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Thank you for providing a balanced view that’s so often missing on anything Uber related on HN. There is no denying that Travis threw ethics out of the window a

Thank you for providing a balanced view that’s so often missing on anything Uber related on HN. There is no denying that Travis threw ethics out of the window and took his paranoia way too far and never matured into a peacetime CEO. But every time a HN user takes an Uber, Lyft, Via, Grab, Ola etc etc you can thank Travis for his ruthlessness in fighting some of the most powerfully entrenched politicians (DeBlasio of NYC as an example) to get you a product type that’s loved by millions.

heymijo 9y ago
That's not entirely true. Lyft paved the way for UberX.
- misun78 9y ago
  Just because Lyft entered some cities before Uber did does not mean they eventually paved the path for legalization. Most of the battles that occurred once local governments realized the magnitude of ridesharing were led by Uber.
  - xtracto 9y ago
    Yes! there was an a16z podcast which interviewed someone from Lyft. They commented that they were very conservative in their decisions, leaving other companies to push the legalization issues.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- deepakhj 9y ago
  Sidecar invented the driver using their own car, leading the way to Uberx and lyft.
forapurpose 9y ago
There's no evidence that the unethical behavior was necessary or even helped. > powerfully entrenched politicians (DeBlasio of NYC as an example) DeBlasio is entrenched because he was elected by a majority of his constituents. The people get to write the rules, called laws. Who voted for Kalanick? What gave him the right?
- logicchains 9y ago
  >Who voted for Kalanick? What gave him the right? You could say people voted with their wallets.
  - forapurpose 9y ago
    > You could say people voted with their wallets. You could say it, but that's not how democracy or legitimate government and lawmaking works. And in Uber's case, the wallets voting are a few investors who subsidized the customers.
    - Fricken 9y ago
      What makes a government legit? People support it. What makes Uber legit? People support it. Although I guess a government doesn't need the support of the people to maintain legitimacy, it just needs to be able to maintain a monopoly on violence. And if Uber had a monopoly on the taxi industry maybe it wouldn't need the people's support either.
      - 659087 9y ago
        It's not hard to gain support when you're selling dollars bills for half price.
      - forapurpose 9y ago
        > What makes a government legit? People support it. > What makes Uber legit? People support it. Really? Uber has the legitimacy of government? Wow.
    - kamaal 9y ago
      For better or worse, thats how it should work. Failure of centrally planned economies all across the globe says something. Markets don't have elections and most politicians/bureaucrats don't exactly have the competency to decide what should be good for everyone. Letting people vote with their wallets has largely worked. Of course no system is perfect, but this is as fair as it gets.
deepakhj 9y ago
Craigslist and zimride (lyft) started carpool rides. Uber then launched the black car service. And then sidecar launched a service where people used their own car to drive customers. Uber did not invent the space on its own.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

heymijo 9y ago

That's not entirely true. Lyft paved the way for UberX.

misun78 9y ago
Just because Lyft entered some cities before Uber did does not mean they eventually paved the path for legalization. Most of the battles that occurred once local governments realized the magnitude of ridesharing were led by Uber.
- xtracto 9y ago
  Yes! there was an a16z podcast which interviewed someone from Lyft. They commented that they were very conservative in their decisions, leaving other companies to push the legalization issues.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
deepakhj 9y ago
Sidecar invented the driver using their own car, leading the way to Uberx and lyft.

forapurpose 9y ago

There's no evidence that the unethical behavior was necessary or even helped. > powerfully entrenched politicians (DeBlasio of NYC as an example) DeBlasio is entrenched because he was elected by a majority of his constituents. The people get to write the rules, called laws. Who voted for Kalanick? What gave him the right?

logicchains 9y ago
>Who voted for Kalanick? What gave him the right? You could say people voted with their wallets.
- forapurpose 9y ago
  > You could say people voted with their wallets. You could say it, but that's not how democracy or legitimate government and lawmaking works. And in Uber's case, the wallets voting are a few investors who subsidized the customers.
  - Fricken 9y ago
    What makes a government legit? People support it. What makes Uber legit? People support it. Although I guess a government doesn't need the support of the people to maintain legitimacy, it just needs to be able to maintain a monopoly on violence. And if Uber had a monopoly on the taxi industry maybe it wouldn't need the people's support either.
    - 659087 9y ago
      It's not hard to gain support when you're selling dollars bills for half price.
    - forapurpose 9y ago
      > What makes a government legit? People support it. > What makes Uber legit? People support it. Really? Uber has the legitimacy of government? Wow.
  - kamaal 9y ago
    For better or worse, thats how it should work. Failure of centrally planned economies all across the globe says something. Markets don't have elections and most politicians/bureaucrats don't exactly have the competency to decide what should be good for everyone. Letting people vote with their wallets has largely worked. Of course no system is perfect, but this is as fair as it gets.

deepakhj 9y ago

Craigslist and zimride (lyft) started carpool rides. Uber then launched the black car service. And then sidecar launched a service where people used their own car to drive customers. Uber did not invent the space on its own.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]