Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

I don't have a strong opinion on Zoox, this CEO, or even this story, but there sure does seem to be a lot of frustration in the self-driving world. Leaves me with two thoughts:

* There's a lot more runway for these bike sharing startups then I thought there'd be.

* Self driving is hard.

(^^ Copied from a duped post)

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#5

Post by theCricketer » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 12:52 AM UTC

"Without a warning, cause or right of reply the board fired me".. There is more from Tim Kentley's twitter: https://twitter.com/TimKentleyKlay

He just posted a bunch of messages he got from his team at Zoox. Seems like a lot of employees really liked him and his leadership.

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#6

Post by ben_jones » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 1:11 AM UTC

sambroner wrote: post #4

I don't have a strong opinion on Zoox, this CEO, or even this story, but there sure does seem to be a lot of frustration in the self-driving world. Leaves me with two thoughts: * There's a lot more runway for these bike sharing startups then I thought there'd be. * Self driving is hard. (^^ Copied from a duped post)

* There's limits to current AI/ML technology that create a hard ceiling and extends timelines long beyond the current hype cycle and nobody wants to admit it or else funding might stop coming in.

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#7

Post by sofon » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 1:17 AM UTC

theCricketer wrote: post #5

"Without a warning, cause or right of reply the board fired me".. There is more from Tim Kentley's twitter: https://twitter.com/TimKentleyKlay He just posted a bunch of messages he got from his team at Zoox. Seems like a lot of employees really liked him and his leadership.

"Kentley-Klay, 43, is an improbable entrant into the crowded race to develop self-driving cars. He has no engineering degree, no background in computer science. Through his early 30s, he was a successful artist and designer—creating music videos and ads for major companies like McDonald’s and Birds Eye frozen vegetables."

https://www.forbes.com/feature/zoox-autonomous-cars-taxis/#1...

"In a move that some will call devious and others will call ingenious, Kentley-Klay reached out to some of the biggest names in the field and told them he was making a documentary on the rise of self-driving cars. The plan was to mine these people for information and feel out potential partners."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-17/robot-tax...

The whole thing seems insane to me. I don't understand why you would fund someone with no tech or business background... I'm sure he hired some good people, but it still doesn't make sense.

As to why the investors booted him? Investors generally don't kick out the CEO unless they did something crazy. It doesn't look good for the investor, and it makes it investment look bad (and follow on investment less likely).

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#8

Post by Fricken » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 1:34 AM UTC

sofon wrote: post #7

theCricketer wrote: post #5

"Without a warning, cause or right of reply the board fired me".. There is more from Tim Kentley's twitter: https://twitter.com/TimKentleyKlay He just posted a bunch of messages he got from his team at Zoox. Seems like a lot of employees really liked him and his leadership.

"Kentley-Klay, 43, is an improbable entrant into the crowded race to develop self-driving cars. He has no engineering degree, no background in computer science. Through his early 30s, he was a successful artist and designer—creating music videos and ads for major companies like McDonald’s and Birds Eye frozen vegetables." https://www.forbes.com/feature/zoox-autonomous-cars-taxis/#1... "In a move that some will call d…

Tim has lots of experience in business and tech. From scratch he built a self driving car company valued at $3.2 billion, whose autonomous OS is outperforming efforts from major automakers and tech companies and with a fraction of the resources. Zoox has gotten to where they are now on about $300 million. Others have spent far more and have a lot less to show for it.

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#9

Post by dawhizkid » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 1:36 AM UTC

The story that came out earlier this summer in Bloomberg was pure HBO Silicon Valley-esque hyperbole -> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-17/robot-tax...

The degree I take a company seriously is inversely related to the hype spewed by these articles (see pre 10/2015 Theranos press)

Re: Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

#10

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 1:41 AM UTC

sambroner wrote: post #4

I don't have a strong opinion on Zoox, this CEO, or even this story, but there sure does seem to be a lot of frustration in the self-driving world. Leaves me with two thoughts: * There's a lot more runway for these bike sharing startups then I thought there'd be. * Self driving is hard. (^^ Copied from a duped post)

[deleted]