The Road to Autonomy

Aarjav Trivedi, Founder & CEO of Ridecell joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss how digitizing and automating fleet management leads to increase revenue and profitability for logistics and mobility companies.The conversation begins with Aarjav discussing the founding of Ridecell 1.0 in Atlanta, GA. The experience of waiting for the bus in the cold and not knowing if and/or when the bus would show up gave Aarjav the inspiration to change transportation.Three years in a row this experience on an almost daily basis grinds into you this feeling – there has got to be a better way. – Aarjav TrivediDuring this time, Uber had yet to exist. The iPhone was just being introduced and Aarjav Trivedi an engineer from Georgia Tech decided to change transportation by combining trust and payments.In 2011, Aarjav moved to San Fransisco and launched Summon. Summon was the first on-demand taxi company in California to receive a permit and operate legally. While operating Summon, Aarjav saw that partners such as BMW and companies such as Google needed a fleet optimization management software solution.The relationship and trust Aarjav developed with BMW during the Summon days led to BMW’s i Ventures team leading Ridecell’s $11.7 Series A round.Most great investors are very focused on creating impact. If you create impact the revenues follow. – Aarjav TrivediToday, Ridecell is a global enterprise operating in multiple countries around the world including the United States, Europe, and India. Aarjav discusses how he manages a global team and understands local cultures and customs.The COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to pivot and embrace new business models. Aarjav discusses how Ridecell was well prepared for the pandemic as the company was well-diversified with digital-first solutions.With digital-first solutions for fleet operators and the growth of e-commerce, Ridecell’s logistics business is growing as more companies around the globe adopt digital-first solutions. Aarjav explains how Ridecell’s software platform helps logistics companies operate more efficiently and profitability.One of Ridecell’s strongest value propositions is being able to automate the decisions that increase revenue, decrease cost, increase yield while increasing sustainability. – Aarjav TrivediGrayson asks Aarjav, how the Ridecell platform can help optimize courier services for the delivery of goods. It all comes down to digitization and using the data to optimize the fleet to ensure optimum up-time. The courier also benefits from a comfort perspective. Before getting into the vehicle, the temperature and music are set for the driver’s preference.What happens when the vehicles are autonomous? Grayson and Aarjav go on to discuss autonomy and Ridecell’s acquisition of Auro Robotics in 2017. Expanding upon the autonomy theme, they discuss the economics of autonomous vehicles and what the business model might look like in the future.Grayson asks Aarjav if fleet optimization the key to achieving profitability with autonomous solutions. Fleet optimization along with the eco-system of operating a service is the key. From managing the health of the vehicle to in-vehicle entertainment. All the parts of the eco-system have to work together in harmony.The core problem is to not let data live in silos so that decisions are made in efficient ways. The core thing is to connect the data from the vehicle. – Aarjav TrivediWrapping up the conversation, Aarjav shares his thoughts on the future of mobility and the role that Ridecell will play.Recorded on Tuesday, January 12, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Eggert, Automotive Business Development, FLIR Systems joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss how thermal imaging is making roads safer.The conversation begins with John sharing his thoughts on the current state of the autonomous vehicle industry while looking back to 2015 when he first started his career in the industry.[The industry] has become a lot more professional. – John EggertToday, the industry as a whole is spending money more wisely. It’s maturing, but certain companies still do not have a path to profitability. Expanding upon this, Grayson and John discuss the economics of the autonomous vehicle industry and properly setting expectations for investors and the public.Diving deeper into the economics discussion, Grayson asks John to talk about his experience of owning a Quiznos franchise in San Fransisco. John shares what he learned and how difficult it was to operate a business in San Fransico.With John’s unique experience of having owned and operated a business in San Fransisco, Grayson asks John why the autonomous vehicle industry is determined to launch a service in a city that is extremely unwelcoming to the technology.John explains that the talent pool is currently driving the decision, but that could change in the future as the reality of economics and regulation set in as the companies move to commercialize their services.Could Miami end up becoming the Autonomous Vehicle Capital of North America as companies are fleeing California