Slate Hires New CEO Peter Faricy. Ex-CEO Chris Barman appointed new role

[Johnologue]

I was checking The Autopian's mention of the change. I didn't realize Peter was actually from McKinsey and Co. There go most of my hopes that he's not basically the "acquisition that ruins Slate" that I feared.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Some interesting speculations in this thread.

It often seems to me that these executives ride a merry-go-round from one business to another!

Or Faricy was at home, sitting on the couch waiting for the phone to ring...

Either way, I wish them all success.

Next step - Slate University videos! Where's the watch thread for that?

 

[cadblu]

This is a demotion for Barman, from CEO to President. If she was effective as CEO she would have picked and hired the President of Vehicle Implementation.

The news reports are just spin.

Sad news IMO.

Essentially it’s a change in title for Barman, not a demotion. No change in salary or benefits. I’ve seen this all the time. Having a new CEO in place frees her up to do what she does best.

Overall, a win-win move for Slate, and for us.

 

[E90400K]

Like I wrote previously, that would be a helluva switch-a-roo.

I don't think it's likely.

At the launch event Chris Barman something like "We looked a what the industry was doing and did the opposite." That's been their ethos from the beginning.

And I think that is the point (and now the concern). Barman was selected as CEO for Slate because she wasn't a business school grad or legacy auto industry executive predisposed to make executive decisions from the norm, legacy perspective (i.e. she can think "out of the box").

IIRC she is the no. 2 employee hired at Slate. She was selected as CEO because she wasn't previously a CEO somewhere else. She was selected to create new standards to operate from rather than operate from standards pre-existing in the industry.

It looks like Faricy is just a Suit to take Slate through its IPO.

 

[clofan]

I feel uneasy about this. I liked Chris's approach to running the company, but of course that is just outside perspective on what we can see.

 

[E90400K]

Sound familiar?...

Chris Barman: The Slate Auto CEO Changing the Future of Affordable EVs

 

[E90400K]

I feel like I can raise concerns about most of the companies on his record, but I do lack some context. Like some particular "era of Ford" where they were trying to "regain profitability"? Way before my time, but doesn't sound great.

I skimmed Wikipedia around "Jacques Nasser" and didn't particularly like what I found, like the "fire the lowest-performing 10%" (that's Jack Welsh's Vitality Curve!), and making profitability by pivoting into connected services.

But I don't know the degree of Faricy's involvement and sounds fairly "of the times".
SunPower went under, but I still can't really say how that reflects on him.

And the one from the article you didn't mention, being on the board for Blue Apron, one of those meal kit subscription companies that does YouTube sponsorships. Every company that does YouTube sponsorships seems to turn out really sketchy.

I'm worried he's going to bring in the "as a service", recurring revenue through subscriptions, "be a technology company instead of a car company" type thinking, and just send everything back in the direction that legacy automakers took.

I personally do believe that social, managerial, and business-leadership skills are valuable; I just also believe that the people and ideas common in those leadership positions haven't been providing that value.
I would have trusted the awkward technical people more than a business school guy.

Yeah, agree. I read his bio on Michigan Ross

"Career Background
Peter Faricy is a seasoned technology and consumer executive with over two decades of leadership experience scaling innovative businesses, driving digital transformation, and delivering customer- centric growth across public and private companies.

He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, working with growth-stage and enterprise clients across the technology, energy, and consumer sectors—bringing an operator’s perspective to strategic, scaling, go-to-market, and digital transformation challenges."

I'm not sure where "digital transformation" fits in with Slate's Bring Your Own Device engineering/design ethos. I have to question the fit as well.

 

[E90400K]

Essentially it’s a change in title for Barman, not a demotion. No change in salary or benefits. I’ve seen this all the time. Having a new CEO in place frees her up to do what she does best.

Overall, a win-win move for Slate, and for us.

Eh, we'll see. A CEO position usually comes with a contract with specific terms related to the person's role and performance goals and an exit strategy (if necessary). It would be interesting to know what protections she has under her contract and how it will play out. She might take a buyout and call it good.

 

[bloo]

I've a prediction you won't like.

