How To COMPETE With TESLA - An Insider's Perspective
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
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Link to video:
• 4 Years At Tesla - I H...
I worked at Tesla starting in July of 2017 as an Operations Analyst out of the Bethlehem, PA distribution center facility and left as a Program Manager based out of Austin, TX as of September 2021. I spent most of my time in the distribution and supply chain organizations.
Before Tesla, I was a Director of Business Intelligence and Pricing at the largest Pet Food & Supply distributor in the US, Phillips Pet Food & Supplies based out of Easton, PA. My wife and I also owned a small business in Bethlehem, PA between 2016 and 2019.
My thoughts are my own and are not representative of everyone who currently works, or has worked at Tesla.
If you like this content I would greatly appreciate your likes and shares!
www.farzadmesbahi.com
www.linkedin.com/in/farzadmesbahi
Twitter @farzyness
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:55 Three Primary Reasons Why Tesla Is In The Lead
07:46 How Competition Could Play Out In The Future
13:49 Conclusion
13:58 Surprise! - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![Starbase Tour with Elon Musk [PART 1 // Summer 2021]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t705r8ICkRw/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
any chance of interviewing Farzad? :)
Interview this man Dave!
Dave, ask Farzad if he’d like to do a long form interview!!!
Tesla's vertical integration goes even beyond bringing manufacturing inhouse. They even developed their own enterprise software (the backbone software that runs the company), rather than relying on off-the-shelf packages like SAP.
They won’t be needing microstrategy. They just make their own BI software. You can do that when you have all the best software engineers, who are empowered to solve problems fast, and maybe you end up with it all in house
I've watched it once. And I'm scrolling through watching sections again. And again. Cause it's good. Very good.
I don't think vertical integration can be achieved with the UAW. The speed of the slowest person sets the bar in my experience. The fact that Tesla has no union maybe there ace up there sleeve.
Great point.
I don’t think it’s having a Union per say. I think it’s our current unions as they are organized. I don’t think Tesla will have any problems with unions in Germany.
Not the union, it’s legacy management that’s filled with MBA’s, not engineers. Look at the NCAA as an example of no unions. NCAA got all of the money and the players got squat. Okay, maybe education that is secondary to the sports they played in. Doctors work in groups, operating similar to a guild/union format. Law enforcement, attorneys, heck even upper management operates in a union form of us vs them, the employees.
It's actually a concatenation of strategies. Non-union, in house, staff compensation, flat corporate structure, recruitment of the cream of the crop, strategic acquisitions (the machine makers for the machine that makes the machines), genius marketer.
Nailed it. Nothing he mentioned is easy for OEMs. OEMs outsource everything, they assemble.
Damn well done having chapters and adding your hobby at the end. I'm actually surprised you took my advice.
Idea: list whomever guessed correctly the song at the end of your videos. This way people feel connected to your video and forms a bond over the music and community. Congrats on the growth.
You are forgetting he's now experienced in Tesla-thought. He already talked about speed of integration, and took your good advice! ;-) Agree with your idea, RJ.
New fan here. Really digging your channel. Nice to have a fresh face and perspective on all things Tesla. Being a guitar player is also a plus.
Thanks for joining!
The only way I see competition surfacing is like they say in religious circles, "born again". The engineering depth of the combination of Tesla/SpaceX is unsurmountable.
Absolutely well said Farzad!
That woke me up. Loved it
Thank you again... Always trying to help
Advice: Don't ever stop talking about the details, and keep the videos simple as it is now. There are tons of videos repeating superficial news, so the specifics about everything for us hard core nerds are invaluable.
Question: Any specific insight about the progression of the 4680 cell? Is there any reason to think that Tesla wont achieve a goal they've set up? Is it more a matter of time than possibility to succeed/fail?
Thanks for the advice! No insight into 4680 - sorry!
Nicely done Farzad. I believe you're spot on with the three core elements.
Fabulous that you’re integrating some damn good guitar playing into the vid! Loved it!
Awesome insight. Appreciate you sharing this perspective on Tesla’s core competencies!
