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Welcome to the sausage factory. Being a startup is like being a gladiator. Every day is another war. Every day other startups die. Every day of survival doe

Welcome to the sausage factory. Being a startup is like being a gladiator. Every day is another war. Every day other startups die. Every day of survival doesn't fill you with relief; you just think of tomorrow's doom. The general public only sees the sausages that come out of the factory. They only see the glory of massively successful companies like Dropbox. They would be horrified if they saw inside. The blood dripping through the grated floor. The graveyard of bones ground up and spit out as meal for the next "lucky" founder. This week the public has gotten a taste of how Tesla's sausage is made. Truth is; every day for Tesla has been like this. The truth is, every day in Tesla's life has been the closest it has ever come to death. Those in HN who've built a company know this. But they also know _why_ they suffer this pain. A mere two months ago SpaceX launched humanity's dreams into the outer reaches. Meanwhile Tesla is single-handedly altering the course of ground transportation. Last weekend we took a trip to San Diego in a Tesla. An all electric trip, charged up using the solar panels at our home, with most of the travel time driven by autopilot. The future drove us there and back again. That's why Tesla does what it does. I don't see the point in discussing Tesla's financials and their "impending" doom. Instead, I think the only appropriate thing to say is... Nos morituri te salutamus

Balgair 9y ago
I mean, this attitude is alright for a dog-walker app. But when Uber (and possibly Tesla) kills a person, it kinda changes the whole conversation, don't you think?
- nate_meurer 9y ago
  How do you mean? How do you think the risks (which are expected given the very high stakes here) should change the parent's perspective?
  - Balgair 9y ago
    Like EVs, yeah great, love it. Great job by the engineers there. Good stuff. But it's the auto-driving that seems to be sub-par thus far. Though the data isn't public (mostly), it seems like the auto-driving software is worse than the average driver. Again, seems.
    - AstralStorm 9y ago
      Probably is really not, just people believe they are better drivers than they really are. It is a well documented Wobegon Lake effect. That said, the failure modes are really different. And technically someone Coyle design a smoke test for self driving cars that would put in some confidence into their abilities. We do that for human drivers, it is called a driving exam. Could be extended as much as we want it.
      - Balgair 9y ago
        Um, no. Uber has to intervene in their self-driving car every 13 miles, on average. And they killed a person at 1/4th the mileage of an average person. Again, it's one data point, but a cause for concern nonetheless. That's not a Keillorism, that's plain bad. I agree that the cars need certs though, each and every one.
- jazzyk 9y ago
  It will sound terribly insensitive, but many, many more people die in "regular" car accidents every single day. The number of deaths in envelope-pushing, new tech, accidents, compared to regular traffic deaths, is minuscule.
  - Balgair 9y ago
    I mean, yeah, that's really insensitive. It's not about the number in this situation, it's about the stats. Uber's cars kill at a higher rate than the average driver. Granted, that stat is based on 1 data point, so it's not really a stat at all. Still, like, a ton more testing is obviously needed before these should be allowed anywhere near a school. Like, you wanna test a jet-pack? Be my guest. I'll grab a fire extinguisher when/if it fails. You wanna test a jet-pack near with dog in your arms? Dude, no way.
  - SPBS 9y ago
    But we don't know how much of that is due to regular cars usage being much larger in volume compared to electric. Only way we'd know is if electric car usage ramps up to comparative levels, which seems quite far away given the current climate
- DrScump 9y ago
  possibly Tesla) kills a person There's a big difference between "kills a person" and "doesn't always prevent a person from killing himself (and/or others)".
  - Balgair 9y ago
    wait, you're blaming that lady in the Uber crash, is that correct?
    - DrScump 9y ago
      No, this thread is about Tesla, not Uber.

Balgair 9y ago

I mean, this attitude is alright for a dog-walker app. But when Uber (and possibly Tesla) kills a person, it kinda changes the whole conversation, don't you think?

nate_meurer 9y ago
How do you mean? How do you think the risks (which are expected given the very high stakes here) should change the parent's perspective?
- Balgair 9y ago
  Like EVs, yeah great, love it. Great job by the engineers there. Good stuff. But it's the auto-driving that seems to be sub-par thus far. Though the data isn't public (mostly), it seems like the auto-driving software is worse than the average driver. Again, seems.
  - AstralStorm 9y ago
    Probably is really not, just people believe they are better drivers than they really are. It is a well documented Wobegon Lake effect. That said, the failure modes are really different. And technically someone Coyle design a smoke test for self driving cars that would put in some confidence into their abilities. We do that for human drivers, it is called a driving exam. Could be extended as much as we want it.
    - Balgair 9y ago
      Um, no. Uber has to intervene in their self-driving car every 13 miles, on average. And they killed a person at 1/4th the mileage of an average person. Again, it's one data point, but a cause for concern nonetheless. That's not a Keillorism, that's plain bad. I agree that the cars need certs though, each and every one.
jazzyk 9y ago
It will sound terribly insensitive, but many, many more people die in "regular" car accidents every single day. The number of deaths in envelope-pushing, new tech, accidents, compared to regular traffic deaths, is minuscule.
- Balgair 9y ago
  I mean, yeah, that's really insensitive. It's not about the number in this situation, it's about the stats. Uber's cars kill at a higher rate than the average driver. Granted, that stat is based on 1 data point, so it's not really a stat at all. Still, like, a ton more testing is obviously needed before these should be allowed anywhere near a school. Like, you wanna test a jet-pack? Be my guest. I'll grab a fire extinguisher when/if it fails. You wanna test a jet-pack near with dog in your arms? Dude, no way.
- SPBS 9y ago
  But we don't know how much of that is due to regular cars usage being much larger in volume compared to electric. Only way we'd know is if electric car usage ramps up to comparative levels, which seems quite far away given the current climate
DrScump 9y ago
possibly Tesla) kills a person There's a big difference between "kills a person" and "doesn't always prevent a person from killing himself (and/or others)".
- Balgair 9y ago
  wait, you're blaming that lady in the Uber crash, is that correct?
  - DrScump 9y ago
    No, this thread is about Tesla, not Uber.