6 ms·

It's very hard to believe that Ford will be able to compete for talent with the hottest startups in Silicon Valley. Would someone really take a position there

It's very hard to believe that Ford will be able to compete for talent with the hottest startups in Silicon Valley. Would someone really take a position there over a similar one at Google, Apple or Uber? Or a smaller startup?

mmkx 11y ago
Yeah, I would.
ryguytilidie 11y ago
I'm a HUGE auto nerd. I'm pretty happy at my job but stuff like this would be the kind of thing that might make me listen...
ryanSrich 11y ago
Out of those three you mentioned? No brainer. But those aren't startups, by any stretch of the word. What ford really has to compete with is actual startups. Companies that are 10-100 people, offering positions where people can make a difference.
- jzwinck 11y ago
  People can make a difference in a startup if it takes off. They can also make a difference by doing a small part of the work of a huge company which half the people in the world have heard about and from which hundreds of millions of people buy very expensive, important products. If Ford can convince us that working for them is a path toward making motoring better for a hundred thousand people per vehicle model, wouldn't we be interested? Or are we only up for hacking on prototypes whose main hope of mass production is getting acquired by a major maker?
  - ryanSrich 11y ago
    Different strokes I guess. My main point was that at a startup I most likely would have the opportunity to shape the engineering culture, hire people, architect, and build a company from the ground up. I wouldn't have to deal with the horrifying corporate culture that comes with any massive company.
- optimusclimb 11y ago
  Without going on a spiel about the realities (often times) of working for startups, I'd say that - if Ford gets/hires the right people, I can't see a major reason not to consider them over many an SV startup. They at the least should have resources.
HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
Absolutely. Working on auto-related stuff would be far more interesting to me than any of those three you mentioned.
- brobinson 11y ago
  Same here. I'd love to work in automotive tech. I recently came across Koenigsegg's camshaft-less, pneumatic valve actuator system and it made me question everything I know about cars/bikes.
  - mathattack 11y ago
    But you would prefer Ford over working at Apple or Google's auto groups? Or Tesla?
    - brobinson 11y ago
      Good question... I guess I don't really care as long as the projects I get to work on are interesting and I actually get to work rather than dealing with bureaucracy. I like when big companies essentially create internal startups which are independently managed.
      - mathattack 11y ago
        Subsidiaries are better than the mothership, but it's very hard for subsidiaries to get things done. (Lots of great ideas at Xerox/PARC, but they struggled to bring any to market) The Ford subsidiaries are forbidden from selling outside of Ford. That limits the customer base. Meanwhile, there won't be much in the way of equity, so hiring/retaining will be tough.
        HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
        The overwhelming majority of businesses do not give their employees any equity. I think that will be the least of their problems.
chrisan 11y ago
Some would have said the same thing about Microsoft yet they are turning things around into an exciting place again Secondly, $$$ can go a long way in competing for talent
- sjdhvsi 11y ago
  Anon for obvious reasons. I got an offer from the SV Ford location and it was about 1/2 of what Google offered, if you count everything.
  - vinay427 11y ago
    What were your general perceptions of the team from the interview process, if you don't mind sharing?
  - ghaff 11y ago
    It's really unclear to me why a Ford would try to compete in SV given the level of competition and CoL. Sure, maybe establish an innovation center somewhere other than Michigan if only to send a signal that this is something new.But if you're trying to get good people, offer premiums in other locations that have a lot of good people--or even figure out some innovative remote work/travel work programs. You don't take on the Googles head-on.
  - GrinningFool 11y ago
    Could you be more specific about "everything"?
Someone 11y ago
Chances are there's somebody who is #2 at one of those companies and wants to be #1 and call the shots. Give that person a call, promise a budget in the millions and a chance to his product in millions of cars within a few years, and see what happens. Better for Ford, there will be a #2 who isn't #2 on purely technical grounds but just because (s)he didn't arrive at just the right time, like the current #1 luckily did.
RealityVoid 11y ago
In my experience, the SW in the auto industry is broken and inefficient.

mmkx 11y ago

Yeah, I would.

ryguytilidie 11y ago

I'm a HUGE auto nerd. I'm pretty happy at my job but stuff like this would be the kind of thing that might make me listen...

ryanSrich 11y ago

Out of those three you mentioned? No brainer. But those aren't startups, by any stretch of the word. What ford really has to compete with is actual startups. Companies that are 10-100 people, offering positions where people can make a difference.

jzwinck 11y ago
People can make a difference in a startup if it takes off. They can also make a difference by doing a small part of the work of a huge company which half the people in the world have heard about and from which hundreds of millions of people buy very expensive, important products. If Ford can convince us that working for them is a path toward making motoring better for a hundred thousand people per vehicle model, wouldn't we be interested? Or are we only up for hacking on prototypes whose main hope of mass production is getting acquired by a major maker?
- ryanSrich 11y ago
  Different strokes I guess. My main point was that at a startup I most likely would have the opportunity to shape the engineering culture, hire people, architect, and build a company from the ground up. I wouldn't have to deal with the horrifying corporate culture that comes with any massive company.
optimusclimb 11y ago
Without going on a spiel about the realities (often times) of working for startups, I'd say that - if Ford gets/hires the right people, I can't see a major reason not to consider them over many an SV startup. They at the least should have resources.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

Absolutely. Working on auto-related stuff would be far more interesting to me than any of those three you mentioned.

brobinson 11y ago
Same here. I'd love to work in automotive tech. I recently came across Koenigsegg's camshaft-less, pneumatic valve actuator system and it made me question everything I know about cars/bikes.
- mathattack 11y ago
  But you would prefer Ford over working at Apple or Google's auto groups? Or Tesla?
  - brobinson 11y ago
    Good question... I guess I don't really care as long as the projects I get to work on are interesting and I actually get to work rather than dealing with bureaucracy. I like when big companies essentially create internal startups which are independently managed.
    - mathattack 11y ago
      Subsidiaries are better than the mothership, but it's very hard for subsidiaries to get things done. (Lots of great ideas at Xerox/PARC, but they struggled to bring any to market) The Ford subsidiaries are forbidden from selling outside of Ford. That limits the customer base. Meanwhile, there won't be much in the way of equity, so hiring/retaining will be tough.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
        The overwhelming majority of businesses do not give their employees any equity. I think that will be the least of their problems.

chrisan 11y ago

Some would have said the same thing about Microsoft yet they are turning things around into an exciting place again Secondly, $$$ can go a long way in competing for talent

sjdhvsi 11y ago
Anon for obvious reasons. I got an offer from the SV Ford location and it was about 1/2 of what Google offered, if you count everything.
- vinay427 11y ago
  What were your general perceptions of the team from the interview process, if you don't mind sharing?
- ghaff 11y ago
  It's really unclear to me why a Ford would try to compete in SV given the level of competition and CoL. Sure, maybe establish an innovation center somewhere other than Michigan if only to send a signal that this is something new.But if you're trying to get good people, offer premiums in other locations that have a lot of good people--or even figure out some innovative remote work/travel work programs. You don't take on the Googles head-on.
- GrinningFool 11y ago
  Could you be more specific about "everything"?

Someone 11y ago

Chances are there's somebody who is #2 at one of those companies and wants to be #1 and call the shots. Give that person a call, promise a budget in the millions and a chance to his product in millions of cars within a few years, and see what happens. Better for Ford, there will be a #2 who isn't #2 on purely technical grounds but just because (s)he didn't arrive at just the right time, like the current #1 luckily did.

RealityVoid 11y ago

In my experience, the SW in the auto industry is broken and inefficient.