11 ms·

Uber CEO to take leave

245 points by lyonlim 9y ago

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mothers 9y ago
One of his parents died and the other was severely injured, no? Who wouldn't take leave under those circumstances?
- owlninja 9y ago
  That was the consensus yesterday too.
- kevindqc 9y ago
  Yeah. His mom died and his dad was severely injured in a boating accident. Very curious there is no mention of that. Edit: They actually mention it at the end of the article http://fortune.com/2017/06/02/uber-ceo-parents-tribute-boating-accident/ http://fortune.com/2017/06/02/uber-ceo-parents-tribute-boati...
  - TarpitCarnivore 9y ago
    Right near the end of the article it says: > Kalanick decided to take a leave while also coping with the death of his mother, whose funeral he attended Friday.
    - kevindqc 9y ago
      Ah thanks, I missed that sentence.
  - lyonlim 9y ago
    The newscaster did mention that he hasn't been at work since the incident, spending time instead with his dad. It's a challenging time for anyone going through this, even if he's overseen some questionable things at his company.
    - HenryBemis 9y ago
      I may dislike Uber, and Travis, and the worldwide practices of the firm, BUT a tragic loss is a tragic loss. I hope his father recovers completely and that together they will manage to cope with the lose of a Mother and Wife. (same goes to all who have lost a loved one irrespective of how they run their business)
  - jfktrey 9y ago
    It's simple. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the defamatory narrative they were just itching to write for the rest of the article. Either that, or they simply didn't know. But I find the latter hard to believe. Even if that detail was missed, it's very poor journalism to not find the full story.
- samfisher83 9y ago
  Based on this quote: "If we are going to work on Uber 2.0, I also need to work on Travis 2.0 to become the leader that this company needs and that you deserve," Kalanick wrote in an email obtained by BuzzFeed News. "During the interim period, the leadership team, my directs, will be running the company." It appears he is leaving more due to the issues with uber then him mom dying, but I am sure it contributed.
  - koolba 9y ago
    If this were a book or movie, a significant life event like either of those (or both) would be the natural opening of a new arc.
  - lhorie 9y ago
    You're quoting out of context. The first line of the email explicitly says he's taking time off to grieve, reflect and work on himself, in that order (he also enumerates "focus on building a leadership team" as a reason, though I'm not really sure how that is supposed to be done when one's taking time off) The second paragraph (the one you quoted) is a tie-in to the third paragraph, where he says what's going to happen in terms of leadership during this interim period.
- zoomzippity 9y ago
  Buried at the very very bottom of the article as a footnote. Glossing over the tragedy of unexpectedly losing one's mother and almost losing One's father. The media reporting on Uber absolutely disgusts me and demonstrates a culture far more toxic than anything I've heard about Uber. My bet is that the media doesn't make public any email from Travis about this because it will likely show how the media is grossly misrepresenting things. FWIW How people read online: why you won't finish this article. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/how_people_read_online_why_you_won_t_finish_this_article.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/...
  - bjl 9y ago
    So Greyball was fake? How about their Hell program? Or the fact that one of their executives illegally acquired a rape victims medical reports and circulated them around the office? Uber has continuously demonstrated a total disregard for both the law and common decency. They lost the benefit of the doubt a long time ago.
    - wavefunction 9y ago
      Kalanick was aware and had seen the rape victim's health records and apparently it was an attempt (by Emil?) to figure out how to discredit the victim and her accusations. These are horrific people and while I sympathize with Kalanick over the loss of his mother and his father's situation, I do not wish him any professional success.
      - mst 9y ago
        My position here is "I am entirely capable of hating Kalanick and the reporting about Kalanick at the same time".
  - jboggan 9y ago
    I'm reminded of the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect - how we are constantly surprised when the media gets crucial details (which we are personally familiar with) so very wrong in their reporting. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesia-effect/ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-ge...
