So Uber is Watch Project Power Onlinefinally going public.
The ride-hail company perhaps best known for sketchy business practices and a culture of sexual harassment released on April 11 a lengthy prospectus detailing its plan to get that money. The document, required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and written for the benefit of potential investors, serves as a compendium of the company's hopes, dreams, and fears.
SEE ALSO: Here's what we learned from Travis Kalanick's hidden 2007 Twitter accountIt's quite the read. However, at 285 pages (not including the index), you have better things to do than attempt to parse this beast of a document. Thankfully, we've done a bit of that for you.
So here, in no particular order, are 7 of the more eyebrow-raising admissions we found in the document.
We have incurred significant losses since inception, including in the United States and other major markets. We expect our operating expenses to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, and we may not achieve profitability.
In case you were wondering, even Uber admits that it may never turn a profit. As in never. The company tells potential investors that it has "incurred significant losses since inception," and that, as of December 31, 2018, it has an accumulated deficit of $7.9 billion.
Our business would be adversely affected if Drivers were classified as employees instead of independent contractors.
A key element to Uber's success has been its ability to treat its drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Were that to no longer be the case, Uber warns, it would be required to "fundamentally change" its business model and potentially pay "employee benefits, social security contributions, taxes, and penalties."
Oh no, the horror.
Our workplace culture and forward-leaning approach created operational, compliance, and cultural challenges, and a failure to address these challenges would adversely impact our business, financial condition, operating results, and prospects.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was brought on following the untimely departure of Uber co-founder and then CEO Travis Kalanick following a seemingly never-ending series of scandals. Khosrowshahi even alluded to that fact in a letter at the top of the prospectus, noting that "in getting from point A to point B we didn't get everything right."
The company is aware that Khosrowshahi can only do so much, and warns potential investors that "changes in our company’s cultural norms and composition of our leadership team [...] may not be successful" in righting the negative-perception ship. Who could have guessed.
We are making substantial investments in new offerings and technologies, and expect to increase such investments in the future. These new ventures are inherently risky, and we may never realize any expected benefits from them.
Uber has poured tons of money into developing self-driving cars, and the company admits that the entire thing may end up not only being unprofitable, but a distraction to boot.
In a section discussing new tech such as autonomous vehicles and e-bikes, Uber cops to the fact that the they could simply "distract management from current operations, and will divert capital and other resources from our more established products, offerings and technologies."
Challenges related to our culture and workplace practices and negative publicity we experience have in the past led to significant attrition and made it more difficult to attract high-quality employees.
It turns out that even Uber employees got fed up with the company's bullshit. The prospectus admits that, in the past, "culture and workplace practices" both made it hard to recruit new talent and encouraged people to head toward the exits. Specifically, "during the third quarter of 2018, annualized attrition among employees was near peak levels."
This lingering stick, notes Uber, could be a problem going forward.
Further, dockless e-bike and e-scooter maintenance, whether performed or facilitated by us, is difficult to ensure, and improper maintenance could lead to serious rider injury or death.
Jump dockless e-bikes, owned by Uber, are by definition scattered across the cities where they operate. And, sometimes, the big red bikes break down or are vandalized. Uber admits that even when it is the one doing the fixing, it's almost impossible to guarantee the rides are repaired correctly.
So maybe wear a helmet?
Further, the qualification and background check standards for Uber Eats Drivers are generally less extensive than those conducted for Ridesharing Drivers.
Do you know who's delivering your Uber Eats? Presumably, Uber does as the company conducts background checks on its drivers. However, the checks its runs on Uber Eats drivers aren't as extensive as the checks run on its ride-hail drivers.
So make sure to tip, and, uh, consider putting in your neighbor's address as a drop-off location.
Topics Uber
Previous:Mattress Mack Will Save You
Casey Affleck says Ben Affleck probably won't do a solo Batman movieGoogle can now warn you when your allergies might flare upNew Girl Scout badges go where Girl Scouts have never been before: SpaceESPN wants you to watch way more sports—even if that means four games at onceLos Angeles wants businesses to team up to fight cyber crimeParalympian plans to cross 40 miles of the Australian outback in just his wheelchairWhy Amazon's Kindle is the perfect device for meJK Rowling slams Trump supporters after total meltdown of a press conferenceDid Sam Tarly just become one of the most powerful men on 'Game of Thrones'?Google just gave Docs a major overhaul for group productivityTexts between Uber's Travis Kalanick and Anthony Levandowski are juicyOh no, Samsung: Galaxy Note 4 batteries recalled due to fire riskHow tech can stand up to racism and bigotryEmma Stone is the world's highestFacebook is adding daily deals from Ebay to its marketplaceWe finally have a shipping date for Andy Rubin's Essential phone'Game of Thrones' fan proves why Arya has Sansa all wrongParalympian plans to cross 40 miles of the Australian outback in just his wheelchairMark Zuckerberg responds to Charlottesville, criticizes neoThis man might expose the Russian hacking operation Apple opens App Accelerator in India to foster iOS app development Uber driver picks up her boyfriend's other girlfriend and then sh*t really hits the fan Boss teacher pranks his fourth The best Chandler Bing one Snapchat Stories search is here, will deluge you with puppy videos Jack Antonoff teams up with Lorde for Bleachers' stellar 'Don't Take the Money' NASA's Peggy Whitson broke another space record and would she just adopt me already? Trump's tweet about women just made the internet's head explode Nice dude John Legend defended Kim Kardashian against a cruel Twitter remark 10 stunning selfies that have made history Insane 'Iron Man' flight suit is not an April Fools' joke Little girl photobombed by huge venomous snake Which iPad Model Should You Get? Jennifer Lawrence, Russian spy who uses sex as a weapon? Just try to resist 'Red Sparrow' The Galaxy S8 could be stupid fast on certain LTE networks China comes down harder on Muslims, outlawing 'abnormal beards' and veils in public The Property Brothers still live together, so there's that Most of Square's small business loans are going to women You're screwed if you want to repair the new iPad Everyone made the same 'Zoolander' joke about the Final Four court
1.8447s , 10130.4765625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch Project Power Online】,Fresh Information Network