Check out this channel Apple is not known for their reliability recently.
https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup

 

No. I'm not discounting Tesla for what they have done to EV. Tesla has pretty much created the EV shift, I agree on that. The question is - can they maintain the shift and become a company that sells profitable cars?

The only reason, right now, that if you drive a Tesla, and people immediately knows its electric is because that's all they make... If a car companies, make multiple type of cars, they'll be know for different things. If you make 1 thing, you'll be known for that 1 thing.

I'm fascinated why you think Porsche, BMW and MB can't make a great EV? Just because they have a history of making good petrol cars doesn't mean they can't make a good EV car. Imagine using that Porsche and BMW racing heritage to create an amazing EV track car? Can Tesla do that? Probably not. No racing heritage.

Isn't Tesla batteries made by Panasonic? Isn't the batteries just a contract operation?
Besides - I would trust Porsche batteries over Tesla. Porsche is more reliable than Tesla and Porsche isn't even a reliable company.

 

I have worked at a couple of the places you mentioned. No we don't always get it right, but nobody in upper management would permit asking someone to work from 7am to 8pm. We provide internet access on the bus because indeed some employees like to work on the bus, or they can do other things on the bus like watch Thursday Night Football. At my current company (another fortune 500 tech company), we encourage our employees to work from home more often, and we have a no meetings on Wednesday policy, we also have unlimited PTO. We also have parity in pay for all of our women. We also have many minorities and women as our C-Level Executives as well. Just because you know somebody who says this or that because they work at Facebook, etc, does not mean that is a fact of life in Silicon Valley.

One last thing, how is this a statistic?

The last time I checked statistics have real quantifiable numbers. I think this is more correctly coined, a generalization.

 

Firstly - I never stated someone works from 7am to 8pm. I said, on average, the tech worker life-style is from 7am to 8pm. Meaning - you have people taking the tech bus from SF to SJ at 7, get to work at 9, work till like 5-6, take the tech bus home, and be back home by 8. This happens because of the horrific traffic situation that happens during rush hours.
Secondly - internet access is provided on the tech bus because sometimes, management, encourages work from the bus. Its not forced - but if a coding project does take some time, it will require some workers do code on the go.
This is something that needs to be addressed and I wouldn't call this "work-life balance". There are tons of tech workers that can't see their spouse or significant other because of this type of scheduling.

I know you have "unlimited PTO". How I know? Cause I got it too. But is it really "unlimited"?
This is what I mean - when you have a company that offers you PTO as a form of you earning it, you can take PTO pretty much whenever because its yours and its earned.
When you are offered "unlimited PTO", this actually encourages employees to not abuse the PTO system. Think about it this way - its an honor system. They give it to you in unlimited form because it makes it less likely you'll take a day off. People tend to feel guilty if they abuse something that is free rather than earned.

Side note: Just because I know one person is not the reason why I know about the life-style being like this. That was just an example because I didn't want to get personal.
We can definitely get personal though to further clarify by point:
My dad is major real-estate developer in the Bay Area. He has done meetings with tech CEO and executive from major companies to discuss the housing issues regarding their employees and Bay Area residences. During these meetings, he would tell me, often times, its mostly White Males that meet with him. (Which, my dad often highlights, as a diversity problem in Silicon Valley)

I work in marketing for fortune 500 tech company based in San Jose.
1) I travel from SF to work. I know the struggle of traffic. I know tons and tons of people that take the tech bus to and from work. Tons of my co-workers, engineer buddies and etc... face this struggle of a long day.
2) In my department, if I'm honest, diversity is an issue. Majority of my department, in marketing, is mostly White Males. Asians Males being the second most populated demographic. In terms of management, marketing, engineering, and etc.. (everything but HR), major tech companies have a diversity issue (mainly lack of Latino Americans and African Americans)

On the side - I run a real-estate business that is a branch off of my dad's development company. I know the relative housing issues tech companies face regarding their employees.

I'll finish off here: if you don't believe the tech industry has an "inclusiveness" program, then feel free to Google it. I mean - its also common knowledge that tech companies shut down conservative talking points because it doesn't "fit" the narrative of the company. I wouldn't call that inclusiveness. I'm a liberal but I know conservative engineers that refuses political talk because of their company.

