Time for Uber to Grow Up, Fast╱优步需要改变 事不宜迟

By FARHAD MANJOO╱庄蕙嘉译

In just four years , Uber has ignited a new global ride-sharingindustry with the promise of transforming urban transportation and helping manypeople get by without owning cars.

仅仅4年，优步靠着要扭转都市交通，并帮助无车民众移动的承诺，在全球创造出共乘的新兴产业。

But now the hot start-up is facing its toughestchallenge yet — taming its most offensive impulses before its aggressiveculture begins to turn off investors, employees and customers .

但现在，这家热门的新创公司正面临迄今最大的挑战：在它主动出击式公司文化吓跑投资人、员工和顾客之前，放慢极具侵犯性的步调。

The recent revelation, reported by BuzzFeed, thatan executive suggested investigating the private lives of journalists whocriticize Uber was only the latest unflattering news about the company’stactics .

BuzzFeed网站最近在报导中揭露，优步一名主管建议调查撰文批评优步的数名记者的私生活，而这只是这家公司近来诸多不讨喜的策略之一。

Uber has grown into one of the most valuablestart-ups in Silicon Valley, with outposts around the world. It has raisedabout $1.5 billion and is valued at more than $17 billion, with talk of apublic offering.

优步已成长为硅谷最有价值的新创公司之一，在全球各地皆有据点。它已募资约15亿美元，市值超过170亿美元，据传将公开上市。

Uber’s hard-charging culture may be characteristicof startups , but fostering such a culture can quickly become a losingproposition .

优步的强硬出击式文化也许是新创企业的一个特色，但鼓励这种文化，可能很快就会将企业导向失败之途。

“Themore stories that come out about Uber behaving badly — whether it’s about theway it competes with rivals or the fact that an executive discussed lookinginto journalists — the risk is that it starts to become the main story aboutthe company, rather than the great service it provides or its low prices,” saidJan Dawson, an industry analyst.

产业分析师道森说：「关于优步的负面传闻越来越多－－不论是它如何和对手竞争，或是一名主管讨论要挖记者底细－－风险是，外界对这家公司的主要描述开始变成这些传闻，而不是它提供的优质服务或低廉的价格。」

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, made anapologetic series of posts on Twitter regarding the executive, Emil Michael,who made the comments about journalists. Mr. Michael’s future with the companywas not mentioned.

优步主管麦可表示要调查记者底细一事，执行长卡兰尼克已在推特发表一连串贴文道歉。麦可在这家公司的前途则未被提及。

Technology companies live and die by culture;ultimate success or failure is determined less by technological prowess than bythe values and behavior of people who work there.

科技公司因文化而生，也因文化而亡。最终的成败取决于公司员工的价值观和行为，而非科技上的高超与否。

This may be particularly true for Uber : It owns nocars, its drivers are at-will contractors who can easily switch to rivalservices, and its customers are just one tap away from some other service.

这个论点对优步而言格外真确。它没有车辆，驾驶出于自愿而签约，随时能转换到对手公司；且客户只要按个键，就能改用其他业者的服务。

Uber has recently been dogged by accusations ofvarious sorts. Last New Year’s Eve, a driver hit an immigrant family in SanFrancisco, killing a 6-year-old and leading to a wrongful-death lawsuit . Therehave also been several accusations of drivers sexually assaulting passengers.Some drivers have protested over their wages and working conditions. And thissummer, The Verge reported that Uber was waging a campaign to recruit driversfrom its rival, Lyft .

优步近来被各种指控缠身。去年除夕夜，一名驾驶在旧金山撞上一移民家庭，导致一名6岁儿童死亡，因此吃上过失致死官司。多项指控显示驾驶曾性侵乘客。部分驾驶曾因薪水和工作条件而抗议。今年夏季时网络媒体Verge报导，优步积极展开行动，从对手Lyft挖角驾驶。

Mr. Kalanick later told Vanity Fair magazine thathe also tried to crimp Lyft’s fund-raising by calling venture capitalists andtelling them that anyone who invested in Lyft could be blackballed frominvesting in Uber.

之后卡兰尼克接受浮华世界杂志访问时表示，他也在阻挠Lyft募资，打电话给创投资本家说，任何人投资Lyft就可能成为优步的拒绝往来户，不让他投资优步。

Some passengers have worried whether the companyprotects riders’ privacy — whether an employee can track where you went, andwith whom. Uber says it has a policy forbidding employees and drivers fromchecking into riders’ habits.

一些乘客对于这家公司能否善尽保护乘客个资之责不无疑虑：员工可追踪乘客和谁去了哪里。优步表示，有条款禁止员工和驾驶探查乘客的乘车习惯。

Still, the new revelations could increase thatfear. The idea that a senior executive thought it would be fine to reveal aplan for spying makes you wonder if anything is considered off-limits at Uber —and that may be the sort of worry that apologetic tweets can’t fix.

新的传闻使这分恐惧加深。某一高阶主管竟然认为对外透露调查记者的计划无何不可，令人怀疑优步是否有任何觉得不能做的事，而这样的忧虑只怕不是道歉推文就能消除的。

“Ubertoday is at the stage where Facebook was several years ago — they’re growingridiculously fast, and we’re all wondering whether this will be the moment thatthey see they need to make a change,” said Mark Rogowsky, a Silicon Valleyentrepreneur who has followed the battle between Lyft and Uber.

硅谷企业家罗戈斯基一直在观察Lyft和优步间的竞争，他说：「优步现正处于脸书数年前的状态－－成长快得离谱，我们都想知道是不是到了他们发觉需要改变的时刻。」

He added, “We just don’t know yet.”

他补充道：「但我们真还不知道。」