UBER is better than you think

Andrew Paterson
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

The infamous company is currently taking a beating and when a man’s down, the jealous, sheep and cowards all come out of the shadows and take a free kick. That said, I’m not a fan of the stories we’ve been reading nor am I excusing their ex C-Level’s demeanors — all I’m denoting is, UBER is better than you think.

An ugly diamond is still worth more than a beautiful pebble.

Strip away the layers of slewed personal accounts, bloated corporate drama and unobjective and exaggerated criticism that act like smoke screens and you will find some very capable, skilled and visionary people that have built an unequaled global brand in a matter of months like no other company has done before! But in this society governed by the “last person standing” we are all subject to a barrage of omnidirectional news that seems to perpetually feed upon itself eventually burying the very essence of the story. This is what’s happened to UBER.

What started out as “growing pains” (like thousands of startups before them) became understandably corporate nightmare’s as they
grew — the only problem with that is, why the sudden public aghast? What sparked the surreal focus on their weaknesses instead of their tangible innovation and progress? Who took to divulging their most internal confidences and describing their every step before most employees even knew? Where are all those “stars” today that hailed the company as the digital economy’s next messiah? It’s all because of inane internal & external power plays and the invariable strategy to cover up the trails and abundant usage of the collective short term memory.

Sure thing big corporates are ugly — but that’s not exclusive to UBER. Lot’s of messy stuff going on at company retreats — if this is news, where have you been the last 50 years? Ruthless leaders — every damn highly successful biped has something preventing him/her to look themselves deeply in the mirror and at their children’s inquisitive gazes. Theft of trade secrets then — which global behemoth has not cross dipped? Broken the law — come on now! I’m not forgiving any of these practices, but I am trying to clear the picture that is being voluntarily altered.

The real question is, who’s benefitting from blurring the image?

Someone is and the recent announcements reveal that their new “show” is underway. But we shouldn’t be mesmerized by this apparent genie because all the work has already been done.

Let’s take a small step back in time. Only a few year’s ago, there was no on-demand car service. Zilch. A while later, a few initiatives popped up here and there but nothing to write home about. And then, don’t you remember, the first time you heard about UBER, downloaded the app and opened it up to try the service? Relive the moment the car automagically arrived right in front of where you were standing in the street and the driver smiled and called you by your first name. And when you got out, no money; just a quick “thanks” and a tap on the screen to “like” your driver. There wasn’t anything like it! And everyone, including all the messiahs, experts and mavens (the same who are currently taking the stage to condemn them) proclaimed loudly that “the future was already here” and a heap of other visionary superlatives. How do you think they achieved all that precision, speed, execution, app UI/UX and payment functionality? With the exceptional people, processes, and organization that they, at UBER, managed to piece together in — a blink. Should you need a continued refresher, let’s not forget: the little black cars on the map, ETA sharing, Family, Business, EATS, Trucking, Trip Experiences, Delivery etc. And what about all those drivers (that are conveniently drowned in the current noise) that are often exceptionally competent, uniquely enthusiastic (take a standard taxi anywhere as a souvenir) and thoroughly enjoying the opportunity of working for the company. This ‘startup’ (remember) built a global brand & footprint (and practically the ‘on-demand’ industry) in no time and it isn’t fair on the combined effort of those that took part to reduce that success to just throwing buckets of VC money at every roadblock and the irresponsible behaviour of an isolated group of playground brats — it took heart — men and women (I hear you) that have values, courage, and determination if not, it wouldn’t be working.

So, should we relinquish using an exceptional product & service just because a hand full of barbarians screwed up? Hell no, that’s like stopping everything we do as a society because of some radical isolated actions. Sure there are some things that need to be cleaned up but there are also tons more, equally if not even more disturbing, in our school systems, medical care, armed forces, and government and have we turned our backs on them? No.

UBER is better than you think and all you have to do to embrace that is to remember when it didn’t exist.

PS. I do not, nor does any member of my close network, work for UBER, nor have I invested in the company or any of their suppliers or partners.

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