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Bill Gurley Is Leaving Uber’s Board

(www.nytimes.com)
198 points 101carl | 9 comments | 22 Jun 17 00:23 UTC | HN request time: 0.016s | source | bottom
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lettergram ◴[22 Jun 17 01:18 UTC] No.14609429[source]▶
I can't imagine Uber doesn't start raising prices and drop out of markets they aren't profitable in.

No way they can bring in more investments (although maybe they could get a loan). Given the changes and their runway, I honestly see Lyft managing to outpace Uber in the next 12 months.

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1. BinaryIdiot ◴[22 Jun 17 01:30 UTC] No.14609487[source]▶
Why do you think they can't get more investments? They just completed this report and now Travis is out; unless you have proof you can't say they didn't fix their issues. So not only have they shown concern to solving a major PR and culture issue but they're absolutely HUGE. If they IPO it could be an incredible exit.

Am I missing something? They seem far, far more investable now.

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2. lettergram ◴[22 Jun 17 01:38 UTC] No.14609518[source]▶
They have three lawsuits that can sink the company, given their runway.

They now have next to no leadership, and they still have no clear path to making money.

Their board is up in arms, their CEO stepped down, but still has full control.

If they want investment, it's going to be a down round. And their CEO will have to give up a significant chunk of the business. Even then, idk who else is left with the capital they'd need.

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3. res0nat0r ◴[22 Jun 17 01:45 UTC] No.14609541[source]▶
All this shakeup at the top, but will it affect anything on the ground? I'm still going to take an Uber this weekend and no one not in tech that I know will even hear about any of this, let alone know who the CEO is.

Sounds like they are trying to cleanup their image, then will get back to expanding their already massive reach they have in their cities they are already in around the world.

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4. in_cahoots ◴[22 Jun 17 02:16 UTC] No.14609659{3}[source]▶
Travis' resignation was the lead story on Nytimes.com and on the front page of the Washington Post. This isn't just a niche story anymore.
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5. sebastos ◴[22 Jun 17 02:17 UTC] No.14609660[source]▶
Yes, you're missing that this is all wish fulfillment doomsdayism. People are nursing some recreational outrage because of the revelations regarding Uber's culture. So now they all have a pet theory that Uber will fail. They're working backwards from what they _want_ to happen though, so their "theory" can explain anything: "Kalanick is a loose cannon who's going to run the company into the ground" Kalanick steps down "They have no leadership, they'll close their doors in a week" etc.
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6. res0nat0r ◴[22 Jun 17 03:09 UTC] No.14609867{4}[source]▶
Sure, but is the company going to implode from this? I wouldn't think so. They are already massive and seem to be just cleaning house at the top to try and shed their lawbreaking image, and now move into phase two: become legitimate and grow even further while being more mindful and cooperative with city regulations, where it benefits them.
7. ◴[22 Jun 17 04:22 UTC] No.14610104[source]▶
8. mr_turtle ◴[22 Jun 17 06:58 UTC] No.14610570{3}[source]▶
Second this,, why would any who uses Uber take into account the internal turmoil happening within the company when they decide to use the app or not?

The costs of Uber going up or decrease in availability of drivers should matter more.

Drivers only care about their bottom line which is rate per mile/time and frequency of riders.

9. rtpg ◴[22 Jun 17 08:52 UTC] No.14610931[source]▶
you're acting like this is the start of the idea that perhaps the entire taxi industry is not worth what Uber is claiming, or that having a bunch of autonomous vehicles is probably hard for an iOS app company to manage, or that they ultimately have never proven they can keep drivers happy without subsidizing prices, or that they might not get huge backlash from legal action around driver status, or .....

There's an argument for Uber's eventual success, but there's a lot of stuff against it too. It's not an absurd theory.