challenges of an ev start-up · product people company challenges execution notes from spoken...

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© 2017 FF – CONFIDENTIAL

CHALLENGES OF AN EV START-UP11.07.17

Notes from spoken Content:

Personal and professional background – Stability Control and Vehicle Dynamics

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BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE


Support for over 10 OEMs while positioned in Detroit and Germany

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Nürburgring Industry Pool license, and several performance driving certifications

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BMW drift training, drifting on the lakebeds of Sweden…Seemed like the perfect career, however when asked for more: “You’re doing a great job, just keep doing what you’ve been given”

I was ready for new challenges

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FINDING FARADAY


Faraday Future reached out, and I went for an onsite interview.

Skeptical: Build a car from scratch, limited money, skeleton crew, half the time?

Impressed: Talent, passion, and insane speed of progress

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Electronic Stability Program (ESP)

ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, STABILITY CONTROL


Accepted the position. First day conversation:

“Where should I start, ABS, Traction Control?”

“Well, I’m designing the hydraulic brakes, and we don’t have anyone looking into the software for any of the Chassis Controls, so if you could help, that’d be great”

“Sure, ok, I can dig into that. Can you send me the architecture and the dbc file?”

“We don’t have one”

“Wait, what?”

“I guess you should probably get started…”

My scope instantly changed from making a “big jump” to own all stability control functionality, to architecting one of the most complex Chassis Controls systems in the industry, with a deadline of 2 months, and a team of… 1

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CHASSIS CONTROLS

Electronic Stability Program (ESP)

Electric PowerSteering (EPS)

Power Assisted Brakes (IBST)

Air Suspension Damping Module (ASDM)

Electric ParkBrake (EPB)

Active Rear Steering (ARS)


While my heart sunk in fear of the unknown, and self doubt, I realized, “This is what I’ve been asking for all along”

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CHASSIS CONTROLS – TEST BENCH

Electric Power Steering

Active Rear Steering

Electronic Stability Program

iBooster Power Brake Assist

Air Suspension

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BETA FLEET


It was time to build the Beta car – First attempt of a production intent body, chassis, wiring harness, and internal controllers.

Dynamic Vehicle Control description and video: https://www.ff.com/us/futuresight/ff-91-dynamic-vehicle-control/

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CES


Team effort to build the CES vehicle and showcase functionality

Transition to cross-functional feature owners

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FF 91 ELECTRICAL ARCHITECTURE


Realization of necessity of Cross Functional team within the organization

Transition to Head of Systems Engineering and Integration

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CHALLENGES

PRODUCT PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES

EXECUTIONNotes from spoken Content:

From my personal experiences, here are four main pillars that will be prevalent challenges within a newly established Start-up

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PRODUCT

PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES

PRODUCT


Before hiring a large team, establishing a company, or buying a building, we first need to determine the PRODUCT

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START FROM SCRATCH

NO LIBRARY Notes from spoken Content:

No existing library for baseline

i.e. Cannot take an existing vehicle and add Electric Propulsion

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PRODUCT STRATEGY – BENCHMARK Example Content


Where do you start?

Benchmark competitor market

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PRODUCT STRATEGY – AVOID: BEST OF EVERYTHING Example Content


Be extremely cautious of scope creep. Avoid targeting the best of everything

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PRODUCT STRATEGY – AVOID: CURRENT PRODUCT Example Content


Avoid targeting existing market only, competitor product will continue to improve. Don’t get stuck in their tailwinds

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PRODUCT STRATEGY – DIFFERENTIATE Example Content


Target strategic differentiation

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R e t u r n( U s e r V a l u e )

I n v e s t m e n t( D e v e l o p m e n t C o s t )

L o w

H i g h

L o w H i g hF e a t u r e

L o w C o s tH i g h V a l u e

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Example Content


Prioritize feature development by assessing the Return On Investment score

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A D A S P E R F O R M A N C E C O M F O R T

C O N N E C T I V I T Y R E F I N E M E N T R A N G E

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Example Content


Apply this method to each category and attribute

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START FROM SCRATCH

NO DATABASE NO LIBRARY


No database of functional or customer requirements. Need input/output, architecture, and requirement flow-down database

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Button

Seats

Input Architecture Output

Functional Requirement

PRODUCT FLOWNotes from spoken Content:

A simple feature architecture can become extremely complex when adding functionality

i.e. Adding voice, cloud presets, facial recognition, AI, etc

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Lack of Requirements Bottom – Up Design

BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

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PEOPLE

PRODUCT PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES

EXECUTION


Find the right people with a mix of abilities: Collaborative attitude, technical expertise, ownership, seeks challenges, embraces change, and a tad bit crazy…

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SOLID ARCHITECTURE


What makes up a strong Electrical Architecture?

