
Uber’s New CEO - iKenshu
https://newsroom.uber.com/ubers-new-ceo/
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sctb
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15121915](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15121915)

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lushn
I would be surprised if this makes much of a difference. Even with Travis
gone, the culture is part of the organization, and it would be incredibly
difficult to change at this stage, without Uber effectively becoming a
completely different company.

I know many people see long-term growth and potential in Uber, but I don't.
They shook up the market which is a good thing, but at this point it feels
like they're rearranging chairs on the titanic.

It might be years while this all plays out, but I see the absolute best case
scenario for Uber is a Groupon type of situation - making lots of revenue, but
kind of struggling. Without a drastic change to the business model, I can't
see them ever having Facebook/Google/Microsoft like margins.

And as much as some in the tech community see self-driving cars as just around
the corner, I would be very surprised if it's a common sight in 10 years.
Maybe 20 years. It's not just the technology, but also the political and
societal resistance to such a big change.

And if self-driving cabs is what's going to make Uber actually work for the
long-term, well... I personally wouldn't bet on it. But they have, so let's
see how that works out for them.

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altotrees
I agree that it may not make much of a difference. This seems to be more of a
surface change — i.e. the business model won't change, but the faces behind
the trouble are gone and now there is a new leader so everything slowly fades
into the past, all of that fun stuff that happens as the dust settles after a
period of scandal.

To the point about seeing potential in Uber: they definitely shook things up
and grew quickly, but with the competition now growing in their sector, it
seems that this growth has slowed a bit and sadly they have been in the news
for wrong reasons. If this CEO is aiming for massive growth and pushing
revenue way up, could be an uphill battle.

Okay, now with all that obvious stuff out of the way I have to ruminate on the
idea of self-driving cars. On HN, with TechCrunch and speaking with friends I
have who work in the Valley, you would think self-driving cars are around the
corner, may be wifely adopted within 5-10 years and possibly could propel
companies like Uber into the stratosphere of Google and Facebook.

My hesitation is that we here on HN and others who spend hours immersed in
tech thinkpieces are not indicative of society at-large in certain ways.
Something that seems like a fantastic idea to many of us may seem outright
scary or "going too far" for the everyday person. I feel like self-driving
cars may be one of these ideas. Who knows how long adoption and general
acceptance could take? I have no data other than anecdotal to share, so I
shall refrain. This is just my gut feeling.

