irony.

taking action is different from just blaming and talking

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#154

Post by lotp »

feelix wrote: post #131
wopwopwop wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the driver was exceedingly rude. He clearly took advantage of Kalanick being in the public eye, and thus a "target". Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, it should reduce any fair person's bayesian priors as to the credibility of the driver. Why? If I were a driver, you can be sure I would be filming everyone. Does that mean I w…

> And the gig has gotten harder for longtime drivers. In 2012, Uber Black cost riders $4.90 per mile and $1.25 per minute in San Francisco, according to an old version of Uber's website. Today, Uber charges $3.75 per mile and $0.65 per minute. Black car drivers get paid less and their business faces far more competition from other Uber services. Considering that he did change the price from under the driver, and that…

He's only saying "bullshit" to the guys claim they were originally making $20/mile... Sounds like from info you posted that both the $20 and the $2.75 per mile claim are completely wrong.

Kamel: “We started with $20.”

Kalanick: “Bullshit.”

Kamel: “We started with $20. How much is the mile now, $2.75?”

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#155

Post by orange_county »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #119
simplehuman wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you worked at a big company? In none of the fortune 500 companies have I met the CEO who has taken a minute to explain like Travis tried. In fact in some of the companies I worked for the CEO won't even respond to email.

I work for a gigantic corporation and you're right that the CEO wouldn't respond to me. In fact, if we were in a car together and I started talking to him about how my pay wasn't so hot this year I would expect him to be extremely uncomfortable. He should be! He makes huge decisions which affect thousands and thousands of lives. CEOs should be in constant contact with peons like me and Kamel. Maybe they would adjust…

Except the CEO works for the board whose goal is to keep the company profitable so it can continue to exist.

If you are upset about pay, you go to your manager or in the case of Kamel, you go work for a competitor Lyft. You have every right to voice your complaints but don't be surprised when they fall on deaf ears.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#157

Post by sp332 »

PeterisP wrote: post #120
unityByFreedom wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think releasing the video was right. Regarding Uber black, another HN user points out, > Travis is right on a technicality they did not lower Uber Black prices much if any. What they did instead was coerced Uber Black drivers to take Uber X request. Yes drivers can reject Uber X request, but if you reject a certain amount of Uber rides, they kick you off their system. Probably why the driver is complaining ab…

If the consumers are voting with their wallets that they want more Uber X rides and less Uber Black rides, well, that's what should happen. To bring supply back in line with demand, some drivers who used to drive Uber Black should either leave or downgrade, and if they won't do it willingly, then some drivers going bankrupt is a way how the market forces "driver supply" to go in the direction where it apparently need…

But even so, what's the point in pretending that fares aren't going down?

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#158

Post by TheBobinator »

MegaButts wrote: post #22
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #16

To me this illustrates one of the biggest problems we have in america which is the crazy firewall between rich and poor. Kamel wanted to have a serious discussion with Kalanick about how his decisions as CEO were affecting Kamel's life and Kalanick gets upset about this. That's your job! At least it should be. If you can't even handle light criticism from the people you employ, you shouldn't be at the top.

> If you can't even handle light criticism from the people you employ, you shouldn't be at the top. I ask this in all seriousness: what qualities make for a good leader assuming the ideals of capitalism? I understand many people here will say they would prefer to work for a moral leader who can handle criticism and adapt to make sure his employees are taken care of, but do those leaders perform better at growing comp…

Great leaders cause their staff to grow personally and professionally; they do this by finding out what keeps the staff from becoming all they can be, and removing those barriers. This causes companies and the industry at large to grow.

E.G. We used to have a general manager at where I worked some 30 years ago who handled a time theft case this way; he brought the guy into his office with a manager, laid down the time theft amount and days time theft occurred and gave the guy two options. Walk out the door, or work and pay it back; if you choose to be dishonest we have no use for you, leave. If you choose to be honest, pay it back, show me you can be a moral person, we're even. That person chose to pay it back, and they stayed with that company some 20 additional years.

Any other quality is secondary. You don't have to know a library of algorithms or what the latest and greatest API is to be a great leader or even a competent programmer. Those things are distractions from understanding the fundamental theories and best practices of computer science anyway, and a lot of it is technological imperialism delivered through marketing to management already very aware technology needs to be inhibited for them to stay employed.

Another very large organization I worked for had a standard software they had deployed all over the organization, and one department, a lab, had a bar-coding requirement for data entry to eliminate very costly problems that traced back to the lab. It wasn't my department's job to build infrastructure for them, and they had budgetary constraints that kept them from updating. I suggested they ask the staff to change the font of the text to a bar-code font which is something after doing 5 minutes of google research, I discovered the app allowed. I closed out the ticket and referenced that as a suggestion, and gave them the ticket to reference later. Lo and behold, 2 months later, they get a estimate for $50,000. This organization is one of the biggest employers in the US, and routinely mergers with another company about once every other year. There is no leadership in their organization, and we all suffer for it.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#159

Post by nickff »

bearcobra wrote: post #141
nickff wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not going to read the entire book, please at least read more of the Wikipedia article. > He considers the book a cautionary tale against diagnosing someone without really knowing them, and about the need to avoid confirmation bias. He thinks that is "part of the reason why there are so many miscarriages of justice in the psychopath-spotting field." He does believe that Hare's construct of psychopathy applie…

I've placed a hold with my local library to check it out. Until I have a chance to read it, that appears to be an argument against attempting to diagnose an individual without significant psychiatric observation, which is a noble goal. But assuming the citation of the book in the article is correct, then there appears to be a link between psychopathy and being a CEO. Is your contention that this finding is incorrect…

It is possible that there is some connection between being a psychopath and being a CEO, but I have no good evidence of it, and it is also possible that being CEO of a large company increases anti-social behavior patterns (as a lot of people are out to get you). The interesting question is whether psychopaths are more likely to become CEOs. Your second link didn't seem to appreciate the main message that Ronson described in his book; they just made passing mention of it.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#160

Post by synicalx »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #16

To me this illustrates one of the biggest problems we have in america which is the crazy firewall between rich and poor. Kamel wanted to have a serious discussion with Kalanick about how his decisions as CEO were affecting Kamel's life and Kalanick gets upset about this. That's your job! At least it should be. If you can't even handle light criticism from the people you employ, you shouldn't be at the top.

In a large company it simply doesn't work like that, if everyone can come to the CEO with every little problem they have then he or she is going to be fielding complaints 24/7. Griping goes up in steps - you gripe to your manager, they gripe to theirs and so on.

EDIT: Spleling

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