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.
There were at least two things wrong with the email, from my perspective as a guy who's been around plenty of benign bro culture.
1. Explicitly mentioning "sex" as opposed to "relationship" or "dating", and talking about it so casually, sets a very aggressive tone. 20-something guys with lots of hormones will definitely hear that tone and push hard for sex during the trip (the implication is that there will be lots of it, and nobody wants to be left out). Females reading this surely know that they'll receive lots of attention and advances during the trip, whether they want it or not – even if you assume that the guys will be asking for consent, it's still uncomfortable for those who want to be professional and avoid work relationships.
2. "Yes, that means that Travis will be celibate on this trip. #CEOLife #FML." Implication there is that there are many people on the team that the Travis wants to sleep with. If you're a female subordinate of the CEO whom he speaks with somewhat flirtily, you can infer that he's thinking "FML, I wish I could sleep with her".
But the whole email right from the first word to the last was written in a jovial manner with plenty of jokes in it. So I dont feel it was that bad.
I can understand that Travis was trying to create a party atmosphere after all of them worked really hard to get to where they are. Imagine, if you and your colleagues worked day and night for years and then finally you reached a milestone -- you might want to celebrate and have some fun! I think Travis was just trying to setup the jovial atmosphere so that people do not just have a standard corporate event.
Sex is a natural human activity. People fuck all the time. People especially fuck at parties where there's alcohol involved.
> ... even if you assume that the guys will be asking for consent ...
Uh, what? The entire point was to ask for consent. I can't speak to your other hypothesizing about tone, or what 20-something guys might or might not do.
> ... there are many people on the team that the Travis wants to sleep with ...
Not sure where you're getting "many." Regardless, Travis probably wants to sleep with some of his employees, but he's leading by example and not pursuing. Again, I can't speak to your mental gymnastics as to what an employee might infer or not.
I can only read what's in the email.
I have worked in tech for 30 years and have never seen anything even approaching the content of that email. It was completely unprofessional in every way.
But yeah, still gross.
No, no it's not.
> This is exactly how FB started out.
People keep comparing Uber to Facebook. "Facebook acted shitty, therefore acting shitty is part of the recipe for a successful startup."
It's not.
In fact, your comment is evidence of how destructive some of this unethical behavior can be: It can directly influence future founders and give them a pass on their own unethical and shitty behavior. "Facebook did it, so it must be okay." "Uber did it -- it's just part of how startups work."
But it's not.
I had been hearing horrible stories in private from former and current Uber engineers for several years before the first big press stories broke and personal blogs about Uber went viral. I wasn't surprised in the slightest that the press starting covering these Uber culture issues in a negative way, I was surprised that it took so long before they picked up the story and did.
Several engineers that I have talked to over the years had already been turning down Uber recruiters specifically because of Uber's culture problems, and I had already turned down their recruiters a few times as well as recommended to others to do the same. Their culture has been hurting the company for a long time, and its long past time for them to do something about it. If that means Kalanik needs to be ousted then they should just go ahead and do it now.
Is this sort of behavior what we'd like to condone? I mean you even admit that its business practices are sometimes exploitative and that's what? How we're supposed to do things? "Grey-area" is a pretty large understatement as well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_protests_and_legal_action...
>There was literally nothing wrong with the email
4) Do not have sex with another employee UNLESS a) you have asked that person for that privilege and they have responded with an emphatic "YES! I will have sex with you" AND b) the two (or more) of you do not work in the same chain of command. Yes, that means that Travis will be celibate on this trip. #CEOLife #FML
How do you not see the problem with this? Travis is a full-grown adult, he's not even some kid fresh out of college and this is the culture he's setting? We've already seen the results of this culture through Susan Fowler and others.
>Uber is a cultural phenomenon that arguably has more longevity than something like Facebook.
Well first it needs to run a profit...
>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
Travis is the worst vision of this sort of techno-utopian capitalism. He's a billionaire running a company which can't make a profit. A business which breaks the laws in almost every country it enters, which doesn't seek to even understand why the regulation it is breaking exists in the first place. He runs the company like a frat house. This company also has two viable paths to profit:
1) Become a monopoly and raise prices.
2) Automate his employees (drivers) away.
None of these things are even remotely true. Uber is treated the way it is because the Uber culture and ethos have been uniquely shitty among startup unicorns/tech giants. At this point, I grant you that it's become an overblown witch hunt, but this developed over the course of years. Travis had every opportunity to see the reputation they were building, and he didn't give a shit, so now this is what happens.
Everyone kept complaining that drivers were being paid nuts and what did Uber do? Started arbitraging between riders and drivers to get even more out of every ride.
Also, the parent says "successful startup [...] first decade." What is a valid definition of startup? Is Uber starting-up forever?
You either: Treat your employees well such that they will go to war for you because protecting your interests is as important as protecting themselves and their own interests.
OR
Be the unbendable, spotless and ruthlessly calculating leader raising a horde of mindless robots. You churn them out and turn them over as soon as they're used up, but there's no room for you to be a flawed human being.
