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Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

wsj.com

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Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#31

Post by kotaKat »

crote wrote: post #20
kotaKat wrote: post #5

"Investor documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal said the goal is for the plane to be the first light jet to focus on artificial-intelligence flight." Oh cool, can't wait for the vibe-coded autopilot to CFIT into the Rockies or dump itself into the ocean that it thought was totally a runway while a completely untrained, inexperienced hot shot with $10 million to blow flies this generation's V-tailed doctor kil…

What is it even supposed to mean ? Airplanes have had autopilot (the genuine kind, not Musk's snake oil) for ages now. Commercial airlines have been using autoland on well-equipped airports for decades. Garmin's fully autonomous emergency autoland has already saved a few Cessna owners' lives. With the ongoing adoption of CPDLC the ATC-to-pilot link is also actively being automated and standardized. There are no big t…

The technical hurdle to solve they feel is getting the barrier to 'flying' dumbed down even more. They want this to be something that Joe off the street can get in with minimal flight training and go zip around in a high performance jet once their vesting clears and they can cash out a few mill.

So... basically, an even more digital cockpit with more touchscreens and less verbatim information presentation on the screens. Why give you multiple engine gauges for N1, N2, temps, etc, when we can just give you one dumb "Thrust" gauge? Why make programming the autopilot a fifteen day course on the ground when you can just have a LLM figure out what your flight plan should be and punch it all in automatically?

It's like how Cirrus positions themselves to be the family SUV of the skies with their products and falls back on "just pull the chute / push the Autoland button, bro".

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#32

Post by jongjong »

game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

I just can't comprehend the mental process or discussion that happened which led to this guy getting a pardon.

It's just hard to imagine that anybody would give a f about this fraudster. Only explanation is he must know some dirt on someone.

It's clear now. Modern society runs on blackmail. There's a blackmail hierarchy all the way to the top.

I bet there are many people out there just making a living from just knowing dirt about people.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#33

Post by jongjong »

game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

These fraudsters who get second chances have got blackmail. Trust me, all the people we see in the media are sharks. They only help each other if they feel a threat or have something to gain.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#35

Post by jlarocco »

some_random wrote: post #14

Just for once I want "CEO convicted of fraud making their comeback" to come back with some really boring business. Like, I want Elizabeth Holmes to serve out her sentence then come out swinging to raise funds to vertically integrate pallet construction.

If there were any justice, after jail these fraudsters would be working low paying jobs like fast food and retail, and the CEO jobs would go to people who haven't been convicted of fraud.

But of course they'll leverage their connections and get high paying jobs like in this case.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#36

Post by nerevarthelame »

On top of the fraud convictions, Trevor Milton was credibly accused of sexual assault by his own cousin and a girl he employed. Both victims were minors at the time.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/two-women-file-sexual-abuse-...

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#37

Post by kjksf »

hliyan wrote: post #25
etempleton wrote: post #12

In my experience, people who are compulsive liars or those who are willing to make large or repeated deceptions for personal gain never change. It is as natural to them as breathing. Some of them I am quite convinced believe their lies, but the net result is the same. I don't know Trevor Milton. I have never met him. Maybe he isn't a compulsive liar but just got in over his head and was trying to make it work. But I…

Isn't this also in line with recent proclamations by at least two venture capitalists that they do not reflect / introspect / dwell on consequences in any way?

No because you don't understand what Andreessen means by reflection / introspection.

He obviously thinks you should learn from your mistakes and that you must be an avid and quick learner.

But learning skills is not what introspection / dwelling is.

It's spending times on thoughts like "what should I be doing with my life". "I can't believe how much of a victim of the system I am".

And he specifically contrasted it against doing stuff.

Writing code >>> walks in the woods.

Obviously reflection is necessary to recognize mistakes of the past. What Andreessen was talking about that you should spent majority of your time acting not reflecting. Not that you should spent 0 time reflecting.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#38

Post by exogeny »

ahf8Aithaex7Nai wrote: post #28
game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

The reason for this is the same as why real estate is so expensive and the price of gold is so high. There is far too much capital accumulation among the ultra-wealthy, who don’t know what to do with all that money. The expertise of someone like this founder lies simply in recognizing that this is the case and that it can be monetized.

There was a great Money Stuff blurb about that w/r/t Adam Neumann. I can't find it to quote it directly, but the gist was that if you disabuse yourself of the notion that Neumann was playing a game of entrepreneurship and good-faith empire building, and instead conclude that the game he was playing was shameless capital extraction, every step and action he took suddenly makes sense.

The truly amazing thing, especially the second time around, are the supposedly sophisticated investors who fall for it. "Oh, he's learned his lesson -- he won't do it again!".

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#39

Post by freediddy »

game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

Look how many people couldn't care about Epstein and the fact he was a convicted sex offender. Bill Gates didn't care and he was literally the richest person in the world at one point.

The rich VCs and billionaires and aspirational billionaires only care about doing what they want to do and don't care what the peons like us think or care about.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#40

Post by notlenin »

some_random wrote: post #14

Just for once I want "CEO convicted of fraud making their comeback" to come back with some really boring business. Like, I want Elizabeth Holmes to serve out her sentence then come out swinging to raise funds to vertically integrate pallet construction.

I feel like part of the secret to being that type of CEO is that whatever your business is, you can spin it into something "oh my god, much wow".

Like it won't be just "vertically integrating pallet construction", it'll be "a heartwarming revolution in the construction of pallets, now with AI and blockchain".

Kind of like how TFA mentions that Milton's new SyberJet will "pioneer AI flight".

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