Travis Kalanick Exercises Right to Appoint Two Uber Directors | Hacker News Reader

Travis Kalanick Exercises Right to Appoint Two Uber Directors

wsj.com

140 pointsdcgudeman84 comments

Why is this a "surprise move" by Travis? It sounds like he was granted this power and now people are shocked he used it?

I suppose it's because the power is in question, and is being challenged in court by Benchmark as we speak.

Independent of social mores, I kind of see the strategic logic. If Benchmark defeats him in court, this power is null and the action undone. (The cost: he makes it slightly harder to do his next thing. Maybe.) If Benchmark fails, this is a solid backdoor power move. Between the binaries, this could influence Benchmark's willingness to settle (or sell). He’s doubling down.

Yes Board & Benchmark are getting ready to clip Kalanick wings, he is not going to gain anything by staying silent .

> If Benchmark defeats him in court, this power is null and the action undone.

> If Benchmark fails to defat him in court, this further ensconces his unofficial power.

> Between the binaries, this power move could very well influence Benchmark's willingness to settle (or sell).

He’s a young man with a future to think about. Using all the powers you have can offend some people, some of whom are in a position to help or hinder your future efforts for decades to come.

If this works, it’ll be Jobsian brilliance. If, as more likely, not—then expect his life to get harder.

I worked with Travis in 2002 and he didn't get where he is by not offending people. He plays hard all the time.

> "...then expect his life to get harder."

Poor guy might be out of a job, would just have to get by with his few paltry billions.

(I know what you are trying to say, but no-one makes billions without being smart, lucky and willing to take a chance)

If things go poorly I imagine within a year he'll find no hinderance. A guy like him will get lots of second chances.

Benchmark claims that Travis agreed not to exercise the authority as part of the resignation ordeal. This is mentioned in the article in passing. I'd guess that being sued by them changed his perspective on the deal, assuming it existed.

Ursula Burns seems like a good choice, John Thain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thain) not so much...

I wasn't too familiar with Ursula Burns, so I just watched a Charlie Rose interview with her. I like her:

https://charlierose.com/videos/29786

I think last time I saw a Xerox product was about 2009, around the time she became the CEO.

They are still in the printer and scanner business. $10B of revenue last year.

Printing is not cheap. I haven't seen business costs associated with printing since probably 15 years ago, so this is out of date. We used to lease most of our equipment from the same company that did our supplies and repairs, they'd also upgrade us on a regular basis.

When I last saw the numbers, our lease was right about the $12,000 a month mark. At the time, that was something I noticed because it was more than I made per month - and I owned the company.

I suspect the prices haven't gone down much. Granted, we printed a lot - but I suspect Xerox is going to be around for quite a while longer.

$11B in 2015, like most in the industry hardware sales have been declining for some time.

My understanding from friends who worked there is that Xerox wants to sell services, not products, or to paraphrase: be the leader in the servicing industry. It sounded mostly like having processes to externalise anything.

She is one of "eKsetera" people (as opposing to the ones who pay enough attention to detail to pronounce "et cetera" right).

01:13, 03:18, 03:37, 14:30, ...

https://charlierose.com/videos/29786

> pronounce "et cetera" right

No one pronounces it "right", almost everyone uses the fake-french pronunciation "e cetera" instead of "at ketera" (which is how the latin original would be pronounced)

Ursula gave an in person interview at the NY Fed this summer while I was interning there. She was fantastic. Honestly, she's one of the first people that I would volunteer on a political campaign for.

This isn't about best choice for Uber. This is about best choice for Travis and maybe Uber. You put your buddies in board seats.

I find myself rooting for him like I rooted for Darth Vader.

Travis is Darth Vader and Benchmark is Palpatine a.k.a "the Senate"

Anyone else tired of the constant media posturing by these plutocrats? How will this meaningfully affect the company?

It seems to be meaningfully affecting the company in a negative way. Look at other big tech companies -- they all have aligned leadership and clear missions. Uber is a chaotic mess in comparison. That certainly isn't helping with the ability to attract talent. The engineers I know who worked at Uber have already all left.

So is the lawsuit about if Kalanick has the right to do so still pending?

https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/10/uber-investor-benchmark-s...