every single day? Grayson and John discuss why and what is driving the growth of the autonomous vehicle industry in Miami.Looking back on his days at Velodyne, John shares some intimate stories about the early days of LiDAR including a meeting with George Hotz, Founder of Comma AI where he showed him the latest Velodyne LiDAR.The conversation evolves into a discussion about Comma AI and how George Hotz understood the economics of LiDAR. At the prices, George knew that it would be impossible to scale Comma AI with LiDAR due to the cost of LiDAR.LiDAR is one of the key technologies to enable full self-driving. The other technology is thermal imaging.There is no technology in vehicles today more capable of identifying or classifying or detecting a human or any living creature for that matter than thermal imaging. – John EggertJohn goes onto explain the safety benefits of thermal imaging and how this technology can be incorporated into automatic emergency braking systems to save lives. Today, thermal imaging is not included in AEB systems due to the cost.Grayson makes the case that it is not about the cost, it is about saving lives and doing good by society. In March of 2020, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 76% of all 2018 pedestrian fatalities involving vehicles happened after dark.This conversation evolves into a discussion around safety and how Volvo built a brand around safety. Expanding upon brands, Grayson and John discuss Zoox and their relationship with Amazon.Grayson goes on the record to predict that Amazon will launch an Amazon Prime Mobility Tier in the future which will include unlimited Zoox rides.Closing out the conversation, Grayson and John go onto discuss FLIR Systems and the many use cases for thermal imaging around the world.Recorded on Friday, December 18, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chase Koch, President of Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), and Andrew Smith, CEO & Founder of Outrider join Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss automation, partnerships, and the power of the Koch network for principled disruptive entrepreneurs.The conversation begins with Grayson sharing a high-level overview of Koch Industries and the company’s economic impact globally. Koch Industries is a private company that generates annual revenues of $115 billion according to Forbes and employs over 130,000 individuals in 70 countries around the world.Following the introduction of Koch Industries, Chase explains the Koch Laboratory approach to entrepreneurship.We can give entrepreneurs with a lot of upside a place to experiment, grow, and transform their technology and their business model to help them unlock their potential. – Chase KochKoch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) vision is to be the preferred partner in accelerating value creation for principled disruptive entrepreneurs while helping to transform Koch Industries.Koch Industries success comes in part from the company’s Market Based Management (MBM) philosophy which was developed by Mr. Charles Koch. This same philosophy is applied to Koch Disruptive Technologies and the Koch Laboratory.It’s the whole Joseph Schumpeter model, disrupt yourself or the market will. – Chase KochKoch incentives every employee to create value not just for their P&L, but for the entire organization. Expanding upon this conversation, Chase explains Koch’s Republic of Science approach and how it benefits founders who work with Koch Disruptive Technologies.One of the companies that Koch Disruptive Technologies has invested in is Outrider. Andrew Smith, CEO & Founder shares his inspiration for why he founded Outrider and what the market opportunity is for Outrider.One of the biggest market opportunities facing today’s business leaders is essentially to reinvent how we move things, power things, produce things to support higher and higher standards of living. – Andrew SmithWhile leading an expedition to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to witness the caribou migration, Andrew came up with the idea for Outrider.Outrider is the perfect example of how innovation allows us to avoid unnecessary tradeoffs. – Andrew SmithGrayson asks Andrew, why yard automation. Andrew explains that there are over 10 billion tons of cargo moving around the United States on a daily basis. A majority of the cargo is moving over trucks and yard trucks are being used to move the trailers around yards.Automation has become more and more a key driver for our transformation vision across all of our businesses. – Chase KochThe partnership with Koch Industries gives Outrider a massive path to scaling operations. Andrew talks about his working relationship with Chase and how their organizations are working together.Chase expands upon Andrew’s thoughts and shares his own thoughts on the power of relationships and partnerships. Additionally, they discuss their mutual commitment to the environment and sustainability.The Koch Industries vision is applied to everything that Koch does:We want to create products, services, and solutions that are better than customers’ alternative