dsacks6

David Vespremi is no longer with Tesla Motors.

TEG

Really sorry to hear that. From what I could tell he seemed like a great asset.

He was definitely very knowledgeable about performance cars, and I thought a good communicator as well. I wonder if Martin's departure had anything to do with his exit...?

I am sure the Roadster delays have put a lot of pressure on everyone there.

rogerred

I guess when you outshine others and they take credit for all of your work, you're bound to be out of a job at some point. probably sooner rather than later. Seems like a pandemic at Tesla. best of luck David.

malcolm

Come on guys. I know that there is a tendency to grow attached to particular individuals who have made a strong public impression through the Tesla videos and the blogs, but we have got to try to move on from picking over the bones of changes in Tesla personel.

I don't know the circumstances of David's departure, but even if they were negative, the project still continues.

I'm sure there will be Official, Unofficial, Edited, and Spurious Histories written about the early days of Tesla. We can complain about them when they appear.

Right now, we need to do what we can to see that Tesla lives long enough to have a history.

Incidentaly, has anyone made a backup of the Tesla blogs?

manofmight

I disagree (a lot). A company's well being is directly connected with the people who started it and worked for the company.

Many Silicon Valley companies have lost their ways when political types take over from the "doers" and "visionaries". These political types usurp work done by others and ultimately run the company to the ground.

I am not very optimistic for Tesla - having witnessed the dismissal of people who were key to the initial success (including the founder, VP of Sales, Director of PR and many others) I can see how things go South from this point on. Now it seems that all those functions combined in one person (VP of Sales, Marketing and Service). With him running everything Tesla is VERY UNLIKELY to make it accross Geoffrey Moore's "chasm".
Darryl, turn off the light after you left!

siry

Thanks for your vote of confidence...

I would echo Malcolm's advice above. The nature of a startup is continuous change, so you can expect that to keep happening. The reality is usually a lot more boring than the conspiracy.

manofmight

Darryl,

You missed my point entirely. No one said anything about conspiracy. What was said is that after the visionaries often come the hacks who run companies to the ground. And there are also that other species: the false founders and false credit takers. Nothing unusual here, happens often. This is born out by startup statistics.

siry

Hmmm...I was trying self deprecating humor but i guess it didn't work. One of the things Martin taught me was that I need to use emoticons more. Let me try this:

thanks for the vote of confidence :)

I didn't miss your point, but I also wouldn't validate it. I look around this company and I don't see a lot of corporate hacks. Quite the contrary.

TedK

Is this getting blown out of proportion? I think so. Just look at the roadster. Despite the unfortunate departure of the early founders, the car is still 99.99% the vehicle they created. IMO that original vision is alive and well in the roadster and I can't wait to get mine. Martin is still a hero of mine, but so is Elon since he backed that original vision with many $$$$. This has been a dream of mine since way before I ever heard of Tesla, and without these people it would not be happening. The oil-free vehicle strikes a deep chord with me and I for one am thankful for all the Tesla people involved, past and present.

p.s. I am not a paid endorser.

Holiday Cheers,
Ted K

__________________
Former "patient" buyer now waiting until 2010 for more choices

DavidV

Well, the rumors are true and I really appreciate the show of support on this forum. I have forged some very close bonds with my colleagues during my tenure at Tesla, and for those that have worked in a Silicon Valley start-up environment, I'm sure that the feeling of solidarity and camaraderie that comes from working long, intense hours on an exciting endeavor will be familiar.

In my case, while I would have loved to continue on and felt like I had a lot more to contribute to help Tesla achieve success, it was sadly not to be. I am indebted to those went to bat to help try to keep me on board over these past few weeks. That was a true test of character, and I will never forget the show of support I experienced from those folks. I had no fewer than four different departments within the company make efforts to keep me on board at Tesla in some capacity, but I was told by the powers that be that the outcome was inevitable.

One of life's interesting lessons is it is during challenging times like this that you come to see the true character of those around you. If I can ever help those folks that recognized what I brought to Tesla and risked their own job security to do the right thing, I will absolutely do so. Like Martin said, Silicon Valley is a small place and I'm sure our paths will cross again some day.

Thinking back, sometimes living and working in a start-up is like a bad TV reality show. The nervous comparisons to Survivor I often heard from others ring very true today.

That being said, I have no regrets and would not have changed a thing. Sure, I could have stuck around my old company, a big established automotive parts manufacturer and maybe even made VP there, but would I have been part of something as historic as Tesla? No way. In my case, no amount of job security or compensation could have kept me from jumping into Tesla given the opportunity to help further the cause. Many of us are like moths to the flame, and even while we know we may get burned, the flame burns too bright to resist.

Tesla is a very special company with a very special group of people of immense capability and talent. I can't assure anyone that Tesla will always be that way, but that is what I knew it as when I left yesterday.

As for me, I wish the folks at Tesla nothing but the greatest success and hope to see Tesla Motors flourish in the coming year. I have spent more seat time in the Roadster than many and had the unique experience of working on both sides of the business - marketing and engineering. From what I have seen and experienced during my tenure, politics aside, this technology and the promise that it holds is worth the effort to bring to market.

I will use the coming weeks to catch up on my backlog of emails and decide what my next move will be. Now that my wife and I are newlyweds and building our first house on the coast side, there is no question that we intend to stay in the Bay Area for the long term and hopefully start a family here.

For those that feel that something stinks about the departure of Martin and others that poured their heart, soul, and talent into Tesla only to be pushed out under the auspices of what is "best for the business" - I don't disagree. While I don't want to end this post on a negative note, if official explanations justifying these ugly decisions sound a little too prepared and polished - trust your instincts - they probably are.

Anyway, Darryl and the others survivors have their work cut out for them. Lets wish them well for the new year and do our best to support them from the outside. I have nothing bad to say about any of the people that will carry the torch from here (at least not until someone buys me a beer) and frankly, I'd like to be able to look back on my time at Tesla as having been part of something groundbreaking and game-changing, rather than as an interesting footnote in the development of the automobile.

Happy holidays to everyone,
DavidV