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Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

nytimes.com

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Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#51

Post by smileysteve »

austenallred wrote: post #49
stale2002 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If 50% of women at Uber are perfectly happy at their jobs, and the other 50% are being subject to an illegal hostile work environment, that is not a good track record. Even if that number was 10%, or 1%, that is still a horrible track record. They have perhaps taken the criticism and news to heart and changed their ways, but nobody at all denies that there WERENT problems before. Uber itself has admitted that there w…

Sure, but the claim is extraordinary and requires extraordinary evidence

By this point, it is clear that Eric Holder found at least some evidence.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#52

Post by draw_down »

sumedh wrote: post #19
fnbr wrote: post #5

I'm unsurprised. Kalanick has enough support on the board that I'd imagine they'd make it uncomfortable for Gurley to stay. The whole situation is fascinating as it has shown how important the soft power board members hold is. Strictly speaking, no one can force Kalanick or Gurley out, but out they are.

The reason they were fired was because this whole mess got a lot of publicity. If there was no publicity, nothing would have happened. Ask Warren Buffett even he complains board members dont do much work they just blindly follow what the CEO says.

Maybe. There are also a couple lawsuits in the mix, and the harassment issue was a lot more than just press.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#53

Post by stale2002 »

austenallred wrote: post #49
stale2002 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If 50% of women at Uber are perfectly happy at their jobs, and the other 50% are being subject to an illegal hostile work environment, that is not a good track record. Even if that number was 10%, or 1%, that is still a horrible track record. They have perhaps taken the criticism and news to heart and changed their ways, but nobody at all denies that there WERENT problems before. Uber itself has admitted that there w…

Sure, but the claim is extraordinary and requires extraordinary evidence

Extraordinary evidence such as basically every C level executive being ousted?

Extraordinary evidence, such as the company itself doing a thorough investigation, finding lots of problems, and then publishing those problems?

Uber itself has shouted to the world that the problems existed, and that they are working to fix them.

I am not sure what other kind of evidence you could get, that is better than the company itself saying that there is a problem.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#54

Post by taneq »

tw04 wrote: post #12
johan_larson wrote: post #9

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

You're assuming the current board didn't have this planned for a long time. Let them break the law to get things done, then clean house after the stage was properly set. I STILL think that people are downplaying the Otto thing way too much, especially on this site. It's easy to say that they're going to win in court... but this is GOOGLE - they're going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and likely a decade try…

I think you're onto something here. This seems like part of the plan (albeit hastened by the whole hostile workplace badness) - Misbehave as much as required to make it big, then axe a few prominent scapegoats to appease regulators and the mob. Meanwhile the ones pulling strings in the background carry on as usual.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#55

Post by res0nat0r »

in_cahoots wrote: post #31
res0nat0r wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All this shakeup at the top, but will it affect anything on the ground? I'm still going to take an Uber this weekend and no one not in tech that I know will even hear about any of this, let alone know who the CEO is. Sounds like they are trying to cleanup their image, then will get back to expanding their already massive reach they have in their cities they are already in around the world.

Travis' resignation was the lead story on Nytimes.com and on the front page of the Washington Post. This isn't just a niche story anymore.

Sure, but is the company going to implode from this? I wouldn't think so. They are already massive and seem to be just cleaning house at the top to try and shed their lawbreaking image, and now move into phase two: become legitimate and grow even further while being more mindful and cooperative with city regulations, where it benefits them.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#56

Post by pfarnsworth »

stale2002 wrote: post #43
johan_larson wrote: post #9

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

Sexual harassment and retaliation against employees for reporting it is not "just being jerks". It is illegal.

Every large organization has instances of this, including Facebook, Google, and the Vatican. It's not right, but it's reality. The only thing is that every other company has done a great job of covering it up, like Amit Singhal who was fired from Google for sexual harrassment, but no one knew that before he joined Uber.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#57

Post by tyingq »

stale2002 wrote: post #43
johan_larson wrote: post #9

I remain flabbergasted by all of this upheaval at Uber. What's happening is the sort of housecleaning I would expect if the company had to file for bankruptcy or got caught flat out bribing judges or something. But really, what triggered all this was acting like jerks. It seems to me, what should have happened (a long time ago) was that they got shut down for systematically breaking the law, or encouraging others to…

Sexual harassment and retaliation against employees for reporting it is not "just being jerks". It is illegal.

Perhaps it should be actually illegal, like criminally punishible, but it is not.

It is a tort, civil violation, etc...but nobody is going to jail.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#58

Post by beaner »

stale2002 wrote: post #46
beaner wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like it makes perfect sense. It's capitalism in action. They are free to act like jerks, and their users and stakeholders are free to punish them for it.

Hostile work environments are not "just bring jerks", it is illegal.

I guess how you read my comment might depend on how sensitive you are to the criticisms. All I mean to say is that bad business gets economically punished. Internal culture is part of a business' reputation. I do not condone hostile work environments and neither do most people. This is why they are being punished. Uber must obey the law, they are not exempt from it. But economics has actually been more swift at enacting change here. I just think it's an interesting observation.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#59

Post by jimjimjim »

Finally! After years of assholes being assholes because it's not illegal to be assholes, now finally they are finding that there are repercussions.

if you piss off everyone, then you better hope like hell that you don't fall and need someone's help.

tldr: assholes.

Re: Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

#60

Post by tacomonstrous »

hkmurakami wrote: post #26
danaliv wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A jerk is someone who borrows your car and doesn't pay for the dent he puts in the bumper. What happened at Uber was the creation of one of the most insanely hostile work environments in living memory, where flouting not just the law, but also basic standards of human decency, was not only accepted but encouraged at all levels of the company.

So basically all investment banking divisions should be treated with the same regard? I find it strange that we seem to give finance a pass when they've engaged in this sort of behavior for decades.

Maybe bankers get a pass. What does that have to do with this situation? It's an insidious line of argument.
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