【Busty Lifeguards (2010)】

The Busty Lifeguards (2010)ferocity of the #DeleteUber movement is a warning for technology companies: If you're going to benefit from the industry's capitalist-hippy playbook in good weather, customers will expect you to back those values when things get stormy.

Only a handful of companies have Uber's visibility and reputation, but its missteps during the backlash to Donald Trump's "Muslim travel ban" -- especially being perceived to "strike break" a taxi protest at New York's John F. Kennedy airport -- indicate what may be at risk when conservative governments clash with a young, activist consumer base.

In America, Silicon Valley has largely decided it's in their interests to come out swinging, with more than 100 companies now signing onto a brief supporting the overturn of the U.S. administration's ban, including a handful of companies that reportedly helped fund Trump's inauguration.

Still, all companies in this space will have to keep choosing between having a seat at the table of power and satisfying the moral (occasionally capricious) demands of customers.

What's the lesson for startups on the rise, even in countries like Australia? And what's at risk for companies that have marketed themselves as outsiders with progressive values, if only when convenient?

Measuring the impact of #DeleteUber

The #DeleteUber trend showed what can happen when customers suddenly demand idealogical purity from company leaders. There have been many instances that could have prompted customers to "delete" Uber in recent years, after all, from ongoing labor disputes to a combative approach to local law.

"They weren't coming off a pristine base and perhaps consumers/users were primed to begin to question whether Uber was a company they wanted to continue to support," Elaine Stead, managing director of Brisbane-based Blue Sky Venture Capital, explained in a email.

Stead suggested the key lesson is that customers are "extremely emotionally connected" to brands and the values they represent: "Underestimate that principle at your peril."

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Vuki Vujasinovic, founder and CEO of Sydney tech publicity firm Sling & Stone, argued the #DeleteUber movement was mostly about "virtue signalling."

"I think in the years to come, looking back on Uber's story and growth, #DeleteUber will barely register as a blip on their trajectory," he said in a email. "There's a bit of a media cycle to these things ... it's fairly predictable."

Still, he added that "customers are voting with their wallets, which is a powerful tool and a good one to use when necessary."

For Stead, #DeleteUber indicated that consumers often like to see themselves in the companies whose products they buy. This can be particularly fraught given startups traditionally build a broad, often messy network of funding and affiliations, and thus, personalities. Witness Facebook's Peter Thiel problem, and let's not forget the late venture capitalist Tom Perkins comparing protests against Google buses to Kristallnacht.

Companies often get away with standing still (Thiel is still on Facebook's board, for instance) but not always. "There is inherent danger aligning oneself politically to any far sided agenda, in that the majority of consumers may not see themselves and the values they hold dear in your brand," Stead added.

Whether to have a seat at the table

While #DeleteUber didn't appear to do much damage to the ride hailing company's bottomline, it did seemingly prompt Kalanick to step down from Trump's advisory group.

After he quit Thursday, he stated that joining the group was not meant to be "an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that."

Stead acknowledged it can be a tough line to walk. "If one is committed to growing a sustainable industry, and one really believes there is an opportunity to influence decisions, that all informed views will be genuinely considered, then you almost have a moral obligation to do so," she said. "The caveat here is there has to be a genuine opportunity to influence."

In Vujasinovic's view, it was unfortunate Kalanick was pressured into resigning. "I don't like Trump at all ... but surely if you are a supporter of technology innovation and disruption, you want smart people in [Trump's] ear?" he asked.

Rick Baker, cofounder of Sydney investment firm Blackbird Ventures, said in an email that any company building communities with millions of members has to think about these issues.

"It's especially a challenge when you have businesses built around user generated content," he added. "Here founders are put in the position of being the arbiter of what is free speech and what is discriminatory or inciting hate. It's a fine line to tread." While Facebook's bottom line is doing just fine, its public image took a definite thrashing during the #fakenews wars of late 2016.

If you use cultural values in your branding and message as a way to engage with customers, then it is incumbent on you to authentically represent them, whether publicly or privately, Stead suggested.

"As soon as consumers get a whiff that you aren't genuinely living your values as a company, that it's just lip service to woo customers, you will be labelled inauthentic and the trust will be broken," she said. "Once you have lost trust it is almost impossible to win it back."

In other words, you're not necessarily damned if you do, damned if you don't. Just do better.