7 ms·

check out the comments on their Techcrunch article - It would discourage any young founder. http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/15/ubercab-closes-uber-angel-round/ ht

by frazras 11y ago

check out the comments on their Techcrunch article - It would discourage any young founder. http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/15/ubercab-closes-uber-angel-round/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/15/ubercab-closes-uber-angel-r... As they say, never read the comments.

vcarl 11y ago
I like the lady who immediately connected Uber and self driving cars.
- themartorana 11y ago
  Saw the same thing. Someone give her a million dollars and 3 years...
  - umeshunni 11y ago
    She's a Wall Street Journal tech columnist.
    - msutherl 11y ago
      Not at all to diminish her insight, but for perspective Rainbows End was published in 2006: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End Would be curious about earlier visions of self-driving car services.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- codesushi42 11y ago
  You know, TechCrunch comments are typically not any better than what I see on YouTube nowadays. But what's scary is many of the commenters are here in the Valley and claim to work in tech. Ok, maybe not too scary and unexpected if you spend enough time talking to people on CoFoundersLab. But still...
elwell 11y ago
Interesting to see that Ryan Graves replied to one of the comments.
- starshadowx2 11y ago
  He actually replied a lot in the early techcrunch articles about Uber.
nugget 11y ago
Uber and Airbnb taught me to pay attention to what people do, not what they say. By November 2010 I was taking Uber(Cab) once a day around SOMA and absolutey loving it, referring all my friends to it, etc...and yet I still remember letting the pessimism of the online nay sayer crowd infect my brain and convince me it wasn't an awesome service. Live and learn. Airbnb was a little different in that they had a soft pivot from renting out a spare bed/room to mostly full home rentals (it was just a much easier site to use than the other options available at the time), but not too different than Uber in terms of traction once it really hit.
- tripzilch 11y ago
  Uber ... Airbnb ... now excuse me for asking, but are there any other hugely successful VC-funded startup stories that did not get involved in some nasty legal scandal or other by their own actions or neglect, as they grew? Especially when spreading out internationally, Uber and Airbnb just thrashed over local laws as if it was perfectly fine to act like they shouldn't have to apply to them as long as they did not get caught. Is this considered normal? Should you consider it normal? What if European startups came to the US with an air of "... yeah, we'll just do whatever we feel like until you catch us and tell us not to"?
- vacri 11y ago
  I thought you were going to go in the opposite direction with that comment, in that Uber says that they're all sweetness and light and awesome for the drivers, yet the actual reports of treatment by the drivers suggest more that they're being screwed.
  - bobz 11y ago
    The comments on the internet suggest this. The number of people signing up to be drivers suggests otherwise.
    - anon1385 11y ago
      Or the number of people signing up suggests a very high turnover…
patmcguire 11y ago
What happened to Garrett Camp?
- aaronbrethorst 11y ago
  http://expa.com http://expa.com
ma2rten 11y ago
I was expecting really bad comments. I would say they were actually mostly positive, or constructive criticism.
- _nedR 11y ago
  Indeed the second-highest voted comment is this : "Freelance taxi's? There must be taxi laws that requires special transportation permits to allow such activity. Taxi companies will not like this and will try to stop drop dime drivers from popping up everywhere. Bandwagon Boy VC investments are the first signs of a sketchy product. " Quite prophetic words. Uber has been called out several times over the years for its questionable ethics. France banning of UberPop today after severe protests from licensed cabbies, is also rather timely.
etangent 11y ago
> How lame can it get? There are already iPhone apps that hail cabs for you! I've lost all respect for Super Angels. They are just plain stupid!! Ah, the importance of being the last rather than the first.
austenallred 11y ago
I particularly like the one who suggested that if Arrington gave him the money instead, he would have a billion dollar company in three years. How long did it take Uber to become a billion dollar company?
aaggarwal 11y ago
When I first heard about Uber, it was as a luxury car service through mobile app, that caught my fancy. There were a few mobile based cab booking services before, but none of them ever sends a limo.
bshimmin 11y ago
"Freelance taxi's? There must be taxi laws that requires special transportation permits to allow such activity. Taxi companies will not like this and will try to stop drop dime drivers from popping up everywhere." That comment seems quite prescient!
sumedh 11y ago
People made fun of dropbox too.