 

 

My company HQ is in Silicon Valley and we have a similar policy. The goal is to give the team a break, a day without meetings is a good thing as far as productivity.

 

Because as companies get bigger, they start scheduling more and more useless meetings that do nothing but schedule the next week's useless meeting. No meeting days gives people time to actually get work done

 

ok, i think we can get back to the subject of tesla, and not hiring diversity, paid time off, and commute times from SF to silicon valley.

 

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thre...uggest.131313/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thre...te-p3d.130762/

This does not sound like a buying/ownership experience I would want to deal with.

 

business per usual for them... unfortunately.

 

First link: I didn't know this existed. Lol.
So Tesla takes your money before giving you a car? No thanks. That sounds shady.

Second link: This has been going on since the Model S. Its nothing new. Tesla has horrible reliability issues and quite of bit of cars come scratched, broken, and etc... from the delivery point. If you catch the problem, they'll fix it for you - in like a few months because the service lines are long as F.
The issue here is Elon is overworking his workers. A tired worker - isn't a good worker. This will lead to cars being built that isn't 100%.
The other issue is Elon is so focused on delivery times and proving people that Tesla can produce cars fast - hes actually telling workers to skip quality checks at the end phase. (There's articles about this.)

The problem for both situation for the links above is that Tesla owners and buyers keep making excuses for it. "They are a new company." "Its part of the experience if you want a Tesla." etc... etc...

There is a GT-R vlogger on YouTube that got a brand new Model X. In less than 2-3 weeks of ownership, he made a video explaining the 11 to 13 problems his Model X has. Its quite insane how a brand new car can have this much problems - especially a car that cost well into the 80-100K range.

 

Count how many times the guy says he loves the car, says "very cool", and how many times he says it's not a deal breaker, it wouldn't stop him from buying another one, etc. C'mon.

 

 

I'll exchange your word "profit" for "succeed" because profit can be obtained by reducing cost, not just increasing volume in the current setup. They will succeed the same way that Apple did. First mover advantage in their respective market. Improved performance (range, acceleration stats, etc). A CEO who is obsessed with design. Showing that 80 to 90% of things can be repaired with remote software updates. Offering mobile repair service. A CEO who actively engages, listens, and responds to their customers & potential customers through outlets like Twitter. A complete and utter obsession for innovation. Brand enthusiasm and loyalty.

Toyota and Honda are not companies that evoke any emotion; Tesla excels at that. Competitors also don't have a charging network established and permits have to be issued for those. Other companies will sell EV's, but Tesla will be the one everyone continues to chase. Just like the iPhone.

 

If Tesla has already achieved a profitable quarter (to be announced soon), then the big expense phase of the Model 3 ramp up is over. Everything after that becomes an effort to increase profit margin and sustain it. The market will have to respond accordingly after realizing Tesla did what they set out to do. What comes afterwards such as compact suv or trucks etc can only add to the gravy train. I would expect per share price valuation to jump another $100. Existing shares are only going to get harder to find. Amazon only went higher once their losses on their cloud ventures started turning a profit.

So what does this mean for big car mfr's? Is the game over because challenging Tesla would mean incurring major losses due to increased expenses that Tesla has already endured for the past 10 years? Everyone gambled on Tesla's failure and if they are able to sustain successes for even 2-3 years -- it would be an extra ordinary boost to its current momentum in the car business.

What does it take for big car mfr's to really challenge Tesla? Sure they can make the cars in a jiffy... the hard part is the 'energy' supply stations and batteries are required. 2020-2025 will be an interesting defining industry moment for the next 75 years. It could very well be if you're too late to the game, you'll go out of business because the cost to switch over is too high, oil prices and emissions rules have boxed them into a corner. 2008 financial crisis put our big 3 car biz into too big to fail or near bankruptcy state. There's not going to be a bailout for being too late to the e-transportation opportunity, or not being aggressive enough to cut the losses on money losing cars and sedans. I think car mfr management are running scared with eroding protectionism and franchising practices in place caused by 21st century e-commerce and buying habits. If there's a will, there's a way to ordering or buying the car of your choice anywhere in your country. And Tesla found a willing group of buyers who want Tesla cars and can pick from 3 different models to do so.