UBER CEO KALANICK ON THE WAY OUT This is not just the wishful thinking of an avowed UBER-hater like myself or the tens of thousands others who despise UBER worldwide, but the expert and learned opinion of Dr. Greg Autry, Phd, Professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California (USC) Read his story before mine, if you prefer. npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/04/368550291/uber-is-richer-than-ever-but-the-company-still-isnt-playing-nice 1) Kalanick has accomplished much in the last two years, but his problems are piling up everywhere. Boston just banned UBER as did Thailand, Singapore, Nevada and 2) Kalanick has been vague about what he does with all the UBER users data, except study rides of glory (One night stands) and stalk women. (Like Johana Bhuiyan, a reporter from Buzzfeed who went to see UBER NYC Chief of Station Mohrer. and found out she was being tracked for three days by UBERs God View. Then, to make a bad situation worse, Kalanick asked Arianna Huffington to help him spend millions trashing journalists who write negative articles about UBER. 3) Kalanick breaks laws everywhere. Thats who he is; thats what he does. His first two businesses Scour and Red Swoosh also went down in a ball of flames of lawsuits and criminal charges. 4) Professor Autry at USC contends that the brash, In your face era of UBER is over and it is time to put a different face on the head of the company, somebody who wears a tie when they wear a coat, somebody who breaks some of the laws some of the time; not all the laws all the time. 5) UBERs total loss of the Boston market is a major nail in the coffin of CEO Travis Kalanick who hand-picked the attorneys and lobbyists there to Fix the situation. This is a must-read document. Be sure to click on the official ruling. Uber Boston promises to fight cease-and-desist order - CNET Effete snobs and over-dressed women who are the darlings of UBER in big cities will begin looking elsewhere for transportation. Mainstream Limo companies are poised to fill the void with new Limo Apps appearing daily. If you cant get a car in big fancy cities with the UBER App, it must be only for the Other people, right? UBER now will only be able to get market share in small hick towns with only two or three easily-bought crooked politicians. Would an American Express card be valued and treasured as a sign of wealth, power and superb credit and thereby in demand by the rich and powerful if it couldnt be used at all in Boston, Philadelphia or Las Vegas? Of course not. It would be considered a joke, like something you got free in a box of Cracker Jack. Add this to the privacy concerns and secret projects to spend millions attacking journalists and you will see UBER in a death spiral as it goes down the toilet. Only one man to blame: UBER CEO Travis Kalanick; it all happened on his watch. Its time for him to go. You know what Travis, in Boston, Philadelphia and Las Vegas you can at this moment, with only five minutes advance notice get a licensed, legal, fully insured Limo with a chauffeur in a coat and tie, chauffeur license or CDL. Too bad UBER cant do that. Guess UBER will have to settle for being the premier Limo provider in Potato Patch, Idaho. UBERs are scumbags and have cooties; too bad they cant come out and play with the big boys. UBERs and dogs; keep off the grass. 6) Compare Kalanicks precarious position with UBER today with that of former President and CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) Carly Fiorina. She had the helm of HP from 1999 to 2005 and was the highest paid female executive in the history of the USA. She was hired away from AT&T and Lucent Technologies and had to forfeit $95 million in bonuses and stock options to leave AT&T. She was having secret meetings in restaurants at Chicago OHare airport with HP recruiters who flew her in on the company Lear Jet. She was very brash and Out there and ruffled a lot of feathers at HP. Once, in a press briefing about some highly technical matters, she called for questions and the first one from a female journalist was, Is that an Armani suit youre wearing? She went into a board meeting in 2005 and was asked to leave the room halfway through the meeting. When she was called back in, there were only two men left and she was told she had been fired. She had considered many of the HP Board Members to be dear friends, but to this day, none of them will speak to her or take her calls. She was replaced with Meg Whitman, a kindler, gentler soul who is not a firestorm of controversy. You can read about the whole saga in Carlys book, Tough Choices, an excellent read. Most recently, Carly was one of the main speakers, along with Tyler Perry at the Willowcreek Church Global Leadership Summit which was simulcast to millions worldwide. WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR KALANICK? 1) Most certainly his days are numbered as CEO. His chief benefactor, enabler and handler is Goldman Sachs. They have all the Angel Investors in their stable and at some point the investors will say, Enough is enough and Kalanick has to go. It is believed that Kalanick himself has only $100,000 invested in UBER and is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and probably neglected to arrange a golden parachute for himself. 2) Likely successor? Heir apparent is former Chief Operating Officer of Lyft, Travis VanderZanden who jumped ship with lots of Lyft company secrets and is now working for UBER. He is only Slightly crooked compared to the incorrigible reprobate and master liar and criminal Kalanick. David Plouffe, former campaign manager for President Obama is also waiting in the UBER wings for the 2015 version of the Night of the Long Knives. Plouffe holds his cards close to his chest and his loyalties are to the people behind Kalanick, not Kalanick himself. Plouffe is not somebody you would ask to watch your house while you are on vacation. 3) Kalanicks best options at this point? Here are some things he could, or should be considering in exchange for a very generous severance package: a) Sign a non-compete agreement in force for two years. b) Sign a confidentiality agreement to not discuss anything having to do with UBER. c) Agree to not write a book about UBER for ten years. (Something HP should have required) d) Move to a foreign country, a tax haven with no extradition treaty with the United States (Or India where Kalanick is charged with money laundering and hiring known rapists as drivers). Any delay or hesitation could jeopardize his severance package as, like Carly Fiorina, he will become Too hot to handle and he will have simply Outlived his usefulness. Kalanicks ineptitude and rapacious illegality in recent weeks have caused UBER to be totally and permanently shut down in Las Vegas, Boston and Philadelphia. Boston said that GPS could not be used to compute commercial transportation fares and UBER would have to comply with NIST Manual 44 (An impossibility). This decree is not something that can be Fixed or appealed. UBER could soon go the way of Myspace and Blockbuster. Travis Kalanicks best optiontoday Stand up, hook up, pull hard on the rip cord and jump out the door of the UBER plane spiraling down in flames. Last person to successfully parachute out of a passenger plane with a sack full of $100 bills was DB Cooper on 11/24/1971. The FBI has never found him. Kalanick could also join Carly Fiorina on the talk show circuit and play golf with Bill Cosby. Or, more likely, he will start another highly illegal business and go on to be a cellmate of OJ Simpson or Bernie Madoff. Nice try, Travis, but you just couldnt sustain your momentum. Hasta la vista, scumbag. Joe Joe L. Jordan, Editor Limoinsider Report 14173 Northwest Freeway #166 Houston TX 77040 713 680-3181 limoinsider@aol limoinsider.net
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 17:36:23 +0000