The horse left that barn a long time ago.
This macho crap pervades the actions, language and demeanour of modern business and notably technology.
Time to grow up and take responsibility.
A profound apology
201–210 of 406 posts
Re: A profound apology
#202Sorry Travis; once an asshole, always an asshole; all the leadership training in the world isn't going to change that. You're 40 years old, how long would you have us waiting? Even brother J. was on your tail in noting that bad trees don't give good fruit. Claiming 'profound' for PR-bullshit like this when you're in that kind of mess is just another nail in the coffin.
But we have made assholes extremely successful in the past (e.g. Steve Jobs). May be they all just want to follow the trend.
Steve Jobs wasn't just an asshole, he was a phenomenally effective CEO. The problem with Kalanick isn't that he's brusque-- it's that his company isn't making money.
Re: A profound apology
#203> This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it. That's bold. I can't remember hearing any recent CEO saying this. Best of luck to Uber and their CEO.
No, bold would be stepping down after this degree of widespread failure. This is just a new flavor of bullshit.
What exactly is the failure?
It's very bold to sit here and armchair commentate things. But I watched the actual video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEDYCkNqns
If anything, I'm impressed he handled it that well - I for one probably wouldn't have, and I suspect a lot of the angry mob wouldn't either. He's a billionaire, for what it's worth, and he actually sat down to try to explain things to a Uber drive, on his night out.
So what, he yells "b*llshit at the end? Or tells the guy to take responsibility? The driver obviously had a bone to pick, and he's ranting.
Re: A profound apology
#204Here's the conversation that took place: Travis: So we are reducing the number of black cars in the next few months. Fawzi: It’s good. Travis: You probably saw some email. Fawzi: I saw the email [that says] it starts in May. But you’re raising the standards and dropping the prices. Travis: We’re not dropping the prices on Black. Fawzi: But in general. Travis: In general, but we have competitors. Otherwise we’d be out…
Personally, I didn't find this disproportionately disrespectful. The driver makes a couple unsubstantiated claims (perfectly ok--it's a car discussion). Travis does the same. The driver starts making accusations ("you keep changing every day"). Travis asks for clarification. The driver keeps up his attack ("You changed the whole business! You dropped the prices.") If someone accused me in such a fashion, and persiste…
It's called noblesse oblige.
Re: A profound apology
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought Uber took a standard %?
They do. However I believe compensation to drivers is more complicated because of what are essentially marketing costs in the form of subsidized rides. A year or so ago before Uber left Austin a driver told me one weekend that Uber guaranteed him something like $400 to drive for the weekend so long as he picked up 30 fares (I'm fudging the numbers a bit here because I cant remember). Based on promotions being run for…
Are you sure that $400 amount wasn't just credits for using the app rather than actual money?
I've seen both Uber and Lyft advertise that if you become a driver and do X rides in Y time you'll get Z credits to use as a rider.
Re: A profound apology
#206Sorry Travis; once an asshole, always an asshole; all the leadership training in the world isn't going to change that. You're 40 years old, how long would you have us waiting? Even brother J. was on your tail in noting that bad trees don't give good fruit. Claiming 'profound' for PR-bullshit like this when you're in that kind of mess is just another nail in the coffin.
I'm not really sure if your ahole comment is warranted?
Have you watched the source material?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEDYCkNqns
It's not exactly like Travis is abusing the driver - if anything, it's the other way around. The driver had a bone to pick, and needed to vent - Travis obviously just wanted to go home, on what was obviously a night off.
The fact he actually took the time to try to listen to the driver, and explain things - that says something for him as a CEO. Sure, he gets frustrated at the end, but he certainly handled that level of abuse better than I would, and I suspect, better than many of the armchair commentators here.
Re: A profound apology
#207Here is the video for the curious: https://youtu.be/gTEDYCkNqns?t=237 To his credit he did actually try to engage with the upset driver - most other executives would just dodge the conversation to avoid looking bad.
True, and he might have also responded with a safe on-brand reply that would have been criticized as "corporate disingenuous".
Give me the genuine emotional reply any day, that's where you find truth, strengths, weaknesses out in the open.
Whether the business model is unfair on drivers is a separate issue to the conduct of this encounter. At the end of the day, the driver went too far saying "I'm bankrupt because of you", I have no sympathy for people who exaggerate to score points.
Re: A profound apology
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. The profound in "please accept my sorrow" is a comment on the depth of your sorrow, something that you are uniquely equipped to describe. "A profound apology follows:" is a comment on how I expect my reader to interpret this message, something I am not at all equipped to describe.
And the "profound" in "please accept my profound apology" can't likewise be a comment on the depth and sincerity of the apology, a trait the issuer is similarly uniquely equipped to describe? Come on. I get all the backlash against Uber — the outrage they're experiencing is rightly deserved — but this is truly asinine.
I still think my initial reaction was reasonable, albeit subjective. But ya, we can stop debating semantics now.
Re: A profound apology
#209Sorry Travis; once an asshole, always an asshole; all the leadership training in the world isn't going to change that. You're 40 years old, how long would you have us waiting? Even brother J. was on your tail in noting that bad trees don't give good fruit. Claiming 'profound' for PR-bullshit like this when you're in that kind of mess is just another nail in the coffin.
Weird I have said the exact same stuff and I get massively downvoted for calling KalaDick an asshole.
He needs to step down he is so stupidly arrogant he is getting what he deserves and I hope worse.
He has no humility (he hit the luck jackpot) only stupidity and arrogance!!!
Hated him and Uber ever since they let my account get hacked and 1k stolen from me for a ride in London. Their response was it's the users fault for choosing a lame password ... BLOOD BOILING... users fault (??) is the PR you put out for your users getting hacked and you keep letting it happen; don't care???
Uber/KalaDick treats everyone equally like a piece of trash.. from their customers to their drivers to their female employees to all drivers on the road who one might get killed because KalaDick wants to win the self driving car war to their competitors and more.
Die Uber die!!!!
Re: A profound apology
#210Sorry Travis; once an asshole, always an asshole; all the leadership training in the world isn't going to change that. You're 40 years old, how long would you have us waiting? Even brother J. was on your tail in noting that bad trees don't give good fruit. Claiming 'profound' for PR-bullshit like this when you're in that kind of mess is just another nail in the coffin.
I'm not really sure if your a hole comment is warranted? Have you watched the source material? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEDYCkNqns It's not exactly like Travis is abusing the driver - if anything, it's the other way around. The driver had a bone to pick, and needed to vent - Travis obviously just wanted to go home, on what was obviously a night off. The fact he actually took the time to try to listen to the d…
There is so much more going on here than this video clip, this was just the icing on the cake. There have been rumors of slippages over the years, but the stuff that's been coming out lately is way over the top. Putting the pieces together, it's not hard to imagine this guy as a driving force behind the sexistic asshole culture. Mr Boober, I nearly puked when I heard that.