Every business school now has an entrepreneurial studies program, my home institution being no exception. We focus --- quite appropriately --- on the challenges of starting up an enterprise. Some programs even provide seed money to seniors to get them launched. All good stuff... but do we teach them enough about continuity? And if we did, would it really help?
CEO Travis Kalanick's departure from Uber yesterday is a case on point. His is the classic tale of a brilliant entrepreneur, who in his case couldn't get a cab in San Francisco and turned his frustration --- plus the the then-new app craze --- into an international enterprise. And it is a classic tale of mismanagement, scandal and investor dissatisfaction.
As one who reports on labor and employment issues --- Termination of Employment Bulletin; The Employment Law Answer Book; Employment and Labor Law--- I have been following the Uber story for a long time. I have reported on the company's tribulations, and expensive settlements, involving class action suits by drivers claiming employee (rather than independent contractor) status. And I have been a satisfied Uber passenger on more than one occasion in more than one city.
My two contrasting experiences --- as a writer/reporter and as a customer --- are emblematic of the situation leading to Kalanick's ouster. One commentator is quoted as observing, "Kalanick had become a giant liability to the car-hailing company for a growing number of reasons, from sketchy business practices to troubling lawsuits to a basic management situation that was akin to a toxic goat rodeo."
Once upon a time I personally experienced a similar situation. While working for a major Philadelphia law firm I defended a major retailer in a wage & hour suit brought by the US Department of Labor. We settled for $3 million and the company's CFO led a group of us in the leveraged buy-out of the company. I had skin in the game to the tune of $50,000. And it was a one-year roller coaster ride, not least because the CFO-turned-CEO was, like Kalanick, a classic entrepreneurial type. His day-to-day management style was erratic and unpredictable, leading a major investor to exercise its right to buy me and my partners, including the CEO, out a year after we started. And, trust me, the buy-out came as a big relief to me.
Coming, then, as I do from my reporting on Uber and my own personal experience, I can't help but see the same story unfolding in the White House. Donald Trump, a consummate entrepreneur, saw an opportunity to win the presidency. Those who call him dumb are themselves being stupid. His capture of the presidency was a brilliant coup.
But... now there he is: like Kalanick, and like the CEO in my LBO experience, a bored entrepreneur and a terrible manager. The parallels are absolutely compelling. I can only wonder how long it will be until his "board of directors" (aka the GOP establishment) will push him out.
Meanwhile, let me circle back to my first couple of questions. Are we doing enough in our business schools' entrepreneurial programs to prepare our budding enterprise-builders to run the enterprises they found? And can we do enough? This second question derives from my suspicion that the Kalanicks and Trumps of the world may be hard wired. What makes them brilliant and revolutionary innovators may doom them to be lousy long-term business leaders.
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