4 ms·

While I do agree that the culture at Uber was toxic and ultimately Travis was to blame for that, on a human level I do feel for the guy. At the end of the day,

While I do agree that the culture at Uber was toxic and ultimately Travis was to blame for that, on a human level I do feel for the guy. At the end of the day, he just lost his mother and now also his life's work for the foreseeable future. And damn that must suck.

tyingq 9y ago
Maybe eventually, he will view it differently. "Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."
- jbigelow76 9y ago
  That's a really powerful quote from John Sculley.
  - carbocation 9y ago
    > That's a really powerful quote from John Sculley. /s/John Sculley/Steve Jobs/
    - refulgentis 9y ago
      Not sure why you're being downvoted - it's from Jobs' famous Stanford commencement speech. http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/ http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
      - tyingq 9y ago
        Perhaps the original reply was (in a subtle way) pointing out that Sculley might not be as pragmatic about his own firing from Apple?
        benatkin 9y ago
        It could be sarcasm likening Kalanick to Sculley.
        someonewhocar3s 9y ago
        Very astute, lads. Please note that Steve Jobs' life philosophy makes it pretty much impossible for him to say something bad happened to him, or that he did something bad. NEXT taught him humility, that's the story at least, mostly because it failed miserably. Apple was failing under Scully, and Jobs was failing without Apple. They came together again and had a jolly good time. Uber is likely to skyrocket in valuation now that the "ruthless expansion" fase is ending. Uber will now turn itself into a benevolent market keeper, so n i c e to everyone that it simply cannot be banned. I'll call this the "consolidation phase". I think they learned this tactic from rape. First you get her really drunk and force yourself on her (ignore the law and just put your product out, obstruct law enforcement in every way, ruin your drivers' lives). Then you hug and say "you're so beautiful and sweet, god that was so amazing, I'm so happy we did this" and she just Stockholms herself into it. This way you avoid rape charges, and cognitive dissonance will maybe even turn you into a great lay instead (history will remember Uber's fantastic ruthless rise as a genius business move - rarely mentioning the funny murky bits). Edit: sort of derailed there, but I meant it's unlikely this CEO will be seen again.
    - adjkant 9y ago
      I'm sorry that you have had to use Hipchat so much that you know this and use it outside of it. A human can truly get used to anything.
      - austenallred 9y ago
        I don't think that syntax is Hipchat-specific
        jnordwick 9y ago
        It's originally from `ed` then `sed` then `vi`. It's been in use in email, Usenet, and IRC for a very long time.
        baq 9y ago
        Nomination for the Golden Keyboard Award in the Understatement of the Year category. <wink type=Usenet>
      - tyingq 9y ago
        <esc> k dd
      - namocat 9y ago
        s/Hipchat/sed/
      - matthewmacleod 9y ago
        Goodness, I’ve never felt old until now.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
curiousDog 9y ago
Well, he still has his billions and is on the board.
- paulcole 9y ago
  Is there any way to know how much he's taken off the table? The way Uber is going, I'd be shocked if he's worth billions in 5 years.
  - goseeastarwar 9y ago
    Uber isn't built on a tower of fraud like Theranos, it's a behemoth that changed how transportation works. Travis is going to be a billionaire many times over when the stock is liquid.
    - baq 9y ago
      If it ever is.
    - gerbal 9y ago
      He started a taxi service with a slick app to order rides. He was successful by willful criminality, disregarding inconvenient regulations and laws. His company can't retain employees and is burning cash. Their only viable path to profitability assumes no regulatory fallout or serious competition. He did not change how transportation works. He got where he is through a combination of luck, good timing, and criminality masked as 'disruption'.
      - goseeastarwar 9y ago
        Travis is a piece of shit, but you seem confused about how much value Uber has provided the world. Even his most ardent critics are willing to admit that. Have you ever spoken to an African American what it's like to hail a cab? Read the estimates on the number of drunk drivers taken off the road?
blazespin 9y ago
I feel bad about his mom, but losing the CEO? No, and in fact, Travis might be secretly glad. Anyone who is serious about this sort of thing must understand the reality of the control versus wealth founder's dilemma from day one. By giving up, he may be getting more as Uber becomes successful in a way he could not make it. His skill set, getting it to where it was, was critical and he just wasn't the right guy to get it to the next phase. Pretty much every single startup goes through this. The Gates and Bezos and Musks of the world are huge outliers. WHat's more, is that any founder or CEO who doesn't embrace this reality should not be made CEO.
- shostack 9y ago
  This is a really important point. The people that get a company from point A to point B are not always the people to get it from B to C, and rarely the people that get it beyond that.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
criddell 9y ago
I have sympathy for the guy on a personal basis. It sucks to lose a parent. I have none for the guy as a businessman. I wouldn't be terribly sad if Uber failed.
redditmigrant 9y ago
He didnt feel an iota of moral responsibility for the rape victim in India whose medical records were obtained by an uber exec and were shown to Travis. I find it hard to have sympathy for someone who couldnt do the same for another human being.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  So the probability of a competitor inventing such a claim was literally zero?
  - camus2 9y ago
    > So the probability of a competitor inventing such a claim was literally zero? Enlighten us, which competitor made such a claim?
    - kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago
      Are you being willfully obtuse? They never said that a competitor did make such a claim. They said that it is not impossible that a competitor could have made a claim, so it's not unreasonable for someone to be, a priori, slightly skeptical of it. Uber does have a strong competitor in India, a local company called Ola Cabs.
      - exergy 9y ago
        That is an extraordinary claim to make, especially when offered without citations. And especially when taking into account how India is effectively Rape Central. And yet you think he is being will fully obtuse? Plus, it's not the orchestrator of the rape who is in question anyway. It's Kalanick's response, involving the alleged acquisition of the woman's medical records without her consent. And if true, that speaks to some despicable moral compass within Uber. Which isn't news anyway.
        MichaelGG 9y ago
        It's what Uber suggested, and presumably one reason they got her records. " Uber executives discussed the possibility that the rape could be tied to one of its competitors in India — such as a taxi company or Ola, the largest Indian ride-hailing company — as part of a plan to sabotage Uber’s momentum in the region. One day after the rape was made public, Uber was banned by officials in New Delhi. " https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/technology/uber-india-rape-lawsuit.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/technology/uber-india-...
untog 9y ago
Losing his mother, absolutely I feel terrible for him. But his life's work has largely consisted of chasing his own goals without consideration of anyone else. That this came back to bite him is karma, and I don't feel particularly bad about it.
nullnilvoid 9y ago
Travis did not lose his life's work per say. He was forced out by investors while he still keeps all his shares and still remains the president of the board and has a huge say in choosing a successor who will likely be his puppet. The fact that pugnacious and aggressive Travis still controlled the board (along with two other founders who always sided with Travis) and did not fight this means Travis got some deal from the investors. The successor would be chosen by him and in a sense his puppet.
alexc05 9y ago
Do you think he'll dry his tears with twenty dollar bills or will he use hundreds? He was responsible for a lot of terrible shit.
wcummings 9y ago
He can dry his tears with his giant piles of money.