- ams6110 9y ago
  Losing a parent is a shock, especially when it happens in an unexpected manner like this, but it's something everyone faces and most people don't take extended leaves from work as a result.
  - drzaiusapelord 9y ago
    I suspect this forum is mostly teens and twenty somethings. We all lose a parent(s). It happened to me and it'll happen to you. It happens all the time with your coworkers, you just don't notice it. People don't take a year off to 'find themselves' after losing a parent. They suddenly have a funeral to plan (and pay for) and then get back to their jobs. That's life. Also, if you want to get into boating, don't let an animal onto your boat. This accident happened because the family dog stepped in between mom and dad switching passenger/driver positions.
    - unethical_ban 9y ago
      People who have to work to maintain housing and a family don't take a year off after losing someone close. If you have the money and the ability, and the pain is hard enough, why would it be unreasonable to take time off? I haven't lost a parent yet, but I would probably want more than a weekend to grieve.
      - braveo 9y ago
        it's not unreasonable, but it's also unrelated to a lot of the issues Uber is coming under fire for.
  - kingnothing 9y ago
    Having unexpectedly lost a parent myself, and worked with others who have been through similar circumstances, it is absolutely accepted and expected to take at least a week off, probably longer, if you work for a reasonable company with a reasonable manager. It's one of the most difficult things most people will experience in life. That amount of time is barely enough to get over the initial shock before you half heartedly return to work while beginning to deal with probate, attorneys, settling the estate, and trying to work through your emotions.
- Florin_Andrei 9y ago
  When it rains, it pours.
  - driverdan 9y ago
    Except when it doesn't. That saying is just confirmation bias.
- scott_karana 9y ago
  While I sympathize with him for his loss, and think he deserves a leave, this critical part of the leave has nothing to do with bereavement: > Upon Kalanick’s return, Uber will strip him of some duties and appoint an independent chair to limit his influence, according to an advance copy of a report prepared for the board.
lettersdigits 9y ago
prediction: this post will have 300+ comments and 300+ votes.
- Mz 9y ago
  You forgot to guestimate the number of flags.
exogeny 9y ago
Uber clearly has massive issue internally so far as culture; while it's not as large of a problem as the obvious economic and labor issues of having a non-automated fleet, it's giving up a wicked stink that is causing talented employees to flee. That is a very difficult spiral to get out of. I'm not sure what TK leaving does to stem that, but obviously I'm sure the decision is partly, if not mostly due to the tragedy involving his family. On that front, I wish him peace but on everything else, he's been behind the wheel (heh) of what appears to be a pretty toxic company, both in terms of culture and the balance sheet.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  > I'm not sure what TK leaving does to stem that Matt Levine at Bloomberg explained the benefit of Uber getting itself in order while TK is on leave: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-12/mortgages-traders-and-fiduciaries https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-12/mortgages... "Doesn't it seem like a great idea? Everyone understands that Uber needs some change, needs some adults in the room to rein in Kalanick. But it's hard to find someone who wants to waltz in, shake Kalanick's hand, and say "hi, I'm your adult." Presumably Kalanick would give that person a wedgie and retire to his room to sulk. But what if Kalanick weren't there? What if Kalanick took a few months off, Uber hired some adults, they set to work doing adult things, and then by the time Kalanick got back Uber was a well-oiled non-controversial profit-making (why not?) machine? He'd walk in, refreshed and ready to go, and say "hey guys, let's write a sex-party memo." And the COO would say "no that is not appropriate," and the general counsel would agree, and the head of human resources would give him a stern talking-to, and they'd all have each others' backs and the support of the board. The central problem with rebooting Uber's culture is that the culture comes from Kalanick, and he is the boss; the central problems with getting rid of Kalanick are (1) he has super-voting shares and a pretty good lock on the board and (2) he is the visionary behind Uber and might actually be necessary to its success. But getting rid of Kalanick temporarily and voluntarily might give the company time to fix itself and bring Kalanick back as a regular CEO, ensconced in a regular structure of regular corporate behavior."
