Uber’s Operating and Marketing Chiefs Step Down in Leadership Shakeup

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-07/uber-operating-marketing-chiefs-step-down-in-leadership-shakeup-jwmiwpn8

by idlewords • 7 years ago

81 38 7 years ago

bloomberg.com

malvosenior3• 7 years ago

Uber used to work so well for me but ever since Travis left the service has rapidly degraded to the point where I try not to use it if I don’t have to. This goes double for Uber Eats. I don’t know if the original leadership change caused to problems but it’s very noticeable. The software used to be very tight (for lack of a better word). Responsive, always did what I wanted. Always a satisfying experience. Now it’s slow, laggy, more prone to drivers flaking, has arbitrary UI changes... Sadly none of the competitors offer a UX on par with early Uber.

jonathanjaeger• 7 years ago

Did you ever think that maybe drivers are flaking more now because Uber realizes as a company they eventually need to to make money, and therefore they need to cut how much drivers get, and now drivers are picky over what rides they take, and it has nothing to do with Travis?

malvosenior3• 7 years ago

The software has also degraded significantly. It’s an all around lowering of quality.

mdorazio• 7 years ago

I'm not sure if Uber is actually paying drivers significantly less or if drivers have simply wised up to the full costs of driving for a ride sharing company + the jobs market is better than it was a few years ago so there are fewer people who need to drive just to make ends meet.

I have personally noticed that overall average cost of Uber/Lyft for me has gone up over the last year or so unless there's a promo going on. It's now to the point where I think twice before hailing a ride instead of driving myself or looking for another option.

rhizome2• 7 years ago

need to to make money, and therefore they need to cut how much drivers get, and now drivers are picky over what rides they take,

Which is the same damn taxi dispatch problem that Uber was originally created to solve, so I guess now they can't use "we're different because internet!" to argue against regulations anymore.

bdcravens2• 7 years ago

Perhaps usage went up since Travis left do to less ethical dilemma in supporting the company, and they couldn’t keep up?

malvosenior3• 7 years ago

I think that’s a pretty out there explanation that would require some data to back up. They’ve been doing a ton of work on the app, it just isn’t at the same quality as before.

addicted2• 7 years ago

I think it was the other way round. Investor scrutiny on Uber increased after it became clear they were gonna IPO. When it became evident that Uber couldn’t make money to justify their valuation (and potentially not make money at all), the justification became self driving cars.

When it became clear Uber’s self driving cars weren’t happening, and Travis personally had greatly compromised the possibility of it working out, Travis was forced to leave.

IOW, Travis’s leaving was driven by the increased scrutiny when it became clear Uber needed to IPO, and needing to IPO meant Uber couldn’t continue losing money like they did which led to them having to make changes which meant customers weren’t as happy with them anymore.

aetherson• 7 years ago

My experience with Uber was entirely before the CEO change and it was always slow, the UI on Android used iOS idioms, and drivers flaking on me over and over and over again is what drove me to Lyft.

I doubt very much that Travis was making the UI good.

mft_• 7 years ago

Interesting, UI/UX is fine on iOS (iPhone XR). What's your bad experience?

paxys• 7 years ago

Always happens when a new CEO comes on board. I'm surprised it took Dara this long, but I guess his first job was to get Uber out of the PR nightmare and through IPO.

jdross• 7 years ago

except that in this case, the new CEO is the one who hired the COO and brought him on with him

perryh2• 7 years ago

Marissa did this at Yahoo as well. https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/28/marissa-mayer-on-henrique-...

idlewords• 7 years ago

The outgoing COO earned up to $47.6 M for his performance in the men's individual fail: https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/1137125244756357120

giancarlostoro• 7 years ago

Earned up to is correct but somewhere less than that amount since he wasnt there long enough.

viscanti• 7 years ago

We have no way of knowing what the incentives were as well as vesting schedule. But you're right. It's incredibly unlikely that it was anywhere close to that number.

rockinghigh• 7 years ago

The actual values are in the S1: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000119312519...

Under Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control.

bdcravens2• 7 years ago

I see they waited until Uber finally returned to their IPO price.

sieabahlpark• 7 years ago

Well yeah, I'm still not convinced that the market is bullish on Uber and Lyft.

jerrybee• 7 years ago

Doesn’t bode well for their path to profitability.

nknealk• 7 years ago

From uber's S1, pages 235,236,239,240: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000119312519...

It looks like Hartford walks out the door with at least $10M (based on IPO price) in immediate stock vesting due to his termination.

Uber’s Operating and Marketing Chiefs Step Down in Leadership Shakeup

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