Highly recommend this interview from the All-In Podcast summit with Tekedra N. Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo. Great work by Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David O. Sacks, and David Friedberg. Here are some insights that stood out to me: 🚦 Why does Waymo avoid freeways? Freeways are pretty straightforward and Waymo is more focused on denser, unpredictable environments since they help the AI learn faster and better. 🤖 Tekedra referenced the ‘Waymo Driver’ often, which is an interesting term - in a way, they are building ‘one new driver’. 🤝 Will Waymo disrupt and decimate Uber? Well they’re partners so it would be an awkward yes so take this one with a grain of salt. Tekedra said that they don’t want to be experts at everything. They partner with OEMS on the vehicle side, so it made sense to partner with Uber on the rideshare platform side. I buy that.
Tarun Vaish
6mo
Glad to know I wasn't the only one nerding out on seeing Tekedra in a long form, unscripted interview (kudos to Besties for bringing her to the summit)! I was hoping that this would be the first time where she would talk about unit economics, but she tactfully dodged the Q around 8 and 20-minute marks (good job, Waymo PR team). Wouldn't you say what Tesla is building in FSD "one new driver" too?
Partner....carefully, please, not just financially lucrative (or cost reducing). Tell your regulatory compliance story deliberately, be of one mind and one voice across the entire company. I am not a regulator anymore, but a potential user of your services, have different expectations of an OEMS provider trying to do autonomy. Trolley problem/dilemma always. There is compliance/safety and then there is beyond compliance/safety. Which is an easier sell to regulatory agencies? The cost adverse or the beyond compliance/safety (the safety in everything we decide upon)? Same sorta questions exist in sustainability/global warming/climate change worlds. For some reason, I have a natural attraction to industries and firms that can not provide a clear-eyed answer to these types of questions.
Owner at The Rideshare Guy
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