by frazras 11y ago

vcarl 11y ago

I like the lady who immediately connected Uber and self driving cars.

themartorana 11y ago
Saw the same thing. Someone give her a million dollars and 3 years...
- umeshunni 11y ago
  She's a Wall Street Journal tech columnist.
  - msutherl 11y ago
    Not at all to diminish her insight, but for perspective Rainbows End was published in 2006: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End Would be curious about earlier visions of self-driving car services.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
codesushi42 11y ago
You know, TechCrunch comments are typically not any better than what I see on YouTube nowadays. But what's scary is many of the commenters are here in the Valley and claim to work in tech. Ok, maybe not too scary and unexpected if you spend enough time talking to people on CoFoundersLab. But still...

elwell 11y ago

Interesting to see that Ryan Graves replied to one of the comments.

starshadowx2 11y ago
He actually replied a lot in the early techcrunch articles about Uber.

nugget 11y ago

Uber and Airbnb taught me to pay attention to what people do, not what they say. By November 2010 I was taking Uber(Cab) once a day around SOMA and absolutey loving it, referring all my friends to it, etc...and yet I still remember letting the pessimism of the online nay sayer crowd infect my brain and convince me it wasn't an awesome service. Live and learn. Airbnb was a little different in that they had a soft pivot from renting out a spare bed/room to mostly full home rentals (it was just a much easier site to use than the other options available at the time), but not too different than Uber in terms of traction once it really hit.

tripzilch 11y ago
Uber ... Airbnb ... now excuse me for asking, but are there any other hugely successful VC-funded startup stories that did not get involved in some nasty legal scandal or other by their own actions or neglect, as they grew? Especially when spreading out internationally, Uber and Airbnb just thrashed over local laws as if it was perfectly fine to act like they shouldn't have to apply to them as long as they did not get caught. Is this considered normal? Should you consider it normal? What if European startups came to the US with an air of "... yeah, we'll just do whatever we feel like until you catch us and tell us not to"?
vacri 11y ago
I thought you were going to go in the opposite direction with that comment, in that Uber says that they're all sweetness and light and awesome for the drivers, yet the actual reports of treatment by the drivers suggest more that they're being screwed.
- bobz 11y ago
  The comments on the internet suggest this. The number of people signing up to be drivers suggests otherwise.
  - anon1385 11y ago
    Or the number of people signing up suggests a very high turnover…

patmcguire 11y ago

What happened to Garrett Camp?

aaronbrethorst 11y ago
http://expa.com http://expa.com

ma2rten 11y ago

I was expecting really bad comments. I would say they were actually mostly positive, or constructive criticism.

_nedR 11y ago
Indeed the second-highest voted comment is this : "Freelance taxi's? There must be taxi laws that requires special transportation permits to allow such activity. Taxi companies will not like this and will try to stop drop dime drivers from popping up everywhere. Bandwagon Boy VC investments are the first signs of a sketchy product. " Quite prophetic words. Uber has been called out several times over the years for its questionable ethics. France banning of UberPop today after severe protests from licensed cabbies, is also rather timely.

etangent 11y ago

> How lame can it get? There are already iPhone apps that hail cabs for you! I've lost all respect for Super Angels. They are just plain stupid!! Ah, the importance of being the last rather than the first.

austenallred 11y ago

I particularly like the one who suggested that if Arrington gave him the money instead, he would have a billion dollar company in three years. How long did it take Uber to become a billion dollar company?

aaggarwal 11y ago

When I first heard about Uber, it was as a luxury car service through mobile app, that caught my fancy. There were a few mobile based cab booking services before, but none of them ever sends a limo.

bshimmin 11y ago

"Freelance taxi's? There must be taxi laws that requires special transportation permits to allow such activity. Taxi companies will not like this and will try to stop drop dime drivers from popping up everywhere." That comment seems quite prescient!

sumedh 11y ago

People made fun of dropbox too.