but do this responsibility while always consuming fewer resources. – Chase KochOver the past five years, Koch Industries has invested over $30 billion in technology alone. This investment in technology is only going to continue to grow.Using fewer resources and being a sustainable company is one of the key goals of Outrider. Sustainability is core to who Outrider is as a company.Wherever your gift is, you have to lean into it. Where passion meets your gift, you have to lean into because that is how you are going to unlock your potential. – Chase KochPrior to founding Outrider, Andrew founded ATDynamics and sold it to STEMCO in 2015. During his time running ATDynamics, Andrew learned a lot and he shares his knowledge and how this experience prepared him for Outrider.To succeed in transportation logistics, it’s not just about fancy technology. It’s about reliability, simplicity, and durability. – Andrew SmithAndrew discusses why having the right investors is key to succeeding. The team at Outrider works closely with their investors including Prologis to ensure that the company is creating value.Prologis is working with Outrider to ensure that their warehouse yards are designed for yard automation. Increasing the efficiencies of the yard benefits both Prologis and their customers.Closing out the conversation, Chase and Andrew share their thoughts on the future of automation and supply-chain management.Recorded on Friday, December 11, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joshua Schachter, Investor, and Founder of Self Racing Cars joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss what’s next and the current state of investing in the private markets.The conversation begins with Joshua sharing his thoughts on new trends that he is starting to see emerge and his philosophy regarding investing. One of his key investment traits is the emotional deal in which he invests based on his gut and intuition.Out of the two-hundred plus companies [that I have invested in] this has probably happened 6,7,8 times, but 5 of those have IPOed. – Joshua SchachterInvesting in tech start-ups is based on patterns and that is what Joshua looks for when he is making an investment.By the time people have identified trends, it’s a little lagging. – Joshua SchachterWhile fintech is hot now, it’s an area that Joshua is currently not investing in, despite his experience on Wall Street. Joshua spent a decade on Wall Street working for Morgan Stanley.Before fintech became an identified trend, Joshua’s long-standing relationship with Jack Dorsey led to an early investment in Square. This conversation evolves into a discussion about reputation and it’s importance in investing.I will absolutely take it on the chin to make sure that a founder is not screwed over. – Joshua SchachterWith a great reputation, one can build life-long relationships. To learn a new industry, one must invest. This is one of the main reasons why Joshua created Self Racing Cars. He wanted to develop relationships in a sector where he did not have any connections.Joshua goes onto explain what Self Racing Cars is and how his love of racing inspired the event. Grayson asks Joshua about how he is planning to maintain the homebrew club feel of the event as it scales and becomes more popular.This conversation evolves into the current state of markets. With a red-hot IPO market and stocks of electric vehicle companies soaring, Grayson asks Joshua to share his thoughts on the current state of the private market.It’s a much more slowly moving system. I think venture goes throw waves of contraction and relaxation. – Joshua SchachterAs a seed-stage investor, Joshua looks for companies that have a market value of $10 – $12 million. Investing at this stage is risky and takes years to realize returns.With the current global pandemic, Grayson asks Joshua what new opportunities might be bubbling up for investors in the private market. Additionally, why investors are following the herd mentality by investing large sums into loss-making electric vehicle startups.Expanding upon his thoughts, Joshua explains the difference between enabling and enabled companies. An electric vehicle start-up (excluding Tesla) is an enabled company as the companies depend on battery technology to create and deliver their product.There are still a lot of enabling technologies that have yet to be unlocked. In the future, new technologies will be invented which completely change the current state of the electric vehicle market.New technologies (such as autonomous vehicles) will become mainstream one day. But before they get there, there will be a massive round of consolidation in the industry. Grayson and Joshua have a lively discussion around investments in autonomous vehicle companies and the current state of the market.The shape of organizations will change as consolidation begins. Joshua explains the impact that this will have on the teams that are working on the technology. With Uber ATG being in the news (and eventually sold to Aurora), Grayson and Joshua discuss the program and why it was not in Uber’s best interest to start the program.Looking at programs and