4 ms·

"There is no place for ethics in this business sweetheart. We are not a charity." OMFG I don't know if this is real or not, but given how Uber acts publicly a

by jordigh 10y ago

"There is no place for ethics in this business sweetheart. We are not a charity." OMFG I don't know if this is real or not, but given how Uber acts publicly about everything else (breaking the laws until governments are forced to amend the laws for Uber), I'm not surprised at all if this really is the overall attitude that they have for everything.

objectivistbrit 10y ago
What especially annoys me about the Uber's management is that they believe themselves to be tough and no-nonsense - but in reality their behaviour is self-destructive. In other words, they are delusional and arrogant, not practical and reality-oriented. I have worked with people like this, though they were not as extreme as Uber. Travis Kalanick is often painted as an example of Ayn Rand's philosophy in action. [1] I don't doubt he follows his own shallow understanding of her ideas. Still, what she actually said was that it's in your rational self-interest to treat everyone you deal with fairly and trade value for value. I.e., you need ethics to succeed in business. John Allison of BB&T bank explains this principled approach better than I can [2]. He grew BB&T into a top 10 American bank, but he's the polar opposite of the stereotypical ruthless capitalist. If you screw people over, you may gain a short-term advantage, but you will inevitably fail in the long-run. Enron, Zynga, Groupon, and countless others have proved this. [1] https://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ https://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ [2] https://youtu.be/XPSGMbqEGU0?t=3m12s https://youtu.be/XPSGMbqEGU0?t=3m12s
gmarx 10y ago
I can absolutely imagine an Uber manager speaking against ethics. I find it less plausible that a man in his 40s (my age group) refers to women as "sweetheart"...that seems like a thing someone in his 60s or 80s would say.

by jordigh 10y ago

objectivistbrit 10y ago

What especially annoys me about the Uber's management is that they believe themselves to be tough and no-nonsense - but in reality their behaviour is self-destructive. In other words, they are delusional and arrogant, not practical and reality-oriented. I have worked with people like this, though they were not as extreme as Uber. Travis Kalanick is often painted as an example of Ayn Rand's philosophy in action. [1] I don't doubt he follows his own shallow understanding of her ideas. Still, what she actually said was that it's in your rational self-interest to treat everyone you deal with fairly and trade value for value. I.e., you need ethics to succeed in business. John Allison of BB&T bank explains this principled approach better than I can [2]. He grew BB&T into a top 10 American bank, but he's the polar opposite of the stereotypical ruthless capitalist. If you screw people over, you may gain a short-term advantage, but you will inevitably fail in the long-run. Enron, Zynga, Groupon, and countless others have proved this. [1] https://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ https://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ [2] https://youtu.be/XPSGMbqEGU0?t=3m12s https://youtu.be/XPSGMbqEGU0?t=3m12s

gmarx 10y ago

I can absolutely imagine an Uber manager speaking against ethics. I find it less plausible that a man in his 40s (my age group) refers to women as "sweetheart"...that seems like a thing someone in his 60s or 80s would say.