There was an article in the LA Times about how messed up Uber is (not uncommon for a founder-led company), and how Travis Kalanick, the founder is ‘looking for help’, which almost sounded like a psych break was imminent.
I got a thought:
Travis should hire Alan Mullaly to turn around Uber, solve the leadership problems and generally get Uber to straighten up and fly right.
To wit: Uber’s customer service line even rings busy with no call queue. Their main line is also perpetually busy, again with no call queue and no personalized answering. These are not great customer-facing moves, Travis. (We are presumptous to think WE might be able to help too, but we’re old fashioned and like to talk to someone first).
As you all may recall, Alan led a stellar turnaround of Ford Motor in the middle of the financial crisis.
Now, Alan can be reached through Google (he’s on their board), which happens to be close by in the San Francisco area.
So, Travis, what do you think?