7 ms·

Travis Kalanick's CloudKitchens Repeats Uber Playbook, Loses Staff

50 points by coloneltcb 6y ago

wikibob 6y ago
Full text mirror?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- t0mas88 6y ago
  https://archive.is/0ouFK https://archive.is/0ouFK
sschueller 6y ago
Seriously, fuck Travis and anything he is involved with. Then again being up to the same shit again might actually get him in trouble this time around.
- dang 6y ago
  Please don't do this here. Perhaps you don't owe $person better, but you owe this community better if you're participating in it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
thecleaner 6y ago
One good thing that has come out of this is that there a precent for leaving ill managed companies. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and its great that employees have set a precedent.
magneticnorth 6y ago
"When some employees complained internally about what they felt was racist and misogynist branding created by CloudKitchens for customers, like "happy ending" for dessert at an Asian restaurant, Kalanick said the startup did not seek to accommodate the press or woke culture. " Wow. I am astonished that someone like Kalanick, who is in some ways so smart and business savvy, can make mistakes like this twice. In case anyone is unfamiliar with early Uber culture, I highly recommend reading Susan Fowler's account of being a female engineer at Kalanick-heyday-era Uber. https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-on...
- qazxcvbnmlp 6y ago
  Not that I support his behavior - but it more or less worked at Uber. They became dominant. Why change now? Being a jerk feels good to those in charge.
  - magneticnorth 6y ago
    Yeah, it may be a bit optimistic/naive of me to assume that Uber's success was despite this behavior, not positively correlated to it.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Yeah, I got an email from a recruiter about this company a while back. The main thing they touted was that it was run by Travis K. I wrote them back and said "Sorry, but that's actually a negative to me. Good luck." Sucks to be them, but it's good to know my instincts were on target.
  - dilyevsky 6y ago
    It’s like nigerian spam - they want only people who don’t care about that to reply so you’re not gonna waste their time then nope outta process after realizing who your boss is going to be
    - pmiller2 6y ago
      Maybe, but I suspect people who actually care that Travis K. is running the ship would at least google the company and end up finding out that way.
  - listenallyall 6y ago
    I don't think it sucks to be them at all. Travis and his team probably want people who aren't overly sensitive whiners who constantly get offended at every little thing. (Actually I don't think any companies want these types of people, it's just that most don't try very hard to filter them out). If you happen to be a person who opts out as soon as the name Travis Kalanick is mentioned, then both parties are satisfied.
youeseh 6y ago
People left due to: > paltry bonuses and a contentious new leveling system No one joined the company because they were hoping for a rehabilitated boss with a new outlook and world view. The nice thing about paying people well and treating them fairly is that you can wear any t-shirt you want. If you break trust or fail to deliver though, you might get labeled as an adjective you didn't know you were.
chosen1111 6y ago
So many people complain about the culture. Why even hire Americans at this point?
biggc 6y ago
How do you get good employees with such a terrible work culture? Their compensation structure doesn't seem great either. > Employees receive 10% of their equity allotment (in some cases called profit units, since the company's an LLC) for their first year, 20% the second, 30% the third, and the final 40% the fourth year. And employees need to stay through the entire fourth year – if you leave at day 364, you're out of luck for your 40%. AFAIK, even Amazon shares vest monthly.
- bestcoder69 6y ago
  Nope, every 6mo
- dilyevsky 6y ago
  They are in LA area so probably local market is that way bc afaik Snap did the same
- bigmutant 6y ago
  Amazon's vest structure is 5/15/40/40. Every vest after the first two years is bi-yearly ie every six months (including additional grants). Amazon makes up the difference with cash in the first two years. The Target Compensation limit is another story entirely...
bombas 6y ago
Racist going to racist.
mola 6y ago
So this is wework for kitchens? A real estate company pretending to be a tech startup, getting showered with "stupid" money, with a wonky unproven business model? Gee, what could go wrong....

50 points by coloneltcb 6y ago

wikibob 6y ago

Full text mirror?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
t0mas88 6y ago
https://archive.is/0ouFK https://archive.is/0ouFK

sschueller 6y ago

Seriously, fuck Travis and anything he is involved with. Then again being up to the same shit again might actually get him in trouble this time around.

dang 6y ago
Please don't do this here. Perhaps you don't owe $person better, but you owe this community better if you're participating in it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

thecleaner 6y ago

One good thing that has come out of this is that there a precent for leaving ill managed companies. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and its great that employees have set a precedent.

magneticnorth 6y ago

"When some employees complained internally about what they felt was racist and misogynist branding created by CloudKitchens for customers, like "happy ending" for dessert at an Asian restaurant, Kalanick said the startup did not seek to accommodate the press or woke culture. " Wow. I am astonished that someone like Kalanick, who is in some ways so smart and business savvy, can make mistakes like this twice. In case anyone is unfamiliar with early Uber culture, I highly recommend reading Susan Fowler's account of being a female engineer at Kalanick-heyday-era Uber. https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-on...

qazxcvbnmlp 6y ago
Not that I support his behavior - but it more or less worked at Uber. They became dominant. Why change now? Being a jerk feels good to those in charge.
- magneticnorth 6y ago
  Yeah, it may be a bit optimistic/naive of me to assume that Uber's success was despite this behavior, not positively correlated to it.
pmiller2 6y ago
Yeah, I got an email from a recruiter about this company a while back. The main thing they touted was that it was run by Travis K. I wrote them back and said "Sorry, but that's actually a negative to me. Good luck." Sucks to be them, but it's good to know my instincts were on target.
- dilyevsky 6y ago
  It’s like nigerian spam - they want only people who don’t care about that to reply so you’re not gonna waste their time then nope outta process after realizing who your boss is going to be
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    Maybe, but I suspect people who actually care that Travis K. is running the ship would at least google the company and end up finding out that way.
- listenallyall 6y ago
  I don't think it sucks to be them at all. Travis and his team probably want people who aren't overly sensitive whiners who constantly get offended at every little thing. (Actually I don't think any companies want these types of people, it's just that most don't try very hard to filter them out). If you happen to be a person who opts out as soon as the name Travis Kalanick is mentioned, then both parties are satisfied.

youeseh 6y ago

People left due to: > paltry bonuses and a contentious new leveling system No one joined the company because they were hoping for a rehabilitated boss with a new outlook and world view. The nice thing about paying people well and treating them fairly is that you can wear any t-shirt you want. If you break trust or fail to deliver though, you might get labeled as an adjective you didn't know you were.

chosen1111 6y ago

So many people complain about the culture. Why even hire Americans at this point?

biggc 6y ago

How do you get good employees with such a terrible work culture? Their compensation structure doesn't seem great either. > Employees receive 10% of their equity allotment (in some cases called profit units, since the company's an LLC) for their first year, 20% the second, 30% the third, and the final 40% the fourth year. And employees need to stay through the entire fourth year – if you leave at day 364, you're out of luck for your 40%. AFAIK, even Amazon shares vest monthly.

bestcoder69 6y ago
Nope, every 6mo
dilyevsky 6y ago
They are in LA area so probably local market is that way bc afaik Snap did the same
bigmutant 6y ago
Amazon's vest structure is 5/15/40/40. Every vest after the first two years is bi-yearly ie every six months (including additional grants). Amazon makes up the difference with cash in the first two years. The Target Compensation limit is another story entirely...

bombas 6y ago

Racist going to racist.

mola 6y ago

So this is wework for kitchens? A real estate company pretending to be a tech startup, getting showered with "stupid" money, with a wonky unproven business model? Gee, what could go wrong....