That’s pretty toxic.
You are connecting Market to drivers minimum wage. I dont know how to answer that.
and the summary is that drivers are too stupid to understand it…
So I can write a search engine today and take down Google, correct?..its all about writing a piece of software…cool!!
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Current business model only works due to subsidization from investors.
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This is the blog post that started the firestorm:
NYTimes article on Uber culture:
Uber’s new SVP of software resigned. He was allegedly accused of sexual harassment while he was at google. They must have all signed a NDA, because no one is talking about it.
Is rideguru accurate? Seems like a good way to compare fares.
https://ride.guru/?gclid=CjwKEAiA3NTFBRDKheuO6IG43VQSJAA74F774frMlHjrDvdFT1r4VqMSJjJ0-YAZKfLq6KefSJw3WRoCUILw_wcB
Uber has no skin in the game. It’s the opposite of entrepreneurial. The drivers are the only ones invested with time and money.
Kalanick gets paid first. Then everyone else.
Just like Enron
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The point is that if Uber is losing money, and drivers are making below minimum wage, there is no “market”. It is all a house of cards. The reason Uber rides are so cheap is they are skirting safety regulation, the drivers are working for less than minimum wage after factoring in expenses, and Uber is funneling VC money straight into our pockets.
As has been pointed out multiple times, if Uber were losing money in order to somehow invest in fixed costs which it could benefit from later (like tesla in factories, or amazon in distribution infrastructure), then that might make sense. But that is not what they are doing.
When people say “uber has no moat”, that means their business is not easily defended. If some new app came along that could charge the same price to riders, yet pay drivers more, then every driver on the planet would download the new app in one click. This is essentially a race-to-the-bottom, with the winner being whomever can replicate the uber app with minimum spend. From a technical perspective, replicating the uber app would be quite trivial (unlike replicating the google search engine).
Comparing Uber to google is apples and oranges. Completely different value add, level of technical difficulty, network effects, and business model.
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I find it hard to believe that Uber will really change the sexual harassment issues. Kalanick must’ve known for a long time and not cared. I’m going to bet that this will get swept under the rug.
What I’m surprised at is that women stick around at all. So many places to work here, unless you’re gaining something personally (like writing a book or patentable material), why bother?
In Boston I worked for a company with an all-male development team and on a project with a team of 14 guys and me. Never had a problem, but I’m not super-sensitive to some of the male stuff like people going to strip clubs. But I was never propositioned, groped, or anything. There’s got to be places here that are also reasonable to work in. Why work at any company whose culture involves women lying to women about abuse happening and covering for sleezeball guys? Super weird.
Uber is a high profile company, the most valuable unicorn of all. And I believe these women find their work challenging and rewarding, except for the sexist crap. I am not a woman, so just imagining from my standpoint, don’t women all learn to brush aside unwanted advances and just soldier on? It’s only when things got unbearable that they quit or change teams.
I think this is the life and death moment for Uber. Kalanick himself may get axed if the situation is not dealt with. But it’s gonna super, super tough. This kind of toxic culture is completely baked in, like cancer.
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Uber and Airbnb have the same business model…exploit poor idiots that need money…work em, bleed em dry and keep taking more of a cut…And cloak your evil intent in the sanctity of tech…Of course Airbnb has a better public relations message…but have raised their cut from 7 to 13%…Redfin pulled the same crap…
I read her blog. Very disturbing. I once worked in a similar abusive space. Possibly my place was worse. I know I have witnessed worse than what she described.
This other company is still in business. I have no clue why anyone would stay with them. All on H1-B?
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Do these Uber victims have a viable legal case? I’m surprised there is no lawsuit from former employees. Current employees would be difficult, but what about former employees? Is the abuse not serious enough for a lawsuit?
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There’s probably hush money and a NDA in place. I’m sure some people are worried about how a future employer might perceive a complaint as well.
Right. And you know Uber’s lawyers will character assassinate you on the witness stand. They will say these women are just loose women to begin with and brought all those unwanted attention onto themselves. Just like in rape trials.
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Driver’s POV
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick issued an apology Tuesday night after a video surfaced of him getting in an argument with his Uber driver and then shortly telling the man “some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own sh–.”
“By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully,” Kalanick wrote on Uber’s blog. “To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement. My job as your leader is to lead…and that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud. That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away.”
The video Kalanick is referring to was first published on Bloomberg. The driver is identified by Bloomberg as Fawzi Kamel, and Bloomberg says has driven for Uber since 2011. In the beginning of the video, Kalanick listens to Maroon 5’s “Don’t Wanna Know” with two female companions. While some of the conversation is inaudible, he retorts to the women that he makes “sure every year is a hard year. That’s kind of how I roll. I make sure every year is a hard year. If it’s easy I’m not pushing hard enough.”
But if Uber were making lots of money, we hypocrites would be buying their stocks…Right? 
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@manch is this allowed on this forum? Calling members names repeatedly by the same member?
Or do you prefer members duke it out throwing their own sh** in response?
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