I don't think it is universally agreed that Uber is successful despite its culture.
It may be that, in at least some industries, ruthless aggression is a financially advantageous attitude. Investment banking comes to mind.
If we want to change culture, it has to be for reasons other than money. The Pyramids were a phenomenal project that we couldn't realistically replicate today (due to costs), but I'm okay sacrificing that for not using slave labor. Speaking of which, the American South was an economic powerhouse with a culture of slavery and brutality (in large part because of it, not despite it.)
I think that's what a lot of people are grappling with in Silicon Valley. We want to have a positive, inclusive culture and also build massive companies. People rarely talk about what happens if you can only choose one. The reality of taking venture funding is that you are expected to do the latter, with the former a nice to have.
(You can read my comment history to see that I'm strongly against these types of culture.)
from the wiki page: In addition to the many unresolved arguments about the construction techniques, there have been disagreements as to the kind of workforce used. The Greeks, many years after the event, believed that the pyramids must have been built by slave labor. Archaeologists now believe that the Great Pyramid of Giza (at least) was built by tens of thousands of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of tax payment (levy) until the construction was completed, pointing to workers' cemeteries discovered in 1990 by archaeologists Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner. For the Middle Kingdom Pyramid of Amenemhat II, there is evidence from the annal stone of the king that foreigners from Palestine were used.[1]
Couple points. You can be both a skilled worker and a slave. Also, if you are working to pay off a tax debt, that pretty much makes you an indentured servant or slave.
It may be that, in at least some industries, ruthless aggression is a financially advantageous attitude. Investment banking comes to mind.
If we want to change culture, it has to be for reasons other than money. The Pyramids were a phenomenal project that we couldn't realistically replicate today (due to costs), but I'm okay sacrificing that for not using slave labor. Speaking of which, the American South was an economic powerhouse with a culture of slavery and brutality (in large part because of it, not despite it.)
I think that's what a lot of people are grappling with in Silicon Valley. We want to have a positive, inclusive culture and also build massive companies. People rarely talk about what happens if you can only choose one. The reality of taking venture funding is that you are expected to do the latter, with the former a nice to have.
(You can read my comment history to see that I'm strongly against these types of culture.)