acquisitions, Grayson shares his thoughts on Zoox and why Amazon made a brilliant purchase. With Amazon being the “Everything Store”, Grayson and Joshua discuss why the Amazon Prime Mobility tier might one day become a reality.Looking at the competitive advantages that certain companies have as they look to enter the autonomous vehicle sector, Grayson discusses why the Apple Store will be one of Apple’s competitive advantages. Joshua goes onto explain Voyage‘s competitive advantage with master-planned communities. The master-planned community strategy was one of the main reasons why Joshua invested in Voyage.Closing out the conversation, Grayson and Joshua discuss the current state of the autonomous vehicle market and who will ultimately be the winners.Recorded on Friday, December 4, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chef Hugo Bolanos, Executive Chef, and Co-Founder, Búho Rouge joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss timing, passion, and risk.The conversation begins with Hugo sharing his memories of growing up in Guatemala and the influence that his grandfather and father had on his life.After a bad investment in textiles, Hugo’s father took a huge gamble and moved the family to America to provide his family a better quality of life for his family. Twenty years after moving to America, the family was able to achieve U.S. Citizenship.Wanting to achieve the American Dream, Hugo wanted to shoot for gold and enter the restaurant business by becoming a waiter at 17. At that time the required age to be a waiter was 21. During the interview, the manager of the restaurant offered Hugo an opportunity as a runner, but he had to prove himself.During that time in the kitchen, Hugo developed a relationship with Chef Fred Iwasaki who would become his very own “Mr. Miyagi”. Wanting to learn to be a chef, Hugo asked Chef Iwasaki to teach him.The Chef replied:I will not pay you anything. If you want to come in, I will pay you in lessons. You come in the morning, you clean the bathrooms, you clean the floors, and if you can hack it- at the end of the day I will teach you a lesson every single day.One day a chef did not show up for work and Hugo got his first big break as a Line Chef. When the restaurant closed its doors, Chef Iwasaki took Hugo to cook at the Oscars as part of the Wolfgang Puck Catering team. This was a life-changing moment for Hugo which would go on to alter the course of his career.At that time in his life, he wanted to work at the Cheesecake Factory, which was always busy and looked cool. Hugo went through six interviews, including a physiological test and he ultimately did not get the job.I tell myself all the time when I drive by the Cheesecake Factory, if I would have gotten that job, it would have changed my whole life. It would have taken me down a different road. – Chef Hugo BolanosAfter being turned down for the Cheesecake Factory job, Hugo received a phone call from his mentor, Chef Iwasaki, who invited him to join him once again cooking for Wolfgang Puck Catering. This time it was not for the Oscars, but a private party at the home of the actor David Carradine in Beverly Hills.Hugo was in charge of driving the catering van this evening. This evening turned into a make or break moment. When the party was over, backing out the van, Hugo crashed into Wolfgang Puck’s prototype Mercedes.With the fear of getting fired, Hugo went into the party to inform Chef Wolfgang Puck that he had crashed the van into his car. Wolfgang asked if was OK and told him that it was fine.You have to get over your own fears to see what you are capable of. – Chef Hugo BolanosThe next day, Hugo had to report to Spago for a demo for Chef Charlie Trotter. Feeling like “death”, Hugo shows up and has no idea what is about to happen. Will his parents get a phone call. Will he lose his job. What will happen?During this time, Wolfgang Puck and Chef Lee Hefter were talking about the event and how it went. Wolfgang told Chef Hefter about the incident which did not go over well, to say the least.As Wolfgang makes the rounds during the demo, he locks eyes with Hugo and says:You are that stupid kid who hit my car.Wolfgang calls over Chef Hefter, who respects Hugo for the fact that he showed up at Spago after the incident. Chef Hefter transferred Hugo from Catering to Spago to repay the debt. Once again it was about timing as Hugo owned the situation.Hugo ended up spending 10 years at Spago working his way up to #3 in the kitchen. When famous chefs such as Daniel Boulud or Alain Ducasse would visit Spago, Hugo would ask to join their operations for a summer to learn new cooking techniques.He made it happen and paid his own way. The world’s kitchens were Hugo’s internship.You cannot cook great food or give a great experience unless you received that great food. Received that great experience and seen that for yourself. – Chef Hugo BolanosFrom Spago, Hugo transferred to the Hotel Bel-Air where he created the annual End-of-Summer Barbecue. This conversation evolves into a discussion around not giving up when facing obstacles in life.With COVID-19 impacting the world, Hugo’s dream of