  - exogeny 9y ago
booleanbetrayal 9y ago
Travis Kalanick is not being stripped of several of his responsibilities because his mother died.
- golbez 9y ago
  yep. this is the end of the convo. people trying to say "his mom died" is the reason he's built a toxic culture probably have no real attachment to how leaders respond to difficult situaitons.
  - disgruntledphd2 9y ago
    So, its not really related. Travis could be (insert inappropriate Godwin's law reference here), but his mom just died. We should cut him some slack for that, at least (do unto others etc). That's doesn't excuse Uber, but it also doesn't excuse Bloomberg burying the lede like that.
jackfrodo 9y ago
A couple years overdue. I'm sorry for the man, but this would be necessary regardless of his parent's death.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
PatrickAuld 9y ago
Culture comes from the top and Uber's is pretty rotten. I did an interview there this year and it was the most aggressive questioning I've ever had. Two of 5 interviewers were really in my face while architecting systems; it was bizarre and I almost walked out. Nothing compared to the 'cultural' interview where there gave me an example of them knowingly breaking the law because "they knew they were right" and then asked if I had a similar work experience I could describe. I told them I have never knowingly or even likely unknowingly broken the law at a job. I was trying to use them to counter offer another company but in the end they never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- brepl 9y ago
  > in the end they never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not. You didn't get the job.
- navalsaini 9y ago
  > never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not. That is very unprofessional. Saddens to hear that.
  - santaclaus 9y ago
    Getting ghosted seems pretty common, especially with newly-large companies.
  - badcede 9y ago
    Perhaps they realized he was "trying to use them to counter offer another company".
    - jhall1468 9y ago
      So you think they magically determined he, not only didn't want to work there but that he wanted an offer to utilize as leverage elsewhere. They couldn't develop a set driving car without stealing, I somehow doubt they figured out mind reading.
dvt 9y ago
I really don't buy the Travis Kalanik hate. Yeah, Uber started out as your typical SV unicorn (bro warts and all). Yeah, Uber's entire business model can be described as "grey-area" at best and its business practices as sometimes exploitative. But this is exactly how you're supposed to run a massively successful startup in its first decade. This is exactly how FB started out. And this follows every rule in the startup book to a tee. Look, we can't have it both ways, guys. The recent stuff about Travis has been downright witch-hunty. I mean, every single article about the "leaked" memo was headlined as "You can have sex with your coworkers -- if..." I mean, come on. There was literally nothing wrong with the email, but every single paper covered it in some weird passive-aggressive way. Same with the previous story where TK gets in the altercation with the Uber driver on video. Travis was (yet again) 100% in the right there, but everyone spun it like he was being some kind of asshole, when the driver blindsided him. To be honest, I'm no Travis Kalanik fanboy (in spite of sharing the same alma mater), but the guy obviously knows what he's doing. He found, by accident or not, a market desperately in need of disruption and absolutely nailed it. Uber is a cultural phenomenon that arguably has more longevity than something like Facebook. I just think he's been treated unfairly because of his playboy flair, but he's actually a pretty smart, ruthless business leader. Even this story tries hard to dehumanize him (cut him some slack; his mom just passed away). I don't really understand why.
- exogeny 9y ago
  He presided over a culture of widespread sexual harassment that has been echoed repeatedly by multiple employees and you don't really understand why he's being criticized? Cool story, bro.
  - dvt 9y ago
    Uber has 12000 employees; 20 were reprimanded for sexual harassment. That's 0.001%
    - rajathagasthya 9y ago
      What percentage do you need it to be to acknowledge sexual harassment is a problem in that company?
stale2002 9y ago
Omg, how is THIS the story that is on the top of hacker news? I want to hear the results of the Holder investigation.
atmosx 9y ago
Maybe you should stop watching too much TV.
- dang 9y ago
