Everybody so far is commenting on the woman who approached the CEO.<p>Let's not forget the CEO, who committed and risked resources on a hunch or instinct or who-knows-what.<p>If I had to pick one of the two to ask how they had the nerve to act and to learn from, I'd pick him. (Of course I'd prefer both and not to belittle her gumption and skills to back it up).<p>- What did he see to suggest risking those resources? ... To create a team of outsiders to work on the <i>core</i> app?<p>- How likely did he expect things to work out?<p>- How did he explain the expenditure of flying the others in to the CFO or whomever?<p>- Or did he make a unilateral decision without asking others?<p>- Did he just get lucky?<p>- Had he done things like this before and succeeded? Failed?<p>- Was he worried about making waves in his organization? Did he?<p>Plenty more questions pop up...
I've been kind of struggling lately with this sort of inspirational attitude. It seems like a good attitude, but it also comes with this hidden assumption: if you try hard and keep at it, there's a good chance you'll succeed. Is this actually true?<p>I mean I want it to be true. I'd like to live in a world where it's true. But I don't actually have any hard evidence besides the testimonials of people who have found success, and I'm not sure if it's survivorship bias or an accurate picture of how one can become successful.<p>My theory is that chances of success are incredibly variable, and trying hard and putting yourself out there will increase that chance, but I can't figure out a ballpark for the baseline.<p>Is it even possible to crunch the numbers on something like this? I feel like we'll never know.<p>Knowing you gave it a shot is the important part, I suppose.
I hate this self empowerment bullshit. Do people have any idea what this sounds like to people with actual, real problems? Your life can't be solved by positive thinking and being impulsive. In fact, I can make a very good case that that kind of attitude will create far more problems than it solves. Hell, I'm sure I could come up with _two_ anecdotes, which is already twice the evidence given by this blog post.
To me the most interesting aspect of this story isn't the inspirational "don't be afraid to try" message. That's a sentiment most people have heard, and I don't think this story puts a particularly new spin on it.<p>The interesting bit, I think, is how the protagonist challenged the traditional relationship between employer and job seeker. Instead of pandering by praising Uber's design, she had the guts - possibly because of whiskey :) - to offer thoughtful criticism of the product.<p>As someone who recently finished a tough job search, I found this concept very liberating. Following the traditional process - researching a company's best features, trying to say the right things in interviews, waiting for callbacks - can feel discouraging. It can be like a bad round of speed dating.<p>Finding a creative, respectful way to point out a company's flaws is an innovative approach that, when done appropriately, can shift the ball back into the candidate's court.
Great story. That's really the right way to get a new job, tell the CEO of a company exactly how you can help her/his company. And smart of the Uber CEO to listen to her.<p>That said it really helps if you're already hanging around at a party with a CEO of a big, in the news, growing startup and thus have insider access to tell him exactly what you think after a few drinks.
I couldn't feel more identified.<p>I've done similar things sometimes (not playing at that level but, similar in the end) and what I felt was a big discomfort and a really huge passion for something.<p>You want to defend your values.<p>These two together creates a willingness to change the status quo and make something better can move mountains. At the same time I can say this seconds you are terribly fragile.<p>Not even courage is needed. That's why it's so difficult to explain, it's something you feel inside and need to get out.
Most people won't and most people don't [1]<p>Is this lack of willpower or the lack of challenging the status quo innate or learned? Is it possible to go from somebody who doesn't to somebody who does? All the great doers that I have ever met don't follow the same routines. They don't have a magic formula that will work for you. The echo chamber of self-help books works for some people because it gives them the kick they need. For others they 'feel' better but they don't actually change their behaviour. What seems to work is to understand yourself and to understand when you are productive or creative. Then, encourage this time and cultivate it so that it becomes a regular part of your routine.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.startupclarity.com/blog/people-dont/" rel="nofollow">http://www.startupclarity.com/blog/people-dont/</a>
Great story. Uber got shutdown here in Vancouver last November, but I was curious what it looked like.
To save you a few clicks:
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/uber/id368677368?mt=8" rel="nofollow">https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/uber/id368677368?mt=8</a>
Her use of the word "liminal" in Elle's profile he links to reminded me of the most culturally unifying thing I ever read - <a href="http://www2.fiu.edu/~ereserve/010010095-1.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www2.fiu.edu/~ereserve/010010095-1.pdf</a><p>Amazing how societies all have this same period, whether it's college or 3 years in the woods. The rules are weirdly the same - "there's a time for everything, and it's college" translates to a random tribe in Africa almost literally.
Great story. Uber sounds like a wonderful place to work at. To those commenting that this is a BS self-empowerment article, I disagree. The founder probably knew that these design issues were a problem.<p>A competent designer gave a criticism and a solution. She was offered a job if she could fix the issues. Seems like a story of hard work by a good designer and team who displayed a dedication to their craft. Show up, work hard, and don't be afraid to pitch your ideas you believe in.
I think it is about the decisiveness of a founder. It's not about asking her to come at 9. It's about having a team ready by Monday and flying people from out of town.<p>Although, I appreciate that the designer took his offer seriously. More importantly, it's the guts of a founder in this case that made it happen.
Nice. I think the CEO already knew his app sucked, so she didn't have to convince him of that, but obviously she convinced him she was the best person to fix it, and that's great.
These stories are everywhere, is like the one about the guy who bought a porsche for spare change because the seller was the owner's ex-wife and wanted to piss her ex off.<p>You do know that was a coincidence right? or even a miracle given how well things ended up. Has the uber guy been a little pissed or in a bad mood the results could have been drastically different, and yet your blog-worthy suggestion is to take a leap of faith and see if it works.<p>Who cares, we are telling unexperienced, unprepared and even untalented kids to quit school and launch a "startup", whatever that means now.
<blockquote>The statement of the Shimura-Taniyama-Weil conjecture must have sounded crazy to its creators. . . . the idea that this was true. . . must have sounded totally outrageous at the time. This was a leap of faith, in the form of a question that [Taniyama] posed at the International Symposium on Algebraic Number Theory held in Tokyo in September 1955.<p>I've always wondered: what did it take for him to come to <em>believe</em> that this wasn't crazy, but real? To have the courage to say it publicly?<p>We'll never know. Unfortunately, not long after his great discovery, in November 1958, Taniyama committed suicide. He was only thirty-one. To add to the tragedy, shortly afterward the woman whom he was planning to marry also took her life, leaving the following note:<p><blockquote>We promised each other that no matter where we went, we would never be separated. Now that he is gone, I must go too in order to join him.</blockquote><p>. . . In his thoughtful essay about Tayniyama, Shimura made this striking comment:<p><blockquote>Though he was by no means a sloppy type, he was gifted with the special capability of making many mistakes, mostly in the right direction. I envied him for this, and tried in vain to imitate him, but found it quite difficult to make good mistakes. (94) </blockquote></blockquote><p>—Edward Frenkel, <a href="<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Love-Math-Heart-Hidden-Reality/dp/0465050743?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thstsst-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957"><em>Love" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Love-Math-Heart-Hidden-Reality/dp/0465...</a> and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality</em></a>, which is recommended.<p>What mistakes have you made lately?