👍 THANKS FARZAD, FOR YOUR INCITES 🧐 MAKES ALOT OF SENSE AND WE LOOK 👀 FORWARD TO YOUR FUTURE VIDEOS 🤗😍😍😍
You rock. I like the part about humanity. The earth is a spaceship and we all need to be on the same page to survive. Keep doing what you are doing.
I love idea of vertical integration! Thanks for explaining Farzad! I had similar understanding and started in small scale in my household… lol
I like the way you put the three core competencies, I think of those as ‘execution’. Perhaps those are the inputs and the outputs are products which are 10x better than the competition and mega growth by all measures.
Great video, thanks.
Excellent performance. Beginning to end.
Ow,. What a play Mr. Farzad,you playing it Awsome. From now on i Will definitely subscribe you and share. Kudos, nice interpretation. Tell us Tons of your stories working in Tesla. I wont be tire or get boring to see and hear'em all.
Great insight, once again! Cool riff, no clue who it was, but I’m not a huge music aficionado.
Keep up the great work, your awesome!
Like your content and guitar skill !!!
Loving the videos :)
Thank you!
Farzad, the opening was a great icebreaker! You fixing up your gorgeous Persian hair really made me laugh 😂. Now I’ll watch the rest of your video!
Nice! Pantera…someone already guessed it. We have a friend guitarist in another band named Cellar that we gig with. He is big on Pantera! Thank you for all the Tesla insight! Looking forward to more guitar riffs!
Talent and supply chain, good luck OEMs!
Watched the end first and now the beginning :)
Interesting take.
Nice touch with the pantera! Subbed
haha dude that was great. Big Tesla fan and fellow guitar player here. I hope you end of all your videos with some face melting riffs (nice Pantera!). I'm looking forward to more details about Tesla too.
Pantera, Cemetery Gates, Cowboys From Hell album, 1990! 🤘🤘
You rock man!
My vote for your next riff: Blackened or Master.
Played Master in my QA video! Blackened is a great suggestion \m/
THANKSGIVING
Cemetary Gates, Pantera! Awesome!
Moment of the flywheel is also important short term. Makes it harder to catch up with company that built technology and cash flow. Those can be lost easily however; talent can leave the company, cash runs out.
That's not possible. I litterally searched your channel right now and, totally by accident, I updated the home, and Boom, a new video 4 seconds ago!
It's meant to be! Thanks for stopping by!
Pantera! Cemetary Gates- Well done. Like the Jackson. More Riffs Please.
It's about vertical integration where it counts, Tesla has hundreds if not thousands of suppliers. They don't make tires, steering and braking systems, suspension, glass, wiring, screens, chips, materials, clips, headlights, steering wheels, airbags, even batteries are still outsourced at the moment.
They are vertically integrated on the modules the electronic components make up and the software that runs on them, most importantly.
Love your videos! Although you are new but I enjoy your content immensely. It on par with other very popular youtubers! ....which I'm sure you will soon become!
Thanks so much! That's very kind!
The ending of the video... very non-conventional in a good way. I felt like wishing you keep going with the next riffs of Cemetery gates (so good was the performance). Not to take away from the main topic of the video. Looking forward to the next topic and the musical quiz at the end.
Fun videos and all but I miss one very important thing... Some gnarly MUSE riffs! Cheers
Nice shredding Farzad. 🎸
Enjoy hearing your theories on EV market share and what it will take to compete with Tesla (not counting Tesla's first mover (dare I say "Leadership position") and unassailable lead). Folks look for additional clues on what exponential growth looks like - remember when Netflix stopped shipping DVDs in favor of streaming for a monthly fee (where margins are way more favorable)??? Add software subscriptions to the equation on top of manufacturing efficiencies and the picture become clearer (for some ;) ).
Idea:
Would love to understand Tesla's internal incentives for Tesla workers to "do the right thing." The mission is strong - and what other factors drive Tesla employees to make effective decisions towards the mission? When you look at traditional auto - a good number of workers are incentivized to push working more hours - to get overtime - to increase their salary. However, this is NOT a great incentive structure to drive efficiency or production records. Changing the inertia of traditional auto is a HUGE challenge that I have yet to see happen. Such a huge advantage for Tesla.