  Personal attacks get accounts banned on HN, so please don't post like this again. Repetitive spats like the current thread are bad enough as it is. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14546626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14546626 and marked it off-topic.
tedmiston 9y ago
> The recommendations included reviewing Mr. Kalanick’s responsibilities and reallocating them, with an increased emphasis on a chief operating officer at the company. Does that mean moving him from CEO into more of a COO role, or bringing on a COO and reallocating those responsibilities to that person?
- heymijo 9y ago
  I'm reminded of Marc Andreessen's guide to startups, particularly on firing executives: "Demotion as an alternative to firing (or, alternately, "I know, we'll hire her a boss!"). Hate it. Great people don't deal well with getting demoted. There is an occasional exception. Unless you are positive you have such an exception, skip it, and move directly to the conclusion." http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part8.html http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part8.html
moomin 9y ago
Let's ignore the fact that TK is a garbage fire for a moment and talk about what an utter disaster this move is. A smarter contributor than me write a good article that basically said you shouldn't own something you're not contributing to. By this logic he should be selling his stake right now. Except no-one wants to buy it. Which leaves an IPO, which is a tough ask for a firm that's never made a profit and, AFAICT, not even on the board's radar. That or this is a temporary face-saving measure that doesn't really change anything, and that's a disaster too.
_RPM 9y ago
I like Kalanik because he's not a Stanford|Harvard douche bag. Was he privileged growing up?
champagnepapi 9y ago
ABOUT TIME
myth_buster 9y ago
I think it's a timing thing. From the boards point of view, there is value for Tk to take leave and value for Uber to have someone else at the helm. Although from TK's point of view it would really suck. It's like loosing your mother and a child. I read somewhere that the best thing to do to cope with extreme personal tragedies is to keep oneself busy... what's better way to keep oneself busy than to work.
kolbe 9y ago
Law obviously isn't the same thing as morality. SS soldiers also didn't break any laws, while Oskar Schindler was a criminal by legal definition. You may see an attitude that doesn't bend over to all decrees from the government as "rotten," but the most interesting and intelligent people I've ever met wouldn't agree.
- bjl 9y ago
  Are you seriously comparing the murder of millions of Jews to a multinational corporation ignoring taxi regulations? Uber fanboys have lost their minds.
  - sushid 9y ago
    His analogy was definitely bad, but he's right. Legality does not equate morality. However, I do find it weird that they would ask you to describe an instance where you broke the law during a job interview.
    - GauntletWizard 9y ago
      Did they ask "the law" or just "the rules"? I did end up accepting an offer at Uber, and yes, I was asked if I'd ever broken "the rules". Uber's culture is pretty toxic, and honestly, I'd say that either form of the question is probably a bad sign, but there's a clear difference between them.
  - tzs 9y ago
    No, he is not comparing them. He's using the Nazi and Schindler case to argue for a general proposition (law can be at odds with morality), and then trying to apply that proposition to Uber. Suppose you are arguing for that proposition with a much milder illustration, such as someone breaking a law requiring obtaining a permit before giving food to homeless people. It's easy for people to try to pick holes in that example. They might argue that feeding the homeless without a permit reduces pressure on the homeless to seek aid at shelters, which in turn increases the likelihood that they won't get help to get out of being homeless, and conclude that your example fails because your behavior was not moral, and so is not an example of morality being orthogonal to law. If you want to try to save the argument, you then end up in a debate about the merits of various approaches to helping homeless people, and cannot get back to the original point until that is resolved. That is much less likely to happen if you use Nazis. Almost everyone is going to agree that the SS behavior was immoral, and the Schindler behavior was moral, and since the former was legal under German laws at the time and the latter was not, there really is no way to dispute that this is an example where morality and legality are opposite. It's basically a slam dunk. They have to concede that the general proposition is true. That lets the subsequence argument focus instead on under what circumstances morality overrides law.