I believe it's in arbitration.

I wonder how much of all this is just lust for drama. What are they actually fighting about?

Control. Control over an entity that theoretically is valued at lots of money.

Both are establishment investor-friendly choices.

I have to wonder what Thain and Burns are thinking in this scenario.

fuck you travis. - every uber employee

The press's portrayal of Travis isn't shared by most Uber employees. He's still well liked inside the company.

As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head down.

If a scientific poll of Uber employees were taken today they would probably elect him CEO. Only he can make their options valuable.

Uber employees, or people who work for uber?

Oh man, is there like, a big group of people for whom this distinction matters? If so I am not prepared to explain. Are you able to explain this difference in my place, pjc50?

> Oh man, is there like, a big group of people for whom this distinction matters?

Um, given there's been multiple court cases about that, yes apparently there is a big group of people for whom that distinction matters...

I was alluding to the way that Uber specifically calls its drivers not employees, although they do work for Uber. The drivers do not have stock options and may have a different opinion of Kalanick.

> If a scientific poll of Uber employees were taken today they would probably elect him CEO.

My guesss is that there’s a lot of self-selection that’s happened through the Uber ranks. Employees who weren’t TK loyalists have probably largely opted out of Uber and moved on. So I’m guessing that first sentence is indeed accurate.

> account created 8 hours ago

ok travis, whatever you say.

(OP is a guy with no Uber equity)

mmm? you think I didn't put down my bloody resume?

Anyone have a non-paywalled link?

https://t.co/HkxTKgzhr9

search the title on facebook.

http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/tra...

Huh, I actually already tried Facebook earlier and still hit the paywall. I was on mobile then, desktop now. Does the Facebook redirect only skip the paywall on desktop? (and if so, that's very strange)

In addition to the other links, try this:

http://archive.is/qsftk

You can often enter the URL at archive.is and they seem to bypass some paywalls and scripts that would prevent browsing while ads are blocked. Quite frequently, pages have already been archived so you needn't archive them again unless you think the page has been updated.

I find it to be a handy site to keep bookmarked. It works well and often.

high stakes chess move right here

John Thain the ex Merril Lynch CEO who spent 1.2 million dollars of company money to remodel his office[1].

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/business/27bank.html?mcubz...

I bet it was really tastefully done though.

$35,000 for a ‘Commode on Legs’. I wonder what it looked like?

Maybe it's salary and an accounting entry meant to indicate they treat their underlings like fecal matter?

On a more serious note, the only toilets I know with legs are for injured/disabled people who have issues with mobility, or they are temporary affairs meant to be taken camping. None of those seems likely to cost tens of thousands of dollars, even if they may be considered medical devices.

Here is one such example: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/712PPTaGQDL...

I can't actually see that having a price tag over a few hundred dollars. I could see it costing up to a few hundred dollars, if it's medical equipment, but only if it is somehow certified for certai weight ranges, durability standards, and made of special materials meant to difficult for bacteria to live on and easy to clean.

They do charge a lot for medical equipment, but not $35,000 for a toilet.

When you're rich https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e6/12/c4/e612c486b4497b962faf9f31c...

Somebody would have to empty it. Having someone handle my waste would bother me. I suppose some folks would think that is a benefit. "Yay! I am making poors deal with my poop!"

This one went for 17500 GBP: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/arts-eur...

It looked like John Thain. zing!

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e6/12/c4/e612c486b4497b962faf9f31c...

It's a funny, but correct word for a chest of drawers. Sadly, it's not a toilet.

Well, yeah. When you have high marginal tax rates, people try to relabel consumption as a business expense. Was practically an art form in the 50s before the IRS cracked down on it.

Supposedly "not just for his office, but also included two conference rooms and a reception area". But yeah, unlikely to have been a frugal renovation.

None of what you hear. Half of what you read.

The truth will not be found in the media channel. The media is rarely reporting anymore. They are delivering.

the saying is, "believe none of what you read and half of what you see"

No, they had it right. Well, it is 'nothing.' It is from Poe, actually.

Here, have a citation: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/252780-believe-nothing-you-...

Parent to your comment is trying to prove grandparent to be true!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com