Trisha Johnson gets the axe or is likewise subordinated.

 

[E90400K]

I've a prediction you won't like.

Trisha Johnson gets the axe or is likewise subordinated.

Just for the shoes alone.

 

[E90400K]

I've a prediction you won't like.

Trisha Johnson gets the axe or is likewise subordinated.

But seriously, why do you think that?

 

[bloo]

But seriously, why do you think that?

You won't like this, either.

It's partly because she's making decisions that alienate half of Slate's potential customers (guys). Here's an example...

https://www.slateforums.com/forum/threads/this-truck-is-designed-like-legos—this-could-change-evs-forever.13982/#post-205964

Here we learn that bladed keys are a no-go coz some women on the design team didn't like them. So that means the functioality only a blade key can provide (such as entering the vehicle with dead fob battery, dead 12-Volt aux battery, lockable bed gate, lockable frunk), aren't available to anyone.

Other design misses include no DIN mounts for car stereo, no lighter socket, no bed light, no cabin light, no glove box, a fixed rear window, etc. I'm sure all of this combined would add no more than 200 dollars per truck. It's going to cost me more than that to add after the fact.

Here's a thread specific to the truck bed...

notches-for-crossbars-4x4-wood-useful-to-create-platform-scaffold-more.14

I dont think Trisha has used a truck to haul things most of us want to do in a Slate. It shows in the bed notch design, lack of a bed light, and poor rear camera placement.

I cant help thinking if she was afraid of it, didn't want it, or didn't matter to her, the rest of us can't have. It's a terrible look for a truck that's supposed to be designed for everybody.

Finally, Trisha really subordinated herself in the Leno vid. Why did she let someone with no technical ability ride with Jay? This was her chance to shine. The lack of confidence is not a good look for a new car company that really needs it.

 

[clofan]

Because she's making decisions that alienate half the buying poblic (men).

Here we learn that bladed keys are a no-go coz some women on the design team didn't like them. So that means the functioality only a blade key can provide (such as entering the vehicle with dead fob battery, dead 12-Volt aux battery, lockable bed gate, lockable frunk), aren't available to anyone.

Other design misses include no DIN mounts for car stereo, no lighter socket, no bed light, no cabin light, no glove box, a fixed rear window, etc.

None of these have anything to do with gender. The video you linked said nothing about women on the design team not liking the key blade. Maybe you got that from another source but regardless, how about toning down the misogyny.

They are valid arguments, sure. I didn't know there was no cabin light or bed light, that is a bit of a bummer. There are lots of gloveboxes include ?? Unless you don't count all the dash storage as a glovebox.

Adding a lighter socket will be a 10 minute job that costs about $4 in parts. Personally, I'm fine with no DIN mounts-- the DIN format is dead anyways, most new cars are proprietary and won't fit a DIN or double-DIN unit to replace the OEM stereo. Given the volume of air in the cab, a small high quality bluetooth speaker will be more than enough to fill the space and sound good.


EDIT: I found the source linked later in that thread, I hadn't read it yet just watched the video in the OP. So I stand corrected there... but still, I don't really think that has anything to do with gender.

 

[clofan]

I'm not convinced there won't be a bladed key. The article doesn't say that, it just explains why they included the 'unnecessary' feature of a fob for lock/unlock. The video shows the key and does not appear to have a slot for a blade.... but we are still 6+ months from delivery. Those fobs could very well be unfinished prototypes.

 

[motorolas]

I'm not convinced there won't be a bladed key. The article doesn't say that, it just explains why they included the 'unnecessary' feature of a fob for lock/unlock. The video shows the key and does not appear to have a slot for a blade.... but we are still 6+ months from delivery. Those fobs could very well be unfinished prototypes.

I was thinking I’d rather have a bladed key to be able to get in the car than the accessory hex bit they were showing that would be built in to the key fob.
I’d rather have the safety of a physical key to be able to open the doors and the lift gate.
If the target is DIY’ers and makers, more than likely the user would have a toolset in mind already.
The Slate Truck doors and lift gate do show a key slot since the beginning, so there’s that.