opening his own restaurant was starting to diminish. Having to make a big life decision, Hugo pivoted and shifted to a takeaway restaurant business – Búho Rouge.With takeaway food, packaging and ingredients are crucial. Grayson and Hugo have an in-depth conversation around packaging and foods that can be packaged for takeaway and delivery.Building upon packaging, Grayson asks Hugo for his thoughts on cloud kitchens and what the experience will look like for customers when the food is delivered.I am looking for whatever that next platform is. – Chef Hugo BolanosClosing out the conversation, Grayson and Hugo discuss culinary experiences and why they are important for the hospitality industry.Recorded on Tuesday, November 24, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Colin Roche, Co-Founder & CEO of Swiftmile joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss gas stations of the future - electric charging hubs.The conversation begins with Colin telling the story of how entering a raffle during a Christmas party and eventually winning an electric bike inspired him to co-found Swiftmile.Taking a step back in history, Colin shares the story of how he came up with the idea for Penagain during an all-day Saturday detention during High School. Penagain has gone on to sell millions of pens around the world. Colin tells the story of how he grew the business, secured manufacturing, and had a positive impact on society.Grayson steers the conversation back towards Swiftmile and asks Colin about one of his first bosses, Alex Edelstein who told him to:Go Make Something Happen. – Alex EdelsteinLater Alex Edelstein became the first investor in Swiftmile after a dinner in which Colin said:What if the world really adopts these PETS (personal electric transports)? – Colin RocheAlex wrote the check on the spot, reinforcing the strength of life-long relationships.2015 was a banner year for Swiftmile as the company raised its first investment and was one of the winners of Verizon’s Powerful Answers contest. Swiftmile won $250,000 and developed a long-term relationship with Verizon.What is the big picture? How can we impact the world? – Colin RocheColin asked this question to his team prior to entering the contest. Today, Swiftmile is having a positive impact on the world by increasing renewable transportation in cities around the world.With investment and guidance from Thayer Ventures, Swiftmile is expanding into the hospitality industry.A big part of our plan is working with hotels. – Colin RocheBy having a micromobility hub at the hotel, guests will be able to experience cities in new and fun ways with little to no friction. The hubs will end up becoming part of the experience and integrated into the hotel’s guest app.Micromobility solutions are also being deployed on Military bases to assist troops moving around the base. Colin discusses Swiftmile’s current deployments at U.S. Military bases and the positive impact that their solution is having on base life.From cities to hotels to Military bases, Swiftmile is aiming to become the gas station for micromobility solutions.Swiftmile will become a gas station for scooters. – Colin RocheBuilding upon this comment, Colin expands upon this statement while taking history into account. This evolves into a conversation about Standard Oil and the initial roll-out of Standard Oil gas stations.Grayson raises the question, what would Standard Oil be without Henry Morrison Flagler? Would there have been vertical integration and distribution innovation that would have allowed Standard Oil to stay ahead of the competition?Staying ahead of the curve, Swiftmile is planning to add new forms of charging to the stations while planning for the eventual consolidation in the micromobility industry.Closing out the conversation, Grayson asks Colin about the economics of micromobility charging and why charging infrastructure is one of the keys to enabling profitable scooter deployments.Recorded on Tuesday, November 17, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alvaro Ramis, VP of Business Development and Alliances, Bestmile joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss why robotaxis are the Shangri-La of mobility.The conversation begins with Alvaro talking about his career which started in banking and later the travel industry, before joining the mobility industry. Throughout his career, Alvaro has always had a focus on innovation.My background is someone who feels extremely comfortable with uncertainty. – Alvaro RamisStaying on the theme of being extremely comfortable with uncertainty, Alvaro joined Car2Go in 2014 as Chief Marketing Officer. When he first tried a free-floating car-share service, Alvaro thought the following:It was that moment when I opened that car with my app that the lights turned on. I walked into the vehicle and the panel told me hello with my name. I was like man, this is the future. I fell in love. – Alvaro RamisBringing this conversation full circle, Grayson asks Alvaro about the current state of free-floating car sharing. The market is stagnating due to competition from Uber and Lyft and the inherent asset-heavy business