2017 Investor Roundtable:General Discussion

[erthquake]

Iiiiiiinteresting.

So what do we think about the LLVM/Swift guy? Is his hiring a positive catalyst of the SP-moving variety?

Little if any stock effect would be my guess. Most stock analysts/traders don't understand what he's done for Apple. My understanding is that it's his project management skills that are particularly valuable to Tesla. That and his experience in developing the LLVM Compiler means he knows how to streamline the computationally-intensive tasks involved in AP's machine learning.

 

[Gerardf]

Hmmm. Tweet's now deleted.

Electrek states in an update that Tesla confirmed Sterling Anderson left the company.

Tesla hires creator of Swift programming language from Apple to lead Autopilot software
Scroll to bottom of article.

 

[green48]

I still see it...

View attachment 210036

That's because it was reposted - check out the time of the quoted tweet vs. the current tweet

 

[erthquake]

I can still see the tweet and dave's query to him asking if he's still with tesla.

You're right, thanks. The Nola_mike's link leads to a deleted tweet for some reason. Sorry for not double-checking.

 

[ajax]

That's because it was reposted - check out the time of the quoted tweet vs. the current tweet

So, I had his twitter page open when the repost occurred. Around the same time, he responded to @heydave7 who asked if he could confirm or deny the Bloomberg article that he's no longer at Tesla. Sterling said something to the effect of "Confirmed! Big news coming soon." The post vanished when I refreshed the page a little while later.

 

[Turing]

Little if any stock effect would be my guess. Most stock analysts/traders don't understand what he's done for Apple. My understanding is that it's his project management skills that are particularly valuable to Tesla. That and his experience in developing the LLVM Compiler means he knows how to streamline the computationally-intensive tasks involved in AP's machine learning.

I doubt Tesla could offer him a better compensation package than Apple, so I guess he took the tesla job for the challenge and to do something he finds interesting?

 

[mmd]

So, I had his twitter page open when the repost occurred. Around the same time, he responded to @heydave7 who asked if he could confirm or deny the Bloomberg article that he's no longer at Tesla. Sterling said something to the effect of "Confirmed! Big news coming soon." The post vanished when I refreshed the page a little while later.

Did Sterling also say "You ain't seen nothing yet" in this context, as captured in screenshots above? Wonder what he is hinting at.

 

[Green Pete]

I doubt Tesla could offer him a better compensation package than Apple, so I guess he took the tesla job for the challenge and to do something he finds interesting?

Tesla stock options are possibly the best compensation package I can think of today.

Apple has no foreseeable substantial upside. For those who believe in Tesla, it's all upside.

 

[ajax]

Did Sterling also say "You ain't seen nothing yet" in this context, as captured in screenshots above? Wonder what he is hinting at.

Yes. In fact, the missing post was in response to the last guy in that screenshot. Maybe he's going to head up Boring/Tunnels

 

[schonelucht]

This has me concerned that Tesla was not satisfied by the rate of progress for ap, meaning that ap timelines might suffer for a bit while the new guy gets up to speed. Or, it could be that sterling was out either way and tesla was able to secure a (better?) replacement.

The new guy certainly has his work cut for him. EAP is running behind and the first unhappy customers are already venting on the forums. As usual some were not properly informed by their salesperson that the hardware wasn't yet functional and that you really cannot trust Tesla timelines at all when they say 'expected in December' (it still says so on the order pages...) It's AP1.0 all over.

The real concern to me is that what some expected way back is true : that Tesla prematurely ruptured the relationship with MobilEye or even worse, that it really was MobilEye that pulled the rug from under Tesla. A few weeks late is too early to make that conclusion for sure, but if weeks turn into months before EAP reaches feature parity on production level, that wouldn't be a good sign.

 

[Green Pete]

Did Sterling also say "You ain't seen nothing yet" in this context, as captured in screenshots above? Wonder what he is hinting at.

Twitter still says Tesla. And even if he's not at Tesla I bet he's got enough stock in it to still want the company to do well.

 

[Green Pete]

The new guy certainly has his work cut for him. EAP is running behind and the first unhappy customers are already venting on the forums. As usual some were not properly informed by their salesperson that the hardware wasn't yet functional and that you really cannot trust Tesla timelines at all when they say 'expected in December' (it still says so on the order pages...) It's AP1.0 all over.

The real concern to me is that what some expected way back is true : that Tesla prematurely ruptured the relationship with MobilEye or even worse, that it really was MobilEye that pulled the rug from under Tesla. A few weeks late is too early to make that conclusion for sure, but if weeks turn into months before EAP reaches feature parity on production level, that wouldn't be a good sign.

Isn't it supposed to hit parity this week?

 

[Green Pete]

Yes. In fact, the missing post was in response to the last guy in that screenshot. Maybe he's going to head up Boring/Tunnels

It occurred to me the other day that whoever owns those tunnels also has access to the cheapest geothermal heating and cooling in that area. Musk could easily hit ANOTHER home run with this.

 

[schonelucht]

Isn't it supposed to hit parity this week?

No. Latest tweet from Elon indicated auto steer would still be speed-restricted to under 35mph. There was no further indication on when it would reach full parity. The order page still says 'expected end of December'. Tesla's been really sloppy on the communication on this one.

 

[mmd]

Twitter still says Tesla. And even if he's not at Tesla I bet he's got enough stock in it to still want the company to do well.

May be he sold all his shares today. The stock was down because of his selling

Here is a blast from the past about unhappy AP developers.
Elon Musk's push for autopilot unnerves some Tesla employees
(r&t rehash: Tesla Employees Raised Concerns About Autopilot Long Before Fatal Crash)

 

[trentxintong]

Iiiiiiinteresting.

So what do we think about the LLVM/Swift guy? Is his hiring a positive catalyst of the SP-moving variety?

Its a very positive sign. I know Chris from work. But this may take months and years to be reflected on the SP =).

I think its amazing Tesla is willing to take Chris as VP for autopilot, given he is a compiler engineer.

Its a very bold move, but a very good move IMHO. Chris will most likely build them a great software team which competitors will have difficult time to rival.

 

[3Victoria]

Boy, this threat sure blows hot and cold! I really think we should wait a wee while before speculating terrible things.

 

[dennis]

Panasonic Hosting Hiring Fair For Tesla Gigafactory This Weekend

"Must be willing to work 12 hour day/night shift"

I guess this is not a union shop...

 

[mmd]

Tesla's been really sloppy on the communication on this one.

Sloppy is not the right word. What would have happened to Q4 sales if Tesla told the truth that AP 1.0 will reappear in May 2017? I tend to think, this is more of a False advertising - Wikipedia .

Its a very positive sign. I know Chris from work. But this may take months and years to be reflected on the SP =).

I think its amazing Tesla is willing to take Chris as VP for autopilot, given he is a compiler engineer.

Its a very bold move, but a very good move IMHO. Chris will most likely build them a great software team which competitors will have difficult time to rival.

Indeed, it is amazing. Lattner had a hard time publishing any paper about LLVM during his PhD at UIUC, as it is not really anything novel. The only new idea he had for his PhD is this 'pool allocator', which no one knows about today. It is not even shipped with LLVM anymore, and no one maintains it. But he has the drive, and a solid footing in C++ and other languages. Is that what a VP in autonomous driving needs? Time will tell.
http://llvm.org/pubs/2005-06-13-PLDI-PoolAllocSlides.pdf

 

[trils0n]

"Must be willing to work 12 hour day/night shift"

Tesla's employees in NV (assembly for powerwall/powerpack) work 12hr shifts as well, alternating between 3 and 4 day weeks, last I heard.