Can't have the cake and eat it too. Know thyself, and choose your path.
Remember the the conclusion the Italian came to: Fear is more stable, become feared.
He facilitated a workplace culture that, whether my omission or commission, was toxic for some of the people who worked there. Even if that was 0.001% and he wasn't demonstrably trying to bring that number down, he failed. Being a CEO is not "just" about bringing in profits at any cost, including that of the welfare of the employees.
When something like this happens, it's because the story runs counter to the listener's / reader's deepest assumptions and the foundations of their Weltanschauung.
E.g., you're a deeply religious conservative, and you hear a story about a gay couple who are great parents, you block it out.
You're a Democrat and you hear about Hillary making millions from speeches to Wall Street tycoons, you block it out.
You're a MAGA type of person, and you hear anything negative about Trump, you block it out.
You bite hook, line and sinker into the whole free market thing, Ayn Rand for the win, and you hear anything bad about some entrepreneur who made a fortune, you block it out - you ain't got no time for that, cause you've got empires to build.
---
What we do not perceive says more about us than what we do perceive.
The e-mail by itself isn't the only problem. It's that it's just one line in a list of unethical, illegal or abusive behaviour that's as long as his arm.
Keep in mind - this is also the guy that stole money from the IRS (By funding his previous company with money he was supposed to withhold for employee income taxes... And by not charging taxi/sales taxes on Uber rides in many, many jurisdcitions), from drivers (By dramatically cutting their share of fares - after many of them were locked into long-term leases for their vehicles - leases sold to them by Uber), and who has blatantly lied to the public. (About Uber's background check policies, or the lack thereof. While having the audacity to charge riders a 'background check fee'.)
If running a successful startup requires being a completely terrible corporate citizen, then the valley needs to be burnt to the ground, before it drags the rest of us down with it.
Why? Can you not think of any massively successful startups that didn't rely on exploitative grey-area business practices?
Microsoft Antitrust nightmare that probably set them back 5 years. Google for invading our privacy, they are still fighting big important battles in Europe. Facebook for similar privacy invasion, the whole beacon debacle.
There are a lot of things that they probably did wrong, but not to the extend that the press is picturing it.
Agreed 100% w/ dvt.
So why is it that other businesses doing exactly the same thing Uber is doing are able to do it successfully without the legal and cultural issues?
I get some newsworthy things have happened there - but you'd expect that with such explosive/disruptive growth story
I know a lot of people who use Uber - they love the service - and it's become a verb - the online/media profile I see of the company has no resemblance to how everyone I interact with see it irl
That's what people don't like. The people who are most vocal don't like the "do anything it takes" approach.
Being ruthless doesn't mean sending an executive to another country to get medical records on someone who is filing a lawsuit.
It doesn't mean having an HR department that ignores sexual harassment
If you cannot separate the two then that's a very big problem
There are good examples here and bad ones. We've seen a few bad ones where startup founders do crazy stuff and end up in prison (and a few I suspect will be headed that way.) Whatever Uber did right and wrong, make sure you learn the correct lessons and not the wrong ones.
Cool story, bro.
[1] https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-on...
"A famous man once paraphrased, 'We create our own role models.'" -- Tony Stank
Looks like it offended a bunch of regressive men and women.
So many powerful people in past have had it easy for their less than perfect behavior.
"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.
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.
> 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.
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.
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/...
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.
That doesn't excuse Kalanik and the way he ran the company.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-ge...
On a side note, I would love to see sources that show this is really voluntary. I am very curious about this. I actually think the real reason for his ouster is Uber's in ability to become profitable. A voluntary departure would undercut my thesis and I think it is always important to correct analysis.
http://fortune.com/2017/06/02/uber-ceo-parents-tribute-boati...
> Kalanick decided to take a leave while also coping with the death of his mother, whose funeral he attended Friday.
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.
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.
Waiting till they give you an offer and turning them down is probably the only way to get companies with terrible interview processes to treat their own interview behavior as signal.
Incredible. Isn't this how mafia organizations hire?
I don't know if this interview method would expose Uber to liability under organized crime laws, but maybe it should.
I'm sure the interviewer and the rest of Uber would say they didn't break the law; only that they enabled and took maybe encouraged others to.
That is very unprofessional. Saddens to hear that.
I'm being somewhat vague on purpose; some level of NDA got signed and my username doesn't exactly keep me anonymous.
It might be the reason they're currently the most successful company in that market BUT Lyft and others aren't dealing with the sort of mess Uber currently is. Maybe that aggressiveness will bite back hard enough that another company will be winning that market long-term.
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.
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...
"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."
Ergo, there's a ton of timebombs ticking away all over that place. Very possible the irreversible damage has already been done.
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.
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?
"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
We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14546626 and marked it off-topic.
That or this is a temporary face-saving measure that doesn't really change anything, and that's a disaster too.
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.
I want to hear the results of the Holder investigation.