245 points by lyonlim 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mothers 9y ago

One of his parents died and the other was severely injured, no? Who wouldn't take leave under those circumstances?

owlninja 9y ago
That was the consensus yesterday too.
kevindqc 9y ago
Yeah. His mom died and his dad was severely injured in a boating accident. Very curious there is no mention of that. Edit: They actually mention it at the end of the article http://fortune.com/2017/06/02/uber-ceo-parents-tribute-boating-accident/ http://fortune.com/2017/06/02/uber-ceo-parents-tribute-boati...
- TarpitCarnivore 9y ago
  Right near the end of the article it says: > Kalanick decided to take a leave while also coping with the death of his mother, whose funeral he attended Friday.
  - kevindqc 9y ago
    Ah thanks, I missed that sentence.
- lyonlim 9y ago
  The newscaster did mention that he hasn't been at work since the incident, spending time instead with his dad. It's a challenging time for anyone going through this, even if he's overseen some questionable things at his company.
  - HenryBemis 9y ago
    I may dislike Uber, and Travis, and the worldwide practices of the firm, BUT a tragic loss is a tragic loss. I hope his father recovers completely and that together they will manage to cope with the lose of a Mother and Wife. (same goes to all who have lost a loved one irrespective of how they run their business)
- jfktrey 9y ago
  It's simple. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the defamatory narrative they were just itching to write for the rest of the article. Either that, or they simply didn't know. But I find the latter hard to believe. Even if that detail was missed, it's very poor journalism to not find the full story.
samfisher83 9y ago
Based on this quote: "If we are going to work on Uber 2.0, I also need to work on Travis 2.0 to become the leader that this company needs and that you deserve," Kalanick wrote in an email obtained by BuzzFeed News. "During the interim period, the leadership team, my directs, will be running the company." It appears he is leaving more due to the issues with uber then him mom dying, but I am sure it contributed.
- koolba 9y ago
  If this were a book or movie, a significant life event like either of those (or both) would be the natural opening of a new arc.
- lhorie 9y ago
  You're quoting out of context. The first line of the email explicitly says he's taking time off to grieve, reflect and work on himself, in that order (he also enumerates "focus on building a leadership team" as a reason, though I'm not really sure how that is supposed to be done when one's taking time off) The second paragraph (the one you quoted) is a tie-in to the third paragraph, where he says what's going to happen in terms of leadership during this interim period.
zoomzippity 9y ago
Buried at the very very bottom of the article as a footnote. Glossing over the tragedy of unexpectedly losing one's mother and almost losing One's father. The media reporting on Uber absolutely disgusts me and demonstrates a culture far more toxic than anything I've heard about Uber. My bet is that the media doesn't make public any email from Travis about this because it will likely show how the media is grossly misrepresenting things. FWIW How people read online: why you won't finish this article. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/how_people_read_online_why_you_won_t_finish_this_article.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/...
- bjl 9y ago
  So Greyball was fake? How about their Hell program? Or the fact that one of their executives illegally acquired a rape victims medical reports and circulated them around the office? Uber has continuously demonstrated a total disregard for both the law and common decency. They lost the benefit of the doubt a long time ago.
  - wavefunction 9y ago
    Kalanick was aware and had seen the rape victim's health records and apparently it was an attempt (by Emil?) to figure out how to discredit the victim and her accusations. These are horrific people and while I sympathize with Kalanick over the loss of his mother and his father's situation, I do not wish him any professional success.
    - mst 9y ago
      My position here is "I am entirely capable of hating Kalanick and the reporting about Kalanick at the same time".
- jboggan 9y ago
  I'm reminded of the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect - how we are constantly surprised when the media gets crucial details (which we are personally familiar with) so very wrong in their reporting. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesia-effect/ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-ge...
ams6110 9y ago
Losing a parent is a shock, especially when it happens in an unexpected manner like this, but it's something everyone faces and most people don't take extended leaves from work as a result.
- drzaiusapelord 9y ago
  I suspect this forum is mostly teens and twenty somethings. We all lose a parent(s). It happened to me and it'll happen to you. It happens all the time with your coworkers, you just don't notice it. People don't take a year off to 'find themselves' after losing a parent. They suddenly have a funeral to plan (and pay for) and then get back to their jobs. That's life. Also, if you want to get into boating, don't let an animal onto your boat. This accident happened because the family dog stepped in between mom and dad switching passenger/driver positions.
  - unethical_ban 9y ago
    People who have to work to maintain housing and a family don't take a year off after losing someone close. If you have the money and the ability, and the pain is hard enough, why would it be unreasonable to take time off? I haven't lost a parent yet, but I would probably want more than a weekend to grieve.
    - braveo 9y ago
      it's not unreasonable, but it's also unrelated to a lot of the issues Uber is coming under fire for.
- kingnothing 9y ago
  Having unexpectedly lost a parent myself, and worked with others who have been through similar circumstances, it is absolutely accepted and expected to take at least a week off, probably longer, if you work for a reasonable company with a reasonable manager. It's one of the most difficult things most people will experience in life. That amount of time is barely enough to get over the initial shock before you half heartedly return to work while beginning to deal with probate, attorneys, settling the estate, and trying to work through your emotions.
Florin_Andrei 9y ago
When it rains, it pours.
- driverdan 9y ago
  Except when it doesn't. That saying is just confirmation bias.
scott_karana 9y ago
While I sympathize with him for his loss, and think he deserves a leave, this critical part of the leave has nothing to do with bereavement: > Upon Kalanick’s return, Uber will strip him of some duties and appoint an independent chair to limit his influence, according to an advance copy of a report prepared for the board.

lettersdigits 9y ago

prediction: this post will have 300+ comments and 300+ votes.

Mz 9y ago
You forgot to guestimate the number of flags.