I think there is a 4th component: TDD or "Test Driven Development". This is what really turns Innovation into "Speed of Change". TDD is something you build that has the ability to test changes and innovations rapidly, like simulators etc. They either pass or fail. Like the Scrum/Agile approach that Tesla uses this is also borrowed from the Software Development world and is fantastic. TDD is what allows Tesla to rapidly and continuously test and roll out improvements, and this will leave the OEMs behind.
Vertical integration is good if you are better than your suppliers at getting things done.
I think that software development is required and work in artificial intelligence. If those have to be inhouse as well then it becomes a great filter that will weed out most other companies. The speed of change is supposedly enabled by their inhouse systems for example instantaneous homologation.
Nice haircut :)
Vertical integration - probably the easiest out of the 3.
Speed of change - this is mostly a cultural/habitual thing. This is a tough nut to crack since this is stored in the subconscious mind and you can check with Bruce Lipton/Joe Dispenza what it takes to change it.
Talented workforce - that would take, as you said it, a leader that matches Elon. I had to laugh when you said this sentence.
I don’t see a chance for any traditional automaker to move to the center of the venn diagram, except maybe BYD. What impresses me about BYD is vertical integration, they even own a semiconductor subsidy. What depresses me about them is that they are still making ICE.
With my musical ignorance, I have no change and Shazam does not recognize it :)
P.S. It would be fun if you do a video with Joe Justice.
I believe you have just written on the proverbial wall for the existing car manufacturers
I believe that BYD will come closest to competing with Tesla on the lower priced market.
i don`t know the riff, but it really sounds nice!
I don’t know if you did anything but the sound is improved. Less echo.
I put a tarp in front of my face and added some things to the room. Glad you noticed!
A leader would be needed that can change the culture of a whole company. That means changing the way every employee buys in to what is needed. Not going to happen in the short term.
It would for sure be insanely difficult.
Can you do a future video about the working conditions at Tesla? You said several times that Tesla workers are the hardest workers you’ve work with. Can you clarify that statement with experiences there?
nice
I think China's BYD checks all your criteria for a competitor. They have a visionary founder and CEO, they have unique cell tech with their own production machinery. Very similar to Tesla. Toyota is licensing BYD's technology now!
That would be great if that's the case.
@@farzyness my answers seem to have been deleted by TH-cam's all-mighty AI ;-)
Brilliant job on all your videos. You are an example of why Tesla is what it is today.
Legacy OEM's cannot catch up because agility is not in their playbook.The layers of management necessary to go from idea to reality are in themselves an insurmountably barrier on a good day. I can remember "engineering change requests" sitting at a manager's desk for months, while parts were made to faulty specs, shipped, rejected then made again, just because of the glacial pace of thinking across said layers.
I worked in the auto industry in the US for 40 years - tier , 2 and 3 supplier - and I can tell you from experience they will never catch up.
You are right in saying that is has to be a new player, starting with a clean slate, just like Tesla did. Imagine the disruption of existing supply chains en economies of scale turned completely upside down should say, GM flip a switch and go full on electric. What will happen to O'Rileys, Napa, Pep Boys, just to name a few? How about fuel stations, refineries, oil pipelines, giant drilling platforms and the like?
I am surprised Elon has not been accused of sex crimes or some other horrendous malfeasance yet, since this is the oldest play in the book, to destroy those who go against the hydrocarbon boys and girls.
Left to his own devices, Elon and his team would dominate the global economy. I firmly believe this. No wonder the US government is doing what it can to slow him down. Shame on Warren and Biden.
Thanks so much for watching! You're so right about if Elon and his companies are left to their own devices they would dominate everything they touch. The only thing that might compete, which I'm learning of as of late due to all the awesome comments I'm getting and other content that's coming out (and Elon's recent comments), is the Chinese.
I appreciate your content and agree with your premise, but even if a company appears with all three of these core competencies, Tesla still has a huge advantage in terms of lessons already learned. What Tesla doesn't have (and won't have for some time) is a wide range variety of models. Other companies will be able to exploit this for some time (IMO).
