Since its founding in 2003, Tesla has gone from design to manufacturing in novel ways unlike the traditional auto industry.
Some of them worked, some didn’t. But despite chip shortages and production disruptions caused by the pandemic, a creative business strategy paid off for Tesla, which posted its biggest profit ever in 2021.
Meanwhile, Tesla has often been controversial due to CEO Elon Musk’s public statements. He also suffers from problems caused by the autopilot function. Musk himself says the latest version of fully self-driving software is “bad.” The US government has launched a federal investigation into Tesla’s driver assistance system accident, and Tesla has recalled about 500,000 vehicles due to safety concerns.
All that said, Tesla “graduates” have learned a lot from the company’s unpredictability. What did you learn from Musk during your time at Tesla, and how are you applying those lessons to your company now? We asked nine former Tesla executives and engineers.
Gene Berdichevsky (Founder and CEO, Sheila Nanotechnologies)
Gene Berdichevsky is known in the industry as “Tesla’s seventh employee.”
Gene Berdichevsky, who was the Roadstar’s lithium-ion battery chief engineer, is known as Tesla’s seventh employee.
Berdichevsky says he learned this lesson before Musk became synonymous with Tesla: To do something unique, you need to be independent and willing to start something completely new.
“Embedded in Tesla’s DNA is the idea that you can’t rely on someone outside the company to invent. It is this attitude that has led to many innovations at Tesla.”
Berdichevsky now heads Sila Nanotechnologies. The company aims to replace graphite anodes in EV batteries with silicon-based anode materials, challenging giants such as Panasonic and LG Chem in the burgeoning EV battery sector.
Anil Paliani (CEO, Automotive Power)
Anil Paliani worked at Tesla on the Model S and Roadster battery algorithms.
Anil Paryani spent five years at Tesla working on the Model S and Roadster battery algorithms.
He later founded and served as CEO of Auto Motive Power (AMP), an EV battery charging and energy management startup.
Paliani says Tesla taught him the importance of having an innovative mindset.
“Tesla has a vertically integrated manufacturing process. When we want to do something, we don’t rely on suppliers. There were also many companies that were unable to provide on-time delivery.”
That experience informs Paliani’s approach. As an all-new supplier, AMP is attracting the attention of big, traditional automakers. As CEO, Paliani applies the lesson that “thinking differently is the key to success.”
“Most automakers are looking at components rather than overall solutions, but we need to change the way we think.”says Paliani.
Dustin Krause (Head of Volkswagen E-Mobility Division)
Dustin Krause led Tesla’s sales and retail strategy.
Dustin Krause joined Tesla in 2009 and spent eight years building sales and retail strategies, as well as launching a used-car business.
One of the lessons learned about the electric vehicle (EV) business under Musk is”If you can show how special your product is, it will sell itself.”So, says Klaus, continuing:
“I often say, ‘Nurturing customers,’ but I don’t really want to do that.It may be that the method is wrong in the first place when you have to raise it.(Even without education) the car will speak for itself.”
Klaus is currently head of Volkswagen’s E-Mobility division. Volkswagen is investing $100 billion in the EV shift, aiming for 25% of its global car sales to be electric by 2026.
Greg Raichou (Eclipse Ventures Partner)
Greg Raichou joined VC after serving as Vice President of Production at Tesla.
Greg Reichow was with Tesla for six years from 2011 to 2016, serving as vice president of production. He is currently a partner at Eclipse Ventures, a venture capital (VC) that invests in early-stage startups.
What he learned from Tesla, he says, is that unconventional ways of doing business can be a successful strategy.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to starting a business.More importantly, how do we create a differentiated product, and how should we optimize our company to deliver it in a way that others can’t?”
For Tesla, efficiency in production is not about optimizing the company.
“The most important part of[Tesla’s]product is to create a car that is dramatically different from any other car on the market. To do that, we’ve put a lot of new technology into the car market at a speed that’s never been seen before in the car market.” It was necessary to integrate with
Peter Carlson (CEO of Northbolt)
Peter Carlsson, founder and CEO of top battery startup Northvolt, spent four years at Tesla as vice president of supply chain.
Carlson says working under Musk has taught him the value of challenging convention.
“I learned a lot from Elon. I thought I was a pretty veteran in operations and supply chain, but he questioned the assumptions I had made in my career. .“Is that premise still as valid today as it was five or ten years ago? 』Tone.”
With that lesson in mind, Carlson left Tesla in 2015 and is now working on developing optimal battery cell materials.
Even after several years of industry experience at chipmakers NXP Semiconductors and Ericsson among others, Carlsson said he always found there was room to learn and grow.
Hemant Sikaria (CEO of Siblos)
Hemant Sikaria became CEO of Siblos after five years at Tesla.
Hemant Sikaria spent five years at Tesla, where he was the head of the body-chassis team and the engineer responsible for the OTA (Over-The-Air) software update system.
Sicaria learned the importance of OTA at Tesla. Other automakers started embracing the OTA concept a few years after Tesla.
“I learned a lot from Musk and the management team. I learned how he thinks about problems and how he thinks about solutions.Focus on the use cases that happen 90% of the time and make them as easy and simple as possible for userswas”
Inspired by Musk, Sikaria co-founded Sibros in 2018 with cousin Mayank Sikaria in San Jose, California.
Siblos supports software development for each automaker. Drivers will be able to use the software to seamlessly update their vehicles, just like Teslas.
Christopher Van Dijk (Overview CEO)
Christopher Van Dyke spent eight years at Tesla, launching the Supercharger program, developing manufacturing technology at the first Gigafactory, and building the Model 3. He was the leader of the battery design team.
Van Dijk co-founded Overview in 2018 with former Tesla systems engineer Austin Appel, where he is currently CEO of Overview, a startup focused on factory operations and manufacturing automation technology.
“I was definitely inspired by Tesla taking risks to create something new,” Van Dyke told Insider.
Enric Asuncion (CEO of Wallbox)
Enric Asuncion was a program manager for charging facilities at Tesla.
Enric Asuncion, former program manager for charging facilities at Tesla in Europe, was tasked with helping consumers shift to EVs by solving home charging problems.
“During my time at Tesla, I realized that the key to enabling the EV shift was to solve the home charging problem first. It’s being done,” Asuncion says.
Asuncion wanted to dedicate his career to solving this key challenge for the EV shift, so in 2015 he co-founded EV charging startup Wallbox in Barcelona.
Wallbox has developed two-way home chargers, DC fast chargers, ultra-fast chargers and energy management systems.
Rob Farber, Chief Technology Officer, Exos Trucks
Tesla co-founder Rob Ferber said he learned how to interact with customers from Tesla.
Formerly at high-speed transit company Virgin Hyperroop, Faber is now the chief technology officer of Xos Trucks.
Exos, a Los Angeles-based company that has been developing commercial EVs for five years, already has pre-deal deals with UPS and FedEx.
“Listen to your customers and have a direct, real-time conversation with them. It’s not a new lesson, but people tend to forget that,” says Farber.
That’s how Ferber still treats its customers. She finds it most effective to show a demo while having a conversation.
“Having the customer pick it up and try it. That’s the most effective way to talk to customers.”
*This article first appeared on January 14, 2022.