"Life is good!"

Said zero employees at Uber HQ this morning. Heck, nobody even smiled on the elevator. Because life couldn't be worse for the world's biggest startup. [The Hustle]( Mon, Mar 6 Uber’s nightmare continues Remember that month in high school when you got dumped by your girlfriend, failed study hall (how?!), got kicked off the badminton team, and started getting really bad acne on your chin? Or wait, was that just me? Needless to say, that was a horrible few weeks. Kind of like the last 14 days have been for Uber. Former engineer Susan Fowler’s claims that the company blatantly mishandled sexual harassment… yeah, that was just the beginning. Here’s a recap of all the sh*t. Following Fowler’s claim… A flood of stories detailing [Uber’s toxic culture]( were released. It wasn’t pretty. All the while, a second #DeleteUber campaign was gaining steam and [former Attorney General Eric Holder was being brought in]( to probe Fowler’s allegations. Then, Uber’s SVP of engineering, Amit Singhai left the company Travis Kalanick asked him to resign after learning that Singhai [failed to disclose a sexual harassment allegation]( made against him at Google -- his former employer. At the time, Singhai framed his resignation as a retirement and still denies the allegations. That same day… Emails obtained by The Verge showed that [Uber ignored repeated requests]( from the California DMV to register its autonomous car program with the state, even as it was rolling out the service in San Francisco. One day later (Tuesday), a video emerged It was a [dash cam video]( of CEO Travis Kalanick berating and belittling one of his own Uber drivers. Nice. 48 hours later… A report emerged proving that Uber had used an elaborate secret program, [known as Greyball]( to hide from government regulators. In short, they used a fake version of the app to evade authorities. Oh yeah, and that same day, the company’s [VP of Product and Growth, Ed Baker, stepped down]( after employees complained about his “questionable behavior.” All the while… Lyft [began raising more money]( which is an extremely smart move on their part and yet more bad news for Uber. Seriously, it’s like a daily soap opera at this point. Will they ever recover? Honestly, not sure. [Fortnight from hell]( Atom Bank want to reach the youths UK startup, Atom Bank, [just raised another $102m]( led by Spanish bank BBVA for its mobile-only bank, which targets 18 to 34-year-olds (millennials, for the folks keeping score at home). This latest funding brings [Atom]( to a valuation of $320m, and will allow it to expand its product, which currently offers Fixed Saver accounts, loans for small-medium businesses, and, most recently mortgages. (Plus Will.i.am is rumored to be joining the board as an advisor, so you know it’s #lit.) Users, which they refer to as “founders,” will have the ability to give their banks custom names and use voice/selfie-identification to log into their accounts... All from its mobile app… and only its app We’re talking no physical branches, no call centers, not even a desktop site. On top of the obvious benefits of never having to time your schedule around bank operating hours, according to Atom, operating solely on mobile lets them pass more savings on to customers (they offer a 1 year fixed savings rate of 2% compared with 1.6% from its closest rival). And, in a recent consumer trends study, millennials access their mobile banking apps [nearly three times as much]( as older generations, and only 69% are satisfied with their current bank, so it seems like they’re going after the right demo. But, this also presents some challenges Gaining people’s trust is easier said than done, and the reviews for the app are mixed -- [according to reports]( communicating with support outside of the app “isn’t so strong.” Plus, they need more deposits to fund their lending arm. As of now they only have about 14k users, and, assuming the majority are millennials, we’re guessing they’re not million dollar investments. [Will.u.bank?]( Facebook debuts “flagged news” On Friday, Facebook quietly [debuted its “disputed news” tag]( as part of its new flagging system for fake news. As promised, the feature leverages non-partisan third parties like Snopes, Politifact, and the Associated Press -- all of whom have signed a [“Fact-checkers’ Code of Principles”]( -- to fact check stories, which are then flagged individually on the site. How will my feed look? Pretty much the same. No word yet as to how this will affect the story’s performance on Facebook’s algorithm, but flagged news will remain on your feed, with a little red caution icon below it and a link to read why it’s disputed and by whom. It’s kind of the best we could hope for, although its effectiveness remains to be seen (flagging takes several days, which is plenty of time for a story to go viral). And, as many are saying, it’s likely to please approximately no one On the one hand, you’ll have people crying out for more extreme measures like flagging or removing entire sites, and on the other, accusations of censorship. As Fortune points out, it’s kind of a lose-lose for FB. Aside from public pressure (and, [Zuckerberg’s new resolve]( to create a platform “for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all”), [Facebook has little business incentive]( to police its news feed. Ultimately, flagging sensational news could lower engagement for people who love reading it or alienate large groups of users. Dang, kind of makes us miss the days where the most controversial thing you could do on Facebook was “poke” someone… ["The Hustle poked you"]( China wants people to judge its judges The Supreme People’s Court -- the highest court in China -- [recently kicked off a campaign]( called “My Favorite Good Judges,” which allows people to vote for their 10 favorite judges from 33 nominees picked by the court. State broadcaster CCTV and a handful of online news outlets will cover the event, which is essentially a reality TV show about Supreme Court judges. Sounds thrilling. What’s the point? According to SPC president Zhou Qiang, the goal is to provide a look at how the Chinese courts work, while also increasing the public’s confidence in its judges. Considering the country’s courts [convicted 99.9% of defendants in 2015]( (just 1,039 of 1.2 million people were found not guilty) and has since made a concerted effort to “impose the rule of law,” this reality show of sorts is probably a good idea. A little transparency never hurt. Still hilarious, though. Mainly because we’re just picturing the cast of The Jersey Shore in judicial robes, each armed with a gavel and a white manila folder bursting at the seams with documents. [Quite the image]( monday morning review Hey friends, We’re hiring another writer! If you’ve got a passion for creating epic content, an interest in business/technology news, and an innate ability to make 90s pop culture references, you might be a great fit. [Click here to apply](. To give you a better idea of what you’ll be doing in this role -- and to give the rest of you a look behind the curtain -- here’s how we create this email every day: - 10:00am: Get to office, handle most non-email-related tasks - 11:00am-12:00pm: Literally read the internet - 12:00pm-12:30pm: Discuss potential stories and make decisions on what’s in and what’s out - 1:00pm-7:00pm: Write the email! - 7:00pm-8:30pm: Edit the email! - 7:30am - 8:30am (the following morning): Check for any story changes, copy edit, upload email, and hit send, baby. Want to join us? [Apply now]( Love you, Kendall & Lindsey This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by “We don’t have a size 10… Will a 9 work?” Nope. We’ve all experienced that over-eager shoe salesperson desperate to send you home with a pair of ill-fitting sneakers at any cost. But it doesn’t work with shoes… And it really doesn’t work with hiring. That’s why [Toptal]( leverages their huge network of highly-vetted talent, to help you find exactly who you’re looking for. Because no two designers are the same Toptal understands that if you need to hire a UX designer, a UI designer just won’t cut it. Luckily, they have both (and pretty much any other skillset you can think of) at their disposal. We’re talking [senior-level designers]( with app, interactive, responsive, web, and illustration experience -- all waiting to be matched with the right company. As if that wasn’t enough, they also work with expert developers with backgrounds in hundreds of languages and technologies. Don’t act like you’re not impressed. In fact, they’re so confident they’ll find you a match, they’re offering a two-week trial period for new hires -- if it doesn’t feel right, you don’t pay. So, take advantage of [Toptal’s broad talent network]( (and their 98% hiring success rate) to find your perfect fit. 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