Kalanick is still on Uber's board. He owns a majority of the voting shares. Some are already comparing this situation to Steve Jobs' ouster from Apple. It's possible Kalanick could someday return in a blaze of glory. But for now, he is out and Uber is searching for a new CEO.

There is a reason this story is getting so much attention: it is news that has real ramifications throughout Silicon Valley and the rest of the startup world. The import was captured in a series of posts by Erin Griffith at Fortune which I've liberally excerpted.

Erin Griffith wrote: