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Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

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Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#11

Post by tsunamifury »

I’m guessing cruise is pretty much over.

What’s really unfortunate is I worked with many people who worked with Kyle and no one had a single good thing to say about him. And I’ve often heard that before with people who knew other CEOs but they kinda grudgingly admitted they did what was needed to get it done.

However over and over I just heard phrases like “lost” “aimless” and “confused mess” with Kyle and it never was the “he’s an asshole but it makes the company work. It was just. He’s lost, distracted and constantly sidelined.

I say all this because I actually feel for the guy. Because I know if I was CEO of a company going up against trillionare competitors I’d probably be the same way. Probably even worse. And that’s the state most CEOs are up against — completely unable no matter their skill to outmatch the largest monopolies the world has ever seen — who can simply outspend, outlast, and out do you with capital alone.

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#12

Post by throwawaynum2 »

That's too bad. I thought Kyle was a great CEO. I felt he really kept a positive, safety oriented, and accountability mindset. It's hard to find CEOs these days that know the in's and out's of the product you're making. Usually they'll just slap someone on with an MBA that knows neither the HW nor SW, but since this was Kyle's project from the beginning, he did. Coming from some other poorly managed startups, it was refreshing to work under both a technical and non-technical leader. Not sure what the future holds for us now.

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#14

Post by hra5th »

tsunamifury wrote: post #11

I’m guessing cruise is pretty much over. What’s really unfortunate is I worked with many people who worked with Kyle and no one had a single good thing to say about him. And I’ve often heard that before with people who knew other CEOs but they kinda grudgingly admitted they did what was needed to get it done. However over and over I just heard phrases like “lost” “aimless” and “confused mess” with Kyle and it never w…

My impression is that most Cruise employees liked and respected Kyle a lot. I have seen external people with a negative opinion of him but I am surprised to see someone say they have never seen anyone with a positive opinion, I saw far more positive than negative.

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#16

Post by notatoad »

throwawaynum2 wrote: post #12

That's too bad. I thought Kyle was a great CEO. I felt he really kept a positive, safety oriented, and accountability mindset. It's hard to find CEOs these days that know the in's and out's of the product you're making. Usually they'll just slap someone on with an MBA that knows neither the HW nor SW, but since this was Kyle's project from the beginning, he did. Coming from some other poorly managed startups, it was…

[flagged]

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#17

Post by tempsy »

hra5th wrote: post #14
tsunamifury wrote: post #11

I’m guessing cruise is pretty much over. What’s really unfortunate is I worked with many people who worked with Kyle and no one had a single good thing to say about him. And I’ve often heard that before with people who knew other CEOs but they kinda grudgingly admitted they did what was needed to get it done. However over and over I just heard phrases like “lost” “aimless” and “confused mess” with Kyle and it never w…

My impression is that most Cruise employees liked and respected Kyle a lot. I have seen external people with a negative opinion of him but I am surprised to see someone say they have never seen anyone with a positive opinion, I saw far more positive than negative.

Glassdoor has a 66% approval rating for the company and ceo

not exactly a stellar rating

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#18

Post by kuchenbecker »

minimaxir wrote: post #9
babl-yc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the situations similar at all. Cruise is an extremely tough spot right now after its handling of the San Francisco accident, and it's nationwide pause of testing. OpenAI has been extremely successful but is having strategic disagreements within its non-profit board.

Growing-too-fast ended up being the root cause in both cases.

What makes you come to that conclusion?

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#19

Post by tsunamifury »

hra5th wrote: post #14
tsunamifury wrote: post #11

I’m guessing cruise is pretty much over. What’s really unfortunate is I worked with many people who worked with Kyle and no one had a single good thing to say about him. And I’ve often heard that before with people who knew other CEOs but they kinda grudgingly admitted they did what was needed to get it done. However over and over I just heard phrases like “lost” “aimless” and “confused mess” with Kyle and it never w…

My impression is that most Cruise employees liked and respected Kyle a lot. I have seen external people with a negative opinion of him but I am surprised to see someone say they have never seen anyone with a positive opinion, I saw far more positive than negative.

Those who have left might be a bias sample (in my data)

Re: Kyle Vogt resigns from Cruise

#20

Post by gumballindie »

minimaxir wrote: post #2

The situation at Cruise is so similar to OpenAI (political removal due to prioritizing success over safety) that the coincidental timing is almost contrived. At least in this case, Vogt is doing a clear resignation on his own terms.

In openai’s case it feels like perhaps safety is not the issue - a chatbot doesnt think and doesnt take over the world. But rater speed over quality. All chat bots released so far appeared less useful and less competent each passing month. As if there are serious product quality flaws and it takes a little bit of time to catch on.
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