https://qz.com/921504/watch-embattled-uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-blow-up-at-one-of-his-own-drivers/
Full video on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEDYCkNqns
(the argument starts around 4:00)
I saw that earlier today. I thought the driver was looking for an argument. He blamed his bankruptcy and loss of $97,000 on Kalanick. That’s a bit far fetched. I agreed with Kalanick’s response to him – stop blaming other people. If driving isn’t working out find something else.
It also appeared to me that Kalanick had one drink too many.
How does one go from an employee criticizing new company policies to a wild, unsubstantiated blanket accusation of “blaming others” for our circumstances? And what intelligent business leader would behave so egregiously in a way that may well harm his business? If I were an Uber shareholder, I’d be quite angry at Mr. Kalanick right now. Terrible PR, at the very least, and coming on the heels of (now admitted!) patterns of HR abuses, it’s even worse.
But why does anyone keep driving for Uber if they are losing money? Unless I misunderstood the conversation the driver accused Kalanick of being responsible for his bankruptcy to the tune of a $97,000 loss. Who keeps driving to the point of losing $97,000? How does that even happen? Seems any rational person would move on before he got in that deep.
Is Kalanick just suppose to agree with him and assume responsibility for his bankruptcy? I think the bad PR is him being filmed while inebriated.
If you think shouting and insulting is the only alternative to agreement, then I’m not really sure what to say. As for PR, well, I don’t think the driver has to worry about PR, whereas Kalanick clearly does–his company has taken some major hits in recent years, and the awful business practices exposed last week produced a deluge of bad PR. And now this on top if it all? Dumb dumb dumb.
He has now made an apology to his employees in an email:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/28/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick/index.html
I’m surprised given all of Uber’s bad press of late, he would get into an argument with an employee. Then again all the bad press may be why he was drinking lol!
http://www.recode.net/2017/2/27/14745360/amit-singhal-google-uber
conversation probably went like this…ooo yeah I forget to mention this when you hired me…slipped my mind.
@marvin I can simultaneously take issue with Kalanick’s demeanor and disagree that he is responsible for the driver’s loss of $97,000. The driver did insult him first with that accusation and was the one shouting at him as Kalanick exited the car. And yes, Kalanick now has to take the high road and apologize to avoid more public criticism.
But no, I do not believe he caused the driver to file for bankruptcy.
Kalanick is so spineless, it’s sad… First he last-minute declines a meeting with Trump because of people threatening to boycott Uber (by not voicing your concerns, you are not benefiting anyone, including your own company!), then he apologizes profusely for allowing a systemic sexual harassment culture to develop at Uber (I like that he owned up to the problem, but his excessive apology made him look like an ineffective leader who doesn’t know what hes doing), and now this…
He should resign, IMO.
I have read Uber is currently valued at 68 billion and is headed for an IPO.
Yes, Kalanick is offensive, brash and is often described as an “ineffective leader.” Seems to be a popular prototype lately.
Apparently Arianna Huffington sits on the board and has been charged with investigating and addressing the sexual harassment that is allegedly so pervasive in the company.
he did start the company and made it to what it is today, he does seem like a pompous person. (to put it in a nice way) I will say this if he was a nice loving happy go lucky guy , he and his company would not be where they are . now he seems to have passed the threshold at which he is capable of personally operating the company. (no shame in that because I have neither the personality or IQ to get as far as he did.) but uber is at a crossroads(pun intended) time to find a new leader. it is hard to let go of your baby but,if you are a public company or plan to go public you must step aside sometimes.
Nobody here has suggested he did. Uber is exploitative, but you may be one of those people who think exploitation is good–it’s good for the billionaires’ bottom lines, I suppose, but the larger the gap between a worker’s productivity and his or her compensation, the higher likelihood of increased labor tension. If the employees had a positive opinion of their CEO a video like this would never have been posted.
Easy for Uber to make adjustments to pricing, strategy, etc. when the drivers are the ones taking the risk in terms of capital investment, right? If the corporation had made a sizable capital investment in a huge fleet of new vehicles, had some skin in the game that way, perhaps Kalanick could have related to the driver’s concerns instead of acting like a total DB.
I don’t agree with zobroward that he couldn’t have built the company without acting like an arse. Plenty of nice people have been successful in establishing companies. Being tenacious and still thoughtful and professional aren’t mutually exclusive. I do agree with zobroward that the company has outgrown it’s founder and needs a CEO better suited to the demands of the current job.
“I don’t agree with zobroward that he couldn’t have built the company without acting like an arse.”
when you run in the venture capital/funding/ tech world it is not the same as being a great person who makes a good living owning a profitable restaurant in your city/town.uber is in a a vicious shark infested bubble. those who enter it are there of there own free will but if you want to not only stay swimming but become a “unicorn” (I hate that term) you do not play nice and succeed.
Who’s comparing it to running a restaurant?!
“vicious shark infested bubble”
A bit dramatic. I guess we’ll disagree but IMO you can act professionally and with a courteous outward demeanor while being astute and competitive.
@marvin100 the video that you posted depicts a disagreement between an Uber driver and Kalanick. They appear to exchange a friendly handshake and proceed to have a very reasonable conversation about the business. Then the driver aggressively accuses Kalanick of being responsible for his bankruptcy and a personal loss of $97,000.
My view is that the driver started the argument and I agree with Kalanick’s conclusion that the driver was blaming him rather than taking personal responsibility for his own decisions and subsequent losses. My thoughts on the video have absolutely nothing to do with passing judgment on the Uber business model or on the exploitation of employees that you allege is taking place.
You can pass judgment on Kalanick for all the horrible things that you allege he is doing to his employees, but my comments are addressing the specific video that you posted dealing with one specific exchange. I don’t think Kalanick can be raked over the coals for this video – he was accused of something and he defended himself.
And the driver is bankrupt, lost $97,000 because of Uber and he is still driving? That doesn’t add up.
@HarvestMoon1 - I have no beef with your characterization of the video. Kalanick’s reaction, though, was clearly dumb (at the very least), upsetting his investors to the extent that he felt the need to issue a public apology. As for whether you think he “can be raked over the coals,” well, it’s already happened. Re-litigating it is beside the point–it’s done, and the public/media verdict was predictable (and matched my prediction).
Good, that’s what my posts were addressing.
You’ll notice, then, that you’ve been arguing with something I never said. My comments included pretty verifiable criticisms of Kalanick and his company and comments and predictions about the impact of this video.