model.Staying on the topic of asset-heavy business models, Grayson and Alvaro discuss who is going to own the autonomous vehicles on their balance sheet. Will it be the banks? Will it be rental car companies?Alvaro go into discussing who will “go to school” to learn the model of asset-heavy mobility as the industry and venture capital firms continue to focus on asset-light companies. Without the asset, there is no mobility service.The future of mobility is about electric, shared, and autonomous. – Alvaro RamisWhile the future may be electric, shared, and autonomous, it has to be profitable. As autonomous mobility companies continue to focus on the robotaxi business, they are starting to diversify into trucking as there is a clear path to revenue and profitability.Waymo has their Waymo Via service which is focused on the delivery of goods and Aurora is now expanding into self-driving trucks. Both Waymo and Aurora were solely focused on the robotaxi market until the path to revenue and profitability was marginalized for the short-term.The end game is the robotaxi. That is the big prize. That is the Shangri-La of mobility. It’s the biggest market by a lot. – Alvaro RamisIs there a path to profitability in the robotaxi business? With highly indebted businesses, Alvaro makes the comparison to the telecommunications industry.Grayson agrees with the comparison, but he states the case that the robotaxi business will not spit-off nearly as much cash as the AT&Ts and Verizons of the world. Robotaxi companies will not be able to pay a 4%+ dividend.However, the Beep's and Voyages of the world which operate in controlled environments with captive audiences will be able to generate large amounts of cash and eventually become extremely profitable.Once you have an enclosed environment, you can add more services around it. Also, you are not fighting for that customer in a similar environment that you would have in a traditional ride-hailing market where you would have to buy the supply and demand which is a race to the bottom. – Alvaro RamisAutonomous vehicle companies operating in these environments will not face the same customer acquisition costs as the robotaxi business.However, a majority of autonomous vehicle start-up founders are still attracted to Shangri-La, while Oliver Cameron, CEO of Voyage is instead focused on the riches in niches business model.Building upon the business model conversation, Grayson asks Alvaro about the current state of autonomy in Europe. Europe is behind the United States in terms of funding, deployments, partnerships, and legislation.To operate an SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle in Europe today, companies have to apply for an exemption. This process is cumbersome and challenging with national security issues playing a large role.National Security is a huge issue for the deployment of autonomous vehicles. Grayson and Alvaro go on to have an in-depth conversation about national security and what has to be done to ensure that remote operations of AVs are secure.You cannot allow artificial intelligence or autonomous vehicles to decide where to go when a terrorist attack happens in a city. – Alvaro RamisThe issue of terrorism and the potential of a terrorist attack is very real and it is an issue that the autonomous vehicle industry needs to plan for as they build out their remote operations. As part of VW’s autonomous vehicle deployment for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Government required remote operations in case of a potential incident.Closing out the conversation, Grayson and Alvaro discuss the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles in China.Shangri-La is not technology per se, its the problems that it solves. – Alvaro RamisRecorded on Thursday, November 12, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bobby Hambrick, Founder & CEO, AutonomouStuff and Chief Autonomous Officer, Hexagon joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the founding of AutonomouStuff, the acquisition by Hexagon, and why AutonomouStuff is an American success story.The conversation begins with Bobby telling the story of how he founded AutonomouStuff in a barn in his backyard and eventually sold his house and rental properties to scale the company.I was born with this natural innate motivation and this drive to succeed. I have always taken this fearless approach to accomplish whatever task I had on hand. – Bobby HambrickAs the company grew, Bobby reinvested every dollar that the company made back into the company to help it grow. He grew the company without venture capital as he invested in himself and his company. Every month Bobby operated the company it was was profitable.The conversation naturally evolves into SPACs and why companies are going public with little to no revenue and zero profitability. Grayson and Bobby discuss the importance of operating a business that is profitable.Building upon this, Bobby shares an insightful story from when he was interviewing an engineer who did not know how to use tools. This opened his eyes in a meaningful way.Hard work and common sense can get you a long way. To be a