Driverless Startup Zoox Suddenly Removes CEO

Post by vonseel » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 7:57 AM UTC

Fricken wrote: post #17

askafriend wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment history suggests that you have some relationship with Zoox that you're not disclosing. You've commented on Zoox several times before in an overly enthusiastic manner. You've also commented several times before on autonomy and your comments have been called out for astroturfing in a couple of instances. Readers please beware and take this comment with a grain of salt.

I've been accused of working for Waymo and Cruise too, because I defend them against the unfounded bullshit you guys spread about them. And about me, too, apparently. I'm a self driving car nerd, I moderate a subreddit dedicated to the subject under the same username I have here, and I've been following the industry, the technology and it's players since the DARPA days. Relative to the rest of the industry Zoox is do…

Post by okonomiyaki3000 » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 8:20 AM UTC

Post by sofon » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 8:49 AM UTC

bitL wrote: post #34

sofon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

> I don't understand why you would fund someone with no tech or business background... Maybe that was the board's plan for the initial rocky phase of the company, without telling Tim?

Post by shriver » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 9:20 AM UTC

edshiro wrote: post #30

artemisyna wrote: post #27

Of what I've heard of Zoox (admittedly 2nd or 3rd hand), there definitely has been some precidence for "engineering to fit design goals" rather than "fitting design around engineering realities". Wouldn't surprise me if this non-technical CEO was part of this.

Also, wasn't this practice (i.e. engineering to fit design goals) what made Apple successful in releasing the iPod, iPhone, etc? I am an engineer but welcome the perspective of designers and believe anyway that both need to work hand in hand. In the case of driverless vehicles however, I am not sure the focus should overly be on design because this is a very hard problem that has yet to be solved, and maybe there was…

Post by Piskvorrr » Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 9:24 AM UTC

zamfi wrote: post #19

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But hype is part of the culture. I mean, there's a company whose motto was "do no evil".

I hate to be that guy, but it was “don’t be evil” not “do no evil”. Basically meant “don’t be like Microsoft” back in those days. Very different meaning than people often assume, and not about hype. More about not letting success get to your head and using it to crush everyone else.