Even though I agree for now I would argue that you would have to have knowledge about the architectural design of their existing products.
If Tesla designed their vehicles with some kind of modular standard architecture it might actually be easy to branch out a new vehicle design which still uses a lot of the same parts under the hood. Legacy car manufacturers like the Volkswagen Group are doing this quite well.
However, I think it should not be a goal of Tesla to have too many different models on the market. It adds complexity to the design process and slows things down.
I truly believe that we’re witnessing at the moment how some generally accepted truths are being questioned by new companies like Tesla. One such truth is the old believe that you need to have a variant for almost every potential customer group. Like in a supermarket where you don’t have just „oatmeal“ but a huge variety of oatmeals.
The new concept instead will be. Find out which product fits best most customers and design the best version of it. If you manage to do that and allow some (but not too many) ways to personalize the product you will end with a great product that the market will like.
Now combine this focus on few products with a high speed of change and you can adapt - over time - your products to the market needs. In doing that you have the variety „over time“. But you will not have the complexity today that would slow you down in your rate of change.
@@thomasbaro7377 I totally agree with your assessment. I was not suggesting that Tesla should look to expand their product offerings immediately (just that other companies will exploit these open areas in the near term). The production model that you described is one of the reasons that Apple has been so successful. Also, both companies employ a closed model which allows them to target the largest demographic with the fewest SKU’s. Tesla has shown their willingness to go a modular route with Model Y and I suspect that the theoretic 25K model will also use the Model 3 as a template.
Start with the riff! Everebody has an intro and yours can be unique each time.
are you able to talk about the partnership between spaceX and tesla?
4:22 - "speed of change" is the main problem for the other OEMs.
EDIT: No, all of your 3 aspects are relevant.... They can't catch!
BTW, thanks for your "daily riff" ;-)
Legacy auto has a long way to go before they can actually compete - if they can. The German and American manufacturers can only hope to buy their major OEM suppliers, in my opinion, to vertically integrate.
I believe that this will be the catalyst that crushes at least a couple of automakers, where they will have to merge or die.
OEMs make parts for multiple manufacturers- so someone will be left out in the cold.
If they start to vertically integrate themselves, which is not a core competency, it will be a heck of a struggle. We have had multiple customers in-house work and then come back to us to keep them afloat - sometimes we have open capacity to help them - sometimes we don’t - and once the relationship has been damaged, we aren’t always inclined to offer competitive prices or meet desired lead times. Why cheerfully support a customer that dropped you on your head and still plans to de-source you? Once you alienate key suppliers, you are at substantial risk.
Since vertical integration is far more difficult to retrofit into a business rather than starting fresh, as you suggested, the likelihood is that they won’t understand their costs and cannot manage a much much wider supply chain efficiently.
Big Auto might know how to run a lean production line but they don’t seem to know how to run lean and mean on the administrative and engineering side. It takes a lot of raw talent and accountability, also as you mentioned, to be agile and efficient.
Vertical integration is “specializing in everything” and automakers are used to throwing their weight around to get their way. It doesn’t work out so well when you all share the same bottom line - nobody to assess line-down charges to - no cost of poor quality penalties. How will they handle this?
The Japanese probably won’t have this same problem. The way of the Keiretsu will be much more supportive of the needed changes without as much vertical integration. Japan will struggle with speed and iterative changes of substance. While kaizen is a powerful tool for efficiency, the cultural aversion to risk makes it shockingly difficult to challenge the accepted path. Tesla’s quality issues would also be unconscionable to Toyota or Honda - too risky. Their domestic sales will not likely suffer while they stroll into the BEV market, but I bet that even Toyota’s recent attitude change and Japan’s increased incentives will take a long time to come to fruition on the world stage and the Chinese might get far enough ahead of them to really hurt their future market share. Now who would’ve thought that was going to happen?
Excellent write up - agreed on all fronts. It’s going to be a fascinating dynamic to see play out in the coming years.
Great thoughts. I’m looking forward to reading more comments from you in future videos.
@@thomasbaro7377 - Happy to oblige.