A backbone this is reliable, fast communication, process a lot of information, trust to make important decisions

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ETHERNET CORE LEADERSHIP TEAM

NETWORK COMMUNICATION

START-UP

SOLID ARCHITECTURE


Same characteristics are needed for a solid leadership team!

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SCALING


So much work to do, it’s time to scale. HIRE!

Wait… Ensure you create a distributed system with proper spans and layers

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PERSONNEL POSITIONING


Start-ups attract “Rockstars” (Contributors who can tackle complex problems with great quality results)

Not all Rockstars are great leaders. “Rockstars often love a solo”

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SPANS & LAYERS

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DOMAIN CONTROLLERS = MANAGEMENT

+ Domain Controllers: Masters of their Network

– TX (Transmit):

– Distribute to Team as Necessary

– Inform their network of overall status and provide actionable items

– RX & TX Communication:

– Communication with Domain Controllers across the Backbone

– RX (Receive):

– Update Packages and Clear Direction from Vehicle Controller

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ECUS = INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS

+ ECUs: Own Delivery of a Specific Functionality

– TX:

– Status Communication with devices within Network

– Acknowledge Requests and Deliver

– RX:

– Commands through Domain Controller

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START FROM SCRATCH

NO PROCESS NO DATABASE NO LIBRARY


No established process

Waterfall vs Agile?Waterfall – All requirements up frontAgile – Fast and frequent iterations

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EXECUTION

PRODUCT PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES

EXECUTION


How to achieve the best of both Agile and Waterfall? Hybrid approach

Structure and guidelines. Trust your team, but verify at checkpoints

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V 3 . 0V 1 . 0 V 2 . 0C u r r e n t S O P

0.17 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29

S o f t w a r eR e l e a s e s

V e h i c l e R o a d m a p

V e h i c l e M i l e s t o n e s

PROGRAM ROADMAP


Vehicle Milestones for alignment

WHO is involved?

WHAT is expected?

WHEN is it due?

HOW should it perform?

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Design Strategy Prototype Assessment

Design Strategy Design Strategy

ASSESSMENT ITERATION


Value of Prototype Assessment

Prior: “We’re all aligned”

Post: We need to regroup and drive changes

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Vertical Organization

S O P

P o t e n t i a l w a s t e d e f f o r t = $ $ $

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Vertical with Limited Horizontal

S O P

P o t e n t i a l w a s t e d e f f o r t = $ $ $ P o t e n t i a l w a s t e d e f f o r t = $ $

S O P

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Vertical & Horizontal

S O P

$

P o t e n t i a l w a s t e d e f f o r t = $

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COMPANY

PRODUCT PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES

EXECUTION

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NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK


Many EV Start-ups: Good for innovation, need to work together on infrastructure

Building a car from scratch takes time:2003 – Tesla Formed2008 – Roadster Released2009 – Model S Concept2012 – Model S Released2015 – 50,000 Annual Sales

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KEEPING UP WITH THE PACK


Not only start-ups, also big OEMs joining the race

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+ Business Plan

+ Culture

+ Brand

+ Legal

+ Marketing

+ Sales

+ Communications

+ Facilities

+ Funding

+ Company

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BACKBONE

+ Communication Across Different Languages

– Spoken Language

– Cultural Differences

– Experience & Background

– Methods of Operation & Process

+ Communication Protocols are Essential!

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CHALLENGES

PRODUCT PEOPLE

COMPANY

CHALLENGES


Start-ups have a lot of challenges, but what are the key take aways that I’ve learned?

It takes determination, a willingness to fail, embrace the uncomfortable, never stop learning.

Drown out the noise: External company, internal company, and even self-doubt!

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CONCLUSION

1 1 : 2 5 . 0 8 2 - N E W E V R E C O R DNotes from spoken Content:

Find ways to be scrappy

Development, teamwork, and marketing on a small budget

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EL MIRAGE SALT FLATS

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ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

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Thanks!

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