Sunday, October 27, 2024

Jon McNeill explains why EV startups fail

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Image Credits: World Business Forum

If you want to build an innovative company, you need to radically simplify both your goals and processes, according to Jon McNeill, the former Tesla and Lyft executive who's currently CEO at DVx Ventures.

McNeill's presentation at the World Business Forum last week offered a lesson in what he calls the "Tesla innovation method," which begins with questioning every requirement, then moves on to deleting every step in the process that you can.

Rebecca Bellan also sat down with McNeill to discuss Tesla's goals and the current electric vehicle landscape. Asked whether EV startups need someone as wild as Elon Musk at the helm, he replied, "I do think you need a crazy, effective leader to make it through the gauntlet of everything that you have to prove as a car company."

Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: Getty Images

VC megadeals are on the rise: Julie Bort examines Crunchbase data showing that there have already been 240 mega-rounds of more than $100 million this year, well ahead of last year's 210 — and that was for the full year! And it turns out biotech/health care, not AI, was the most popular sector. Read more

A solar startup betting on twisty panels: By creating a more flexible solar panel, Merlin Solar could make those panels easier to attach and allow them to follow the contours of different surfaces. Tim De Chant talks to founder and CTO Venkatesan Murali about his vision. Read more

A home projector for projector lovers: Brian Heater reviews the Hisense C2 Ultra, which he says is well-balanced, self-contained, and full of nice touches. But it costs $3,000, so you probably need to be "wholly committed to the projector lifestyle." Read more

What else we're reading

📗 Reddit CEO Steve Huffman talked to The Wall Street Journal about what the rise of AI means for his company. He acknowledged that generative AI seems to have lowered the overall quality of the internet, but in his view, this only makes Reddit feel more unique. Read more

📗 Also, there was some surprising drama around The Verge's interview with Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi. Read more

Before you go 🎬

Did you love Netflix's "Nobody Wants This"? Did you especially love the swooningly romantic song that played over the final scene? Well, it turns out that song comes with a perfect music video, too.