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EV startup Rivian announces $2.5B funding round led by Amazon, Ford
- oh_sigh 5y agoFurther cementing the idea that Bezos wants to be Musk.
- judge2020 5y agoMaybe, but my leading guess is that there are only so many areas where a billionaire can throw billions of dollars and actually feel like they're contributing to (taking over) the future of humanity - with electric cars and privatized space transport being the safest bets.
- oh_sigh 5y agoI agree, it's just sad that they jumped on an internet-hyped nothing of a company instead of just spinning up their own.
- bdcravens 5y agoMusk bought into Tesla; he didn't create it. This was before they even released their first product.
- cracker_jacks 5y agoThese were only safe after one of those billionaires actually proved it. Before SpaceX and Tesla, both these things were considered untenable.
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoI suspect the Nissan Leaf would have happened with or without Tesla.
- cma 5y agoBlue Origin predates SpaceX.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jdavis703 5y agoDid Bezos participate in this round? It looks like Amazon invested, but Amazon is no longer run by Bezos.
- bdcravens 5y agoHe is Executive Chair of the board
- missedthecue 5y agoBlue origin predates SpaceX
- onethought 5y agoAre you suggesting that it's vice versa? Because it seems SpaceX (even from its name) has always had a MUCH bigger vision than blue origin. Were Blue Origin pursuing reusability before SpaceX? Bezos getting into electric cars, Blue Origin trying to get into Satellite Internet it always reeks of sub-par copycatness
- cma 5y agoYes. > Charon made its only test flight at Moses Lake, Washington on March 5, 2005. It flew to an altitude of 96 m (316 ft) before returning for a controlled landing near the liftoff point. The name is more ambitious too as it isn't just about exploration but expansion. Rivian was also founded at the same time as Musk became a retroactive fouder-in-name of Tesla.
- onethought 5y agoFair point. I wonder what the reason for the lack of output is. They’ve yet to make an orbital launch vehicle, and can only land from a straight up launch… that feels like an easier problem to solve. Meanwhile SpaceX are onto their 3rd/4th generation of launch vehicle and are doing more launches than everyone else combined. Tesla when Elon “took over” made the roadster (a drive train for a lotus Elise), no real brand and no real identity. The founder-in-name is a pretty shitty dig. He has been directly involved in the Model S/X/3/Y Wozniak built the Apple II. Is Jobs less of a founder?
- cma 5y agoIMO Musk is more like if Ronald Wayne had joined late and started being called founder through a lawuit settlement over something bad he had done, then took over and bailed out his cousin's company he had a financial interest in using a fraudulent merger. Maybe with the energy/grid connection more of a Kenneth Lay.
- analognoise 5y agoI talked with Rivian recently. 100% got the impression they're trying to pump candidates for relevant IP from their previous employers. "Put together a detailed presentation on something you worked on. The more detailed the better - code, schematics, block diagrams". Um, excuse me? Did you just ask for IP from my previous employer, directly?
- xedeon 5y agoTesla filed a lawsuit for precisely this questionable practice. “According to the lawsuit Tesla claims, Jesica Siron took proprietary information regarding manufacturing project management, controls specification for manufacturing equipment, specifications for manufacturing equipment...” https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/23/21335638/tesla-rivian-lawsuit-confidential-information-trade-secrets https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/23/21335638/tesla-rivian-law...
- analognoise 5y agoOh wow, this absolutely tracks with the impression I got. Disgusting.
- ISL 5y agoThey could be checking to see whether you'd be likely to disclose Rivian IP in the future. Seems like a, "Sorry, can't do that. I honor my contracts." would suffice. If the interviewer pushed again for proprietary information, their intent would be clear.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- analognoise 5y agoNo. I was there, it wasn't N dimensional chess. That's what I'm saying - I said "I can't do that" and their demeanor changed totally and obviously. It was super obvious they were lining up people to do deep presentations on their previous employers IP.
