2027 Slate Pickup Test Drive Review by Motortrend : fun and reasonably nimble

[tubes]

You left out the most important part: was the startup successful? Are they now a cash positive business, or did they get a big buyout? Or did they belly-flop into obscurity?

Read on a few posts. Flopped and gone. Once the VCs wanted to sell, they forgot to continue to run the business and it languished severely before being sold.

I should add the CEO switch out was nothing like the Barman-Faricy situation. In my startup's case, the CEO left (but was fired, you know). It is one reason I think about it - it isn't the same. Every startup proceeds down a different path, with different origins, different boards, different sources of funding, and so on.

 

[mini702]

You seem to be really hung up on something not important. She wasn't really 'CEO' in a typical way. There is a whole team of talent making this happen. Her personality and enthusiasm made her the ideal figurehead.

The profit margin on accessories is huge. How well the company thrives without a dealer network and the parts and service revenue it creates matters. The margin on a $25k truck isn't enough if you want to stay in the auto business.

How well they can pack and ship replacement parts and accessories is significant without any retail outlets and the soon to be abundant 3rd party suppliers.

I see this as a good move given the minimalist business model. It's still sometimes hard to get Tesla parts even with the dealer network.

Come on man, I'm not bitter. I have no relationship to Barman whatsoever; I could care less how she feels about the change. My only concern here is my $25K commitment in Slate. I see the CEO change as an unusual and ill-timed decision. I'd like to know the real basis for the decision. That's it.

I just believe the product development and execution of the FN and the next model as more important than the e-commerce side. Simple.

 

[E90400K]

You seem to be really hung up on something not important. She wasn't really 'CEO' in a typical way. There is a whole team of talent making this happen. Her personality and enthusiasm made her the ideal figurehead.

The profit margin on accessories is huge. How well the company thrives without a dealer network and the parts and service revenue it creates matters. The margin on a $25k truck isn't enough if you want to stay in the auto business.

How well they can pack and ship replacement parts and accessories is significant without any retail outlets and the soon to be abundant 3rd party suppliers.

I see this as a good move given the minimalist business model. It's still sometimes hard to get Tesla parts even with the dealer network.

You seem not to understand the position of CEO. Of course she didn't do the entire project by herself.

The company got $700M in funding under her leadership. Building an e-commerce site required a change in CEO? BS. How well Slate can stock parts and pack and ship them? Lol. No. That doesn't require a CEO.

What requires a CEO is assembling the team to design a vehicle and the machine to build it (i.e. the Warsaw facility) that meets customer expectations and hits the cost targets to achieve profit on a unit basis. The job to do that with the Slate FN that is convertible to four different SUV configurations is even more difficult. More difficult is to use a brownfield site to do it in. Topped by the speed at which it is all taking place. There is zero evidence Faricy could have done it. Nowhere in his resume is he a content creator. Barman is all of it.

Again, its not about Barman, it is about the decision to remove her from the CEO spot. What other decisions will be made that will affect to longevity of Slate Auto and sink it? That is my concern.

 

[tubes]

Again, its not about Barman, it is about the decision to remove her from the CEO spot. What other decisions will be made that will affect to longevity of Slate Auto and sink it? That is my concern.

@E90400K , we all hear you. I think most of us share some of the same concerns. It looks like you recently spoke to the wife and informed her of the pre-order, so you are on this crazy ride with the rest of us, and you took a most difficult step. I had to do the same a few weeks ago.

My suggestion is we sit back and see what happens these next 6 to 8 months. Let's watch what kind of public persona comes out from Faricy and perhaps Barman. Let's watch for any other concerning or exciting moves the board of directors makes with senior management. We may get some clues before we have to plop down the rest of the $24650.

Each company and board defines CEO roles differently. Not sure how the board sees this CEO. In my opinion -- no matter the company, from fortune 10 down to $100k nonprofit -- the CEO is salesperson #1 among their many duties. I saw some of that from Barman, I was especially charmed by her Q&A session from the factory. But that spoke to me as an engineer. That may not have been the best sales job for someone else. I haven't seen much from Faricy, just some blah, blah.

 

[cadblu]

It would be very nice to know how many Pre Orders they received by the 30 day cutoff.

If the number of preorder conversions of the 180k reservations at the 30 day deadline was a truly impressive figure, it would have already been branded into Slate’s PR disclosures at every opportunity. The fact that it’s hushed over at this point speaks volumes.

 

[E90400K]

@E90400K , we all hear you. I think most of us share some of the same concerns. It looks like you recently spoke to the wife and informed her of the pre-order, so you are on this crazy ride with the rest of us, and you took a most difficult step. I had to do the same a few weeks ago.

My suggestion is we sit back and see what happens these next 6 to 8 months. Let's watch what kind of public persona comes out from Faricy and perhaps Barman. Let's watch for any other concerning or exciting moves the board of directors makes with senior management. We may get some clues before we have to plop down the rest of the $24650.

