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Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

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Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#31

Post by jdavis703 »

pb wrote: post #17
mox1 wrote: post #12

I find it very interesting and frankly quite stupid that Ford is attempting to become an Uber / Silicon Valley / Technology type company[1]. They practically made the auto industry and have been a leading manufacturer for ~100 years. But lets drop and forget all that, technology is cool! I predict that in 5-10 years this will really come back to haunt them. I was planning to buy some Ford stock for a while, but after…

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Automakers are tech companies who just decided to put their money into researching how many cupholders you can add to a vehicle. It's like Yahoo!, focusing on content and branding and what not, instead of building technology that people want to use.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#32

Post by rifung »

jdavis703 wrote: post #31
pb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Automakers are tech companies who just decided to put their money into researching how many cupholders you can add to a vehicle. It's like Yahoo!, focusing on content and branding and what not, instead of building technology that people want to use.

I think that's a little unfair to car companies no? Dual clutch transmissions are a fairly recent invention by car companies and improved dramatically on previous automatic transmissions.

New engines are much more powerful and efficient than before as well. I'm sure improvements have been made to the suspension like using inner wheel braking for FWD cars although I'll admit I dont know too much about this. And of course the biggest improvement is probably safety..

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#33

Post by pests »

treehau5 wrote: post #26
pb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.

I live about 10 minutes from Downtown Detroit.

It's nice. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#34

Post by [deleted] »

treehau5 wrote: post #26
pb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.

[deleted]

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#35

Post by cookiecaper »

JonFish85 wrote: post #10
sjg007 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? The app and logistics software might be worth it. That being said a purchase for $30m may have been announced. It will be interesting to see how the vanpool model can scale... Clearly too many cars on the roads and not necessarily needed for the day to day commutes.

My thinking: 1) If they were doing well and got a $30m buyout offer, they'd probably have gone out to raise more money for a much higher valuation. Money is cheap, and if they have an offer in that range, a VC would probably cut them a check within an hour. 2) Buyouts generally benefit founders & investors, and common stock holders don't get much. They'll get a retention bonus or something depending on how important…

Good post. Everyone on HN should remember that even if you are lucky enough to work as an early employee for a startup that got acquired, you shouldn't expect anything. That makes the normal tradeoff that's asked of early startup employees make even less sense than it already made (no sense).

It seems the real way to get a payday is to bootstrap a consultancy, build it up over a few years, and save your money. Eventually, you can transition to a product company if you're still interested in that. This is what Fog Creek, 37Signals, and several other prominent companies did.

You can do stuff your way, on your terms, and make products the way you want without meddling VCs jumping down your throat. You can get paid as quickly as you can get clients and no one will be yelling at you for paying yourself more than $50k or working less than 70 hours per week.

I would implore all the devs currently in the startup rat race in SV to consider this as a reasonable alternative option. The people who get mind-blowingly rich in these transactions are primarily the investors, sometimes the founders, and only exceptionally rarely any of the employees.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#36

Post by habosa »

badstrategy wrote: post #25

Former Chariot corporate (non-driver) employee here. This is a rescue acquisition, pure and simple. I could probably write a book about how not to run a company based on my experience there. Coordination failures at all levels and constant managerial abuse. In the words of an Uber employee familiar with the situation, "That company has employees solely so they can be a clueless, abusive megalomaniac's captive audienc…

Glassdoor is blocking me out. Can you explain some of what went wrong inside Chariot?

From the outside it is very well run and I was amazed at how quickly it went from creepy white vans to a whole fleet of branded vehicles with a mobile app.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#38

Post by mbesto »

pb wrote: post #17
mox1 wrote: post #12

I find it very interesting and frankly quite stupid that Ford is attempting to become an Uber / Silicon Valley / Technology type company[1]. They practically made the auto industry and have been a leading manufacturer for ~100 years. But lets drop and forget all that, technology is cool! I predict that in 5-10 years this will really come back to haunt them. I was planning to buy some Ford stock for a while, but after…

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Can you define precisely what you mean by "be a tech company"?

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#40

Post by untilHellbanned »

treehau5 wrote: post #26
pb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.

Born in Ann Arbor, MI, being a UofM alum, and having half my family living in Michigan, this makes me really excited.

It's so cool that transportation is the zeitgeist these days. It's a fascinating technological and societal issue and Michigan and Detroit could be a huge leader. Lots of strong, eager engineering talent in the Midwest (UIllinois,UMich,Purdue, etc.). No reason it couldn't be side-by-side with silicon valley as the leading tech sector in the world.

Silicon valley created the computer. Detroit invented the car. Put them together you have magic. The virtual and physical machine.

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