tyingq 9y ago

Maybe eventually, he will view it differently. "Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

jbigelow76 9y ago
That's a really powerful quote from John Sculley.
- carbocation 9y ago
  > That's a really powerful quote from John Sculley. /s/John Sculley/Steve Jobs/
  - refulgentis 9y ago
    Not sure why you're being downvoted - it's from Jobs' famous Stanford commencement speech. http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/ http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Perhaps the original reply was (in a subtle way) pointing out that Sculley might not be as pragmatic about his own firing from Apple?
      - benatkin 9y ago
        It could be sarcasm likening Kalanick to Sculley.
        someonewhocar3s 9y ago
        Very astute, lads. Please note that Steve Jobs' life philosophy makes it pretty much impossible for him to say something bad happened to him, or that he did something bad. NEXT taught him humility, that's the story at least, mostly because it failed miserably. Apple was failing under Scully, and Jobs was failing without Apple. They came together again and had a jolly good time. Uber is likely to skyrocket in valuation now that the "ruthless expansion" fase is ending. Uber will now turn itself into a benevolent market keeper, so n i c e to everyone that it simply cannot be banned. I'll call this the "consolidation phase". I think they learned this tactic from rape. First you get her really drunk and force yourself on her (ignore the law and just put your product out, obstruct law enforcement in every way, ruin your drivers' lives). Then you hug and say "you're so beautiful and sweet, god that was so amazing, I'm so happy we did this" and she just Stockholms herself into it. This way you avoid rape charges, and cognitive dissonance will maybe even turn you into a great lay instead (history will remember Uber's fantastic ruthless rise as a genius business move - rarely mentioning the funny murky bits). Edit: sort of derailed there, but I meant it's unlikely this CEO will be seen again.
  - adjkant 9y ago
    I'm sorry that you have had to use Hipchat so much that you know this and use it outside of it. A human can truly get used to anything.
    - austenallred 9y ago
      I don't think that syntax is Hipchat-specific
      - jnordwick 9y ago
        It's originally from `ed` then `sed` then `vi`. It's been in use in email, Usenet, and IRC for a very long time.
      - baq 9y ago
        Nomination for the Golden Keyboard Award in the Understatement of the Year category. <wink type=Usenet>
    - tyingq 9y ago
      <esc> k dd
    - namocat 9y ago
      s/Hipchat/sed/
    - matthewmacleod 9y ago
      Goodness, I’ve never felt old until now.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

curiousDog 9y ago

Well, he still has his billions and is on the board.

paulcole 9y ago
Is there any way to know how much he's taken off the table? The way Uber is going, I'd be shocked if he's worth billions in 5 years.
- goseeastarwar 9y ago
  Uber isn't built on a tower of fraud like Theranos, it's a behemoth that changed how transportation works. Travis is going to be a billionaire many times over when the stock is liquid.
  - baq 9y ago
    If it ever is.
  - gerbal 9y ago
    He started a taxi service with a slick app to order rides. He was successful by willful criminality, disregarding inconvenient regulations and laws. His company can't retain employees and is burning cash. Their only viable path to profitability assumes no regulatory fallout or serious competition. He did not change how transportation works. He got where he is through a combination of luck, good timing, and criminality masked as 'disruption'.
    - goseeastarwar 9y ago
      Travis is a piece of shit, but you seem confused about how much value Uber has provided the world. Even his most ardent critics are willing to admit that. Have you ever spoken to an African American what it's like to hail a cab? Read the estimates on the number of drunk drivers taken off the road?

blazespin 9y ago

I feel bad about his mom, but losing the CEO? No, and in fact, Travis might be secretly glad. Anyone who is serious about this sort of thing must understand the reality of the control versus wealth founder's dilemma from day one. By giving up, he may be getting more as Uber becomes successful in a way he could not make it. His skill set, getting it to where it was, was critical and he just wasn't the right guy to get it to the next phase. Pretty much every single startup goes through this. The Gates and Bezos and Musks of the world are huge outliers. WHat's more, is that any founder or CEO who doesn't embrace this reality should not be made CEO.

shostack 9y ago
This is a really important point. The people that get a company from point A to point B are not always the people to get it from B to C, and rarely the people that get it beyond that.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

criddell 9y ago

I have sympathy for the guy on a personal basis. It sucks to lose a parent. I have none for the guy as a businessman. I wouldn't be terribly sad if Uber failed.

redditmigrant 9y ago

He didnt feel an iota of moral responsibility for the rape victim in India whose medical records were obtained by an uber exec and were shown to Travis. I find it hard to have sympathy for someone who couldnt do the same for another human being.

MichaelGG 9y ago
So the probability of a competitor inventing such a claim was literally zero?
- camus2 9y ago
  > So the probability of a competitor inventing such a claim was literally zero? Enlighten us, which competitor made such a claim?
  - kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago
    Are you being willfully obtuse? They never said that a competitor did make such a claim. They said that it is not impossible that a competitor could have made a claim, so it's not unreasonable for someone to be, a priori, slightly skeptical of it. Uber does have a strong competitor in India, a local company called Ola Cabs.
    - exergy 9y ago
      That is an extraordinary claim to make, especially when offered without citations. And especially when taking into account how India is effectively Rape Central. And yet you think he is being will fully obtuse? Plus, it's not the orchestrator of the rape who is in question anyway. It's Kalanick's response, involving the alleged acquisition of the woman's medical records without her consent. And if true, that speaks to some despicable moral compass within Uber. Which isn't news anyway.
      - MichaelGG 9y ago
        It's what Uber suggested, and presumably one reason they got her records. " Uber executives discussed the possibility that the rape could be tied to one of its competitors in India — such as a taxi company or Ola, the largest Indian ride-hailing company — as part of a plan to sabotage Uber’s momentum in the region. One day after the rape was made public, Uber was banned by officials in New Delhi. " https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/technology/uber-india-rape-lawsuit.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/technology/uber-india-...

untog 9y ago

Losing his mother, absolutely I feel terrible for him. But his life's work has largely consisted of chasing his own goals without consideration of anyone else. That this came back to bite him is karma, and I don't feel particularly bad about it.

nullnilvoid 9y ago

Travis did not lose his life's work per say. He was forced out by investors while he still keeps all his shares and still remains the president of the board and has a huge say in choosing a successor who will likely be his puppet. The fact that pugnacious and aggressive Travis still controlled the board (along with two other founders who always sided with Travis) and did not fight this means Travis got some deal from the investors. The successor would be chosen by him and in a sense his puppet.

alexc05 9y ago

Do you think he'll dry his tears with twenty dollar bills or will he use hundreds? He was responsible for a lot of terrible shit.

wcummings 9y ago

He can dry his tears with his giant piles of money.