The Controversial Plot Thickens
Google fired engineer James Damore for writing a controversial memo that suggested biology is the reason for the lack of women working at Google. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees that Damore violated company rules by penning and publishing the memo. The controversy arises as Silicon Valley grapples with how to increase workforce diversity in an industry dominated by white men and permeated with corporate cultures that seem biased against women and female engineers (poster child Uber). Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other tech companies now regularly release diversity reports, highlighting low percentages of women and minority employees, with few moving up the management chain. More to come. (Source: Cnet)
Snap Out of It
Snap released its second quarterly earnings yesterday after going public this past March. The company’s share price has dropped well below its IPO price and fell more than 11 percent in after-hours trading. Although Snap’s active user base has grown by 7.3 million since last quarter, totaling 173 million users, the company faces a challenging landscape similar to Twitter. The vast majority of new digital advertising dollars are flowing to the two biggest players: Facebook and Google. That makes it much harder for niche players to find a profit and even tougher to attract and retain top talent. That may explain why Snap gave out $245 million in stock-related compensations this quarter despite its sluggish earnings. It’s time for Evan Spiegel to snap out of it and get his company back on track. (Source: The Verge)
Oops, Uber Did It Again
Benchmark, an early investor in Uber, is suing former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. Kalanick is being accused of stacking Uber’s board with “loyal allies” in order to set the stage for his return to the company. If Benchmark succeeds, Kalanick will be kicked off the board and prohibited from ever returning. Uber’s got 99 problems and Kalanick is all 99 of them. (Source: TechCrunch)
