Magic Leap Says Ex-Engineer Copied Headset for China

Post by SahAssar » Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 11:59 AM UTC

tastroder wrote: post #97

elamje wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly, but copying a web app is substantially simpler than copying AR tech. Considering magic leap was stealth with hundreds of millions in R&D, I would put it in a different category than making a similar web app.

> stealth with hundreds of millions in R&D Wow. That number sounded high since I'm very unfamiliar with the space but according to crunchbase [1] they took in 2.6B in funding overall. Before this headset they mainly put out a few iterations of that gesture input device, right? [1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/magic-leap

Post by Retra » Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 12:55 PM UTC

briandear wrote: post #46

mindgam3 wrote: post #11

The optics of this aren't great for Magic Leap. AR pun not intended. Really all this does is present Nreal as a legitimate threat to a company that raised approx 100x more money* before shipping a product. (* Magic Leap funding $2B+, nreal $16M ish)

And removing the mistakes made my Magic makes the derivative cost less; Magic used a lot of money figuring out what doesn’t work, money that the competing company did not have to spend. If I make an iPhone copy, I didn’t have to spend all the money Apple spent figuring out what wouldn’t work. So it’s not an apples to apples comparison.

Post by dyarosla » Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

dproblem wrote: post #102

dyarosla wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That FOMO is rampant; if you’re waiting for the startup to prove its tech, you’ve likely missed the investment boat already. Just saying, there is definitely some rationale to it, esp when considering how investment portfolios are precipitated on a few huge winners and 99% losers.

@dyrosla FOMO: Thank you for the explanation. I am trying to understand. The lottery ticket on the back of engineers and workers. Any thoughts on how long is this game going to last? Now China is playing the same game, but with relaxed rules - to speed things up on FOMO? Do I understand this correct?

Post by dproblem » Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 5:40 PM UTC

dyarosla wrote: post #105

dproblem wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@dyrosla FOMO: Thank you for the explanation. I am trying to understand. The lottery ticket on the back of engineers and workers. Any thoughts on how long is this game going to last? Now China is playing the same game, but with relaxed rules - to speed things up on FOMO? Do I understand this correct?

I’m not sure if I understand you- FOMO is just the fear of missing out on investing in a company that has a likelihood of making it big. In the case of Magic Leap, VCs bought into the team’s background and expertise and banked on the likelihood of their success/impact if successful and decided to risk it. It doesn’t mean they were 100% sold- just that the risk/reward calculation they made was favourable. Had they wai…

Post by SahAssar » Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 6:58 PM UTC

diveanon wrote: post #106

SahAssar wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leap Motion and Magic Leap are two different companies. The only thing Magic Leap seem to be doing is the headset, and that took them 2.6B funding and turned out to be at about the same level of tech as already existing products. Leap Motion (which did the gesture recognition input stuff) was recently sold at about a 10th of their peak valuation ($30M price from $300M valuation about 2 years ago).

I interviewed at Magic Leap a few years ago and it was never explained to me how they were differentiating themselves from competitors or what their valuation was based on. I declined the position based on the fact that their options were already diluted without a product or revenue stream. Maybe one day I will regret that decision when they get bought by Apple, but I just don't see it happening.