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Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

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Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#51

Post by [deleted] »

pb wrote: post #19
mox1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% disagree. Manufacturing is hard, ask everyone who has done a physical product kick-starter. Giving X people mac books and asking them to write a "Clone of X Tech Startup" is not that hard, just potentially time consuming. Now, Ford may USE technology to improve their manufacturing and core product (a transportation device). They may become an ultra high-tech manufacturer (if they aren't already)..., but they wil…

It's not like they are going to suddenly lose their ability to manufacture products. The key is that their differentiation and survival will depend more on software and soft systems (such as bus lines) than it does on manufacturing prowess (where they are all quite good at this point). It's also worth noting that Apple makes some impressively complex (and profitable!) hardware.

[deleted]

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#52

Post by cmottau »

Darn, I was eagerly awaiting them to go out of business so I could pick up one of their vans (all Fords btw) at auction for pennies on the dollar. Their drivers in SF are absolutely clueless and honestly should not be alowed on the road.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#53

Post by [deleted] »

habosa wrote: post #36
badstrategy wrote: post #25

Former Chariot corporate (non-driver) employee here. This is a rescue acquisition, pure and simple. I could probably write a book about how not to run a company based on my experience there. Coordination failures at all levels and constant managerial abuse. In the words of an Uber employee familiar with the situation, "That company has employees solely so they can be a clueless, abusive megalomaniac's captive audienc…

Glassdoor is blocking me out. Can you explain some of what went wrong inside Chariot? From the outside it is very well run and I was amazed at how quickly it went from creepy white vans to a whole fleet of branded vehicles with a mobile app.

[deleted]

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#54

Post by jonathankoren »

habosa wrote: post #36
badstrategy wrote: post #25

Former Chariot corporate (non-driver) employee here. This is a rescue acquisition, pure and simple. I could probably write a book about how not to run a company based on my experience there. Coordination failures at all levels and constant managerial abuse. In the words of an Uber employee familiar with the situation, "That company has employees solely so they can be a clueless, abusive megalomaniac's captive audienc…

Glassdoor is blocking me out. Can you explain some of what went wrong inside Chariot? From the outside it is very well run and I was amazed at how quickly it went from creepy white vans to a whole fleet of branded vehicles with a mobile app.

So that they called up Bay Area Auto Wraps R Us and paid $2500 or less per vehicle impressed you? Not exactly a stroke of genius to brand your vehicle fleet.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#55

Post by jonathankoren »

dlitwak wrote: post #46

Congrats to Ali. Been very impressed with Chariot's mastery of nitty gritty business & logistics fundamentals. That sounds like it should be obvious, but Leap and other competitors couldn't so much as file the right permits, let alone start what amounted to their own public transit network and get regular ridership. This is a hard, low margin, business to get right in a crowded space, and Ali managed to scale it to 4…

A rescue acquisition is a failure.

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#56

Post by ben_jones »

webtechgal wrote: post #8
sjg007 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? The app and logistics software might be worth it. That being said a purchase for $30m may have been announced. It will be interesting to see how the vanpool model can scale... Clearly too many cars on the roads and not necessarily needed for the day to day commutes.

> a purchase for $30m may have been announced. I was wild-guessing around the same ballpark too. Here is some simple math I was thinking: $3M round (a year ago) would have valued them around $10M. Since then, then would probably have doubled or tripled their valuation, getting them to $20M to 30M at this point.

Why does a $3M round automatically mean a doubling or tripling of their valuation after the fact? Doesn't it matter what they DID with the money? Is it just assumed their sales doubled or tripled and that they hired the right people?

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#57

Post by jonathankoren »

brianbreslin wrote: post #48
squishypirate wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it was Leap: http://rideleap.com/

They blamed their shut down on regulatory issues, but how did chariot get around them?

Because Chariot didn't pull a Sillicon Valley and and flagrantly break the laws. Chariot followed them.[0]

Funny how the sucker following the law survived the longest. Someone could easily draw the conclusion that it's just an excuse for a bad business plan.

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/29/the-last-bus-startup-stand...

Re: Ford Acquires Chariot (YC W15)

#58

Post by bch »

pests wrote: post #33
treehau5 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.

I live about 10 minutes from Downtown Detroit. It's nice. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer.

> Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer

How?

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