exogeny 9y ago

Uber clearly has massive issue internally so far as culture; while it's not as large of a problem as the obvious economic and labor issues of having a non-automated fleet, it's giving up a wicked stink that is causing talented employees to flee. That is a very difficult spiral to get out of. I'm not sure what TK leaving does to stem that, but obviously I'm sure the decision is partly, if not mostly due to the tragedy involving his family. On that front, I wish him peace but on everything else, he's been behind the wheel (heh) of what appears to be a pretty toxic company, both in terms of culture and the balance sheet.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
> I'm not sure what TK leaving does to stem that Matt Levine at Bloomberg explained the benefit of Uber getting itself in order while TK is on leave: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-12/mortgages-traders-and-fiduciaries https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-12/mortgages... "Doesn't it seem like a great idea? Everyone understands that Uber needs some change, needs some adults in the room to rein in Kalanick. But it's hard to find someone who wants to waltz in, shake Kalanick's hand, and say "hi, I'm your adult." Presumably Kalanick would give that person a wedgie and retire to his room to sulk. But what if Kalanick weren't there? What if Kalanick took a few months off, Uber hired some adults, they set to work doing adult things, and then by the time Kalanick got back Uber was a well-oiled non-controversial profit-making (why not?) machine? He'd walk in, refreshed and ready to go, and say "hey guys, let's write a sex-party memo." And the COO would say "no that is not appropriate," and the general counsel would agree, and the head of human resources would give him a stern talking-to, and they'd all have each others' backs and the support of the board. The central problem with rebooting Uber's culture is that the culture comes from Kalanick, and he is the boss; the central problems with getting rid of Kalanick are (1) he has super-voting shares and a pretty good lock on the board and (2) he is the visionary behind Uber and might actually be necessary to its success. But getting rid of Kalanick temporarily and voluntarily might give the company time to fix itself and bring Kalanick back as a regular CEO, ensconced in a regular structure of regular corporate behavior."
- exogeny 9y ago

booleanbetrayal 9y ago

Travis Kalanick is not being stripped of several of his responsibilities because his mother died.

golbez 9y ago
yep. this is the end of the convo. people trying to say "his mom died" is the reason he's built a toxic culture probably have no real attachment to how leaders respond to difficult situaitons.
- disgruntledphd2 9y ago
  So, its not really related. Travis could be (insert inappropriate Godwin's law reference here), but his mom just died. We should cut him some slack for that, at least (do unto others etc). That's doesn't excuse Uber, but it also doesn't excuse Bloomberg burying the lede like that.

jackfrodo 9y ago

A couple years overdue. I'm sorry for the man, but this would be necessary regardless of his parent's death.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

PatrickAuld 9y ago

Culture comes from the top and Uber's is pretty rotten. I did an interview there this year and it was the most aggressive questioning I've ever had. Two of 5 interviewers were really in my face while architecting systems; it was bizarre and I almost walked out. Nothing compared to the 'cultural' interview where there gave me an example of them knowingly breaking the law because "they knew they were right" and then asked if I had a similar work experience I could describe. I told them I have never knowingly or even likely unknowingly broken the law at a job. I was trying to use them to counter offer another company but in the end they never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
brepl 9y ago
> in the end they never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not. You didn't get the job.
navalsaini 9y ago
> never returned my calls or contacted me to say if I got the job or not. That is very unprofessional. Saddens to hear that.
- santaclaus 9y ago
  Getting ghosted seems pretty common, especially with newly-large companies.
- badcede 9y ago
  Perhaps they realized he was "trying to use them to counter offer another company".
  - jhall1468 9y ago
    So you think they magically determined he, not only didn't want to work there but that he wanted an offer to utilize as leverage elsewhere. They couldn't develop a set driving car without stealing, I somehow doubt they figured out mind reading.

dvt 9y ago

I really don't buy the Travis Kalanik hate. Yeah, Uber started out as your typical SV unicorn (bro warts and all). Yeah, Uber's entire business model can be described as "grey-area" at best and its business practices as sometimes exploitative. But this is exactly how you're supposed to run a massively successful startup in its first decade. This is exactly how FB started out. And this follows every rule in the startup book to a tee. Look, we can't have it both ways, guys. The recent stuff about Travis has been downright witch-hunty. I mean, every single article about the "leaked" memo was headlined as "You can have sex with your coworkers -- if..." I mean, come on. There was literally nothing wrong with the email, but every single paper covered it in some weird passive-aggressive way. Same with the previous story where TK gets in the altercation with the Uber driver on video. Travis was (yet again) 100% in the right there, but everyone spun it like he was being some kind of asshole, when the driver blindsided him. To be honest, I'm no Travis Kalanik fanboy (in spite of sharing the same alma mater), but the guy obviously knows what he's doing. He found, by accident or not, a market desperately in need of disruption and absolutely nailed it. Uber is a cultural phenomenon that arguably has more longevity than something like Facebook. I just think he's been treated unfairly because of his playboy flair, but he's actually a pretty smart, ruthless business leader. Even this story tries hard to dehumanize him (cut him some slack; his mom just passed away). I don't really understand why.

