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> I'm all for engineers getting paid, but in this case the guy didn't even have to do what most wealthy engineers do: deliver an actual successful product to ma

> I'm all for engineers getting paid, but in this case the guy didn't even have to do what most wealthy engineers do: deliver an actual successful product to market. Anthony's efforts led to Streetview and Maps improvements. Waymo is still using his LIDAR research. I think Anthony is totally screwed with this lawsuit, but I wouldn't belittle his engineering accomplishments.

encoderer 9y ago
Oh, I'm not. But I don't think the other Maps engineers took home $100 Million. Google clearly thought it was in their best interest, but I stand by what I said: As an engineer, the most well beaten path to wealth is building something that sells. To get paid and not even have to do that is itself something of an accomplishment, though not one I'd be very proud of.
- linkregister 9y ago
  According to The Verge article on Levandowski, that is why he left GoogleX/Waymo: they wouldn't ship. And he was too outspoken to be in charge of Google X self-driving.
- jstandard 9y ago
  Just curious, do you have an inside scoop on what value he's brought to Google and other companies? In these types of situations where a lot of money is involved, I've noticed folks are pretty quick to vilify someone with little information aside from the heavily biased info that leaks into the news. While $120MM in a vacuum does sound ridiculous, it's hard to know (or even put a price on) his true value without understanding his contributions in depth. This criticism doesn't extend to you, but in general I've seen a lot of the same folks make snap judgements about someone's ability based on what they've read from news and then vehemently decry how job interviews (which yield far more information) aren't effective at judging someone's worth.
  - encoderer 9y ago
    I think I've not made myself clear. I don't vilify $100mm pay days. Honestly engineering doesn't usually take home what I think it deserves. But to get $120 mill and be building competing startups the entire time seems pretty sleazy. I don't know where I'd draw the line of "you are being fully compensated for your time" but I'd say $10+ mill a year clears it. Also, if they valued his equity grants at $120mm and he held much, he likely netted far more. Not many words would be written about his pay day if he made a clean break from google before building a competing product.
GalacticCmdr 9y ago
The problem is that if this is proven against him then this is all people will remember of him. It is a real fall from his accomplishments.
Schwolop 9y ago
The guy built a self-driving motorcycle. I laughed at the first DARPA Grand Challenge when it travelled 30cm before falling over. I ate my words the next year when it made it most of the way. By comparison, after a year of learning to ride a motorbike I barely make it to work each day without shitting myself.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  Why does he get all of the credit for this? He was part of a team.
  - Schwolop 9y ago
    Sure, but he was the team leader. I was part of a team that built autonomous vehicles too, but the fact that there were others involved doesn't stop me writing "built an autonomous vehicle" on my CV.
    - org3432 9y ago
      There was no team without him, period.
      - bryanrasmussen 9y ago
        on the other hand there was no stolen intellectual property without him either.
        thowaway60 9y ago
        haha
      - thesmallestcat 9y ago
        Why do you say that?
_pmf_ 9y ago
> but I wouldn't belittle his engineering accomplishments. It's not belittling engineering efforts if one states that rewarding a non-production research project with 120 million would be adequate in a lot of cases.

encoderer 9y ago

Oh, I'm not. But I don't think the other Maps engineers took home $100 Million. Google clearly thought it was in their best interest, but I stand by what I said: As an engineer, the most well beaten path to wealth is building something that sells. To get paid and not even have to do that is itself something of an accomplishment, though not one I'd be very proud of.

linkregister 9y ago
According to The Verge article on Levandowski, that is why he left GoogleX/Waymo: they wouldn't ship. And he was too outspoken to be in charge of Google X self-driving.
jstandard 9y ago
Just curious, do you have an inside scoop on what value he's brought to Google and other companies? In these types of situations where a lot of money is involved, I've noticed folks are pretty quick to vilify someone with little information aside from the heavily biased info that leaks into the news. While $120MM in a vacuum does sound ridiculous, it's hard to know (or even put a price on) his true value without understanding his contributions in depth. This criticism doesn't extend to you, but in general I've seen a lot of the same folks make snap judgements about someone's ability based on what they've read from news and then vehemently decry how job interviews (which yield far more information) aren't effective at judging someone's worth.
- encoderer 9y ago
  I think I've not made myself clear. I don't vilify $100mm pay days. Honestly engineering doesn't usually take home what I think it deserves. But to get $120 mill and be building competing startups the entire time seems pretty sleazy. I don't know where I'd draw the line of "you are being fully compensated for your time" but I'd say $10+ mill a year clears it. Also, if they valued his equity grants at $120mm and he held much, he likely netted far more. Not many words would be written about his pay day if he made a clean break from google before building a competing product.

GalacticCmdr 9y ago

The problem is that if this is proven against him then this is all people will remember of him. It is a real fall from his accomplishments.

Schwolop 9y ago

The guy built a self-driving motorcycle. I laughed at the first DARPA Grand Challenge when it travelled 30cm before falling over. I ate my words the next year when it made it most of the way. By comparison, after a year of learning to ride a motorbike I barely make it to work each day without shitting myself.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
thesmallestcat 9y ago
Why does he get all of the credit for this? He was part of a team.
- Schwolop 9y ago
  Sure, but he was the team leader. I was part of a team that built autonomous vehicles too, but the fact that there were others involved doesn't stop me writing "built an autonomous vehicle" on my CV.
  - org3432 9y ago
    There was no team without him, period.
    - bryanrasmussen 9y ago
      on the other hand there was no stolen intellectual property without him either.
      - thowaway60 9y ago
        haha
    - thesmallestcat 9y ago
      Why do you say that?

_pmf_ 9y ago

> but I wouldn't belittle his engineering accomplishments. It's not belittling engineering efforts if one states that rewarding a non-production research project with 120 million would be adequate in a lot of cases.