Ford was vertically integrated at River Rouge: iron ore in, cars out. Should they return to that model?
Hey, I just bought Tesla Model Y, and I had some questions about delivery, why Tesla customer account managers do not respond to customer emails? Have heard this from multiple buyers, to get any response by email is practically miracle. I had a assigned account manager (CallCenter rep mentioned the email, and promised that the agent or his manager would respond) without any success. Left very unpleasant purchasing experience.
That's a bummer and shouldn't happen. The only thing I could think of is Q4 is traditionally insanely busy at Tesla and emails might be falling through the cracks. I hope they come back to you soon - don't feel bad following up with them as often as you think it takes to get their attention.
Next time - Zeppelin. Better yet, (Just had a brilliant idea) Get Joe Justice and a mob to write and produce an album. In fact you can get the mob right here. Collaborate on Zoom. Get it out by Christmas. Can't wait.
🤣😂
Any Joe Satrini in your repertoire?
Is it Bing Crosby - White Christmas?
oh it's a Jackson. I always thought is was an Ibanez.
They are both great guitars!
Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Disney and Musk. All formidable game changing integrators.
There are pros and cons to integrating your supply chain. Obviously there is a REASON why most companies don't. It forces you out of your core business. Why would Toyota want to make leather for their seats? Why would Ford want to make carpets for their floor mats? There are other companies that do this better and much cheaper. Tires, paint, copper wire, etc. No reason to manufacture these yourself. Now microchips, however. Clearly these are an important core component with limited suppliers, so sure - that makes sense.
Hey Farzad, are you thinking of making an interview with Gali from Hyperchange?
I wasn't but that might be cool!
so was wondering if you drive a Tesla? If so ...maybe a tour/test drive of the ins and outs of one.
I do! A Model Y performance. Maybe I should!
Basically the competition has been screwed for years they just don't know it yet, actually they do.
I think Sandy Munro described it as the slowest train wreck in history. He is right.
Liked the video when you ripped off Cemetery Gates. Been on a five year hiatus, wondering if I should get back into the workforce at a Musk company or building companies. The insights are awesome.
I've heard mentions in TH-cam videos covering BYD and Geely, which seem to indicate that those companies can also implement substantial changes in a matter of days, just like Tesla. What do you think about this? EDIT: BYD is claimed to be more vertically integrated than Tesla, right now!
If a Tesla employee has an idea for how to improve a process, what happens when there's a difference of opinion? Or what if someone wants to change something that has already been changed or improved? Don't egos get in the way? How is that managed?
Everyone tries their best to put egos aside, and if they get in the way folks are usually very good at calling out BS. Not always a perfect process, but the right decision is made more often than not from my experience.
Dude! I wanted to see your response to Fareed Zakaria on CNN but it seems to be gone. Did you pull it or did it get blocked? Fareed Zakaria's video is the one that needed blocking/pulling!!!
I didn't pull anything - not sure what you are referencing?
The chip shortage is the most embarrassing for GM and Ford, its a no-brainer that Covid just sped up what was going to happen all along and that was to phase out ICs to smaller more powerful because they see the demand due to speed of change in tech, so all Legacy car makers had to do was start designing new circuits boards to fit the new chips that chip companies preferred to keep doing because of the ongoing demand.
Have you looked at BYD?
I haven't, but planning to do a dive into them at some point.
Is vertical integration taught as a cultural principle in Tesla? Is it acceptable to not be vertical integrated in some areas if the trade-off is speed? An example that comes to mind where Tesla started as not vertically integrated was Magic Eye for AP1 - perhaps speed was more important at that point because they wanted the data from cars on the road while they developed their own system.
It's not taught per-se. Folks are making decisions left and right, but I've rarely seen a situation where vertical integration isn't the fastest solution, especially long term. That's one thing you're always constantly fighting as well. Perceived short term speed gain vs long term gain. Vertical integration, from my perspective, always wins. Losing control is always detrimental to speed.
Any comments on the claim recently that byd is the most vertically integrated ev company and not tesla?
I feel you have a much better perspective since you worked for tesla. 🤔
Can't comment on BYD - all I know is Tesla is relentless about vertical integration, and if BYD is as well then that's awesome!