exogeny 9y ago
He presided over a culture of widespread sexual harassment that has been echoed repeatedly by multiple employees and you don't really understand why he's being criticized? Cool story, bro.
- dvt 9y ago
  Uber has 12000 employees; 20 were reprimanded for sexual harassment. That's 0.001%
  - rajathagasthya 9y ago
    What percentage do you need it to be to acknowledge sexual harassment is a problem in that company?

stale2002 9y ago

Omg, how is THIS the story that is on the top of hacker news? I want to hear the results of the Holder investigation.

atmosx 9y ago

Maybe you should stop watching too much TV.

dang 9y ago
Personal attacks get accounts banned on HN, so please don't post like this again. Repetitive spats like the current thread are bad enough as it is. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14546626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14546626 and marked it off-topic.

tedmiston 9y ago

> The recommendations included reviewing Mr. Kalanick’s responsibilities and reallocating them, with an increased emphasis on a chief operating officer at the company. Does that mean moving him from CEO into more of a COO role, or bringing on a COO and reallocating those responsibilities to that person?

heymijo 9y ago
I'm reminded of Marc Andreessen's guide to startups, particularly on firing executives: "Demotion as an alternative to firing (or, alternately, "I know, we'll hire her a boss!"). Hate it. Great people don't deal well with getting demoted. There is an occasional exception. Unless you are positive you have such an exception, skip it, and move directly to the conclusion." http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part8.html http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part8.html

moomin 9y ago

Let's ignore the fact that TK is a garbage fire for a moment and talk about what an utter disaster this move is. A smarter contributor than me write a good article that basically said you shouldn't own something you're not contributing to. By this logic he should be selling his stake right now. Except no-one wants to buy it. Which leaves an IPO, which is a tough ask for a firm that's never made a profit and, AFAICT, not even on the board's radar. That or this is a temporary face-saving measure that doesn't really change anything, and that's a disaster too.

_RPM 9y ago

I like Kalanik because he's not a Stanford|Harvard douche bag. Was he privileged growing up?

champagnepapi 9y ago

ABOUT TIME

myth_buster 9y ago

I think it's a timing thing. From the boards point of view, there is value for Tk to take leave and value for Uber to have someone else at the helm. Although from TK's point of view it would really suck. It's like loosing your mother and a child. I read somewhere that the best thing to do to cope with extreme personal tragedies is to keep oneself busy... what's better way to keep oneself busy than to work.

kolbe 9y ago

Law obviously isn't the same thing as morality. SS soldiers also didn't break any laws, while Oskar Schindler was a criminal by legal definition. You may see an attitude that doesn't bend over to all decrees from the government as "rotten," but the most interesting and intelligent people I've ever met wouldn't agree.

bjl 9y ago
Are you seriously comparing the murder of millions of Jews to a multinational corporation ignoring taxi regulations? Uber fanboys have lost their minds.
- sushid 9y ago
  His analogy was definitely bad, but he's right. Legality does not equate morality. However, I do find it weird that they would ask you to describe an instance where you broke the law during a job interview.
  - GauntletWizard 9y ago
    Did they ask "the law" or just "the rules"? I did end up accepting an offer at Uber, and yes, I was asked if I'd ever broken "the rules". Uber's culture is pretty toxic, and honestly, I'd say that either form of the question is probably a bad sign, but there's a clear difference between them.
- tzs 9y ago
  No, he is not comparing them. He's using the Nazi and Schindler case to argue for a general proposition (law can be at odds with morality), and then trying to apply that proposition to Uber. Suppose you are arguing for that proposition with a much milder illustration, such as someone breaking a law requiring obtaining a permit before giving food to homeless people. It's easy for people to try to pick holes in that example. They might argue that feeding the homeless without a permit reduces pressure on the homeless to seek aid at shelters, which in turn increases the likelihood that they won't get help to get out of being homeless, and conclude that your example fails because your behavior was not moral, and so is not an example of morality being orthogonal to law. If you want to try to save the argument, you then end up in a debate about the merits of various approaches to helping homeless people, and cannot get back to the original point until that is resolved. That is much less likely to happen if you use Nazis. Almost everyone is going to agree that the SS behavior was immoral, and the Schindler behavior was moral, and since the former was legal under German laws at the time and the latter was not, there really is no way to dispute that this is an example where morality and legality are opposite. It's basically a slam dunk. They have to concede that the general proposition is true. That lets the subsequence argument focus instead on under what circumstances morality overrides law.