- legerdemain 5y agoRivian is also about self-driving vehicles. What happened to Zoox?
- hn_throwaway_99 5y agoThe investment from Ford is interesting. Wouldn't Rivian compete directly with the announced Ford F-150 Lightning?
- notatoad 5y agoIIRC the Ford/rivian relationship predates the electric F150.
- azernik 5y agoBetter to have your business cannibalized by a company you (partly) own than to have it cannibalized by other competitors.
- kjksf 5y agoFord first invested $500 million in Rivian in 2019. At the time they also announced that they'll be using Rivian's skateboard platform for Ford's cars. Later on that has been scrapped. So why do they continue investing? I don't really know but it might be an option for future collaboration / licensing Rivian's IP. Rivian has been working on EV technology since 2009. Ford... not so much. I think the reason you see so many EV announcements from Ford (and GM and Honda and Mercedes and...) in 2021 is because they all suddenly realized they need to press a panic button. However, you don't just build battery / electric drive train expertise overnight so Ford might be keeping their options open for collaborating with Rivian in the future. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2019/04/24/rivian-500-million-investment-ford.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2019...
- 07d046 5y ago> I think the reason you see so many EV announcements from Ford (and GM and Honda and Mercedes and...) in 2021 is because they all suddenly realized they need to press a panic button. Alternatively, maybe because the traditional manufacturers timed the critical point where it made economic sense to focus on electric cars in the same way?
- 5y ago
- cavisne 5y agoAll without delivering a single retail car.
- lordofgibbons 5y agoYou can't really build a car factory on nights and weekends. Factories require billions of dollars in investments. I don't see how you can expect them to have delivered a car before raising money
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- onethought 5y agoThey've raised 6 billion BEFORE this. This takes them to 8.5 total... 100% they should have delivered something by now.
- clouddrover 5y agoThey have. Rivian has delivered Amazon delivery vehicles which make deliveries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJJNTVy62PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJJNTVy62PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LGtskt4YGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LGtskt4YGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzRDuLo3K6Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzRDuLo3K6Q Deliveries of the R1T should start in September after being delayed: https://www.thedrive.com/news/41578/rivian-r1t-deliveries-arent-starting-this-month-after-all https://www.thedrive.com/news/41578/rivian-r1t-deliveries-ar...
- pengaru 5y agoInteresting timing considering TSLA earnings is next week
- freediver 5y agoCompany founded in 2009 with $8bn in funding is called a startup! So, is Google still a startup? When does a startup end being one? What should I call my actual startup these days? A nano-startup? ;)
- newsclues 5y agoShip a product and let the market prove its successful or fail.
- chii 5y agoa startup is a company that is trying a business model that hasn't been tried before. The amount of money has nothing to do with being or not being a startup. This is why you don't call opening a new restaurant a startup.
- joelbluminator 5y agoI don't think thats true. Lots of companies aren't really innovating but just do small variations on existing solutions with nice marketing. Think about all the new companies we see now: ad tech, cyber security, employee collaberation etc etc. Are they all operating in unknown models? They may not have a product market fit but thats a different beast.
- Hamuko 5y agoI once got contacted by a major (at least by national scale) company with a history of 100+ years and revenue in the billions of euro, asking if I'd be interested in working in one of their departments, describing it as "a startup of some sorts".
- BerislavLopac 5y agoThere are several definitions of the word. This company fits one, often used by VCs and the media, which is that a startup is a company still developing a product, either with no revenue of not enough to cover its expenses, and funded by external investments. My personal definition is a company which is still looking for a product-market fit.
- magwa101 5y agoPosh offices, tons of press, zero trucks delivered. I can see lots of surprises coming from rivian in the future.
- vermasque 5y agoRivians were featured in the Apple TV+ documentary series A Long Way Up which was pretty good for those looking for travel/adventure stuff.
- xyst 5y agoI am personally excited for the R1T. It’s the last EV in which I still have a reservation.