Ducks in a Row: Pundit Poop from Graham and Kalanick
by Miki Saxon
- Austin passed a law requiring fingerprint-based criminal checks;
- Uber and Lyft spent $8 million on a referendum to repeal it; and
- lost on May 8.
- On May 15 Paul Graham tweeted
I will go out on a limb and say Austin has zero chance of being a serious startup hub without Uber and Lyft. (I am an investor in neither.)
Essentially, Graham, a man devoted to innovation and startups, discounted any possible innovation in ride-sharing beyond the current scenario.
(Keep in mind that this is the same guy who claimed that London’s not a startup hub because some establishments still enforce a dress code.)
Little did Graham know just how weak that limb was.
Contrary to his expectations, Austin did not reel in shock, wallow in grief or stay home.
Arcade City Austin / Request a Ride is a Facebook group that has grown rapidly in the weeks following Uber’s and Lyft’s departures. The group, which requires approval to join, is currently populated by more than 33,000 members who use the group to find rides to and from their destinations.
Beyond that effort, there is Zipcar, getme, Fare, Fasten, Wingz, zTrip, RideAustin and InstaRyde riding into town (if not already there) and all willingly complying with the required fingerprint background check.
All this should bring a note of caution to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s stated plan to avoid going public as long as possible.
“So I say we are going to IPO as late as humanly possible. It’ll be one day before my employees and significant others come to my office with pitchforks and torches. We will IPO the day before that. Do you get it?”
Amazing arrogance.
- Graham discounts the world, the people in it and innovation itself.
- Kalanick plans Uber’s IPO with no consideration of the economy, competitors or the speed at which things change.
Graham’s words have already come back to bite him; Kalanick’s probably will, too.
Flickr image credit: Dave Gough
