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Comment by kisstheblade | Hacker News Reader

So who is this mitch and has he invested in uber? If so, why doesn't he pull his investment unless they do something about this that he can agree with (like fire the CEO, the buck stops at him, right?)? Instead of just you know counting his money (he's probably rich?) and writing on blogs.

I mean nothing will happen to uber, you just wait and see. People want their cheap rides. People are in such a shitty place that they need to work for uber. Investors want their money back x10. Etc. Nobody cares about some ranting in "teh social media", what a joke.

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I'm pretty sure wikipedia will tell you who Mitch Kapor is. Let's see... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Kapor

He seems to be involved in doing pretty good things. One of those, right now, is exerting some pressure on Uber to stop acting like slimebags.

Wow, he cofounded the EFF.

I confess I'm not intimately familiar with the details of how VCs typically work, but I'm pretty sure you usually can't just "pull" your investment.

Correct, you can't. You have shares and typically need board approval to sell those. Even if the board might give you approval, the admin required to make that happen and get it in writing means it's unlikely to happen in practice.

Repeating scandals are bad for Uber's business so exerting public pressure on them to shape up and improve on the culture that causes these scandals is good for both Uber and their investors. Since private recommendations and advice seem to have failed this seems like a wholly reasonable next step.

It's a shame a comment this logical and reasonable would get downvoted so hard.

If you don't like how a company operates, don't support that company. If you're heavily invested in that company, sell your shares and invest in a company that aligns more with your values.

These days everyone wants to go on a crusade for every single issue that comes up. They forget you have no real control or influence over what other people/entities do, you can only control what you do.

I mean, right off the bat it fundamentally misunderstands an investor's ability to just "pull" an investment, so I wouldn't consider the comment logical or reasonable.

You do realize that Uber is a private company and shareholders can't just "sell [their] shares," right? They most likely need board approval, from a board that is likely still controlled by the CEO.

Ok so I have been downwoted for "not understanding" that he just can't pull his investment. Of course I understand that. But if you are a billionaire then you can do what you want. Put pressure on the board and threaten with lawsuits or something, in effect "pulling" your investment and support.

I mean nowhere in mitch's post do I see any concrete action he is going to take. Typical, not ready to do anything that could maybe cost him.

Why should an owner walk away if he is unhappy with some aspect of management instead of trying to change it?

As I said, "unless they do something about this that he can agree with (like fire the CEO".

There are no calls for action in his sad whiny blog post. Do you think travis is in any way affected by some polite words in a blog?

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