Each company and board defines CEO roles differently. Not sure how the board sees this CEO. In my opinion -- no matter the company, from fortune 10 down to $100k nonprofit -- the CEO is salesperson #1 among their many duties. I saw some of that from Barman, I was especially charmed by her Q&A session from the factory. But that spoke to me as an engineer. That may not have been the best sales job for someone else. I haven't seen much from Faricy, just some blah, blah.

I agree 100%. Part of a CEO is as salesperson. My first reaction to the factory Q&A video was "that is not going to sell very well on Wall Street". I said so here on the forum. I said she came across as not very "CEO like".

I'll be frank, Faricy looks like Wall Street. Wall Street is too ignorant to see outside of its defined norms. Barman was not going to play well in Wall Street's sand box. And that is my disappointment with the decision. If your company motto is "do what the rest of the industry isn't", then that needs to be top to bottom. I really like Slate's motto. Moving to Faricy, to me, is capitulation to Wall Street.

I don't think Slate can do what it wants to do (disrupt with a small 2-door pickup) by capitulating to Wall Street.

 

[E90400K]

If the number of preorder conversions of the 180k reservations at the 30 day deadline was a truly impressive figure, it would have already been branded into Slate’s PR disclosures at every opportunity. The fact that it’s hushed over at this point speaks volumes.

Agree with you 100%. And the target was stated as 80,000. How well they got near 80,000 is the question.

 

[cadblu]

I agree 100%. Part of a CEO is as salesperson. My first reaction to the factory Q&A video was "that is not going to sell very well on Wall Street". I said so here on the forum. I said she came across as not very "CEO like".

I'll be frank, Faricy looks like Wall Street. Wall Street is too ignorant to see outside of its defined norms. Barman was not going to play well in Wall Street's sand box. And that is my disappointment with the decision. If your company motto is "do what the rest of the industry isn't", then that needs to be top to bottom. I really like Slate's motto. Moving to Faricy, to me, is capitulation to Wall Street.

I don't think Slate can do what it wants to do (disrupt with a small 2-door pickup) by capitulating to Wall Street.

I’m willing to bet that in Slate’s “war room” where key decisions are made, Barman is better dialed in with the key issues, owing to her hands on experience with vehicles manufacturing. Inevitability, Faricy will yield to Barman at every turn. In my opinion, he’s a few levels down from her level of engagement. The President of Vehicles is making the key decisions for the CEO.

This doesn’t mean that Slate’s leadership team isn’t going to be successful. It’s just the dynamics of contrasting personalities and experience levels coming into play.

 

[sodamo]

I agree 100%. Part of a CEO is as salesperson. My first reaction to the factory Q&A video was "that is not going to sell very well on Wall Street". I said so here on the forum. I said she came across as not very "CEO like".

I'll be frank, Faricy looks like Wall Street. Wall Street is too ignorant to see outside of its defined norms. Barman was not going to play well in Wall Street's sand box. And that is my disappointment with the decision. If your company motto is "do what the rest of the industry isn't", then that needs to be top to bottom. I really like Slate's motto. Moving to Faricy, to me, is capitulation to Wall Street.

I don't think Slate can do what it wants to do (disrupt with a small 2-door pickup) by capitulating to Wall Street.

Gosh Francis, could you have provided the spark that led to her being unseated?

 

[E90400K]

Gosh Francis, could you have provided the spark that led to her being unseated?

Now, THAT I'd bitter about.

 

[KevinRS]

If the number of preorder conversions of the 180k reservations at the 30 day deadline was a truly impressive figure, it would have already been branded into Slate’s PR disclosures at every opportunity. The fact that it’s hushed over at this point speaks volumes.

As someone else said, there is no positive to Slate putting out the numbers all the time, no matter how good they are.
Someone is always going to say they aren't good enough, even past the point that someone else says the numbers are too high and they will not be able to produce fast enough. From the very beginning they have only given numbers months apart. there have only been reservation or preorder numbers given maybe 4-6 times since they first announced that they were making a truck 16 months ago.

 

[mini702]

If the number of preorder conversions of the 180k reservations at the 30 day deadline was a truly impressive figure, it would have already been branded into Slate’s PR disclosures at every opportunity. The fact that it’s hushed over at this point speaks volumes.

Nothing can be gained by that figure. It opens too many questions. Nobody has driven a production vehicle. Details still to be finalized and published. Early adopters are a small number in any field.
I, for one, am not committing until I've been behind the wheel.
Dad's rule: Don't buy a first year.
Good sales numbers = good aftermarket support.
FN2? If it's a lwb 4 door with 300 miles, it's a better fit for me and I'd choose that, so I'm going to give it a minute to play out.
I don't need a new daily, I'm just tired of the current one.
Not a Yugo repeat!