4 ms·
This is from the big Bloomberg article/interview that came out today: 'Kalanick began courting Levandowski this spring, broaching the possibility of an acquisi
by Fricken 10y ago
This is from the big Bloomberg article/interview that came out today:
'Kalanick began courting Levandowski this spring, broaching the possibility of an acquisition during a series of 10-mile night walks from the Soma neighborhood where Uber is also headquartered to the Golden Gate Bridge. The two men would leave their offices separately—to avoid being seen by employees, the press, or competitors. They’d grab takeout food, then rendezvous near the city’s Ferry Building. Levandowski says he saw a union as a way to bring the company’s trucks to market faster.'
Which implies to me that the plan was for Uber to acquire Otto all along.
"Okay, Travis, but I don't want to just get hired on as another employee, I want to be cool like Kyle Vogt. Give me a few months to buy some trucks, rig them up with sensors, put splashy logos on them and get some press, and then you can acquire me using some of those Saudi gigabucks you picked up in your series F."
- wh-uws 10y agoCan you really blame a person if they could pull this off?
- jessaustin 10y agoYou're right it would be totally worth all the walking and bromancing.
- NumberCruncher 10y agoI would do the same if I would have the opportunity.
- twblalock 10y agoI see nothing wrong with it. Otto takes on the risk of developing a new business, and gets acquired if the risk pays off. Uber gets to benefit from Otto's efforts without taking the risk, but they have to pay for it in order to make it theirs. It's mutually beneficial, and risks get taken that probably wouldn't be taken otherwise, which is good for innovation. This kind of thing is pretty common at Adobe and Cisco as well. There is a bit of a revolving door of executives and senior engineers leaving to start companies, intending from the beginning of being acquired by their former employer if their business pans out. Many companies could not take the risk of running an innovative new business internally -- their board wouldn't let them, or their investors wouldn't. This kind of thing probably results in more research and innovation taking place that would have otherwise.
- JulianMorrison 10y agoProbably deliberate; probably sensible too. Package up a group of people capable, as scientists, of making auto-trucks work. And seek a company with deeper pockets that wanted to get into the auto-truck business, and that could take them on as a ready-to-go modular truck department.
- mbesto 10y agoThis type of thing, which feels "insider" to most, is wayyyy more common than the average Joe thinks it does.
- alaskamiller 10y agoRemember, silicon valley is meritocracy though.
- pdog 10y agoNot for you.
- iiiggglll 10y agoTravis is unbeatable because he's good at Wii Tennis, or something: https://medium.com/@sacca/why-i-would-never-want-to-compete-with-travis-kalanick-64e5f0218362 https://medium.com/@sacca/why-i-would-never-want-to-compete-...
- alexbecker 10y agoPlease tell me this is satire.
- mcintyre1994 10y agoThe author is an investor - from reading it probably pretty early - in Uber. It's probably not, but I do wonder whether as an investor he encourages Travis to maintain his Wii Tennis position or not :)
- nxzero 10y agoMore like a kleptocracy.
- svantana 10y agoIs it just me or has there been a proliferation of "strategic startups" lately? They never intend to turn a profit but rather seek to become a pawn in the larger game between e.g. Google and Apple. Of course, in a winner-take-all market, it should be the easiest way to "win". Go Big or Go Home is now Go Big or Get Acquired...
- ovi256 10y agoIMO, it's just good positioning (as in market positioning) for getting hired through an alternative process, with a higher (presumably) payoff. You prove you can build the prototype, de-risking the hirer's decision to pay you more than a normal hire. This reasoning presumes that the 'normal' hiring process and market resembles a lemon market. This is my IMHO. Bad hires drag down all participant's perceived value and compensation.
- refurb 10y agoThis is pretty common in the biotech start-up world as well. Do an analysis of what the big biotechs (Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, BMS) are investing in and go out and start a company in that space. A few years later, you either get a big investment from them, an in-licensing deal or outright acquisition. I think it's a pretty smart way to do things. Of course, what's "hot" can change pretty fast, so you have to be lucky as well.
- twblalock 10y agoThis isn't new. People have been doing this for a long time.