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That's an interesting team page. They have, by my count, 20 engineers total, and 45 other employees in categories like administration, business, sales, finance,

That's an interesting team page. They have, by my count, 20 engineers total, and 45 other employees in categories like administration, business, sales, finance, leadership, marketing, operations, management, and other positions that don't actually build the phone. Plus Cosmo and Henry...if only there were more employees like those two.

jonas21 7y ago
They were building a phone, not a web app. Negotiating with suppliers, making sure your contract manufacturer is doing things right, getting people excited about your product, and not running out of money are all really important.
- notyourday 7y ago
  It seems that they failed at product, finance and execution.
- LeifCarrotson 7y ago
  Revenue comes from shipping a product, right? If you have no product, you're guaranteed to run out of money.
VWWHFSfQ 7y ago
do you think that it only takes engineers to build a phone. that it only takes engineers to keep a company running
- LeifCarrotson 7y ago
  No, I don't think it takes only engineers to run a good phone company. I dispute, however, that it takes mostly administration. And my concern seems to be validated by the outcome - they failed to build and ship the phone. They have a really shiny website, nice renderings and concepts, good market awareness...but no product. It seems self-evident to me that it's impossible for a company to function on only administration and no product. You have to have engineers to actually ship a product, if you have none and ship nothing, the company is guaranteed to fail. However, if you have only engineering and no administration, yeah, things will be a mess, marketing will be basic word-of-mouth, and the design will be fragmented, but if the product works, exists, and is able to be purchased the company can hobble along and fix the rest later.
stingrae 7y ago
The team was much larger. Engineers have more options when things go poorly.

jonas21 7y ago

They were building a phone, not a web app. Negotiating with suppliers, making sure your contract manufacturer is doing things right, getting people excited about your product, and not running out of money are all really important.

notyourday 7y ago
It seems that they failed at product, finance and execution.
LeifCarrotson 7y ago
Revenue comes from shipping a product, right? If you have no product, you're guaranteed to run out of money.

VWWHFSfQ 7y ago

do you think that it only takes engineers to build a phone. that it only takes engineers to keep a company running

LeifCarrotson 7y ago
No, I don't think it takes only engineers to run a good phone company. I dispute, however, that it takes mostly administration. And my concern seems to be validated by the outcome - they failed to build and ship the phone. They have a really shiny website, nice renderings and concepts, good market awareness...but no product. It seems self-evident to me that it's impossible for a company to function on only administration and no product. You have to have engineers to actually ship a product, if you have none and ship nothing, the company is guaranteed to fail. However, if you have only engineering and no administration, yeah, things will be a mess, marketing will be basic word-of-mouth, and the design will be fragmented, but if the product works, exists, and is able to be purchased the company can hobble along and fix the rest later.

stingrae 7y ago

The team was much larger. Engineers have more options when things go poorly.