successful entrepreneur, being smart is not enough. You have to be able to understand how things work and even more important is the power of the relationships that you have. – Bobby HambrickThe ethic of hard work was ingrained into Bobby during his time growing up in the Midwest. The Midwest historically has had a reputation of hard work. Understanding this, Bobby founded and scaled the company in Morton, Illinois.As Bobby was contemplating selling the company to Hexagon he thought about the following:If I am going to sell to a larger company, I want to take care of the people who helped me. They are like family to me. – Bobby HambrickAs part of the transaction, there was a clause that AutonomouStuff would stay in Morton for good. The impact that AutonomouStuff has had on the town of Morton cannot be measured. It is felt at the dinner table when employees discuss building the future and their travels around the world.CES 2020 was one of those moments when it all came together when Hexagon showcased AutonomouStuff right next to the Google installation. Bobby goes on to explain that is merely just the beginning for AutonomouStuff. With the resources of Hexagon, the future is extremely bright for AutonomouStuff.While the future is bright for AutonomouStuff, the rest of the industry is going through growing pains.This is marathon This is not a sprint to whoever can show the best concept of driving around in the urban area. This is a serious business, people are spending billions of dollars and now they are realizing that it is not that easy.This is probably one of the biggest engineering challenges of mankind. – Bobby HambrickClosing out the conversation, Bobby shares his advice for entrepreneurs who want to start their own business while staying true to their roots.Recorded on Friday, November 6, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jillian Slyfield, Digital Economy Practice Leader, Aon joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the current state of the insurance markets and the digital economy.The conversation begins with Jillian sharing a high-level overview of Aon and the current state of the insurance markets.It’s the hardest market that we have seen in 25 years. – Jillian SlyfieldWith a hard market comes reduced capacity in the marketplace which leads to increased pricing for renewals.The markets are hardening with anywhere from 25-40 %, sometimes, even more, delivering at times a 70% year-over-year increase in costs. – Jillian SlyfieldThe hardening markets are not just leading to price increases for companies, insurance companies are also reducing their capacity. Aon is working with it’s clients to ensure that they are prepared for the current state of the insurance markets.The current state of the insurance markets conversation evolves into one about being underinsured. With significant price premium increases, some companies are having to make hard decisions about how much insurance they can afford and what to do to ensure they are still properly insured for risk.The insurance market is currently facing the “perfect storm” due to the current state of the world. Jillian dives into the issues that are affecting the insurance markets, which is leading to increased premium increases.It all flows up to the reinsurance markets, very data driven underwriting in that space. – Jillian SlyfieldAs more certainty comes into view on monetarily policy and elections, the insurance markets should start to stabilize. Monetary policy and elections have direct effects on markets across the globe.Looking at the capital markets, one of the biggest trends of 2020 has been SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) which have raised $51.3 billion this year as compared to $111.6 billion raised in traditional IPOs.Grayson asks Jillian how the insurance is different for SPACs as compared to traditional IPOs and how underwriters view the risk of SPACs.Interestingly the markets see SPACs being less risky than a traditional IPO, which can be very positive. – Jillian SlyfieldThe biggest risk for a company going public either through a SPAC or a traditional IPO is the D&O (Directors and Officers) insurance. For a company going public, insurer selection is extremely important and that the carrier understands your business model and industry.Aon works with their clients to ensure that if this then that scenario happens, their clients are fully protected with the right insurance.Claims occur all of the time. That is why the insurance is there. That is why you have strong advisors like Aon beyond you. Should something arise, you get the best counsel possible. – Jillian SlyfieldStaying on the theme of working with clients, Grayson asks Jillian how Aon works with underwriters to properly insure asset-light companies. The risk issues, the data used for underwriting is different for asset-light companies.Jillian gives a masterclass on how insurance can be used to protect third-party transactions such as Airbnb and Uber. Looking to understand these asset-light businesses, underwriters are actively using the products and services to fully understand the business.By driving for