13:00 didn't GM try to create the new, 'innovative' company with now defunct Saturn...?
Why not do a thorough analysis on the competitors? NIO, XPENG, Polestar (Not Lucid, Rivian because they haven't delivered cars yet)
I think I will. Gonna spend the next few days doing some research on this.
@@farzyness Amazing, looking forward to it! Ima set apart 1-2 hours for the long thorough analysis!
Haha… vertical integration is not the OEM flywheel. Even these new startups won’t be that vertically integrated. OEMs forced TESLA to vertically integrate, because no one would supply them early on. Suppliers even screwed themselves.
Great video as always Farzad!
Can you do a video de-bunking the “Elon is a slave driver and his workers are in terrible conditions” narrative..
I find myself defending him and the company but your perspective is much more legit. Thanks!
can you confirm any claims made by joe justice about the software in the factorys?
I didn't work at the factory so I can't directly confirm/deny.
Hey hey! Love the videos. Do you have any insights into the software development process, practices or anything like that. I'd love to have a quick chat and setup a collaboration on my channel to discuss something around "how software dev works at Tesla". Anything relating too testing, testing automation, QA process on the mobile app or vehicle OS etc. Either way, Love your vids. Keep it up!
Hi there! Unfortunately I don't have too much insight into this, but appreciate you watching my videos!
@@farzyness All good, and it's my pleasure watching :D
We're a bit too west-centric. I agree regarding OEMs being too slow and old, and startups being small and often slow (Rivian).
But China... They are plucking top talent from everywhere (huge salaries and VIP treatment lured top Japanese talent to China), they are fst to react, and BYD is even more vertically integrated than Tesla. In two years, most videos will be about Tesla vs Chinese, few will even discuss OEMs as major players
Looks like I need to do more research on BYD and the Chinese!
@@farzyness they are unashamed to copy (I don't mean steal, like Xpeng possibly did. Just honestly copy and use the open patents) , and they copy FAST - so IIRC six Chinese companies already have orders for Giga Presses..
BYD is more vertically integrated than Tesla - it even makes its own battery cells and its own chips!
@@farzyness TBH we all need to update oytmr data on them. A month ago I did a video about the upcoming Chinese invasion, and it's already outdated. Lots of changes there
How many chances i have to be employed in Austin TX by Tesla to be vertical integration engineer? 1/100?
Just how is it going to be possible for a new company to be any sort of competition by any means possible it's just not possible you would have to disregard physics and all the other rules that our world runs by
Now in a hundred years I truly believe that there will be other companies
Now in 50 years it's quite possible
Tho for the next 10 to 15 years the only way would be if they have access to a time machine there just not any other possibility
It's just physically impossible to finish a race or even compete in a race when the one you are going against started 10 years before you and just keeps getting faster and better every day
No matter what you are always going to be years behind Tesla
That is why a time machine is the only way that any company can ever compete
Even china is having the same problem they are just copying Tesla not improving on what Tesla is doing and trying to get 5 steps in front of Tesla they are always going to be a few years behind and that will be the best companies out there
well my guess isn't Roxy music!
Why is the EV and Battery market different from the solar bubble/market of 2005-2015 ?
Things look great until you over build battery factories and anyone can buy large quantities of high quality batteries for very cheap prices. Just like PV manufacturing
don't forget the secret Chinese automakers. "Secret" because no one is looking, lol. Also, if a new company gets those 3 things, they still have to scale.
What about the Chinese EV-makers?
I like your format. Please never put soundtracks or intros.
Kaizen
Do you think Tesla's mission "to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy" gives them a *global* advantage over the competition?
Absolutely. That mission is very much at the core of why they pull so much talent.
A competitor would also need a leader comparable to Elon...
Pantera cemetary gates 🤘😎🤘 do I win a Tesla?
damnit...thought I was first one :)
😂
Motley Crew?
Tesla competition is going to be BYD inundating the market with cheap electric cars.
Sounds like I need to do more research on BYD!
Dude! You play guitar too? I'm a drummer. We should hook up