Related to the letter generated by Benchmark Capital in regards to its case against the previous CEO of Uber Travis Kalanick, the mail was meant for the Uber employed people although it was not mainly and deliberately addressed to them. After that, the document was subject to various experimentations by the reporters, funders, analysts and the such primarily to decipher the actual meaning implied in that specific letter. Although so far the relevant details stay concealed, there are clues here and there which would determine the future prospects of Uber. Numerous questions have arisen as to whether there is still a lot left unanswered in the Holder report, was there any forewarning of the Benchmark Capital company’s lawsuit and what is it that Benchmark seeks to acquire. These questions are likely left to be unanswered. In the meantime, the people working in Uber comprising to 1400 individuals whose potential can be exploited to enhance and make feasible the Ride hailing giant’s motto and venture forward are still swiping their ID cards at Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco and are still carrying out their regular work where the discussion/ meeting rooms will now encompass fewer hostile and disputatious people. The progress related to the world’s biggest ride hailing service is not without any setbacks or struggles and it has been a very hard time for the brand.
In the approximately two months since Travis Kalanick called it quits, the establishment has been frantically and deeply involved in finding a replacer and successor. It is to be noted that several roles related to the higher functioning of the brand are still not filled up with people and in the past 2 years, Uber has been functioning without a chief financial officer where the top executive related to the sector was given a more restricted liberty to function and has since joined another startup 2 months back. The chief brand officer Bozoma Saint John has been associated with the establishment for a time frame of barely more than 2 months. Also absent are the executives for the Chief Operating Officer and Chief branding Officer. Further, the first employee of the company and later senior vice president Ryan Graves also called it quits the previous week.
Presently Uber is managed by a big bureau of executives. This will serve effectively only in the short run. However, the list of decision makers cannot match the productivity which comes from a single top executive who is backed up by a robust and enthusiastic team of subordinates and is provided with the responsibility and powerful vision to take the Company to the next level and enhance its future. Expert Scott Kessler has noted that in spite of the present scenario there should be a goal and revolutionary stratagem related to the aspect of Concord and agreement. The question arises as to who is in control of the brand and the situation.
The progress related to the daily operations of the company is as predicted. This June, it disclosed the first quarter results to its funders. It registered thrice the growth when evaluated with the previous year. The progress was on par with the growth registered in the last year. It faced a loss of $ 3 billion although it narrowed down to $ 708 million in the first quarter from $991 million in the previous quarter.
Taking the case of its registered drivers, they have not been impacted by any change and the service provided is still promising and much more popular with effective work process. The issue associated with the higher ranking executives has not affected the driver base and the riders who avail the service as well. Taking the case of Lyft its chief rival, it has not been able to turn the odds in favor of it by capitalizing the ongoing crisis associated with Uber
The worth of Uber which stands at an amazing $69 billion is not based on how the modern day enterprises function. This is a trait of all venture capitalists funded and supported start-ups and companies. This is subject to perils and risks as the progress could be affected by its board’s related ongoing wars and no clear successor to Travis Kalanick.It is not an easy venture to retain the top talent and associated executives when they are incessantly courted in both directions of Highway 101. It is also a difficult task to recruit budding talent. The related associates and middle managers are deviated from their progress due to the cold war and taking place among the top with the executives. It has made the aspect of carrying forward the best measure related to future progress a difficult enterprise. Also, it could lead to the scenario where partnerships are not generated between the big brands and Uber as they are concerned that the controversy embroiled Uber could affect their prospects in the long run.
In the past 2 years, associated with incessant product launches from Uber like the UberEATS application and the Uber for Business product, the variations have been very much cumulative. instead of venturing into brand new markets, Uber has been retreating as it is evident from the sale of its Chinese venture to rival Didi a year back and handing over the reigns of its Russian market to Yandex Taxi. it has also been embroiled in controversies with the European nation where it has ceased functioning in Denmark and is awaiting the judgment as to whether the business should be perceived as a taxi service agent or a software medium.
Also, Uber’s dream revolutionary venture – the generation of self-driving cars has become a doubt due to the lawsuit where the company Alphabet claimed that a previous employee had downloaded files in a mode against the governing laws from its Waymo division prior to joining Uber. After a futile attempt to buy the self-driving truck company, Otto in the previous year by squandering a massive sum of $680 million over the deal, Uber fired the person and the lawsuit is pertained to be associated with a trial in 2 months time. It could throw insight on Uber manipulating the technology which it strived to realize and develop.
Prior to the resignation of Kalanick, a majority of the employees were already demotivated considerably. A notable instance is that of Susan Fowler for disclosing the harassment related news which prevailed in the company which led to the removal of more than 20 people encom[passing some of the top ranking executives.
Liane Hornsey who joined the brand this January as a chief human resources officer disclosed the aspect of the fatigue and stress associated with the employees. She noted in an interview that the people are exhausted to the limit by functioning tirelessly so as to bring the brand to the present state related to progress. The resources were limited related to the growth bring up a scenario where the hiring process could not be carried out effectively in phase with the rapid growth. She added that she had proposed many changes from hike in the salaries to dinners for the employees who work late. She noted that a figure of 10 to 15 employees suffered stress and breakdowns when functioning with the brand.
Benchmark started its letter with the sentence that Uber is the most potential filled company related to the current era. Previously this statement held credibility and genuine aspect associated with it. However as the days pass by with no CEO having replaced Travis Kalanick as the CEO, the prospects of the company to shine are waning. The investors and funders are doing everything to safeguard their investments. This is quite significant in the lawsuit posted by Benchmark and it also signifies the ventures taken by the executives to distance themselves further from the case suit filed. It is difficult to predict the next steps related to the board members association and predictions are not valid enough.
The prospects look like as though the lawsuit along with a public appeal related to the employee base of Uber will make the process of finding the next CEO even much slower and lagging behind. This is obviously not good news for Uber and the people who considered that Uber was at the forefront of being the undisputed global leader related to transportation which was previously pictured by its former CEO and co founder Travis Kalanick.