Uber or listing your home on Airbnb, underwriters are experiencing how the business operates first-hand and what potential risks are associated with the business model. This hands-on approach allows underwriters to properly understand the risk.With an autonomous future on the horizon, Grayson and Jillian discuss what happens when autonomous vehicles are operating in cities around the world. Autonomous vehicles do not get distracted or sleepy, which will lead to a decrease in claims.Jillian goes onto explain how insurance carriers are planning for a future with autonomous vehicles and who will be responsible for the risk and pay the insurance premiums.Expanding upon this conversation, Grayson and Jillian discuss how underwriters are looking at insuring self-driving trucks and delivery bots.Closing out the conversation, Grayson asks Jillian what impact will mobility and innovation have on the broader insurance market over the next 25 years.Recorded on Tuesday, October 20, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Welch, Detroit Bureau Chief, Bloomberg joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the mobility SPAC market.The conversation begins with David sharing his thoughts on the current state of the mobility SPAC market. He brings up the valid point of who is conducting the scouting and due diligence on the deals.Grayson then asks David about the supposed due diligence that Steve Girsky’s VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. did prior to merging with Nikola and taking the company public via a SPAC transaction. Building upon that conversation, David talks about the in-progress Nikola / GM deal that has yet to close.Expanding upon the conversation around Nikola and GM, Grayson asks David if Nikola would even have made it through a traditional IPO. David does not think Nikola would have made it through a traditional IPO process.David suggests that GM originally did the deal with Nikola because the company had a hot stock at the time. Was the Nikola stock craze driven by retail investors on Robinhood? Perhaps, but we do not know.Now SoftBank and Apollo Global Management have announced that are launching SPACs.Real money is getting into the game. To me, that is a good sign. Those guys are professionals who invested in everything from publicly traded stocks already to startups and other private players.They have made a lot of money so it’s more clear that they know how to do due diligence.It’s a better bet than the more well-known SPACs that are out there. – David WelchCould this be a trend of blue-chip investment companies investing in less-risky electric mobility companies? BlackRock has invested billions in Rivian and Arrival. Both companies are being deemed less-risky than other mobility start-ups by the market. Rivian also has backing from Amazon.Staying on the Amazon theme, Grayson and David discuss Amazon and mobility. What are the plans for Zoox? Will Amazon end up acquiring Rivian? Does Amazon introduce a mobility Prime service in the future powered by Zoox?Amazon could have their own competitor to Uber and Lyft with Zoox controlled self-driving vehicles. – David WelchBut who wants to own and manage the fleet? Does someone buy Hertz out of bankruptcy to carve out an autonomous vehicle management business? Or does Penske expand outside of trucks into autonomous vehicles?Rounding out the fleet management conversation, Grayson asks David to share his thoughts on the Great Pivot from Self-Driving Cars to Self-Driving Trucks. The two discuss the economics of self-driving trucks and how the business has a path to profitability.Did this path to profitability, impact Waymo’s decision to introduce self-driving trucks as the Waymo Via service? Grayson and David discuss Alphabet’s appetite to continue investing in Waymo without revenue.When Alphabet breaks out Waymo revenue for the first time, it will have a positive impact on Alphabet’s stock price. One just has to look to the time when Amazon broke out AWS (Amazon Web Services) revenue and the impact the revenue breakout had on Amazon’s stock.While Waymo is developing the Waymo Driver, Embark, Kodiak, and TuSimple have been focused solely on trucking from day one. Does this give them a competitive advantage? Perhaps.Grayson and David go on to discuss the Universal Driver debate and how developing autonomous technologies for trucks operating on highways is different than developing the tech for dense urban environments such as San Francisco.Staying on the theme of companies that are developing the Universal Driver, Grayson and David discuss Aurora and their many pivots. The two discuss Aurora’s business model and their seemingly never-ending stream of partnerships with no commercially viable products. Evolving into a larger discussion, the two discuss the need for partnerships in the autonomous vehicle industry.Closing out the conversation, Grayson asks David when Tata Motors will make a move and introduce self-driving Jaguars and Land Rover Range Rovers through a partnership with an autonomous vehicle company.Recorded on Friday, October 16, 2020--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.